DORO Marketplace eyes new Wethersfield location

Well-known West Hartford restaurateur Dorjan Puka is looking to expand his European-inspired cafe and bakery DORO Marketplace to Wethersfield.  He’s got a proposal in front of the Wethersfield Planning and Zoning Commission to open a new  DORO Marketplace with an outdoor seating area, replacing the former Chip’s Family Restaurant along the Silas Deane Highway. Puka’s DORO Restaurant Group opened its first DORO Marketplace in 2020 in West Hartford, and debuted a second location in Windsor Locks late last year.  DORO Restaurant Group also owns and operates three other restaurants in West Hartford Center including Treva, Àvert and Zohara. It also runs Artisanal Burger Co. in Manchester. Owned by the Goff Brook Shoppes of Wethersfield, the former Chip’s building at 1301 Silas Deane Highway was erected in 2014 and sits in a plaza covering 8.4 acres with more than 470 parking spaces. Chip’s Family Restaurant closed its Wethersfield and other locations last year.  Applicant Sheldon Crosby and Farmington-based L’Arc Architects have submitted plans to the Wethersfield Planning and Zoning Commission to reconstruct the interior and exterior of the building, and for a special permit to build an outdoor patio in the front yard, with a new sidewalk, concrete patio, landscaping, 19 tables and seating for 62 people. The project was approved by the Wethersfield Design Review Advisory Committee in February. DORO Marketplace’s menu features baked goods, a coffee bar, and fresh sandwiches, soups, salads, bowls and desserts.  The exterior transformation would make the building “a recognizable DORO Marketplace,” similar in design to other locations in West Hartford and Windsor Locks.