RUMFORD – Rick Mealey thinks the historic Hotel Harris is a neat building. He also likes Rumford, a town he sees as very busy, with a lot going on. He’d never been to Rumford until recently.
So when he had the opportunity to open a restaurant in the downtown, he decided to take the chance.
Hotel Harris co-owner Jean Muse called Mealey, the owner of the Boiler Room Restaurant in Wilton, after she and her husband had supper there one night and asked him if he were interested. Mealey opened the popular Wilton restaurant six years ago in what was once the boiler room of G.H. Bass Shoe Co.
In March, he hopes to do the same thing in the 1906 Beaux Arts building on Hartford Street.
A space of approximately 2,600 square feet is being renovated on the first floor of the residential hotel. The kitchen and hearth will be an open-format design, and the rooms are being decorated in earth tones.
Ads have been running in local newspapers seeking servers and cooks. Mealey said on Wednesday that more than 150 people have responded. He said about 25 people will be hired.
The high end, Class A restaurant will seat 100 diners. The full-service cocktail lounge will seat another 20.
Mealey, a Farmington resident, said the restaurant will offer such dishes as blackened chicken, lobster and artichoke dip, rib-eye steaks, pasta, a vegetarian menu and full pub fare. A two-for-one Friday night special will feature dishes such as salmon, chicken, prime rib and vegetarian.
Hours are expected to be Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Erin Joslin, a Wilton resident who’s worked at the Boiler Room in Wilton for a year, will be manager of the new enterprise. Erik Hersey, also of Wilton, will serve as bar manager. A New England Culinary School graduate is expected to be chef.
“We are really excited about it,” said Hersey on Wednesday.
So are Jean and Arthur Muse. They bought the historic hotel building last October and have plans to renovate much of it, as well as try to fill the empty storefronts. They are expected to make an announcement on other plans for the hotel sometime next month.
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