Le Farm in Westport for Dinner

Let me start out by saying that my wife and I are "those people." By that, I mean that we like to eat at the bar. We feel that it puts us close to the action. It is kind of like box seats at a Yankee game or ringside sides at a fight. So, last night we had "box seats" at LeFarm in Westport and I am glad we did.

Let me start with a little background about LeFarm. It is in an extremely intimate space; the restaurant was maybe 20 feet wide, but it was extremely long. Also, it was decorated to resemble a New England farmhouse. This type of decoration can border on kitschy. I believe that LeFarm successfully avoided this. Rather, it has a charming rustic feel, complete with an old butcher's scale on the counter and Mason jars galore. Also, LeFarm makes judicious use of chalk boards -- the specials and the cheeses are listed on boards. Instead of placemats, LeFarm uses pieces of cheese cloth to cover the tables. It was a simple touch that made a difference and a lasting impression -- I never saw that in another restaurant.

Okay, to the most important part -- THE FOOD. LeFarm, as its name suggests, aims to use locally grown foods. LeFarm's Web site has a list of some of the farmers where it sources its ingredients. Also, LeFarm shows it support for local farms and farmers in general by displaying stickers such as:

We started with the beet and lentil appetizer. It was excellent. It was served on a bed of frisee with prosciutto and slightly candied walnuts. Wow. I am not sure what it is about Connecticut or if it is just food trends in general, but we have eaten beets at a number of restaurants since moving to Connecticut. LeFarm's beet dish is by far the best that we have had.

For our entrees, my wife had the roasted squab and I had the rabbit leg. The squab was a mix of sweet and savory flavors served over a bed of farro. The farro was grown by Anson Mills in South Carolina -- okay not exactly local, but when you consider that farro is primarily grown in Italy then South Carolina is local. My rabbit was served over risotto with freshly grown mushrooms and fontina cheese and tarragon. I have had rabbit at several restaurants and have even made it at home. The rabbit at LeFarm is not only in my top 10, it is probably the first or the second best rabbit dish I have ever had -- if it is in second place it is beaten out by the rabbit that I had on Ischia during my honeymoon. (The Ischia rabbit was probably killed a few hours before I ate it. Sorry Thumper.) We finished our dinner with Cloud 9 and Brother Laurent cheeses from Vermont and some coffee. The coffee was from a local roaster and was served in a little coffee press. This began a small debate as to merits of making coffee in a press versus making coffee in a regular coffee maker. The debate was short since we both agreed that LeFarm's coffee was excellent.

The wait staff at LeFarm was very attentive and extremely funny. (One of the benefits of the box seats). In addition, while we were eating our entrees, the chef came out of the kitchen to talk to us. He also checked in the other tables in the restaurant to make sure that they too were enjoying their food. It was a nice touch and an opportunity for him to hear some immediate feedback on his food. If everyone there has a good a meal as we did, I am sure that the feedback that he received was all positive.

One last thing is LeFarm's wine list. It is short and simple yet still has good variety. My only complaint about it is the wine list does not state which wines are organic or biodynamic. I think that it would fit with LeFarm's style to do so.

I leave you with a clip from Disney's Ratatouille. I am not implying that the kitchen staff is comprised of rodents, rather I like the clip's message regarding the transformative power of food. We experienced something like that last night at LeFarm. Enjoy.



LeFarm
256 Post Rd. East
Westport, CT 06880
www.lefarmwestport.com‎


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Sycamore Restaurant in Bethel for Lunch

Like a good hamburger and the 1950's? If you said yes to both questions then you are going to like Sycamore.

The menu at Sycamore has a variety of items, however, if you don't get a burger you are wasting everyone's time. The burger is king at Sycamore and that king earned his crown. Sycamore has over 10 different burgers on the menu. My favorite is the Dagwood Burger. Sycamore calls it "The Final Answer to the Burger." Hands down it is one of the best burgers I have ever had.

In addition to the burgers, the French fries and onion rings are excellent. Also, the milkshakes and soda floats are excellent. Sycamore has been around since the 1950's and it is nice to see that they haven't lost the receipe for good old fashioned milkshakes and float. Finally, Sycamore also makes its own root beer, which they serve in frosted mugs. Sycamore does the 1950's proud.

Don't expect any frills at Sycamore. The burgers and fries are sold on paper plates. For me, the paper plates just add to Sycamore's charms.



Finally, the only thing that is out of step with the 1950's at Sycamore is its Ms. Pac Man game. Being a Ms. Pac Man fan, the only problem I have with this is that I sometimes forget to bring quarters with me. Thankfully, my wife usually has some loose change in her purse...

