Williamsburg restaurant meeting a challenge and a need

Jeff Doyle, left, owner of Hilltown Silver Spoon in Williamsburg, and chef Wayne Ducharme are shown with the restaurant's new sign. The breakfast and lunch spot opens today.">">

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

WILLIAMSBURG - Running one busy restaurant wasn't quite enough for Jeff Doyle, proprietor and cook at the Silver Spoon in Easthampton. Today, he opens his second establishment, the Hilltown Silver Spoon on Main Street.

Life was getting a little lackluster for Doyle, 47, of 933 Westhampton Road, who has owned the Silver Spoon at 73 Main St. in Easthampton for 13 years. He said he'd been thinking about opening a second breakfast and lunch spot as a way of reinvigorating his creativity.

"I've been dreaming of opening another restaurant for five or six years, it was just a matter of having the right location," Doyle said. "I don't want to say that I was bored at the Silver Spoon because I wasn't, I just needed something else to do - I needed a challenge."

Today he opens the Hilltown Silver Spoon at 49 Main St., in Williamsburg.

"It sounds like it will be wonderful," said Selectman Denise Banister. Selectmen last month approved a restaurant license for Doyle to open his new eatery at the former location of the Kitchen Table, which closed in February.

"It will be great to have somewhere in town to go and get a coffee in the morning," she said.

Doyle started his career as a cook at Friendly's in Florence in 1982 and has worked in restaurants ever since. The location in Williamsburg, he said, was one he had eyed for a long time. When the Kitchen Table closed, he was first in line.

"A friend of mine noticed that they had closed, and when I heard about it I came up and gave it a look," Doyle said. "I had tried several times before to get a location in Williamsburg, was too slow on the draw and the spaces were taken by other restaurant owners."

The menu at the restaurant, Doyle said, will be similar to what is served at the Silver Spoon in Easthampton, which he describes as an everyday basic breakfast and lunch menu with some unique touches.

Aside from typical breakfast and lunch foods like eggs and sandwiches, Doyle said the Hilltown Silver Spoon will feature the restaurant's own wheat and white bread, salads, melted wraps and a variety of regular lunch specials. Among the permanent lunch items, Doyle said, will be fresh turkey meat sandwiches, pork loin and at least one pasta dish.

Among the reasons for opening in Williamsburg, Doyle said, was that several similar businesses near the center of town had recently closed, which meant there was a need.

"When the Lunch Box on Main Street closed, I realized that Williamsburg was going to be in need of another breakfast and lunch place," Doyle said. "There is a lot of traffic that comes through the center of town, and I think people will appreciate having a place like this to go to."

Doyle said that while employees at the Hilltown branch get used to the new location, he will spend most of his time in Williamsburg. He hopes to eventually split time between the two restaurants, where he said he will manage more than 20 employees.

The Hilltown Silver Spoon will be open weekdays from 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturdays from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. . The grand opening, Doyle said, will be sometime after a "soft opening," expected today.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.