Williamsburg eatery shutters to cut losses

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

WILLIAMSBURG - A little more than a month after it opened, the Hilltown Silver Spoon restaurant is closed for good.

The breakfast and lunch eatery was opened in early May by Jeff Doyle, longtime proprietor and cook at the Silver Spoon on Main Street in Easthampton, He blamed the closing on poor preliminary planning.

"I don't think it was the economy or the location, I think it was basically just a lack of proper planning on my part," Doyle said. "I had never opened a place before, and I wasn't exactly prepared to do the things that needed to be done."

After realizing that he was unable to pay his bills, Doyle said, it came down to whether or not he was willing to use money from the Easthampton restaurant to support his Williamsburg location.

"There just wasn't enough money behind me when I started and I was expecting the business would pay for itself. When it didn't, I couldn't afford to pay for it out of Easthampton's pocket," Doyle said.

The closing of the Hilltown Silver Spoon comes on the heels of the announcement that McFadden's Pub, a popular bar down the road, has closed until Sept. 15 to avoid another summer of lackluster business.

The Hilltown Silver Spoon has now become the third restaurant in just over two years to go out of business at its 49 Main St. location.

According to town records, the Williamsburg Cafe, which changed its name to the Grille and Tavern in 2003, turned in its liquor license on Feb. 6, 2007, and closed shortly after. The next restaurant, The Kitchen Table, applied for its liquor license on April 17, 2007, opened shortly after it was approved on July 23, 2007, and then closed last winter.

Plans for future business

Although he said he has not received any formal bids, Doyle hopes another entrepreneur makes a fourth attempt at providing the people of Williamsburg with another place to sit down to enjoy a cup of coffee and a quick bite to eat.

"I have had a couple of different people expressing interest but nothing concrete yet," Doyle said. "Hopefully I will be able to turn it over and someone else will take over and continue doing something similar."

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