The Florentine

Bryce & Sheree Henson, are the new owners of The Florentine in Germantown, as of 11am today.  No strangers to business ownership, the couple purchased The Creamery at Market & Main about 3 1/2 years ago, which serves up coffee, espresso, muffins and ice cream from Young’s Jersey Dairy. About a year after that acquistion they purchased  the tanning salon, Tan & Co.  And for about a year they started talking about The Florentine.

And as of today they’ve made that happen.  Sheree, who grow up in Germantown had found memories of going there for special occasions with her family.  She and Bryce, who’ve been married for 20 years, love the historic past of the Florentine, which was opened 1814  by Philip Gunckel, the founder of Germantown, to welcome travelers as they passed through Germantown. They are looking to build on the nostalgia and history of this business.  They’d love to hear from you if you have pictures or stories of your visits there over the years.

The Henson family

With eight children it’s just not possible for them to be hands on full time in the restaurant so they’ve hired  Nick Paglione as their general manager.  He’ll work on tweaking the menu and elevating some of the dishes.  Bryce says he’s a huge steak fan, so they’ll continue to have great steaks, but look for a few different preparations to be added. He says his wife wife has added a fantastic Brussel sprout dish to the menu and they will also be adding a lobster mac and cheese.   They will also use their expertise from The Creamery to add some coffee drinks and cocktails to the menu, including an Affogato-an espresso served over ice cream.

Other changes coming include removing some of the tables from the bar side and adding some leather couches around the fireplace and having a custom made community table built to add to that space to create a warm , welcoming cozy tavern feel.  Other plans include adding a large patio this spring.

The Florentine