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…And Dinner Becomes an Experience
The dinner is a dinner is a dinner. Sometimes we eat just to satisfy the basic bodily crave for energy. We put something in the mouth, doesn’t really matter what, hopefully chew on it (or not) before gulping it down, and we are done. Then there are family dinners, let’s say spaghetti and meatballs – everything is home made and tasty, but the school day, upcoming play and huge homework project due tomorrow take over the whole experience. And then there are dinners where the food is perfect, the wine pairing is spot on and the good company of friends is amazing – those dinners become the experience.
We have a tradition with our friends – an adults getaway during late summer or early fall. Find B&B to stay within 2-3 hours of driving distance, visit nature trails, little towns and museums, visit wineries, have a good dinner, have fun and most importantly, enjoy the company of each other. Simple, isn’t it? This year would be the our fourth time doing this, and most of our trips had been described in this blog to the various degree. In 2010, we had a great time in Milford, Pennsylvania, and our dinner was definitely an experience. For that dinner, we were allowed to bring our own wines, so we managed to create the special experience (you can read about it here). The next year we went to the Grafton, Vermont – of course we had a great time, but when in Vermont, the cheese is much bigger deal than wine, so it didn’t really make it into this blog, and dinner didn’t make it into the “experience” level. Last year we stayed in the little town in the area of Woodstock, NY (the town was called Palenville), and the highlight of the trip was the visit to the Hudson Distillery (nope, dinner didn’t make it again). This year, we happened to stay in my home state, Connecticut, in the town of Norfolk. We had a great time visiting Connecticut wineries and visiting places in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts (yep, you can move through all three states within 20 minutes of driving), but the highlight was … yes, you got it – the dinner.
Norfolk, a little town in northern Connecticut, is not exactly a Michelin-starred restaurant oasis. However, does the food needs to be acknowledged with the Micheline star to be good? Not really. It only takes a little bit of love and a little bit of soul. And when we take the soulful food, we can elevate it to the next level with … wine, of course (you didn’t expect me to say coke, didn’t you). And this is how you create an experience – one dish, one wine.
Once we had our plans for Norfolk set (meaning – we reserved our B&B), we reached out to the few restaurants in the area. We said that we are coming in a large group, and we asked for the special tasting menu, which we can pair with wine (preferably brought by us). Chef Heidi Dinsmore of the Wood Creek Bar and Grill offered a tasting menu – and graciously allowed us to bring our own wines without even charging a corking fee. The rest is history – one of the best dinner experiences ever, which you can see (sorry, only see) below.
Appetizers
Crostini with Roasted Pear Gorgonzola and a Balsamic Drizzle
Wine: 2009 Graham Beck Brut Rosé, South Africa
There was a nice combination of flavors in crostini, but we could probably use more pear and less cheese, and the toast itself could probably be a bit less garlic-y. The South African sparkler was very classic, with nice toasted nose, touch of yeast and fine mousse. As for the pairing, I would call it “unoffensive” – both the crostini and wine stayed in its own universe, and they didn’t collide nor complement each other.
Micro greens with Strawberries and a Lemon Vinaigrette
Wine: 2013 La Ferme Saint Pierre Cuvée Juliette Rosé Côtes du Ventoux, France
Salad was nice and fresh (what else do you want from the green salad, right?), and the wine had a nice strawberry profile. The pairing was excellent, the wine really complemented and enhanced the dish, despite the “simple salad” nature of it.
Shrimp with a Champagne Beurre Blanc
Wine: 2011 Bodegas La Cana Albariño Rias Baixas, Spain
Shrimp was cooked perfectly, and Beurre Blanc sauce was outstanding. La Cana Albariño is one of my favorite wines, and this bottle was no exception – bright fruit profile on the nose, but restrained and delicious on the palate. And the pairing? Spectacular, simply spot on. Wine’s acidity was a great complement to the sauce, so the dish was greatly enhanced.
Main Course
Poached Halibut over Spinach, Saffron Heirloom Tomato Sauce
Wine: 2012 Buil & Giné Joan Giné Blanc, Priorat DOQ, Spain
Halibut, which is one of my favorite types of fish, was done “just right”, and together with spinach and the sauce was creating just one spectacular flavor pop. And then the wine… This wine deserves a whole blog post dedicated just to that wine by itself. White Priorat, a blend of 40% White Grenache, 36% Macabeo, 20% Viognier and 4% Pedro Ximenez had stunning complexity – orange peel, white stone fruit, minerality – really an excellent wine, rivaling best Chardonnays. And together with the dish? Another spectacular, spot on pairing, complementing and greatly enhancing flavor.
Beef Tenderloin over Mashed Celery Root, Bordelaise, Tiny mini Potato au Gratin
Wine: 2010 Château de Pibarnon Bandol Rouge Les Restanques de Pibarnon, Bandol, France
Beef was perfectly cooked, and together with the celery root and Bordelaise sauce, every bite was literally divine. The Bandol wine, which is 90% Mourvedre and 10% Grenache, had a warm spice flavor profile, so together with the steak the pairing was just outright delicious.
Guinness Marinated Pork, Cherry Au Jus, Arugula, Crispy Polenta
Wine: 2011 Bodegas Caro ‘Amancaya’ Gran Reserva Malbec – Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendoza, Argentina
The pork was melting in the mouth and the combination with cherries was excellent. The wine, made from two of the Argentina star grapes – Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, had an open nose with spicy, cherry-loaded palate. As you can imagine, cherries in the sauce and in the wine played together wonderfully, creating – yep, again – a super-successful pairing.
Dessert
Fresh-made Sorbetto – delicious, clean, refreshing. Perfectly restored the palate before the dessert course.
Chocolate Tart with Fresh Fruit
Wine: 2000 Philip Togni Vineyard Ca’ Togni Sweet Red, Napa Valley
You can’t go wrong with the chocolate, and this dessert was a great proof of that – every bite was a decadent pleasure. And the wine… What can I tell you? It was definitely a mature wine, fragrant, with some sweet cherry notes and balancing acidity. Based on the information on producer’s web site, this wine was inspired by the famous South African dessert wine Klein Constantia, and it is produced from the grape called Black Hamburg (known as Black Muscat), which is quite rare in Napa Valley – and it is also a new grape for me (!). The wine perfectly complemented and literally added a new dimension to the chocolate tart, so our final pairing was again “just perfect”.
Chef Heidi Dinsmore
As we were settling into the dessert, Chef Heidi Dinsmore, the creator of the delicious experience, came to talk to us, so we had an opportunity to thank her and to tell her how much we enjoyed our evening, and how delicious the food was. If you are ever in the area of Norfolk, Connecticut, Wood Creek Bar and Grill should be on your list. Ahh, and I also have to say a very big thank you to our waitress Jessica, who did an amazing job managing our wine program, opening the bottles, changing the glasses and of course serving food – she was absolutely fantastic.
There you have it, my friends – the food, the wine and the company – a simple recipe for an unforgettable experience. Cheers!
