Closed for two years, one of Cobleskill’s favorite restaurants will be back in business soon.
The new owners of the Bull’s Head Inn plan to reopen the landmark restaurant in mid-September.
Tony and Sabine Giammattei bought the Bull’s Head in a foreclosure sale and are now cleaning, repairing and getting ready to open.
“I fell in love with it. It has all the character and ambiance and charm that we were looking for,” Mr. Giammettei said.
“It’s a historic restaurant, exactly what I wanted.”
He plans to retain the historic nature of the 1802 building and has an eye to the recent past, too. The Bull’s Head chef will be Bill Thetford, who was the chef there in the 1980s.
“He wants to bring it back to what it was when Monty Allen owned it,” Mr. Thetford said. “He’ll do it.”
And, Mr. Thetford added, the Bull’s Head will return to its reputation of being “an upscale steakhouse.”
“Certified Angus, dry-aged, and chops and poultry,” Mr. Thetford said. “It’s a good, old-fashioned menu that never goes out of style.”
“Home-made soups, desserts, everything,” Mr. Giammattei added. “Nothing out of the box.”
Mr. Giammettei trained in Europe and was the owner/operator of Schlossgarten Café Graf Lodron, Bavaraia’s largest beergarden and outdoor restaurant.
The Giammatteis operate Red Lion Catering and will continue that business as they run the Bull’s Head.
While operating Red Lion, Mr. Giammettei was looking for an established restaurant to open.
He looked at the Bull’s Head about a year ago, but the foreclosure entanglement appeared difficult. So he looked at other area restaurants instead.
“He kept saying, ‘It’s not the Bull’s Head’ when he looked at other places,” Mr. Thetford said. “There’s no place like it.”
Getting it back on line will take work. There’s water damage through the roof in two spots, and Mr. Giammattei will replace much of the kitchen equipment.
He plans to eventually have the upstairs open for banquets and will reopen the basement tavern, which needs new carpet and redocrating.
And then there’s the cleaning. Tables are still set with silverware, napkins and glasses––and even Chrismtas decorations from when it closed in 2006––but everything’s coated with a layer of dust.
“She just locked the door and never came back,” Mr. Thetford said of the former owner.
“It will take a lot of work,” Mr. Giammattei admitted. “It’s been neglected the last couple of years.”
He also acknowledged that opening an upscale restaurant in a soft economy may be risky.
But Mr. Giammattei also maintained that Bull’s Head’s reputation and charm work in its favor.
“It’s a beautiful building. We can bring it back,” he said.
“And there’s certainly a market for a restaurant like this in Cobleskill,” Mr. Thetford added.
Besides doing the buying and butchering––he’s a trained butcher––Mr. Giammattei will be greeting customers. So will Ms. Giammattei, who also has her own business, All Wired Up, which manufactures orthodontic appliances.
Janet Burke, who was the chef/owner of Janet’s Café in Schoharie, will assist Mr. Thetford.
The Bull’s Head will be open for lunch and dinner six days a week.
Lunch hours will be 11:30-2:3- Tuesday through Saturday. Dinner hours will be 5-9 Tuesday through Thursday, 5-10 Friday and Saturday and 3-8 on Sunday.