Call (508) 432-1800

Blog

400 East Blog

30

Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll ~ Cape Cod Times

With a combination of cutting-edge UV technology, cautionary decor and a robust take-out service, those who run 400 East Restaurant & Bar hope even in these unusual times to keep up its reputation as an East Harwich version of "Cheers."

General manager Rich Hristov recently talked about three decades of the Sluis family and staff building up a loyal clientele that has often praised the restaurant as one of those "everybody knows your name" locales filled with regulars.

"Sometimes we make their drinks when we see them parking in the parking lot," says Hristov, who’s worked at 400 East since 2004 and took his current job in 2012. "We know everybody’s first name, we know their drinks, their food, so they feel like they’re walking into their own living room."With a combination of cutting-edge UV technology, cautionary decor and a robust take-out service, those who run 400 East Restaurant & Bar hope even in these unusual times to keep up its reputation as an East Harwich version of "Cheers."

General manager Rich Hristov recently talked about three decades of the Sluis family and staff building up a loyal clientele that has often praised the restaurant as one of those "everybody knows your name" locales filled with regulars.

"Sometimes we make their drinks when we see them parking in the parking lot," says Hristov, who’s worked at 400 East since 2004 and took his current job in 2012. "We know everybody’s first name, we know their drinks, their food, so they feel like they’re walking into their own living room."

They come back for a menu that is overseen by Todd Formosa, head chef for almost 20 years, and that Hristov describes as "typical American cuisine" with "a little bit of everything": pizza and pastas, burgers and seafood dishes made from local sources; salads; and daily specials, including some international nights.

The safety of those customers they know so well, as well as of the largely long-term staff, has been top priority, he says, as preparations were made this year to operate what had been a busy gathering place under the limitations of a pandemic.

A chief protective step has been an invisible one: installation of what is trumpeted on the 400 East website as a "pure ultraviolet air purification system into our HVAC. It kills airborne mold, bacteria & viruses!!!!!" Like several other businesses in the area, Hristov says, they’ve tried to follow scientists’ recommendation that UV light disinfects against viruses. The UV choice at 400 East was the new air-purification system.

"We’re learning on the go," he says.

Adding a former function room as a distanced dining room, 400 East has had 80 indoor seats available this fall, down to 40 this week under the new state COVID-19 restrictions. Tables have been spaced at least six feet apart and plexiglass barriers installed between every table. Not wanting to "just put up plexiglass and have it be uncharacteristic," though, he says, they hired a carpenter who "did a fabulous job" framing each piece at the back of booths.

"If you just walk in, you’d think those things have always been there and they are just part of the chair design," Hristov says. "We’ve been joking that after COVID is over, we’ll just keep them and write notes on them." He laughs. "You just have to find a positive in this whole situation."

The biggest positive has been the customers who have come back, to eat there or take out, "because they trust the quality of the food and they know what they’re getting when they go home."

When takeout was temporarily the only option in March, the menu was reduced to one page of favorite items that it was easier for the two cooks still working to keep up with. Menu and staff were expanded for a summer of popular outdoor dining in the parking lot of the restaurant-anchored shopping plaza at the corner of routes 39 and 137.

When dining had to move indoors, the new fall menu was based, Hristov says, on "items that had been popular before in the fall," such as a fig and goat cheese pizza on a gluten-free cauliflower crust, ravioli, and an arugula salad. "So our menu is literally made from items in the past that people loved," he says. "We just picked up the best items and put that in the compacted menu."

Baked salmon with cilantro lime butter, front, and the California burger, are a couple of the menu items at 400 East Restaurant & Bar.
These days, some regular customers visit several times a week and/or often do takeout at least twice. Since March, Hristov says, takeout business at 400 East has tripled.

The dining room and bar are much less busy than longtime staff are used to, though. "I don’t know what it’s going to take for people to trust going back into a restaurant," Hristov says, but notes, "I’ve heard multiple times during COVID (from customers who say) this is the only place they go out to because of all the precautions we take and they know we’ll do everything necessary to protect them."


Eating in or for takeout, burgers are a big draw, in part because the meat is ground daily to 400 East specifications by Ferretti’s butcher in Brewster. Seafood dishes are based around what’s bought from the catch that day in nearby Chatham.

Specials are announced on a weekly basis, and often include international fare. Formosa and Hristov have kept an eye on what has worked, tweaking offerings as needed. One of the most popular is actually a German dish unusual for local businesses: Jagerschnitzel (crispy pork cutlets) with Sour Cream Mushroom Gravy.

"They love it," Hristov says of customers. "It’s funny, because some people are questioning about trying something new and different and something they don’t understand. Once they try (Formosa's) dishes, they say 'Wow, this really is good.’"

It’s also a dish people remembered, even when takeout was the only option. "People were calling and requesting to order (the Jagerschnitzel) during the day so they could pick it up for dinner," Hristov says. "They wanted to make sure it didn’t run out."

400 East Restaurant & Bar
1421 Orleans Road (Route 39), East Harwich
508-432-1800

Hours: Open seven days, from noon to 9 p.m. take-out and dining

[Read More...]

Actions: E-mail | Permalink |

Post Rating