Wood Creek Bar and Grill
3 Station Place
Norfolk, CT 06058
(860) 542-1200
http://www.woodcreekbarandgrill.com
Restaurant Files: Modern Classic or Classic Modern? Carl Anthony Trattoria in Monroe, CT
When it comes to the Italian cuisine, or probably any cuisine for that matter, what constitutes a “classic cuisine” for you? Old familiar dishes, which stay unchanged for many many years (if it works, don’t touch it)? And then another question is what is the “modern cuisine”? You change the recipe all the time, just to make sure you use ingredients which are “in vogue” (like pork belly or Brussels sprouts today)? Or do you take the familiar dish and put a spin on it? If you ask me, I’m all for the “tasty” – I’ve had classics such as fried calamari or mozzarella sticks done in many unusual ways, so I generally don’t trouble myself with classification “classic versus modern” – if it tastes good, that’s all I want (okay, it is definitely a bonus when food also looks good).
Let me explain why I am taking about this classic/modern relationship. Few weeks ago we visited restaurant called Carl Anthony Trattoria in Monroe, Connecticut. The restaurant had been around for 15 years, and while it has a decidedly Italian flair, the menu represents that exact combination of classic and modern dishes I’m talking about here. You know what – forget this classic and modern – creative is the right word – and I think you will agree with me when we will be talking about food. But – let’s start with cocktails and wine.
The cocktail list was very creative (aha, see, I used that word again) – and here are some of the cocktails we tasted: Mambo Italiano (Averno Amaro, muddled mint and lemons, ginger ale), Black Cherry Mojito (Cruzan Black Cherry Rum, muddled mint and cherry), Cucumber Gimlet (Pearl Cucumber-fresh basil, lemon and lime juice on the rocks) and Clementine Caipirinha (Leblon Cachaça, St. Germain, clementine, orange & lime). Caipirinha was nice, but not necessarily my favorite – I simply prefer more lime.
The highlight of the cocktail extravaganza was the concoction called Campfire (graham cracker glass rim drizzled with chocolate syrup, Smirnoff Fluff Vodka, Baileys, flaming marshmallows). While I didn’t taste it, I captured it in the making:
When it comes to the wine, we didn’t really get a chance to look at the wine list, the wine were preselected for our dinner. The choice of red was 2011 San Giuseppe Pinot Noir Veneto IGT (12% ABV). I’m yet to find a Pinot Noir (or a Pinot Nero as it is typically called) from Italy which I would like – this was definitely not the one. This wine was flat and boring – it was drinkable, but really had no life in it (Drinkability: 7- ). The white wine, 2012 Donnachiara Fiano de Avelino DOCG Montefalcione (13% ABV) was very good – sweet fruit on the nose, plump, open, with touch of minerality and fresh cut grass, nice acidity (Drinkability: 8- ).
And now, to the food!
We started with the two appetizers: Bleu Chips (hand-cut potato chips, gorgonzola fonduta, fig jam, bacon) – a delicious combination, and besides – who can say no to the potato chips? And then the “Original” Balsamic Calamari – the name says it all – it is fried calamari, drizzled with the balsamic reduction – a somewhat unexpected, but a very tasty combination.
Our dinner continued with more appetizers. First, Heirloom Tomato Salad Bruschetta, where you could actually taste a difference in the tomatoes (many times I bought so called heirloom tomatoes in the store which tasted exactly the same as regular tomatoes). Next dish, Charred Hierloom Carrots (straciatella cheese, cilantro-honey citronette) was one of my favorites, as it was simple, yet delicious (I since made the carrots on the grill in the same style, and everybody loved them). Kobe Meatballs (tomato sauce, garlic bread) were very nice, but not necessarily better or worse many other well-made meatballs ( which to me means that they shouldn’t be too dense, and these were just fine). Burrata (bacon jam, pepperoncino) was traditionally delicious, but my very favorite appetizer was Fig & Beet (baby greens, goat cheese ricotta, onion, wildflower honey toasted oats, marcona almonds, Vincotto) – I’m very impartial to the beets salad in any shape and form, and the flavor combination of the beets, marcona almonds and figs was just spot on.
Next we had two entrees family style. “Loaded Baked Potato” Gnocci (hand-made potato pasta pillows, smoked bacon, broccoli, Italian cheddar) was can’t-stop-eating-this delicious and incredibly satisfying. I would even say “homey”, but – this is a descriptor for the next dish. Italian “Ramen” (hand-made noodles, chicken broth, local egg, parmigiano, pepperoncino) had such a surprising simplicity to it, nevertheless the whole table went “wow” after the first sip. I don’t know if chef Sam used some kind of magic potion on this soup, but despite the hot day, this soup was literally warming up the whole body and soul, and this dish alone will definitely worth a separate trip as the temperatures will stop dropping. Our last entree was served on individual plates, and consisted of Pig Roast (slow roasted “Porchetta alla Romana”, broccoli rabe, pickled farm stand tomato) and Wild Ivory King Salmon (spicy spinach, Sultana raisin vinaigrette, walnut romesco aioli). The Pig Roast was perfectly done – meat was falling apart, while the skin was delightfully crisp. And the Ivory King Salmon? Wow. This was my very first encounter with the white salmon – delicious, mild flavor profile, again, very comforting and satisfying.
Believe it or not, but we still got dessert after such a meal. Blueberry Upside-down cake was every morsel delicious. Then Coffee & Doughnuts. I can tell you that in general, I’m not a fan of doughnuts. But this cappuccino/chocolate semifreddo sauce was beyond delicious, it was divine – together with the doughnut, it was one incredible flavor combination. And the Quattro Crème Brûlée? You must love this dish for the presentation alone – and as a bonus, it was outright delicious.
As usual, we had an opportunity to talk to the Executive Chef and Owner Sam DeVillis:
and of course we thanked him wholeheartedly for the spectacular meal.
There you have it, my friends. I can’t tell you if our dinner was more of a classic or modern, but it was top notch creative, and in and out delicious. As Carl Anthony Trattoria celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, I can only wish Chef Sam and his team best of luck to continue satisfying all the demanding foodies for many many years ahead. Cheers!
Disclaimer: I visited the restaurant as a guest of the management. All opinions are my own.
Carl Anthony Trattoria
Clocktower Square
477 Main St
Monroe, CT 06468
(203) 268-8486
http://www.carlanthonys.com/index.htm
Spring [Menu] Has Arrived to Bailey’s Backyard in Ridgefield, CT
What do you expect when you go to the farm-to-table restaurant? Probably that everything will be fresh, locally produced and seasonal? I like that “seasonal” part very much, as it means you can visit the same restaurant many times, and every time expect to see a different menu. You know that the taste and quality will be there, but then it is the foodie adventure served right up for you, the dilemma being solved without you thinking “hmmm, this is what I had the last time, it was good, so should I take it again?”.
