New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Top 25 restaurants
Connecticut’s eateries offer everything from albacore to zucchini
The last two years have been demanding for restaurant owners who've dealt with the COVID pandemic and related issues. But for some, this was the right time to take on the extra challenge of opening a new eatery. Today's edition includes a section dedicated to some of the best restaurants that opened during the pandemic, as chosen by Connecticut Magazine's statewide group of restaurant critics, editors and writers.
4 Seasons Mediterranean Cuisine
With its location in a small storefront on an out-of-the-way stretch of Route 37 near Danbury’s border with New Fairfield, 4 Seasons is easy to miss but impossible to forget once you’ve stopped in. Jose Marin and chef Segundo Chicaiza’s familyowned and -run restaurant specializes in classic Italian cuisine.
The house-made pasta dishes are a highlight and include favorites such as rigatoni bolognese, gnocchi in a brown mushroom sauce, lobster ravioli and penne vodka. The chicken parmesan is another classic done exceptionally well, as are appetizers such as the fried calamari and eggplant rozini appetizer.
There are frequent excellent dinner specials, and a recent crème brûlée for dessert was not to be missed. The restaurant is small but has classic old-school charm with white tablecloths, a romantic feel and waitstaff that cleans the table between courses. 4 Seasons is a hidden gem worth seeking out. — EO
54 Pembroke Road, Danbury, 203826-7623, 4seasonsmediterranean.com, @4seasonsmediterranean Formal, full bar, outdoor seating Hidden-gem classic Italian eatery, with house-made pastas, old-school charm and white tablecloths.
Allium Eatery
Michelle Greenfield has worked at a few of Connecticut’s best restaurants, with stints at The Schoolhouse at Cannondale where she eventually became the head chef, and at Bill Taibe’s Jesup Hall. At Allium Eatery,
her first shot at being a chef/owner, she’s taking her classically trained French background and applying it to every dish.
Greenfield’s menu is day and night. During the day on Tuesday through Saturday it’s all about gourmet sandwiches, coffee and local pastries. Thursday through Saturday at 5 p.m., it turns into a sit-down experience with bites like duck confit rillette and crispy potato pave with caviar and whipped crème fraiche, plus entrees like braised short ribs and pork belly with lentil ragu.
Arguably the restaurant’s signature dish is a succulent porcinirubbed rotisserie chicken with cheesy mashed potatoes, bitter greens and herby natural jus.
Allium preaches seasonal menu switch-ups and locally grown produce, so what you see today may not be there tomorrow. (We think the chicken will be a mainstay, but the others, probably not.) But no matter what’s listed for dinner on a given night, you’ll leave more than satisfied. — AD
54 Railroad Place, Westport, 203955-1466, @alliumeats on Facebook, @alliumeatery on Instagram Formal, full bar, outdoor dining Cafe and lunch spot by day, upscale sit-down dinner destination by night, from classically-trained chef Michelle Greenfield.
Appetit Bistro
Whenever I go to a French restaurant, especially if it’s my first visit, steak frites always calls out to me. In 2021, I had it twice, once at Boucherie in New York City and the other time at Appetit Bistro in South Norwalk.
Boucherie, take a back seat. Appetit’s got you beat. It’s the hard sear on the hanger, the cool red center, the pile of salty shoestring fries, and the gravy boat full of creamy peppercorn sauce. Sauce up those tender slices of beef, dunk it — hell, dip your fries in it, too. I promise you’ll do all of that.
Pair it with a Manhattan, Sazerac or a Sidecar, maybe even a bold glass of red. Perfection isn’t easily achieved, but this is as close as it gets.
Steak aside, all of Appetit’s “modern French” is mostly classic. Even if owners Edwin Montoya and chef Ismael Carias take minor liberties, they’re still paying homage to the food they both fell in love with years ago.