A new Spanish-style restaurant opened its doors Wednesday in Hartford’s Goodwin Hotel led by Bravo TV’s “Top Chef,” Tyler Anderson.
Porron & Pina, a tapas-style eatery, features a wine room offering 60 selections and a cocktail bar serving a variety of gins and local draft beers.
The tapas-driven menu allows patrons to order several dishes in a group, or order a la carte Spanish steakhouse style dishes.
Located at 1 Haynes St., the eatery is replacing the Harlan Brasserie, which closed in November, and will employ up to 65 people, Anderson has said.
The restaurant is the third owned by Anderson, who also operates Millwright’s Restaurant & Tavern in Simsbury, which opened in 2012, and the Cook & The Bear in Blue Back Square in West Hartford, which opened in 2017.
The eatery “will make you feel like you have taken a trip and you are right at home, all at the same time,” Anderson said. “Patrons will be privy to an explosion of Spanish flavors — many of which, funny enough, have been harvested right here in Connecticut.
Goodwin Hotel owners Charles Mallory and Randy Salvatore are partners in the project, in addition to Anderson’s business partner, A.J. Aurrichio.
“I am so excited that Tyler Anderson has brought his vision and culinary talents to the restaurant, lounge and meeting venues at The Goodwin Hotel,” Salvatore said. “This will not only serve to elevate the travel experience for our guests at The Goodwin, but will also become a destination for residents and employees from Hartford and all of the surrounding areas.”
Vanessa Tosi, of The Cook & The Bear, will serve as general manager of Porron & Pina.
Anderson, who has appeared on several Food Network shows, was named Best Chef in Connecticut by the CT Restaurant Association in 2015.
The James Beard Foundation has nominated Anderson for The Best Chef Northeast award for the past four years.
