MILLBROOK, June 2 — Birchwood, the much-anticipated farm-to-table restaurant from chef-owner Cleo Harrington, served its first dinner guests Friday evening at 440 Canal Street, the former Kowalski Ironworks building that sat vacant for nearly a decade before its conversion into a mixed-use space last year. Harrington, who previously helmed the kitchen at The Gilded Fork in the state capital before returning to her hometown, has built Birchwood's entire concept around sourcing ingredients from within a 60-mile radius of Millbrook — a commitment she says will shape not just the menu but the restaurant's relationship with the surrounding agricultural community.
A Menu Built on Relationships
The opening-night menu featured roasted beet salad with whipped goat cheese from Clearwater Farm in nearby Dunton Township, pan-seared lake trout from a local supplier on Lake Carver, and a rotating grain bowl built around heritage wheat from Stonemill Family Farm outside Ridgecrest. Everything on the menu changes weekly, Harrington explained during a pre-opening walkthrough with The Millbrook Courier, depending on what her network of roughly 20 regional farms and producers has available. 'I'd rather tell a guest we don't have chicken this week than compromise and truck something in from a thousand miles away,' she said. Prices at Birchwood run from $14 for lighter starters to $38 for main courses, placing it in the mid-to-upper range for Millbrook dining.
A Boost for the Warehouse District
Birchwood is the seventh new business to open along the Canal Street corridor since the city's Warehouse District Revitalization Initiative launched in 2022, and economic development officials say the momentum shows no signs of slowing. The restaurant joins two cocktail bars, a specialty cheese shop, a ceramics studio, and a weekend farmers market that together have begun drawing foot traffic to an area that was largely considered a dead zone just three years ago.
- Location: 440 Canal Street, Warehouse District
- Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
- Reservations: strongly recommended; available online at birchwoodmillbrook.com
- Happy hour: Tuesday–Thursday, 5–6:30 p.m.
