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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