Bristol's DeWolf Tavern turns 15 with a new owner

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 2/15/19

With one logistical detail — the transfer of a liquor license — Chef Sai Viswanath recently became the sole owner of DeWolf Tavern, one of Bristol’s most prominent restaurant and …

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Bristol's DeWolf Tavern turns 15 with a new owner

Posted

With one logistical detail — the transfer of a liquor license — Chef Sai Viswanath recently became the sole owner of DeWolf Tavern, one of Bristol’s most prominent restaurant and hospitality businesses.

Chef Sai has long been the public face of DeWolf Tavern, but for many of their past 15 years in business, he was an employee who was incrementally taking on a larger stake in the business.

Lloyd Adams was the primary owner, through his LLC, Thames Street Landing Tavern Company. Mr. Adams and his wife Suzanne, who also owned and operated the Bradford Dimond Norris House B&B on Hope Street, recently retired and have been splitting their time between Virginia and Prague, according to Chef Sai.

Chef Sai was originally introduced to Mr. Adams, who was looking for a chef to install in the restaurant he was planning to open at the then-new Thames Street Landing, by a mutual friend.

With degrees in culinary arts from the Culinary Institute of America and from Hotel School in Madras, India, and experience at Indigo in Mumbai and Union Square Café in New York City, Chef Sai created a contemporary American menu influenced by Indian cuisine and taking advantage of Rhode Island’s bounty of local seafood. DeWolf Tavern opened to critical acclaim in October of 2004, and Chef Sai was named Semifinalist, Best Chefs in America by the James Beard Foundation in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012.

The Tavern itself is a noteworthy structure. Renovated and restored from its more recent days as the former J.T. O’Connell Building Supply company, the structure dates to 1818, when it served as a rum distillery and warehouse built by James and William DeWolf. The DeWolf brothers made a fortune in the triangle slave trade, shipping rum to Africa which they traded for slaves; bringing slaves DeWolf family plantations in Cuba which they traded for sugar; and bringing the sugar back to Bristol, which they distilled into rum.

Period details uncovered in the walls during restoration, as well as an old run barrel, are on display in the building. A more recent historical detail is the massive indentation on the Tavern’s south side, where the local ferry washed up against the building during the Great Hurricane of 1938. 

Looking forward, Chef Sai does not plan any major changes to what has become a winning formula, though he and his team are continually making small changes. “We are always trying to keep the restaurant up to date,” he said. “Fifteen years ago, the emphasis was on fine dining, steak and seafood, with an appetizer, entree, and dessert. Now people are asking for small plates, vegan, and gluten free. The way people eat has evolved.”

Chef Sai points out that they are fortunate that the layout of the space, with a formal dining room upstairs and a more casual tavern downstairs, allows them to cater to guests looking for a range of options. Their banquet business has really taken off in the past handful of years, and Chef Sai credits the new owners of the Bristol Harbor Inn for recognizing the potential of the location and investing in the wooden waterfront tent, for which the Tavern is the exclusive food and beverage supplier.

The tent also allows Chef Sai and his team to plan special events, like the annual Oyster Festival, held on Father’s Day weekend in June, which brought in close to $20,000 for the East Bay Food Pantry this past year. Plans are also in the works for creating an event around the Black Ships Festival, a longstanding Newport event which was brought, at least in part, to Bristol last August.

“We don’t close; we serve lunch and dinner every day, and breakfast on weekends,” said Chef Sai, noting that keeping the historic property updated and functioning must, by necessity, be done in small doses. “Staying current with our menu, our beer and wine lists … they are simple things, but they are our focus.”

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