When the Milton Dough Bar announced they would be moving to Milford, there was much speculation on where they would relocate. Although the restaurant was a staple in Milton, many Milford area residents were fans of the location.
“We are coming to Milford because I think we are a little jaded with Milton,” Kristen Latham, who owns the business with her husband, Mark, said. “We’ve been there ten years and done everything from a coffee shop to the Foxhole and the Dough Bar. We looked at a couple places in Milford and had almost decided to purchase the former Watson auction space.”
Latham said the couple had been friends with Bryan and Sherry Shupe for a while and, when the Farmacy moved out of the Walnut Street building to open a larger location next to Fur Baby, the Latham’s asked to see the empty space.
“As soon as I walked in the door, I told Mark I loved it,” Latham said. “It was perfect for the vision I had for the new location.”
According to the Latham’s, the new location will be much different than the current Dough Bar in Milton. She joked that this would be as if the “Fox Hole and Dough Bar had a baby.” Because they cannot have more than 50 people due to sprinkler requirements, it will be a bistro style restaurant.
“The downstairs as you come in will have a bar with a few small tables if people want to sit and enjoy a glass of wine or grab a bite to eat,” Latham said. “But it will have a strong carry-out business as well.”
Next to the bar, the Latham’s are adding a kitchen and hoping to open that into the back rooms. On the other side of the room, sliding barn doors will open to reveal a state-of-the-art wine bar.
“These will be self-dispensing machines that use a card filled at the register,” Latham said. “You simply slide the card into the slot in the machine and choose a one, two or three-ounce pour. The cards are required to limit the amount of wine each person can get, so it is recommended everyone get their own card when they come in.”
Upstairs in the loft area of the building, Latham hopes to have a chef gallery with just a few tables.
“This will be reservation only with local chefs, like Paul Cullen, create their own menu once each month,” Latham said. “The menu will be announced and people can make reservations. We are hoping to highlight some of the young, up-and-coming chefs as well as the established ones in the area. At the end of the weekend, we share a portion of the profits with the chef.”
Latham also plans to do cocktail flights and says their famous soup flight will return. The goal is to create a space that is elevated casual with their well-known focus on customer service.
“That’s what we want to come to Milford with. We’re supposed to be out of the Milton location by December,” Latham said. “So, we are hoping to be out of there and into this location by then.”
The Milton Dough Bar was well-known for their outdoor seating on the river with plastic “bubbles” that allowed people to dine outdoors even if it was raining. They will be unable to provide that type of seating at the new location, but Latham explained that the “bubbles” were all damaged this winter.
“I want to find out who owns the two garages behind this building because I think we could create a really cute coffee bar in one and additional outdoor seating in the other,” Latham said. “But that is down the road a bit. For now, we are focused in getting the restaurant open.”
The Dough Bar, as it will now be known, is scheduled to open by December of this year. At this time, the Lathams are not sure what their hours will be but will post them as soon as they finalize them.
