• Courtesy Of Shem Roose
• Biscuits and green gravy

Since the Big Spruce opened in Richmond in November 2020, it has focused on Mexican-accented dinner, including tacos, enchiladas and sopes. Last week, the restaurant at 39 Bridge Street launched a fresh menu that retains a few of those favorites while adding breakfast and lunch service and new dinner items. Customers can now start the day at Big Spruce with biscuits and green gravy or country-fried chicken, then order an Italian beef sandwich for lunch or pot roast for dinner.

Big Spruce owner Gabriel Firman, 50, who also owns Hatchet across the street, described the revised approach as "modern diner." In a challenging economic environment that has restaurant owners constantly reevaluating, Firman said "it's the biggest pivot we've made."

The restaurateur said the community's interest in breakfast played a large role in driving the changes. New lunch and dinner items will include a roster of what Firman called "the greatest sandwiches ever invented," such as a BLT, a meatball sub, a Philly-style hoagie and the New York City bodega classic known as chopped cheese.

The kitchen has been under new leadership since October, when David Haskell, 37, most recently chef de cuisine at Starry Night Café in Ferrisburgh, took over as executive chef. To build the morning menu, the Big Spruce team worked with consultant Maura O'Sullivan, former kitchen manager at Penny Cluse Café and partner in the Majestic restaurant, coming this spring to Burlington.

Penny Cluse fans may recognize Big Spruce's green gravy served with biscuits as a close relative of the herb gravy at the shuttered Penny Cluse. O'Sullivan herself highly recommends the chocolate babka, a recipe from Firman's mother-in-law.