Art and Food Intersect at the Firestone
MANCHESTER — Art and dining merge at The Firestone as guests can sit down and paint a pre-made piece of pottery or make their own at one of their 15 wheels while enjoying a sandwich, salad, or iced latte.
The Firestone, located at 1115 Main St., opened in November 2019, owner Sophia Dzialo said.
She said the art studio/café opened in phases, starting with the painting studio at the front of the shop before the clay wheels opened in January. 2020, followed by the café in February.
Sophia Dzialo, front, is the owner of The Firestone art studio and cafe on Main Street in Manchester. Pictured with Dzialo is Firestone server Priya Mistri. At bottom right is the cafe’s signature egg sandwich. (Tim Leininger / Journal Inquirer)
The Firestone
Where: 1115 Main St., Manchester, CT
Hours: Sunday-Wednesday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Menu: Sandwiches, coffee, pastries.
Miscellaneous: Arts classes information on the website
Contact: 860-661-0075; thefirestonect.com
Dzialo said the idea of opening a café in a pottery studio was inspired by what she observed in the first studio she opened in West Hartford, The Claypen.
“I noticed over the years … people, they come, they sit, someone from their group leaves, they go get food, they come back and they enjoy food and drink while they’re painting,” she said. “When we had the opportunity to expand the business model beyond just painting pottery, that was something customers can value. Now they don’t have to leave.”
She said having a café also makes it easier to host corporate clients or other organizations that want to do group outings or team-building activities.
“Now they can have the full experience,” she said. “The can come, they can paint, they can chat. We have a catered menu as well for large groups. They can stay and relax. They don’t have to bounce from place to place in order to get what they’re looking for.”
Dzialo said Manchester made a great location because of its burgeoning arts scene.
“We knew we wanted to do something on the east side of Connecticut, and when we started looking in Manchester,” she said. “The town officials were so outgoing and interested in building up their downtown Main St., not only having a focus on the arts, but a long-term vision. What stood out to me was their focus in not only asking for feedback, but taking it into account.”
She said having a café in a pottery studio is “definitely unique.”
“I’ve always wanted to have my own café and when we found this location in particular, I knew it wasn’t going to be just an art studio, it had the space to be something more,” she said.
The café and art studio are both open seven days a week, with the food offered in the café either made in-house or locally sourced, Dzialo said, from their in-house breads and syrups to coffee beans from Canton, and Hosmer sodas.
“We offer espresso-based beverages, coffee, tea,” she said. “Then we also have a breakfast and lunch menu, sandwiches, salads, chef specials.”
For breakfast, The Firestone offers an egg sandwich with an egg souffle, arugula, tomato, cheddar, harissa mayo, and a choice of bacon, turkey, or guacamole on focaccia bread. Toasts include avocado toast, nut-butter toast, and French toast sticks. Pastries are also offfered.
The lunch menu has vegetarian options, as well as turkey and tuna salad sandwiches, Dzialo said, with the option to customize their sandwich.
“The BLT is always really popular,” she said, as well as the turkey sandwich, which comes with turkey, cheddar, pickles, cranberry chutney, sage mayo, and greens.
The pickles that top the turkey sandwich are made in-house as well.
“It takes about a day to pickle,” Dzialo said about their dill pickles.
Her personal favorite items on the menu are the avocado toast with mashed avocado, cotija cheese, fresno chili, a poached egg, cilantro, and herbed olive oil, and the harvest salad with kale, wild rice, sweet potato, apple, goat cheese, toasted almond, and balsamic dressing.
For those interested in learning how to make their own pottery, people can sign up for classes with a single “Try it Nights” classes, six-week classes, or private sessions.
Information for classes are available on their website.
Dzialo said The Firestone is still making improvements.
“We’re upgrading parts of our kitchen to expand our menu,” she said, which will be hopefully coming soon.
