Hunter Thomas of 20° Brix and Padrino Italian

In April 2025, at our awards gala, we presented the first ever Oracle Award to Hunter Thomas of 20 Brix and Padrino. The Oracle Award honors “those whose vision and foresight guide our community toward a brighter future.” It was created for Hunter because of all he has done for Milford.

Back in 2007, one of the longstanding businesses in downtown Milford was a barbershop at the corner of Main St. and Garfield. Many of you may remember this – and you probably also remember when that barbershop burned down.

At that time, downtown Milford was not much of a “destination” – it was not well-known except by locals, and the shops did not draw many from outside the area. So imagine everyone’s shock when it was announced that an upscale restaurant and wine bar was going in where the barbershop had been! Are they crazy, we wondered? How in the world are they going to make it?

And Hunter Thomas had many of the same thoughts – but he saw possibility here, the potential for this town to grow and develop into something really special. And he took that chance and opened 20° Brix, followed shortly by Padrino.

This was really the start of the Renaissance of downtown Milford. These two restaurants began to bring more people to downtown – they themselves were destinations, and that led to all of downtown morphing and changing and growing and becoming a “place to be” in and of itself.

This year, 20 Brix is celebrating 18 years, and Padrino 16 years! These two restaurants continue to grow and evolve, but their quality has been a constant and has attracted a variety of other high-quality businesses to the area.

We have Hunter’s foresight – his “oracleness” if you will – to thank for the beautiful town – the destination – we all enjoy today. Hunter, thank you for seeing something in our area, for taking a chance and investing your time, funds, and faith, with the hope of that seed growing. It paid off, and we appreciate you for it!