Fife'n Drum Celebrates 50

Seventy to eighty percent of restaurants fail in their first five years of business. It is all the more remarkable that after three years of disruption due to Covid, the venerable Fife & Drum on Main Street in Kent is celebrating its 50th anniversary this weekend.

“When we turned 25, I was so excited,” said Elissa Potts, owner and daughter of musician/restauranteur Dolph Traymon. “In my mind that meant the Fife had lasted a whole generation. Never did it occur to me that I would see another entire generation of customers come through our front doors, and that the grandchildren of our original customers from the 1970’s would now be dining with us.

“Then, every five years after the 25th anniversary, it was ‘Oh, yeah,’ but it wasn’t until Dad died that I realized 50 years was getting close. I am so grateful we have made it, especially after Covid, and I realized we would have to do something to celebrate.”

What they will do is hold a whoopie party for four days this week, starting Thursday afternoon with a Special Open House from 3 to 7PM. There will be complimentary hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer but no dinner service that evening. Those wishing other cocktails can purchase them at the cash bar.

State Rep. Maria Horn will present a legislative citation at 4 PM during the open house.

Friday and Saturday the restaurant will be open during normal hours (1 to 8:30PM, Monday and Friday; 3 to 8:30PM, Wednesday and Thursday and noon to 8:30PM, Saturday and Sunday), and the menu will include some entrees from the 1973 menu, priced appropriately at $19.73 each.

Emphasizing the musical tradition at the Fife, Friday evening, singer Wanda Houston will join pianist Larry Ham and guitarist George Potts for a special evening of music.

To end the weekend, the Sunday brunch menu will be served with a specially priced “brunch-for-two” at—you guessed it!— $50. And from Friday through Sunday, 50th anniversary gift items will be given away, along with 350 annual anniversary sealed gift certificates valued between $10 to $50.

Kent had not yet solidified its position as a destination community, when Dolph Traymon—weary of his peripatetic life at the piano, accompanying everyone from Rudy Valle to Frank Sinatra—decided to put down roots. He and his wife, Audrey, saw the potential in the somewhat-tired roadhouse at the north end of Kent which had served as a hostelry since the 1830s.

The couple soon turned it into a gathering place for locals and travelers alike but it was Traymon that provided the signature touch, regularly taking his place at his Steinway piano to entertain his guests. It was a tradition he maintained for decades before his death on Christmas Eve 2016.

His enthusiasm for his new lifestyle was catching. His daughter, Elissa, who originally dreamt of being a journalist, quickly fell under the sway of the restaurant. “I was going to be the next editor of Vogue,” she recalled. “But while I was in college, I spent my vacations working at the restaurant and fell in love with it.” So deep was the bond that it remains unbroken after 47 years.

“I have been here since June 1976,” she said. “I worked for him that first year and never looked back. I inherited his incredible passion for this.”

Her dedication to the business and its patrons has paid off. “When Covid hit, the first couple of days, we did $500 worth of business and I thought, ‘There is no way that is going to support this business.’ But over the last few years people have been so incredibly supportive. I looked around town and thought, ‘We have been given an opportunity and we cannot squander it.”

Potts says that Covid has changed some aspects of her business—people dine earlier, for instance—and the restaurant has permanently given up lunch service.

People may want to eat earlier for reasons unknown but with Covid no longer a lethal threat, they are eager to get out. “We are seeing people going out again,” she said. “We did New Year’s Eve again this year and it was like the wheels came off.”

Menus vary with changes in chefs but she says there are still “steady eddys” among the offerings. Caesar salads are still made table-side and the roast duck is still carved for individual patrons. “New chefs bring new ideas,” she said, “and we try to bear in mind trendy items. We print new menus every day, so if a dish doesn’t work, we just change it and move on to something else.”

The death of her father and Covid came in close succession and each brought its own adjustments. “My father loved playing music so much. Sometimes he would come down here even when the restaurant was closed and play as if the room were full. Customers loved listening to him and after Dad died, I thought, ‘We have to do something.’”

Happily, the Steinway is no longer silent, with pianist, composer and arranger, Larry Ham, at the keyboard on weekends. Like Traymon, Ham made a career touring and recording with many of the music world’s great artists. “He’s really accomplished,” reports Potts. “He’s traveled the world but now he is in a position where he can stay up here.”

If Ham is not present Potts husband, George, an accomplished musician in his own right, sometimes performs on his guitar.

Reservations are advised for this weekend’s festivities. Potts said the Main Tap room is already filled but there some seating in the south dining room on Friday. There is also seating available on Saturday and Sunday. For reservations, call 860-927-3509.