Two eateries in one: The Owl House and Swillburger team up on new spot in Pultneyville

Tracy Schuhmacher | Democrat and Chronicle

Show Caption Hide Caption Coming soon to Pultneyville The people behind the popular Owl House and Playhouse/Swillburger are taking their imaginative approaches to Pultneyville.

Cape Cod, the coast of Maine and a small town in Italy are the inspirations behind a new operation that the owners of The Owl House and The Playhouse // Swillburger will open in Pultneyville, Wayne County.

The project started when John Trickey, who owns the Rochester building that houses The Playhouse // Swillburger, purchased The Landing at Pultneyville, a distinctive red building at 4135 Mill St. in Pultneyville. He was looking for a tenant who would open a restaurant in the space that was previously home to the Pultneyville Grill — and he wanted it ready for summer. He showed it to Jeff Ching, owner of The Owl House and co-owner of The Playhouse // Swillburger. Ching’s reaction was immediate.

“I fell in love with the space,” he said. “It’s just stunning.”

The eye-catching red building sits on the east bank of Salmon Creek, an inlet that leads to Lake Ontario. Across the narrow channel is the Pultneyville Yacht Club; from an outdoor patio, you can watch boats come and go. The quaint hamlet of Pultneyville is in the Town of Williamson, a pleasant 30-minute drive from Rochester.

Ching saw the space in April, which would give just a six-week window for opening in time for summer — a tight turnaround, even for a building that was in good shape. Before checking out the space, Brian Van Etten, co-owner at The Playhouse // Swillburger, was reluctant, to say the least.

“l’ll go up there with you but I’m not doing it,” Van Etten initially told Ching. “We’ll never be ready in time.”

When Van Etten visited, though, he was most excited to discover a tiny second kitchen, about 50 square feet, tucked next to the patio. The spotless, like-new kitchen had a “beautiful exhaust system” — something that excites the chef — and windows that opened onto the patio. He thought back to a weekend on the coast of Maine with his girlfriend (now his wife), and envisioned a roadside shack with a waterfront locale — an extension of the burgers-and-tots Swillburger concept.

As others involved in The Owl House and The Playhouse // Swillburger checked it out, they got a Cape Cod vibe — a locale familiar to Ching and Van Etten, who worked in Boston for years. Swillburger partner Meghan Rodgers is also from the Boston area.

“We all just felt a personal connection to that space,” Ching said. “It felt like a great fit.”

Van Etten credits Swillburger chef Christian Simeone, who is also from New England, with remarking that the tiny kitchen near the patio would be a sweet spot for a seafood shack.

With that, Van Etten recalled a trip to Vernazza, one of the villages in the Cinque Terre region on Italy’s northwest coast. He remembered eating fried mixed seafood, served in a cone, accented only by a squeeze of lemon and some aioli. He envisioned something similar.

“It’ll be in a paper boat,” he thought. “It will be our style.”

In the end, the Pultneyville restaurant will incorporate two concepts under one roof — a tried-and-true approach for the owners, as The Playhouse // Swillburger at 820 S. Clinton Ave. combines Swillburger, a burger joint, and The Playhouse, a bar and arcade.

The Owl House will operate in the upstairs dining room and also have some seating on the patio. It will continue its approach of offering choices for every diet — omnivore, gluten free, vegetarian and vegan included — but will add additional seafood dishes to complement the lakefront locale. Matty Miller, head chef of The Owl House at 75 Marshall St., is spearheading the menu and training staff.

The floors in the dining room have been refinished and the décor has been updated, but the layout will largely stay the same.

Swilly’s, an offshoot of Swillburger, will serve hot dogs, lobster rolls, fried seafood and tots from the window at the patio. Beer and wine will also be part of the equation. Simeone is doing much of the legwork to get that project ready.

Van Etten notes that even though Swilly’s will offer a casual atmosphere, the quality of the food will be high, and the menu items will be priced accordingly.

Lobster rolls will be prepared simply, without a lot of filler; top-split New England style buns will be made by Flour City Bread Company. Hot dogs will come from Schrader Farms Meat Market in Romulus by way of Headwater Food Hub, just a few miles away in Ontario. The menu will even include — believe it or not — a vegan lobster roll.

“He’s a mock lobster wizard,” Van Etten said of chef Simeone. Flour City Bread has created vegan top-split buns that Van Etten says rival the regular.

The popularity of Swillburger’s tot offerings made them a menu must-have, but they will likely be served simply, perhaps sprinkled with Old Bay seasoning.

“It’s a trial and error,” Van Etten said. “We’ll see if it works … but I think it’s gonna work.”

Given the short turnaround, the opening has been a scramble. Swilly’s is earmarked to open in late June; its hours are currently planned for noon to 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The opening of The Owl House is more dependent on its liquor license, Ching said; he is crossing his fingers that it will come by the last week in June. The Owl House will initially serve dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday; if that is a success, more evenings and brunch will be added.

Both operations are expected to be seasonal.

“We’ll see how the summer goes and we might expand on the concept down the road,” Ching said.

For Nanette Hance, who owns the Artisans’ Loft, a fine art gallery at the front of The Landing at Pultneyville, her new neighbors cannot arrive soon enough. She believes the right restaurant will help the area become a destination, and she sees The Owl House as a great fit.

“I’m excited,” she said. “Everybody’s really looking forward to it.”

TRACYS@Gannett.com

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