— by Rob Gurwitt

White River Junction, VT — 3/29/24

Jason Merrill, the “food guy” part of the trio that created Worthy Burger in S. Royalton and then Worthy Kitchen in Woodstock, is adding a third venture to his plate. REDCAN is slated to open its doors in the S. Main Street spot left vacant by Trail Break last December as it prepped for its move to Quechee. REDCAN is aiming to open its doors early this summer.

In a press release (below), Merrill and his wife, Leslie, who are co-owners, say the idea is to create “a comfortable and exquisite Prohibition Era ‘speakeasy’ style restaurant” with not just a bar, but the Upper Valley’s first oyster and raw bar. A chef at Woodstock’s Jackson House Restaurant as well as at the Hanover Inn before teaming up with Dave Brodrick and Kurt Lessard to launch the Worthy empire, Merrill will continue as Worthy’s COO and executive chef. “Worthy Burger is near and dear and special to my soul,” he says. “I love that space.”

But he’s also had the idea for something like REDCAN “brewing in my brain” for a long time. “There was just never the right time to do it. Every space I looked at had some sort of hurdle: Maybe it was purchasing a building that needed a complete gut, or dealing with certain towns—not White River or Lebanon, but other towns—that weren’t helpful. Then we came across the Trail Break space and met [owner] Matt Bucy and we just clicked and came up with an arrangement.”

REDCAN gets its name, Merrill says, in part from bars’ Prohibition-era practice of using color-coded signs to signal what patrons would find inside. But it also has roots in his childhood in Essex Junction. “I had a posse of buddies,” he explains, “and we all knew not to drink my mother’s last Red Can Coke. Nobody ever touched it. We still hang out together, and whenever we’re together there’s always Red Can Coke there. My mother passed away in 2004, so she never got to see the [Worthy] restaurants. REDCAN is a bit of an homage to her.”

At the moment, the space is getting readied—it’s “not a tremendous amount of construction,” Merrill says: “We’re building a couple bars, the oyster bar, doing some dining-room-to-bar separation, and then putting our twist on the space.” As for the restaurant’s vibe, it’s aimed at “traditional table service” that lends itself to “sharing and enjoying meals with friends,” he says, citing a chicken breast with baked potato cake (”basically a riff on baked potatoes, only ‘chefified’”) that could serve as a full meal or come as a smaller dish to get passed around.

Oh, and no: There’ll be no hamburger on the menu. “I’ve made a lot of burgers in my life,” Merrill says. “You can’t get a better burger than a Worthy Burger. This is just not the space for it.”

Here’s the REDCAN official announcement:

REDCAN is a comfortable and exquisite Prohibition Era ‘speakeasy’ style restaurant. We will be featuring Vermont’s finest beers on draught, an artisanal wine list, a selection of spirits that tie in contemporary favorites to creative new-age, all along-side timeless classics from the Prohibition era.   At REDCAN our mission is to attract a community of like-minded people who enjoy the impeccable choices of local farm-fresh meats, cheese, vegetables, fresh fish and unique libations.

REDCAN’s menu will highlight our passion for high quality coastal Atlantic fish and local Vermont meats. REDCAN will have the Upper Valley’s first oyster and raw bar.  We will be sourcing our meats, pork and chicken from area farms. All plates will showcase fresh fish, local meats and vegetables, house made breads and homemade pastas.

REDCAN will be open for dinner service five days a week (Tuesday-Saturday), opening at 4:00pm.

REDCAN plans to open for service early Summer 2024.

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