Plans Progress on Farm-to-Table Eatery in West Concord

A local couple is cooking up a second course for the big white and green building on Commonwealth Ave in West Concord -- and the stock pot is starting to simmer.

Plans for a farm-to-table restaurant in the West Concord Supermarket’s former home have moved into the design phase, according to a recent blog post by Kristin Canty.

Canty and her husband, Jim, bought the property last spring with the vision of a restaurant that would source from farms using nutrient-dense practices, cook with animal fats and emphasize fermented foods. Now, their ideas are moving closer to reality.

They’ve brought on Peter Neimitz for the design, according to the blog post, which notes Neimitz has designed noted Boston-area restaurants Aquitaine and Kirkland Tap and Trotter, as well as Bondir Concord, which opened late last year on Walden Street.

“We have the floor plans for the restaurant pretty much set and now we are working on the interiors,” Canty wrote on her blog. “We are hoping that construction will get started in the next few weeks.  The building itself needs a lot of work and we plan to tackle some of the structural needs while we wait for the final version of Peter’s plans.” 

Speaking with Patch last summer, the Canty's offered a glimpse of what they have in mind for the restaurant. 

For example, they were thinking of a "historic rehab" to retain the distinctive exterior of the building, but upgrading it with elements like energy-efficient windows and solar panels on the roof. And for the inside, they envisioned tavern side and restaurant side. 

The idea, they said, was that concept and space together would create a restaurant that would appeal to locals and out-of-towners alike. 

“We’re from town, and we want a nice farm-to-table restaurant,” Kristin Canty, who directed and produced “Farmageddon: The Unseen War on American Family Farms” said last year. “I’m doing this because I want to have a place to eat, and I want West Concord to have another good place to eat.”