BENNINGTON — Restaurateurs Stephen and Elizabeth Hall are bringing a Connecticut classic to the Green Mountains with the addition of The Angry Egg Two to downtown Bennington.
For four years, the duo have run their first eatery, The Angry Egg, in Manchester, Conn.
The Angry Egg Two, at 467 Main St., will be their second location — as the name implies.
The couple has had their eyes on Vermont for a long time.
“We’ve been wanting to do this forever, even before the one in Connecticut,” said Stephen Hall. “We love Southern Vermont. Bennington is a great town. We love it.”
And the owners are more enthusiastic than the restaurant names might imply, which Hall addressed.
“I’d say about a year or two before we decided to open a restaurant, my wife was just cooking breakfast one day. The egg was angry, and she just said, ‘That’s an angry egg,' and that was basically it," he explained. "She just said it like that, and we were like, well, when we open a restaurant, we’re gonna have to name it that. And then it just fit.”
Their friend and designer, Sarah Paolucci, immediately got on board, creating their iconic angry egg graphic.
Despite their mascot’s foul mood — or maybe partly because of it — the Halls’ Connecticut location has been popular. So Hall will keep the menu mostly intact for the new spot, but “tweak it for Vermont a little bit.”
Stephen Hall, 42, has been cooking for about 20 years. He helped open Carbone’s in Connecticut, so he knew it would be work to open his own place.
“It’s a lot, but the town’s been great, you know? I’ve found good people to help,” he said.
Construction is underway, with flooring and painting done. Hall estimates about two months more of preparation, with an early 2022 opening.
The couple is community-minded and hopes that, as a finishing touch to the place, they can decorate with local artists’ work. They’ve done the same at the first location — which they hope to hang on to even after the couple move to Vermont in a few years.
They’re hopeful about what Angry Egg Two will offer.
“I hope it draws more people downtown,” Hall said. “I’m happy to be part of the downtown community. It seems like it’s gonna be a good fit.”