The new season – Spring – has arrived to Connecticut (considering the way this last winter was, I wonder how many people didn’t expect spring to arrive at all), and it also arrived to the new menu at the Bailey’s Backyard restaurant, which I already wrote about the last Fall. I was very excited to visit the restaurant and try all the new food, as since the first visit, it became one of the favorite restaurants not only for me, but also for a few friends who were very happy with my recommendation. I was a bit short on time, so I had to leave before trying a few dishes, but nevertheless, there were lots of very tasty dishes which I need to tell you about.
The dinner was served with a number of cocktails – and it is not only food which is fresh and locally made at Bailey’s Backyard – all the cocktails, artfully imagined by the master-of-all-liquid-cocncoctions, Bryan, contained some of the ingredients which were locally made, like ginger infused vodka or mint-infused rum. Here are the cocktails which were served at the dinner:
Six Toed Cat (Blueberry & Mint Infused Rum, Lime, Fresh Mint, Ginger Beer) – absolutely delicious version of Mojito! Refreshing, bright, with a bit of the liquid happiness served inside.
Don’t Call Me Shirley (House Made Citrus Vodka, Fresh Citrus Juice, Cointreau) – Bryan’s answer to the Cosmopolitan – zingy, refreshing and delicious.
Samuel Clemens (Ginger Infused Vodka, Lemon, Ginger, Black Pepper , Club Soda) and Rude Barbara (White Rum, strawberry-Rhubarb Puree, Lime) – I didn’t get the chance to try these two, but I’m sure they were every bit as delicious as the previous two.
And then, there was food (and lots of it).
Chicken Liver & Grand Marnier Pate (Apricot Mustard, Thyme Toast) – if you are a fan of the chicken liver (like I am), this was the perfect dish, delicious combination of flavors, all melding very well together.
“Devils on the Horseback” (North Country Bacon, Armagnac Plums, Pear) – bacon and plums – who would’ve thought? It was actually very tasty.
Goat Cheese Profiterole (Aged Balsamic/Crispy Parmesan/Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette) – goat cheese profiterole – just say it a few times – does it produce a moth watering sensation in your mouth? Delicious! And I would take it over the actual dessert profiteroles at any time.
Zucchini Fries (Shaved Parmesan, Pecan Puree, Mint) – I love zucchini in all shapes and forms, and lately I encountered a number of indigenous dishes in few restaurants, with zucchini being simply a star. This dish was one of them – perfect combination of the light crunch outside and delicate zucchini slice inside.
Tempura Vegetables (Sweet Potato, Asparagus, Red opinion, Cashew powder, Hoisin Sauce) – perfectly executed, very light and delicious.
Grilled Asparagus Salad (Frisée/Prosciutto, Black Truffle Hollandaise, Shaved Pecorino, Herbed Red Wine Vinaigrette) – great acidity, very refreshing, and black truffle Hollandaise…. black truffle… need I say more?
Hawaiian Ahi Tuna Poke (sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce, Wakame, Black Sesame seed, Puffed Wonton) – one of the most delicious tuna dishes ever. Incredible flavor profile, just right amount of heat – close your eyes, and you are in Hawaii…
Whipped Foie Gras with Caramelized Onion Perogi (red wine pearl onions, Chive Crema, white truffle and Bacon Powder) – as Chef Forrest presented the dish, he explained it as a “rich man – poor man” play. The luxurious creaminess of the whipped foie gras paired with simple goodness of the onion perogi – this dish was a textural heaven, combined with the great balance of flavors.
The two dishes which I had to miss were Firecracker Rock Shrimp Scampi (Hand cut Linguine, Diced Shallots, Roasted garlic, Meyer Lemon) and Slow Roasted Suckling Pig (yellow corn Fritters, Lavender, Buttered peas, crackling-red eye gravy) – well, that gives me an incentive to visit the restaurant rather sooner than later.
And we are done here. I just want to say Thank You to the Executive Chef Forrest Pasternack, Bryan and Sal for the evening of great food and great cocktails. Until the next time – cheers!
Disclaimer: I attended the dinner as a guest of management. All opinions are my own.
Bailey’s Backyard
23 Bailey Avenue
Ridgefield, CT 06877
Frank Pepe – Heavenly Pizza in New Haven
During our bloggers lunch at Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in Fairfield, CT (here is the link for the fascinating story of the Frank Pepe family and many interesting pizza facts), I learned that charcoal pizza ovens are not created all the same – they need to be seasoned. For the most of the cases, similar to the aging of the wine, oven seasoning is a very gradual process. It simply requires millions of the pizzas to be made over the years in the same oven, over and over again. Pizza oven in New Haven, where Frank Pepe started, is rightly known to be producing very best Frank Pepe pizzas, so during the spring school break, I was determined to go experience Frank Pepe pizza at the source.
I like to see a line at the entrance to the restaurant. Well, kind of. It might suck to stand in line – but when you see the line, it means that the place worth it.
I also can’t really complain about our wait – it took us less than 10 minutes to be seated on Friday at 1 PM during the school break. I was told that over the weekend, the line can extend for the half of the street, but it still worth it.
We got to our table, figured out what we want to eat, ordered the food. While we were waiting for the food to arrive, I took an opportunity to snap a few pictures of the pizza in the process of making. I could probably stand there for an hour, watching well orchestrated, visual symphony of pizzas been assembled, put into the oven, moved inside the oven and coming outside of the oven and being placed on the tray to be delivered to the table. Pictures don’t do the justice to this performance, next time I have to record a video…
We ordered three pizzas. The Original Tomato Pie with Mozzarella, The Original Pie with Bacon and Mushrooms and of course the #1, White Clam Pizza. In a word, incredible. Yes, all three. In the White Clam pizza, the balance of garlic and herbs with the sweetness of fresh clams was just something incredible. The Original Pie – just enough of everything, just perfectly enough. With its seeming simplicity, it is so easy to make even the regular cheese pizza absolutely inedible – too much cheese, too oily, strangely tasting tomatoes, soggy, chewy, tasteless crust – the list of potential pizza flaws is very long. When you taste the Frank Pepe pizza, you taste a perfection. The crust, perfectly charred, perfectly fresh, airy, and sweet and crispy – absolutely a “wow”. I would gladly come back to Frank Pepe pizza to just to eat enough of that crust. The original pie with bacon and mushrooms? Yes, you got it again – perfectly delicious. Smokey bacon, cooked to the perfect consistency – just a fiery of flavor. Ahh, and that crust…
I can tell you – I had a proof that this was absolutely the best pizza when I heard my kids raving about it talking to their friends – our kids are discerning eaters ( yes, you can call them spoiled like that, okay) – so if they are raving about the food, it worth something. And another testament to that – when the friend asked my daughter if that pizza was worth an hour ride in the car, the answer was – absolutely.
Yes, Frank Pepe pizzeria worth a trip – whether you live close enough, or visiting – I highly recommend you will add Frank Pepe Pizzeria (in New Haven, if you can!) to the list of “must experience” attractions. You can thank me later. And by the way – drop me a note – I will be happy to join you. Cheers!
Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana
157 Wooster Street
New Haven, CT 06511
203-865-5762
http://www.pepespizzeria.com/
A Night of Great Food and Great Wine – Arezzo in Westport, CT
Have you ever been in the situation where you read about the restaurant and look at the menu, and your first thought is “ahh, it’s that same thing again…”? Continuing the situation, how many times did you actually still ended up going to the restaurant, and afterwards were glad you did? My personal account – more often than I care to admit! My latest experience – the restaurant called Arezzo Ristorante & Bar in Westport, Connecticut.
Arezzo is located at the intersection of route 1 and Riverside Ave, with its patio overlooking Saugatuck river. While restaurant had been in the same location for a while, you can consider it brand new – Juan Ceballos and chefs/brothers Llanos are the new owners of the Arezzo restaurant.
What I really like in the restaurants is the diversity of the setting – this is when the restaurant inside doesn’t look “uniformly the same”. Arezzo has a number of different areas – a spacious bar, almost as a separate room, a “foyer” with soft and comfy chairs, the main dining room, huge patio – you can come to the restaurant many times and every time discover something new.
Open kitchen and huge wood-fired oven, imported directly from Italy, are definitely creating the next level of excitement for the guests – I don’t know about you, but I can stare at the tamed flames for a very long time…
We started our evening in the bar. I personally made a rookie mistake of ordering Espresso Martini as my first drink – while very tasty, this was definitely a drink to have after the meal, not before. Well, I’m still working on my cocktail culture…
As usual, a few words about the wine list. May be only two words – Very Good. While the list is not big (which is a good thing in many cases – flipping through 50 pages looking for a bottle of wine is not the fun for all), it is modern, attractive and not boring, sporting a number of unusual wines by the glass together with some safe choices. Bottle selection is also very good, and reasonably priced, which for me is always important.
The wine list is focused on the Italian wines, with some California and France. After the fiasco with espresso martini, I needed to refresh my palate, so I started with 2011 Donnachiara Irpina Coda di Volpe DOC, Campania (13% ABV), the wine made out of indigenous Italian grape from Campania, Coda di Volpe. Bright golden color in the glass, inviting nose of white stone fruit and perfectly vibrant acidity on the palate, paired with dense and round, medium to full body mouthfeel – just what I needed (Drinkability: 7+).
The red wine, suggested by Juan, was an absolute favorite of the group. Renieri is an excellent producer, making the wines in the number of regions in Italy. While I was somewhat familiar with their Brunello wines, this wine was new to me – 2010 Renieri Invetro Ross Toscano IGT (14% ABV), a super-Tuscan blend of 50% Sangiovese, 25% Cabernet and 25% Merlot. Dark ruby in the glass, clean nose of dark red fruit, very inviting, and beautifully refreshing palate – ripe raspberries, cassis, plums, warm spices, touch of minerality, full bodied and perfectly balanced with tannins and acidity in check. Great wine overall. Drinkability: 8+.
And then, there was food.
A number of appetizers were served while we were at the bar.
Pizza Margherita ( fresh tomato, basil, homemade Mozzarella) – fresh, sweet tomato, basil – always a winning combination.
Focaccia Robiola di Arezzo (white truffle oil) – this was sublime, as anything with the right amount of truffle oil.
Lobster Arrancini (saffron aioli and Lemon) – absolutely delicious, very tasty bites!
Rosemary Marinated Shrimp Skewers – one of the group favorites – incredible balance of flavors.
Italian Sausages Skewers with Roasted Peppers – simple and very well executed. Also a pleasure to look at.
The rest of our dinner was served at the table. First, a trio of pasta:
Risotto (fresh porcini mushrooms, truffle oil) – incredible, simply incredible. If you like mushrooms, I’m sure you are not going to leave a single morsel on the plate, no matter how big the portion will be. The umami factor simply doesn’t let you put the fork down.
Short Rib Tortellini (braised us jus sauce) – why all the braised, slow cooked meat invokes such a homey feeling? This was delicious.
Cavatelli ai Piselli (home-made pea-ricotta, how and sweet sausage ragout) – this was perfectly on par with two other dishes – savory and satisfying.
Pan Seared Pink Snapper (caponata purée, fregola, vegetables) – one of the best pieces of fish ever – flaky, perfectly seasoned and cooked.
Roasted New Zealand Lamb Chop (spinach, tomato, Yukon gold potatoes) – to tell you the truth., I’m extremely picky about my lamb chop – I don’t want any fat on it, I want it to be perfectly seasoned, so it will not have that unpleasant lamb flavor – yes, I’m high maintenance when it comes to the lamb chop. So what can I tell you about the lamb chop which was served to us? In a word, wow. In another word – delicious. Seasoning, texture, taste – wow.
For dessert we had Pannacotta and Nutella Pizza – yes, it was very tasty, and I will spare you my lame attempts to describe it.
And we are done here. The only thing left to do, as usual, is to thank Juan Ceballos and Executive Chef Vinicio Llanos for the wonderful food and wine. Whether you are living in the area or visiting, Arezzo will be a perfect dining destination for you. Cheers!
Disclaimer: I attended the restaurant as a guest of management. All opinions are my own.
Arezzo Ristorante & Bar
5 Riverside Ave
Westport, CT 06880
203-557-9375
http://www.arezzowestport.com/
How Hard Is It To Be #1? – Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napolitana
Have you heard of Frank Pepe Pizzeria? Chances are, if you don’t live in Connecticut, you had not. With 2 pizzerias on literally every corner of every town (there are about 70,000 Pizza restaurants in US!), should you be concerned with the fact that possibly you never heard of Frank Pepe Pizzeria? Well, you decide for yourself – according to the Daily Meal publication in October of 2013, White Clam Pizza from Frank Pepe Pizzeria in New Haven, Connecticut was named the Best Pizza in the United States out of 101 pizzas considered for that title (see, may be it is time to visit Connecticut after all?).
So, how hard it is to be #1? Here is one recipe for success – in three easy steps:
- Do one thing, and be very focused on that one thing.
- Do that one thing very very well.
- Keep doing this one thing very very well, over and over again.
Easy enough, right? This is somewhat of a story of the Frank Pepe Pizzeria.
Together with the group of bloggers, I had a great pleasure of meeting Gary, the grandson of Frank Pepe, at the Frank Pepe Pizzeria in Fairfield, CT. Frank Pepe came to the United States at the beginning of the last century from Italy, in his early teens. He came through New York and ended up in New Haven, Connecticut. He got the job at the bakery and macaroni factory, as those were the skills he already had. Frank went back to Italy to fight in the World War I, then came back to the US, got married, and at some point started selling small pizzas from the cart which he was rolling around. His wife encouraged him to open the store in 1925, which he did. This is where the Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napolitana officially started.
Frank managed to run a successful business throughout the depression years. Take a look at the picture of the Frank Pepe sign from those old days. Do you see the words “old reliable” there? It means exactly what it says – the business you can rely on. Always persistent quality, always persistent taste, always there when you need it. Frank was known as the guy you can knock on the window of at 2 AM in the morning, and he will get up and go make a pizza for you. If this is not dedication and reliability, I don’t know what is.
