Salute opens restaurant in ‘the new Little Italy’
Hartford favorite now in Rocky Hill Route 3 corridor
Salute, a Hartford restaurant-scene favorite since 2011, has opened a satellite location in Rocky Hill. Co-owner Andy Rizzo called the Route 3 corridor where his new restaurant is located “the new Little Italy.”
“The whole Italian section of Hartford seems to be moving or expanding south — DiFiore’s Ravioli Shop, Mozzicato bakery, Carbone’s, all of these businesses started in the South End,” Rizzo said. “We get our sweet potato ravioli sheets from DiFiore’s. They just have to walk them across the parking lot. There are more Italian places on top of that. This place couldn’t be a better fit.”
Rizzo, the lively host, runs the front of the house while co-owner and chef David Caudill runs the kitchen, which is partially obscured from the dining area by tinted glass partitions.
“You can see the kitchen, but you can’t hear it,” he said. “It’s easier to have conversations.”
The 4,100-square-foot space at 277 Cromwell Ave. is roughly the same size as the Hartford location, which is presided over by the third owner, James Cosgrove and chef Oscar Ramos.
Rocky Hill has a capacity of about 110 people, more during warm weather with the addition of outdoor dining. The bar is more prominent in Rocky Hill, with 16 seats and six hightop tables.
A private-function room seats 20. The ceiling and parts of the wall were painted by local artist Tao LaBossiere.
The menu is largely drawn from the menu at Salute Hartford, with a few additions, deletions or minor changes.
“It’s the same price structures [and] portions,” Rizzo said. The menu opens with the decadent “soon to be famous” garlic cheese bread and popular meatball salad.
Many Hartford favorites are on the bill: the creamy Rose Pasta with sausage, mushrooms and spinach; shrimp fra diablo and shrimp picatta; rigatoni pomodoro; and chicken gnocchi.
Rocky Hill offers a ribeye, hanger and Boston strip steaks. Unlike Hartford, there is no filet mignon on the menu, Rizzo said. Prices have been volatile lately because of the supply chain crisis.
Additions not on the Hartford menu include steamed mussels, risotto cakes, butternut squash salad and short rib Bolognese.
“We do a ragu Bolognese in Hartford, but we wanted to change it up a bit,” Rizzo said.
Rizzo, Caudill and Cosgrove first met when they all worked at Hot Tomato’s in Hartford. Salute Rocky Hill’s sous chef, David Belton, also is a veteran of Hot Tomato’s.
Salute Rocky Hill is open Monday from 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Tuesday to Thursday from 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. and Sunday from 3-9 p.m.