• Melissa Pasanen ©️ Seven Days
• The bar and lounge at Electra's Restaurant.

Donnell Collins, chef-owner of Leunig's Bistro & Café and the Petit Bijou kiosk in Burlington and Le Marché Café in Shelburne, plans to open Electra's Restaurant in mid-October in the Shelburne spot formerly occupied by the Bearded Frog. The latter restaurant closed in August 2022 due to short staffing.

The chef became sole owner of Leunig's in early 2020 and opened her Shelburne café and bakery in December 2022. She lives with her family around the corner from the new restaurant, which is at 5247 Shelburne Road.

Collins has been working with a team to renovate the 110-seat restaurant in the Shelburne Inn, which dates back to 1796. She described herself as excited to have a project that is her own "from start to finish," saying that Electra's "is kinda like my passion project."

• File: James Buck
• Donnell Collins

The restaurant has no affiliation with the nearby Shelburne Museum founded by Electra Havemeyer Webb, Collins clarified: "The name came from my friend's cat, who happens to be Electra as well."

Like the museum, however, Electra's will transport guests back in history — with its atmosphere and its locally sourced menu prepared with traditional methods of slow-grilling and braising that the chef calls "colonial American."

"We're keeping it to the history of the Shelburne Inn, the décor of that era, going back to something that was refined ... classic, with a lot of drapery," Collins said. "I just want to slow things down."

Renovations have included turning the area that was the Bearded Frog's bar into a separate dining room, which will be available for private events, and building an expanded bar and lounge in the adjacent storefront, which was previously Green Pasture Meats. Learn more at electrasrestaurant.com.