1833 Kitchen & Bar

The room before it slips

Bernard Simmons reads the room as Restaurant Manager at 1833 Kitchen & Bar in Aurora, keeping the pass, the floor, and the wine program in sequence before service shows strain. His work here is not a performance of authority; it is the practiced habit of noticing where a table is in its meal, where a bottle should land, and when the room needs less talk and more movement. Before this station, Simmons built that range across beverage and operations. At Walley’s, where he worked as Beverage Manager from 2012–2015, the bottle list and the atmosphere had to move together. At The Krebs, as Wine Director and sommelier from 2015–2017, he stood closer to the guest-facing discipline of wine service, with category knowledge tied to pacing. Food and Beverage Manager at del Lago Resort & Casino from 2017–2020 added scale, then Restaurant Manager at Inns of Aurora Resort & Spa from 2020–2025 brought floor control, beverage judgment, and guest sequence into one frame. At 1833 Kitchen & Bar, that accumulation sits inside a historic inn dining room where the work depends on timing more than flourish.

A Finger Lakes table with a wine spine

The kitchen works from a farm-to-table brief rooted in the Finger Lakes, with scratch-made preparations where possible and sourcing from local purveyors and responsible harvesters. The menu keeps an American shape, seasonal rather than fixed, with Beef Carpaccio, Smoked Hudson Valley Steelhead, Bolognese, Lobster stew, and Halibut among the dishes associated with the house. The dining format moves between a la carte service and family-style group menus, giving the kitchen two kinds of discipline: the single plate at the pass and the shared table that has to arrive with the same measure of heat, seasoning, and ease. Wine gives the room its second structure. 1833 Kitchen & Bar holds a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for its list, and Simmons’ background makes that recognition feel integrated rather than ornamental. A list has to fit the food, the pace of the table, and the mood of the room. Here, the cellar is part of service, not a separate trophy case.

Inside the Aurora Inn dining room

The room carries the weight of the Aurora Inn without letting history turn stiff. The building dates to 1833, and the restaurant’s name keeps that year in plain sight, but the service style remains upscale casual rather than ceremonial. Wood, warmth, and the Finger Lakes setting do much of the atmospheric work; the rest comes from how the floor holds itself. Conversation can stay at the table. The pass has enough polish for a special dinner, while the counterpoint is local sourcing, sustainable seafood, and a kitchen that treats regional ingredients as the starting point rather than a theme. On a busy night, Simmons’ hand is most visible in what does not snag: the bottle placed before the plate, the table reset cleanly, the room returning to cadence inside the Aurora Inn.