1920 Bar and Bistro opens in old Norwalk hat factory
NORWALK — The industrial facade of modest, mismatched bricks, and long, low windows of a former hat factory is unassuming at the corner of Wilton Avenue and Cross Street.
The interior is anything but modest. Exposed wooden beams, antique ceiling tiles, Tiffany-style chandeliers, dark wooden tables draped in creamy linens wait inside.
This is 1920 Bar and Bistro — owner Vishal Dhar said it’s his “baby.”
Dhar comes from a tech background, once a chief marketing officer at SirionLabs, his LinkedIn shows. He switched gears to put his efforts into revamping the 19th century structure. Dhar said it took about six months to get the rented space up to code before he opened the restaurant the last week of December.
Coming from a procedural and more rigid industry, the techie-turnedrestaurateur said he now lives for the chaotic dayto-day of running the restaurant.
That’s partly unique to 1920 Bar and Bistro, at least for the nearly two months since opening. Dhar said that there’s essentially a new menu every day and a new wine list every week as he and his crew learn what the bistro’s habitués have a taste for.
“It’s actually very alive,” Dhar said. “Certain types of personalities who like the variables are involved. I don’t think there’s any other business that has more variables that you need to pull together to make it successful.”
And pulling together the chaos has proved successful so far: since opening, Dhar said he’s seen the restaurant packed on weekends and evenings
not just by Norwalkers, but foodie micro-tourists of Westport, New Canaan, and Darien.
“We have a full house on the weekends and that’s kind of gratifying because it’s just been open for a while,” Dhar said.
The restaurant can seat 105 within its dining area, chef ’s table for events, and smaller cafe-style section, though Dhar said he usually caps occupancy at about 80 people.
“But the only thing is that we can’t really turn tables in here because everyone wants to eat between 6:15 and 7:30,” the owner said.
Nelly Kouakou, a server and occasional bartender, said that the customers enjoy Chef Lazaro Alvarado’s new menus that come daily, but are hardly quotidian.
“They like the constant change,” he said. “They like the chef ’s choice.”
Alvarado said he’s just “seeing what people like.” Recent hits that have been repeated are filet mignon kebabs, seafood risotto, mussels and spicy sausage, and a Caesar wedge salad.
Alvarado, who’s cooked at Paci in Southport, Pane E Bene and Bridge Market in Westport, said he mixes Latin and European flavors to satiate 1920 Bar and Bistro’s hungry diners.
And while Alvarado’s food is the restaurant’s main draw, Dhar said he hopes it’s more than a place to sit and eat to his customers.
The owner said he’s a student of third place theory: an individual’s first place is their home, their second is their workplace. But what about a third place that rounds out their emotional wellbeing?
That’s what 1920 Bar and Bistro can be to Norwalkers and other regulars, Dhar said. Past the dining area and bar at the entrance, the chef’s table and cafe are to the left and right at the back of the restaurant.
Leather sofas and chaises frame coffee tables in the cafe — what Dhar would like to become a third place in Norwalk.
“I do think that they are few and far between in Connecticut and that’s exactly what we’re trying to create in the cafe,” the owner said. “Do you want to sink into a couch or sit at the table and open your computer?”