William Ashmore, proprietor of Ivy and Stoddard’s Fine Food & AleDowntown Crossing, that once-desolate grid of strip clubs and abandoned shops, seems happier these days. Why? It’s largely thanks to William Ashmore. He runs Ivy and the soon-to-open Stoddard’s Fine Food & Ale, two restaurants that are reinvigorating his beloved neighborhood. His latest venture, Stoddard’s — which he’s building himself — captures the area’s history. The pub, he says, will be a “man’s place.” Its cocktails, throwbacks like smashes and rickeys, will all be circa 1868. The bar is a turn-of-the-century replica, 30 feet long. (And so, of course, he’ll have 30 beers on tap.) The menu will offer testosterone-friendly plates like goulash and marrow-brushed burgers. There will even be a proper shoeshine station. This is not the sort of place, he chuckles, where you’ll find flavored vodka. As for the clientele? “We’re providing alternative places for people who’ve grown up from nightclubs but aren’t locked in their houses watching Wheel of Fortune,” he laughs. We’ll drink to that.
