A Sweet Surprise in the New Max Downtown
If you’re familiar with the Greater Hartford area, chances are you’re also familiar with the Max Restaurant Group.
While everyone seemingly has their “favorite,” ours happens to be Max Downtown, which conveniently is right down the street from us on Asylum Street.
After a summer of renovations, Max Downtown finally reopened on September 19th.
With a modern renovation of its dining room and new exciting additions to its menu, you might not even recognize this new Max. But trust us, you will still be receiving the same incredible service and quality food that has made Max Downtown a reliable restaurant since 1996.
Oh, the most delicious change of all: A decadent dessert bar.
The Dessert Bar
After a couple of drinks, like the Kickin’ Yard Goat, we made our way over to Max’s new dessert bar, where we met Warren, the pastry chef who creates each dessert made-to-order.
We think we might have to do our own feature on Warren because he is one of the friendliest and most talented men we’ve met (and we’re not just saying this because he filled us with incredible desserts).
To start us off he gave us triple (white, dark, and milk) chocolate chip cookies and compote cookies made with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, potato chips, graham cracker, and pretzel, which were probably some of the best cookies we’ve ever tried.
Warren then made us his specialty Salted Caramel Baked Alaska and molten chocolate souffle.Typically chocolate souffles are consistent throughout, but Warren made sure to point out that his has extra chocolate in the middle so it stays a liquid consistency. He topped his souffle off with vanilla bean cream, and it’d be safe to say that by this point, we were officially in dessert heaven.
Warren explained to us that some of the classic desserts he learned back in culinary school were considered “old fashion” when he learned them, but now they are being brought back in a new and exciting way- much like the new Max Restaurant.
Mid-Century-Modern Atmosphere
The restaurant got a serious facelift. Going from formal white tablecloths to a more approachable, modern feel to appeal to a younger audience.
The walls are now filled with iconic faces in mismatched frames. Wine cellars from floor to ceiling, and a backlight whiskey bar with every kind of whiskey imaginable.
Like we said, the renovations were aimed to appeal to a younger audience, but Max made sure never to forget its roots. Max Downtown is a place where you can go in and have an upscale experience but in a contemporary and exciting environment. By the time we left, the place was filled with people of all ages eager to be seated.
But…if we had one dining recommendation for you for when you visit Max’s – it’s to save room for dessert.
Location: 185 Asylum St., Hartford
The bar opens every day at 4 PM, the kitchen then opens at 5 PM. Lunch service will begin Monday, October 2nd.
