When creatrix and CEO Lelaneia Dubay noticed me sitting at the bar of Hartford Flavor Cocktail Parlour and admiring the unique surroundings, she started a conversation that segued into a personal tour of her most delightfully unusual establishment, opened in 2024 as an offshoot of her Hartford Flavor distillery, founded in the early 2010s.
Nestled in the middle of the brick-paved pedestrian-only Pratt Street in downtown Hartford in a building from 1918 with a brick façade featuring subtle geometric patterns in cream and light gold, and carved brackets that support a heavy, richly molded classical cornice, the parlour presents an alluring storefront, with floor-to-ceiling windows, carefully sculpted corkscrew shrubs in planters, and my favorite shade of green in the paint. Its address, 54 Pratt Street, enabled it to use the “54” logo of New York’s legendary disco, and the “u” in “Parlour” lends an Old World nod.
As soon as I entered, I was transported back to an earlier era, maybe to Paris in the 1600s, maybe to New York a century ago—exactly the goal of Dubay, a 30-year Hartford resident. She explained that she wanted to re-create the type of grand interior that Hartford boasted in many of its buildings during its heyday, when it was the richest city per capita in the United States, and before so many buildings were gutted or razed. She succeeded beautifully.
The warren of rooms occupies a space much deeper than the exterior suggests. Each room bears a different theme, décor, and nod to a different plant, like the Oak Room, the Laurel Dining Room, or the thistles in the wallpaper at the bar and lounge-like sitting area. Chandeliers and wall sconces with mirrors hint at a King Louis XIII style, but there’s a definite Art Nouveau vibe as well. Each room employs a bold use of color, too: green walls, golden curtains, persimmon bar stools, a lilac sofa, lavender napkins.
As Dubay escorted me back to my seat, she showed me the distillery’s original logo, a female archer next to a stag, or hart (as in, Hartford). Then she pointed out the parlour’s logo—a woman lounging on the convex side of a crescent moon holding a beverage. “I wanted a logo to suggest a place where the archer might go for a drink and to let her hair down,” she explained.
Captivated by her story, I was primed for lunch. As much as I loved the space, I found that the parlour’s fresh, farm-to-table cuisine is just as palatable.
Try This: If it’s too early to imbibe in something alcoholic from the bar’s selection of Hartford Flavor’s all-natural Wild Moon liqueurs and organic vodkas, I highly recommend the Junglebird, a perfect summer thirst-quencher with Lyre’s Italian Orange spirit, pineapple and lime juices, cinnamon, and mint. Then select the grilled cheese sandwich. If that sounds a little too basic and grammar school, think again. This sandwich comes with aged sharp cheddar cheese, tomato marmalade, Asian pears, and arugula, pressed between two perfectly grilled pieces of bread and accompanied by a mixed-green salad with diced cucumbers and thinly sliced carrots.
Stephen Travels 