When Frank Pepe passed away in 1969, he had only two daughters; they took over running of the business and got family involved, so now 7 of Frank’s grandchildren run the business. Gary, Frank’s grandson we talked to, started working in the business when he was 14. Just an interesting fact – he took his first vacation when he was … wait for it… 35.
Remember at the beginning of this post I gave you a short list of things you need to do to be the #1? So I can tell you that, as you probably expected, there are few other small things which matter. One of the seemingly “small things” is an attention to details. Let me explain and also give you few really fascinating facts and numbers along the way.
- One and the same brand of Romano cheese is used by Frank Pepe at all of the stores for over 50 years. The tomatoes are imported from Italy, and they should have a specific taste profile (Gary and his cousin are the official taste testers). That tomato taste profile family keeps secret. More than 15,000 cases of tomatoes are imported in a year, which translates into 90,000 cans! More little details: tomato cans can’t sit under the sun in the truck – the taste is changing, so logistics matter!
- Family was always focused on just continuing the family tradition and family recipe. Only in the past 10 years family slowly started to expand its business, now operating in 7 locations, most of them in Connecticut and one in Yonkers, New York. The family is looking to expand further into New England, but they really move very cautiously. For every new location, the large part of the effort is training of the new staff and setting up the restaurant in exactly the same way as other operate (which starts with oven).
- The charcoal oven matters! It should be properly seasoned, and time is mostly the only way to do it right. The family operates 3 ovens in New Haven alone, and each oven produces slightly different pizza.
- The ovens are kept all the time at the temperature of about 600°F. It takes roughly 7-8 minutes to bake a pizza in the oven.
- All restaurants go through roughly a 500,000 pounds of mozzarella cheese in a year.
- The most asked for pizza in most of the locations is Mozzarella with sausage
- The menu at all Frank Pepe restaurants has nothing but the pizza (I’m talking about the food – soda, beer and wine are offered at all locations). Only 2 years ago green salad was added to the menu!
- Pizza Margherita is being slowly added to the menu throughout the restaurants only now, literally in 2014
- The whole Frank Pepe Pizzeria started from the original tomato pie. Next anchovies were added, then cream cheese, and then sausage. All the sausage used in the Frank Pepe restaurants comes from the same local supplier New Haven. Frank Pepe location in New Haven alone goes through 400-500 pounds of sausage per week!
- Clam pizza evolved back in mid-40s. There was a guy who was selling the clams on the half shell from the cart. He asked Frank to put it on the pizza, Frank agreed, and it became the signature pizza – clam, garlic, oregano – that’s it. In New Haven alone the restaurant goes through 70 bushels of clams per month, 90 during summer. Frank Pepe uses 3 clams suppliers, with the very strict guidelines as to type, size, type of beds etc., and all clams are sourced from New England.
- Since starting working at the restaurant at the age of 14, Gary made more than 1,000,000 pizzas in his life – by himself!
I think you got the picture by now – yes, it is easy to be #1 – you just have to work really hard until you get there.
Let’s talk about the pizza now. We tried three different pizzas – the original tomato, regular cheese and of course, the #1, White Clam Pizza.
Gary, Frank Pepe’s grandson, holding the #1 Pizza in US – White Clam pizza
The original tomato Pizza was very interesting – the tomatoes were unusually forthcoming, it is now easy to understand why this specific tomato taste profile is so important, it makes the pizza all unique and different. Make no mistake – of course it has cheese sprinkled on top, but the tomato is the star here.
Cheese pizza was also excellent. I don’t know about you, but for me, the crust is very important on the pizza – I need it thin, I need it slightly charred and I need it to break up when I’m folding it – this pizza completely delivered.
You know, I don’t want to lie to you. My favorite pizza, by all means, was the white clam. Before we tried this white clam pizza, I was wondering – how the clams will taste? Will they be chewy and “squeaky” as clams often get? Nope, it was absolutely delicious. Soft pieces of clams, with perfect texture, accompanied by perfect amount of garlic and fresh herbs – I’m generally not a pizza guy, but I’m craving a piece as I’m writing this. Yes, you have to taste it to believe it.
This concludes the description of the wonderful experience we had a Frank Pepe Pizzeria in Fairfield, Connecticut. Now I definitely want to visit the original restaurant in New Haven – after learning so much about the history of this restaurant, I want to experience the place where it all started.
Yes, we are done here. Until the next time – cheers!
A Trip to Spain – at Barcelona Restaurant in Greenwich, CT
About a month ago I got a note, which I shared with all my readers – Barcelona Restaurant in Greenwich is offering a special wine education program, called Passport Through Spain – 4 evenings of exploring the wines of the different regions in Spain, of course accompanied by the food. I didn’t have a chance to attend the classes until the very last one – but boy, am I happy I was able to attend at least one class!
The last class was focused on the region called Valencia. Valencia is more known for its paella and oranges than for its wines – but this is probably what made it more fun for me. The previous three classes were focused on Rioja, Galicia and Priorat, and I’m somewhat familiar with the wines of those three regions – but Valencia is quite unknown to me, and thus intriguing.
Region of Valencia is located on the east coast of Spain, along the Mediterranean sea line. There is a number of winemaking areas in Valencia, with Jumilla probably being the most known. There is a mix of climate zones in the region, some been more Mediterranean, and some more continental, but the very hot temperatures are quite common throughout the summer. However, in the areas with the continental climate the temperatures can drop very low in the evening, so the grapes can achieve great flavor concentration and depth. Similar to all other regions in Spain, the quality of wines in Valencia is steadily increasing, with the regions such as Valencia, Utiel-Requena and Alicante taking their place on the wine map. There is a mix of indigenous and international varieties growing in the region, with probably Malvasia and Moscatel being stars among the whites, and Monstrell, Bobal, Garnacha Tintorera and Garnacha Tinto among the reds.
The Valencia wine class was conducted by Jose Valverde, the Sommelier at Barcelona Greenwich, who is the wealth of knowledge and just a pleasure to listen to. We started with the wine called 2010 Bodegas Rafael Cambra Soplo Valencia DO (14% ABV, 100% Alicante Bouschet/Garnacha Tintorera, 3 month aging in oak) – it was this wine, made out of the Alicante Bouschet, known in Spain as Garnacha Tintorera, which prompted my last wine quiz – so here you can read some interesting facts about that grape.
Here are my notes about the wine:
Color: Dark ruby, concentrated
Nose: Earthy, warm, inviting, with touch of espresso, cherries and pencil shavings, very intense
Palate: Perfect acidity, cassis, almost a Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc profile, espresso, touch of bell peppers, very restrained.
