From the ashes of Park & Oak, Little Oak offers fast, fresh menu
Little Oak Café, a breakfast and lunch place in Canton, is one of the newest restaurants in the Farmington Valley. It rose from the ashes of Park & Oak, the popular West Hartford restaurant that closed last July as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jeff Fiorino of NewBritain and David Borselle of Farmington metwhile working at Park & Oak and became good friends. That restaurant focused on primarily American comfort food, but also had Italian dishes such as eggplant parmesan.
After that restaurant closed, Fiorino andBorselle looked for anewprojectand found one in the old location of Onion Mountain Kitchen, which also closed permanently during the pandemic. Fiorino said it wasarisk opening during a pandemic but they are confident they will succeed.
“The right opportunity came along and I love this spot,” he said. “Of course, you always want to open in the 100% best conditions, but hopefully weall will comeoutofthis, with the vaccines going well now, and people will want to start supporting new places.”
Little Oak, at 220 Albany Turnpike, is fast-casual rather than table service, hence the name “Little Oak,” a littler restaurant than Park & Oak. No item on the menutakes morethan 10 minutes to prepare. Takeout is available as well as appropriately distanced dine-in indoors or outdoors on the porch.
The menu offers traditional breakfasts, sandwiches, panini, wraps, salads. Most menu items are different than those fromPark& Oak, with a fewexceptions, such as the popular Nashville Hot Chicken sandwiches.
Pizzas are cooked in a 900-degree wood-fired oven constructed on site by Tuscany Fire of New Haven, which imports Italian Di Fiore ovens.
Borselle, the chef, is especially proud of the pizzas, which he called a fusion between Neapolitan style and New Haven style.
“Neapolitan crust is made from just four ingredients, flour, water, yeast and salt. In Connecticut, we like the crust crispy and charred,” said Borselle, who studied cooking in Italy. “I make the Neapolitan-style dough and make it crispy and charred. All of them are individual sizes, not large or medium, like they do in Italy.”
“The Market,” a bank of freezer cases by the door, offers soups, salads and reheatable dinners such as Park & Oak’s popular eggplant parmesan and other Italian specialties. Avery’s beverages of New Britain and a variety of ice cream flavors fromFrisbie’s of NewBritain also are offered.
The decor of the café is both cozy, with wood floors and a comfy bar, and cheeky. Walls are hung with superhero and pop-culture influenced prints as well as some subversive “Peanuts”-inspired artworks by Scottish artist Raid71.
In addition to meals and catering, Little Oakoffers pizza and pasta classes. The restaurant is open Tuesday to Wednesday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pizzas are sold 11 a.m. to close. littleoakcafe.com.