Grist Mill and the Hen

A late afternoon drive, the sky pink to the west, the snow-capped mountains to our east, pale blue and icy white. Our destination the cozy candle-lit stone and wood interior of an old grist mill – now the home of the restaurant the Hen of the Wood. The snowy and partly frozen Thatcher’s Brook outside and the stone and metalwork inside hinted at its previous life as the Waterbury Feed Company Mill. Built in 1835, it now feeds travelers from near and far a delicious array of locally sourced foods and cheeses in a space where mill workers once produced grain, bricks, implement handles, wooden butter boxes and carded wool.