Verdict: Beautiful wine, you just can’t put your glass down. Drinkability: 8+
Barcelona is actually a restaurant group, and they have a number of restaurants in Connecticut and even outside, all focused, of course, on Spanish food and wine. It was very interesting for me to learn that Barcelona takes the idea of cultural heritage very seriously – yes, I’m talking here firstly about food, cooking and overall Spanish cuisine traditions. Every year the group of chefs and other people who make your restaurant experience special, travel to Spain to immerse into, to embrace the cuisine, the food, the wines, to learn the ways Spanish restaurants operate. Best of the best is brought back home and then shared with us, lucky customers, in the form of special food and special experiences. The very first dish which was served to us, lucky customers, was the Toast with Bacalao Spread. Executive Chef Michael Lucente tasted that dish at one of the restaurants in Spain while being on educational trip. He loved the dish, and he asked for the recipe. Guess what – he didn’t get it, as the chef outright refused to share it. Chef Michael spent a year (!) perfecting that recipe, but as a foodie I think it was totally worth it. Incredible balance of flavors, and texturally interesting – this was one delicious tapas.
We continued our journey through Valencia with 2010 Bodegas Sierra Norte Pasión de Bobal Utiel-Requena DO (13.5% ABV, 100% Bobal). Bobal is a unique Spanish grape, which doesn’t grow anywhere else – however. there is plenty of it growing in Spain, with more than 80,000 acres, which makes it one of the most planted red grapes in the world. The climate in Utiel-Requena is one of the harshest in Spain, with very hot summers and cold winters with frost and hail, but still, the grapes persevere!
Here are the notes for this wine:
Color: Ruby
Nose: Freshly crushed grapes, but restrained. Brighter nose than the previous wine, with some black cherries, herbs and tobacco.
Palate: Noticeable tannins, but overall light, open and clean, should be very food friendly. I crave the complexity of the first wine!
Verdict: Nice, simple and very food friendly – will complement wide range of foods! Drinkability: 7+
The dish which was served with dish was Roasted Hen with pimento, fried chick peas and cilantro. The dish itself was very tasty, with all the flavors perfectly melding together – and it also worked perfectly with the wine! All those mild flavors of the wine very complementing bold flavors of Mediterranean cuisine, so this was definitely an excellent match.
Our last wine of the evening was 2009 Pedro Luis Martínez Arriba Término de Hilanda Monastrell, Jumilla DO (14.5%ABV, 100% Monastrell, 14 month aging in new American and French oak) – Monastrell, which is a lot more international grape than the previous one (it is known as Mourvedre in France and Mataro in Australia), is definitely the best known grape in this tasting group. One problem I often have with Monastrell wines is that they are made overly jammy, with lots of in-your-face overcooked fruit. Luckily, not this wine!
Here are the notes:
Color: Dark ruby, concentrated, almost black
Nose: Closed
Palate: Powerful, coffee, dark chocolate, espresso, black plums, firm structure with spicy undertones, tar. Thought provoking, with excellent balance.
Verdict: Excellent wine, one of the best Monastrell wines I ever tasted. Drinkability: 8-
Care to guess what our last dish was? Yes, Paella! You can’t have a class on Valencia wine and not experience the classic of the cuisine. It was not even one paella, but two – both seafood and meat (rabbit and sausages) paella were served, and they both were absolutely delicious! No, I’m not going to describe them to you – just get to the restaurant and taste it for yourself.
That was definitely an evening of fun learning, great food, great wine and great conversations. There are only a few things are left for me to do here. First of all, I want to thank Barcelona Greenwich Sommelier Jose Valverde, Executive Chef Michael Lucente and PR Director Ria Rueda for the excellent program and great experience of Spanish wines and Spanish cuisine. Also, I want to bring to your attention the fact that Barcelona Restaurant group does a lot of work to educate the customers on both food and wines of Spain, so you will do yourself a lot of good if you will check their calendar and sign up for updates – there are great events happening literally every week! You can find Barcelona Restaurant and Wine Bar calendar right here – it covers all of the Barcelona locations and even more general events where Barcelona restaurants participate, so don’t think you should live in a close proximity of Greenwich to take an advantage of these special events.
Sommelier Jose Valverde and Executive Chef Michael Lucente
And we are done here. If you are looking for the great Spanish food and wine experience – there might be a Barcelona restaurant near you! Cheers!
Barcelona Greenwich
18 West Putnam Ave.
Greenwich, CT 06830
Tel: 203.983.6400203.983.6400
Come for a Glass of Wine, Stay for the Food – Vinoteca in Greenwich, CT
Vinoteca Wine List
It is Friday night, and you are thirsty. Not the Dos Equis thirsty, necessarily, but may be a glass of wine thirsty. Or a cocktail and a glass of wine. Or may be couple of glasses of wine. Bottom line – you want to go out and have a glass of wine. So, where do you go? Yes, I know – this is beyond rhetorical – you can find wine at any restaurant today. But – if you just want a glass of wine, or you want a glass of white, and then glass of red, or you are simply in a mood to taste a few of the different wines, you have two issues. One – by the glass selection in a typical restaurant is limited, or may be even very limited, depending on your luck. Two – by the glass selection in many restaurants is grossly over-priced. When you look at the $16+ by the glass selection, the first reaction is “I’ll just have a glass of water”. Well – the purpose of this post is not to complain about by the glass restaurant prices. My whole point here is to let you in on a little secret and to tell you that I just found a solution to this wine glass craving issue, and I want to share it with you. The solution? Vinoteca Restaurant and Wine Bar in Greenwich, Connecticut.
As you walk into the restaurant, the first thing you see is a wine bar. And then you see another bar. And then the wine list, where each and every wine is available in the glass pour of different sizes and by the bottle. No exceptions. You want to build a flight of Italian reds? No problems. Are you in a mood for a few of the California whites? No problems at all. You want to compare classic Italian Sangiovese with the one from California? You got it. The wine list has just perfect size – there is enough variety, but you are not feeling overwhelmed with the task of finding the wine you want to drink in the foliant you can barely hold in your hands.
The core of the wine list is Italian, but there is still enough variety (California, France, Germany and more). The prices are quite reasonable as well. During the course of the evening we had a number of different wines which our gracious host Sasha kept bringing over. Here are my brief notes:
2012 Gundlach Bundschu Gewurztraminer Sonoma Coast – I read about Gundlach Bundschu wines in many blogs, but never had an opportunity to try them, so when I saw Gundlach Bundschu on the list, I really didn’t care what exact wine was it, I just had to try it. The wine was very nice – Gewurztraminer wines, in my opinion, don’t have the middle ground – they are either good (can be spectacular, yes), or terrible – they don’t have the “well, okay” range – so this was a nice Gewurztraminer, well balanced, with hint of honeydew, spicy with good acidity. Drinkability: 7+
2012 Ferrari-Carano’s Fumé Blanc Sonoma County – a classic California Sauvignon Blanc, with fresh gooseberry and lemon notes, good acidity, a bit too sweet to my taste. Drinkability: 7+
2011 Abbazia Santa Anastasia Contempo Nero d’Avola Sicily IGT – excellent, herbaceous undertones, warm, smooth, inviting, toasted oak and fruit notes. Drinkability: 8
2011 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County – cassis on the nose, nice tobacco notes, touch of espresso, round and simple. Drinkability: 7+
So what happens after you have your first glass of wine? Yes, you want food. And food we got – plenty and delicious. The menu at Vinoteca is somewhat similar to the wine list – concise, but very diverse, with the good selection of “ahh, I must to try this” dishes.