Sycamore Restaurant
282 Greenwood Avenue
Bethel, CT 06801-2424
www.sycamoredrivein.com‎


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Villa Italia Ristorante and Siena Ristorante in Stamford for Dinner

Lower Fairfield County has a number of Italian restaurants. Villa Italia and Siena are two of our favorites.

Villa Italia is a traditional Italian restaurant in the best sense of the phrase. The pastas at Villa Italia are excellent. I am a big fan of the gnocchi, stuffed shells and lasagna. Of course, none of these are complete without a side order of sausage. It is hands down the best Italian sausage I have ever tasted. (Sorry mom). The chicken and veal dishes are also excellent. My wife is a fan of the chicken francese served over penne. I agree; it is one of the best chicken francese dishes I have ever had in a restaurant.

It would be a mistake not to mention the bread at Villa Italia. The bread? YES, THE BREAD. The beard is shaped like little torpedos or bombs. My wife has taken to referring to them as "bread bombs." The staff heats the bread prior to bring it to your table. WOW, they are great.

Siena Ristorante is probably best described as new Italian. Siena is run by a man from an island off the coast of Naples called Ischia. My wife and I spent several days of our honeymoon on Ischia. Siena reminds us of many of the restaurants we ate at while on Ischia. As for the food, I try and order something different each time we go. On the rare occssion that I have a hard time deciding I opt for the chicken and sausages. The dish consists of pieces of chicken on the bone with the skin on sauteed with the cut up pieces of sausage. When she has a hard time deciding, my wife will opt for the risotto, which changes daily.

Everytime that we go to Siena we have the same waiter. His name is Walter and he is a great guy. In addition to working at Siena, he works for a wine distributor that focuses on Italian wines. As a result, Siena's wine list has some excellent wines. While my wife is a wine geek we always rely on Walter to select a wine for us.

While Villa Italia has its bread, Siena has cannellini beans and olives. The cannellini beans are served with a little bit of olive oil and garlic. The olives Siena serves are not your typical black olives out of a can; they are an assortment of various Italian olives.

The differences between Villa Italia and Siena remind me of the opening scene from Big Night. Enjoy:



Villa Italia Ristorante‎
812 East Main Street
Stamford, CT 06902
(203) 348-7742
www.villaitaliastamford.com‎


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Siena Ristorante
519 Summer Street
Stamford, CT 06901-1314
(203) 351-0898
www.sienaristorante.net‎


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SoNo Baking Company in Norwalk for Brunch

The Greenwich/Stamford/Norwalk corridor appears to have a serious lack of Sunday brunch places. Sure, we could go to IHOP or a diner, but sometimes we prefer to eat Sunday brunch at a real restaurant. So, I thought that I would write my first real post about a brunch place.

We discovered SoNo Baking Company one random Saturday morning while driving around South Norwalk. All of the breads, pastries and cakes are baked fresh daily on the premises. In addition to table seating, there is a counter with a huge glass window where you can watch the baker roll out the dough for the croissants and the rolls. My wife and I have had brunch here a few times and particularly enjoy the SoNo Breakfast Sandwich, as well as the ham and cheese croissants. In addition, the coffee at SoNo is excellent (which is a very important thing for me).

The first time I tasted one of the almond croissants I was reminded of the scene in the movie The Imposters where Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt are trying to get free pastry from a bakery during the depression. A clip of the scene appears in the trailer below. Oliver Platt's line always makes me laugh.



While the food at SoNo is great, the waitstaff leaves a bit to be desired. The people are all very nice, but it does not seem that anyone has a set job. I think that SoNo Baking Company would be best served if it assigned one person to make the coffee, one or two people to work the registers and one or two people to run the food to the tables. As it is now, everyone does everything -- and no one does anything.

SoNo Baking Co
101 Water Street
Norwalk, CT 06854-3012
(203) 847-7666
www.sonobaking.com


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Some other brunch places to check out are:

Napa & Company
75 Broad Street
Stamford, CT 06901
(203) 353-3319
www.napaandcompany.com‎


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Morello Bistro
253 Greenwich Avenue
Greenwich, CT 06830
www.morellobistro.com‎


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Fairfield County, Connecticut

So, my wife and I moved out of the food capital of the world, aka Manhattan, in April 2009, to Fairfield County, Connecticut. Being New Yorkers, the question "What's for dinner?" meant "Do we order in or go out?" Our new home has a kitchen that is the size of our old apartment and we both enjoying cooking, however we are still having a hard time breaking the old habit of ordering in or eating out.

When we moved to Connecticut we found a disturbing lack of information about the restaurants. So, the point of this blog is to provide my impressions of some local restaurants. I will try and talk about all of Fairfield County, however, I fear that most of the restaurants I comment on will be located in Greenwich, Stamford and Norwalk.

So, sit back, relax and enjoy the posts. While you are waiting for the next one, enjoy this clip of Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.