by jill nagy
Mel Hathaway, co-owner of the Flats Restaurant and Tavern in Rexford, describes the menu at his new eatery as “elevated tavern,” offering a lot of local tavern food favorites but with a twist.
Everything is made from scratch, he said, including sauces and French fries. “We try not to use our freezer very much.”
As an example, the “elevated cheeseburger,” which is a Kobe beef patty, lobster tail, bacon marmalade, crisp pancetta, roasted red onion, tomato confit, and gruyere cheese.
“It is one of our signature items,” he said. The so-called Rexford Burger, and the rest of the menu, was developed by executive chef Stefan Watts, formerly the chef at Smith’s restaurant in Cohoes. Other popular items include a hummus plate appetizer, a shrimp po’boy, and the chef’s own carrot cake.
The Flats Restaurant and Tavern is located in a new shopping plaza at 675 Grooms Road, at the intersection with Fischer Ferry Road, a neighborhood formerly known as Rexford Flats. Since he began in a brand new building in a brand new plaza—with dirt floors—Hathaway had his restaurant built “exactly as I designed it.”