We started with the nice selection of appetizers:
Polpettini (house made meatballs, whipped ricotta) – excellent, very tasty sauce, meatballs had nice texture.
Cozze (Prince Edward Island mussels, red curry, french fries) – well prepared mussels don’t need any explanations, right? The only thing which they demand is … yep, extra bread.
Panetto “Italian grilled cheese” (fontina, San Marzano sauce) – perfect comfort food, very tasty sauce.
Next, we had a few Pizzas to share – one better then the other:
Qauttro Formaggi (ricotta, gorgonzola, parmigiano, mascarpone) – was probably my favorite – very intense, cheeeesy
Rustica (charred tomatoes, olives, sea salt, olive oil) – perfectly fresh and delightful
Spicy Lobster (mascarpone, habanero, corn) – excellent spiciness, nice bite, and nice pieces of lobster. I would never think that lobster would work on the pizza – but it actually does!
As we were not fed enough yet, here came the salads:
Italian Wedge (bibb, iceberg, gorgonzola,tomato, crispy prosciutto) – The Wedge is one of my most favorite salads, ever since I tried it for the first time. Crispy bittersweet lettuce and salty bacon prosciutto – just perfect.
Kale (Bosc pears, walnuts, pecorino) – yes, I know kale is healthy and good for me … but it is just not my thing ( but other people loved it).
Greek Chop (cucumber, watermelon, feta cheese, red onion) – a nice version of the Greek salad, very fresh and light.
You think that was enough food? Apparently not! We got to taste a few more dishes:
Parpardelle Bolognese – believe it or not, but this was my single most favorite dish of the whole dinner. This pasta was served family style, and I swear I could’ve eaten the whole “family portion” just by myself – so homey, so comfortable, so delicious.
Pollo Scarpiello (cherry peppers, sautéed spinach, spicy sausage) – wood-fire roasted chicken – delicious! Perfectly tender chicken, and you can tell that it was roasted over the wood fire. Tasty!
Salmone Al Arranciata (mascarpone mashed potatoes, asparagus, blood orange) – I personally didn’t taste this dish, but people were very happy about it.
And finally – desserts!
Assorted Desserts – Cannoli Cake, Cappuccino Cake, Tiramisu, New York Cheesecake – do you think I can give you detailed notes on the desserts? Yep – I can’t. After that amount of food, the desserts were almost an afterthought. They all tasted good – however, none of them stood out. Note the presentation – I like the choice of the stand out plates.
That’s all, my friends. By the way, today is Friday – but even if you are not reading this post on Friday, you are probably in the mood for the glass of wine and some tasty food anyway, so why not give Vinoteca a try? I’m sure you will not be disappointed! Cheers!
Disclaimer: I visited the restaurant as a guest of management. All opinions are my own.
Vinoteca Restaurant & Wine Bar
33 Lewis Street
Greenwich, CT 06830
203-661-2354
http://vinotecagreenwich.com/
Let’s Do Brunch – Oak+Almond in Norwalk, CT
Who doesn’t like brunch, raise your hands. Yep, I thought so. It is literally impossible not to like the slow flow of the delicious food on Sunday, when you still have some of your weekend left, and the late breakfast becoming an early lunch is one of the indulgences of the weekend time with the family.
When it comes to brunch, you have to make some choices. I don’t mean “to drink Mimosa or not”, but most fundamental choice is between brunch buffet and the regular a-la-cart brunch menu. There are pro and cons for both, but this is not a subject of today’s post. What I want to talk about is a recent experience at one of the newest restaurants in lower Fairfield county in Connecticut – Oak+ Almond in Norwalk, CT.
Oak + Almond opened in the Fall of 2013 at the same location where Tuscan Oven restaurant was located for almost 20 years. Oak + Almond is classified as new American cuisine, which I think is quite fitting – lots of focus on local farms and products – you know where the cheese came from, you know where the chicken came from, you know where the eggs, berries and produce came from. As much as possible, everything is fresh and local, which is definitely a trait in the new American restaurant style.
The place is nicely decorated, reusing some of the components of the old Italian restaurant to their advantage, such as the pizza oven (those are always nice to have on hand, aren’t they). The decor overall should be classified as retro modern (or modern retro, whatever way you see it), with some very unusual lighting and heavy dark oak furniture. Here are the few pictures for you:
Charred Octopus (guajillo squid ink sauce. potatoes. andouille. celery) – well done, octopus was just as exact “chewiness” where it is pleasant (I think cooking octopus without making it into a rubber is an art).
Funghi Flatbread (charred green onion. fontina. balsamic) – this was a masterpiece – with all due respect to all other dishes, the mushrooms were soooo … mushroomy! If you like mushrooms – don’t miss it.
O+A Margherita Flatbread (Hamden burrata. tomato. calabrian chile) – this was okay, but slightly… pedestrian, especially comparing to the previous flatbread.
We also had 3 “communal” boards to share – the Artisan Cheese Board (fruit preserves. nuts. crostini), the selection of 6 local cheeses – Cremont, Nancy Camembert, Nettle Meadow Kunik, Fiscalini Bandaged Cheddar, North Coutry Blue and Ocooch Mountain, all from the Artisanal Cheese); Meat Board (hand selected meats, pickles, crostini) and House Cured Salmon. All three dishes were well done and quite tasty.
Oak + Almond
544 Main Ave
Norwalk, CT 06851
203.846.4600
Style and Substance – Rouge Brasserie & Oyster Bar in Greenwich, CT
Before you get to this post, just a little word of caution – if you are hungry, can I ask you to go eat first? Please?
Let me ask you a question: when it comes to the restaurants, how often can you recall the exact decor of the restaurant? Well, let me be careful with this – of course this question is intended for the foodies and not for the interior design majors. We typically remember great food and wine experiences (yes, extremely bad experiences get stuck in the head too – I still remember the worst spaghetti in my life in the little restaurant by the Lake George). Sometimes the exceptional service is also staying with you. But I would bet that decor for the most cases would be the last thing you would remember, especially if you visit the restaurant only once. But then there are exceptions. I still remember old Tavern on the Green, with all its imperial embellishments, or the wonderful Belgium restaurant we visited on Aruba, called Le Dome, which had 4 different dining rooms, each decorated in its own unique style. Why am I asking all the questions about remembering the decor? Please read on, you will see in a second.
Okay, so the goal of this post is not to take you on the memory lane, but to share our recent dining experience at the new restaurant in Greenwich, Connecticut called Rouge Brasserie & Oyster Bar. We happened to come in a bit before our dining companions, so I had a little bit of time to walk around. The unique decor and variety of styles within somewhat of a limited space were strikingly different from most of the places I’d been to. The way the different sections were appointed were going from country French to cozy corner to the Royal French – all tastefully decorated and oh so different. Yes, as usual, I plan to inundate you with pictures, so take a look:
As it almost became customary, we started our evening at the bar. While the list of cocktails at Rouge is not too long, everything we had was very well made and very refreshing. Brigitte Bardot (cognac, fresh Lemon, sugar, raspberries and champagne) and Broken Heart Margarita (tequila, elderflower liquor, fresh sour, cointreau, raspberry grape & pink peppercorn) were both done just right, not too sweet (I’m really not a big fun of the sweet cocktails), withgood amount of alcohol, but very balanced at the same time. And it was just fun sitting by the shiny, well lit bar and watch Kelly compose the tasty concoctions.
Before we talk about food, I need to say a few words about the wine. I didn’t get a chance to see the wine list, so obviously I can’t comment on it – but during the evening, we were drinking two wines which were both, shall I say it, surprisingly outstanding. Our white wine was 2012 Domaine Saint-Lannes Côtes de Gascogne IGP (80% French Colombard, 20% Gros Manseng) – perfect nose of the bright white fruit, very inviting, light and round on the palate, with white apples, touch of lemon, dry and refreshingly crisp, excellent balance (Drinkability: 8). May be the fact that the white wine was good was not all that surprising, but for the red… Our red wine was 2010 Chateau Gobert Bordeaux AOC. Can you point to the “surprising” part just based on the name? I remember when I was just starting with wine, which was a bit more than 10 years ago, the year 2000 was declared the “Vintage of the Century” in Bordeaux, and I decided to try those best wines, buying Bordeaux AOC wines for $7 in the discount supermarket in New Jersey. When I tried to drink those wines, which were green, branch-chewy and plain harsh, for the life of me I couldn’t understand how that can be a great wine (of course I would never admit it in public). As I was learning about the wines, and especially listening to the Kevin Zraly’s explanations about circles of quality, I realized that basic Bordeaux, sourced from the grapes from the whole region, in general is something to avoid. Now, at the dinner, the red wine was poured (I didn’t see the label), and my first impression was “wow, this is very nice” – soft dark fruit on the nose, quite fruit forward on the palate, but without much exuberance or going over the top – some plums, ripe raspberries, touch of green bell pepper in the back, soft tannins, nice acidity, overall very balanced (Drinkability: 8-). When I saw the label, my first reaction was “Really?” – for a few seconds, I couldn’t believe this was actually a basic Bordeaux red wine. I will have to start paying attention to the Bordeaux AOC wines again, as this was one eye opening experience. And I want to complement whomever selected these wines for the restaurant – great choice!
Okay, time to talk about the food! In a word, we were treated royally at the Rouge – it was literally no holds barred type of dinner – everything you can think of was on the table – the caviar, the oysters, the lobster, and lots more.
First, our bread arrived in the form of tiny, but ohh so tasty baguettes, accompanies by the butter, fresh young radishes and cornichons:
From our appetizer course, the very first dish was Fish Eggs and Chips (house made potato chips, Crème fraîche) – as you can see from the name, it was a play on “Fish and Chips”, only instead of the actual fish we had something which could’ve become a fish – both black and red caviar was sprinkled over the house made potato chips:
I understand the word play here, and the dish overall was interesting – but I would probably use something more neutral as a medium instead of potato chips – some kind of white bread crackers or even crispy water crackers would play better with the saltiness of the caviar. But again, I can’t complain about the caviar as a starter – not at all.
When you start with the caviar, what is the next thing you should expect? The best selection of the fresh seafood, of course. And the best it was! Plateux De Fruits De Mer had fresh oysters, fresh clams, lobster tails and claws, and prawns, accompanies by the trio of sauces (shrimp cocktails, mayo with herbs and onion/vinegar for the oysters). Fresh and immaculate, one of the best seafood platters I ever had. I’m generally not a big fun of fresh clams – and these were delicious.
Seafood platters can be served in different types of restaurants, but nobody would argue that with Escargots Bourguignon (shallot parsley butter) we are getting into the real French traditional cooking. The escargot were excellent, succulent and satisfying. My only complaint was that I would serve the escargot separately from the toast, as the toast was completely soaked in butter in and out, but then I heard a number of people praising that exact butter-soaked toast. Anyway, this was definitely a delicious appetizer.
From French Classic to the French Classic – our next dish was Classic Steak Tartare (hand cut prime filet with charred country toast) – I tried steak tartare in Paris for the first time, and while I was scared with the plate put in front of me (raw ground beef was glaring at me, asking “will you dare put me in your mouth”), once that raw ground beef was mixed with all the condiments, it became one of my favorite dishes of the French cuisine. In our case, the steak was already premixed, so all we had to do was to put it on the toast and enjoy – which is exactly what we did! It was very tasty.
Our last appetizer was Warm Onion Tart (tomato confit & nicoise olives) – if you look at the size of that thing, it was literally the whole pizza! It turns out that the restaurant inherited a real pizza oven from one of the restaurants located before in the same space, so they definitely took a full advantage of that. That tart was delicious, withcrispy crust, and mild bitterness of arugula perfectly complementing sweetness of the onion. Great dish!
This was the end of our appetizer round, and while we were quite well fed already, the best was yet to come.
Our entrees included:
Skate Meuniere (parsley new potatoes, lemon brown butter) – outstanding, perfectly cooked fish, very meaty, nice lemony bite, without any fish aftertaste (you know, like the one you get sometimes from tilapia or catfish). This dish made many of us wonder why we don’t eat skate more often.
Moules Frites (white wine, garlic & fine herbs) – may be the best mussels ever. The sauce was soooo tasty, we had to request [lots of] additional bread. Simply delicious. Mussles were also served with very tasty french fries.
Short Rib Bourguignon (red wine sauce with pearl onions & truffled potatoes) – is there any other food in this world which spells “comfort” better than the slow cooked meat? Probably not. We were really full at this point, but nobody could resist that voluptuous (interesting word to describe the cooked meat, huh?), succulent meat. Sauce was exceptional, just perfectly savory without any unnecessary sweetness. Great finish to our wonderful meal.
Well, of course there was a dessert – luckily a small one, but super tasty! Chocolate French Custard was just perfect, not too sweet, with the very light and fluffy texture. And by the way, while we were at dessert, I learned something new! It appears that when you eat dessert (at least the one like this custard), you are supposed to turn the spoon upside down in your mouth, so the tongue with all its tastebuds will get in contact with the food, and not with the back of the spoon. I had no idea!
Last, but not least at all, we had a chance to talk to and express our heartfelt Thanks to the Executive Chef Josh Moulton, the mastermind behind this exceptional experience, Diego, our Maître D’, and Fabiana, the designer who created all that exceptional style I described at the beginning of this post.
If you will have an opportunity, I definitely recommend that you will ignore all my writing and go experience Rouge on your own. For those who are too far away, sorry, but you will have to take my word for it – this was definitely an outstanding meal, with great style and substance. Cheers!
Disclaimer: I attended the restaurant as a guest of management. All opinions are my own.
Rouge Brasserie & Oyster Bar
230 Mill Street
Greenwich, CT 06830
Phone: (203) 813-3555
Last Bottle Sign Up ($10 credit)
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