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Essex and Old Lyme Restaurant du
Village Here's as provincial French a restaurant as you will find in this country, from its canopied blue facade with ivy geraniums spilling out of flower boxes to the sheer white-curtained windows and french doors opening onto the side brick entryway. The 40-seat dining room is charming in its simplicity: a few French oil paintings, white linens, carafes of wild flowers and a votive candle on each table. Alsatian chef Michel Keller and his Culinary Institute-trained American wife Cynthia run the highly rated establishment with T.L.C. A third-generation pastry chef, Michel bakes perhaps the best French bread in this country. Among his appetizers, standouts are the cassoulet, a small copper casserole filled with sautéed shrimp in a light curry sauce; the croustade with grilled vegetables, and escargots with shiitake mushrooms in puff pastry. We also like the baked French goat cheese on herbed salad greens with garlic croutons. Main courses could be pan-seared tuna steak topped with tapenade, rabbit flamande, roast duck with kumquats, tournedos of beef with a cognac and green peppercorn sauce, and Cynthia's specialty, a stew of veal, lamb and pork with leeks and potatoes. Typical among the changing desserts are an open fruit tart with blueberries and peaches in almond cream, a gratin of passion fruit, paris-brest and soufflé glacé. (860) 526-5301. Entrées, $27 to $32. Dinner,
Tuesday-Saturday 5 to 9, Sunday 5 to 8:15. Closed Tuesday in winter. Gabrielle's This Victorian-era house with a gazebo-like front porch has been a culinary landmark in the area since 1979. A trio of new owners tore down walls of what had been Steve’s Centerbrook Café and created more open dining areas that are suave in ecru with white trim, accented by stunning art works and greenery. It’s a stylish setting for the contemporary and artistic American fare created by talented chef Daniel McManamy, veteran of many an area restaurant. A perfect lunch here brought the signature mussels and frites, incredibly thin fries that were addictive when paired with the tarragon aioli dip, and cornmeal-crusted fried oysters with chipotle aioli. These and other mainstays on the lunch menu turn up as appetizers and small plates at night. The fairly extensive dinner menu also offers salads, thin-crust pizzas and fifteen entrées from grilled brook trout with shiitake mushrooms in a carrot-ginger sauce to grilled New York sirloin steak with roasted walnut-gorgonzola butter. A dish called lobster in vatapa (simmered with shrimp and scallops and served in a spicy sauce over rice), Indian-spiced breast of duckling and chicken in green mole indicate the kitchen’s range. Desserts might be white and dark chocolate mousse, crème brûlée, linzer torte and apple-almond tart with french vanilla ice cream. (860) 767-2440. www.gabrielles.net. Entrées, $19 to $27. Lunch, Tuesday-Friday and Sunday 11:30 to 3. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday from 5 to 9 or 9:30.
The lovable French restaurant that started in a truck stop has been reborn as a Yankee bistro, relocating in 2002 to the 1872 house that had been renovated for the original Aleia’s restaurant. Chef Jeffrey Renkle moved into a stylish space more than double the size of the former Old Saybrook truck stop gone upscale and with more kitchen space for Jeff and the pastry chef to work their magic. He was joined in 2005 by a new team of owners who gave the interior an open, more clubby look with high-back tufted booths along every wall. The new quarters done up in beige and brown seat about 100 at black dining tables, a zinc dining counter and a communal table in back, plus another 30 outside on the patio. There are two bars, a small one tucked neatly behind a new wall along the side of the main dining room and another in a separate lounge. The first-rate fare continues to be American bistro
with a pronounced French accent, although no one involved is French.
Jeff attributes it to his training at the Culinary Institute of America,
followed by stints at Max on Although some people never stray far from the French
specialties, others mix and match the seasonal and regional offerings.
“Seasonal” could be sautéed “filet mignon” of salmon with
balsamic butter sauce and a succotash of corn, chanterelles and
scallions, or pan-seared sea scallops with red wine sauce and an autumn
ratatouille. “Regional” changes periodically, from Crusty bread, served with flavorful olive oil, staved off hunger before our party dug into the likes of fried oysters with a chipotle mustard dipping sauce, a zesty Asian duck salad, an endive and arugula salad dressed with a bit too much gorgonzola, and a rather paltry clams and chorizo dish to start. No one could fault the second courses, an Alsatian tarte, the signature “camp-style” grilled trout with whole-grain mustard sauce and lyonnaise potatoes, the sautéed calves liver with balsamic jus and sweet roasted onions, and the steak frites, a flavorful strip steak with house-made fries and a wilted watercress salad. Desserts included crème brûlée flavored with lavender picked just outside the door, double chocolate torte, profiteroles, and homemade ice creams and sorbets – ginger and lemon-crème fraîche at our visit. (860) 399-8700. www.caferoutier.com. Entrées,
$19 to $26. Dinner nightly, from River
Tavern Here’s a chic city bistro in the country, as fashioned by chef-owner Jonathan Rapp, who made a name with his brother Tom at the restaurant Etats-Unis on New York’s Upper East Side. The minimalist decor is what he calls “comfortable modern.” An orangey-yellow wall glows above a wainscoting effect that looks to be abstract brick (but isn’t). A bar flanks half the other side of the long and narrow room. Rich wood breakfronts separate the casual section from the rear dining area, white-clothed tables set side by side in the big-city style beside a wall of windows framing bamboo trees in a planter, backlit for all to see. A break in the side wall yields a designer glimpse of the kitchen. The contemporary American menu, printed daily, also is comfortably modern, offering four to six choices for each course. “Appetizers” are in the Mediterranean tapas style at rather dear prices: hummus, marinated olives, roasted eggplant and walnut tapenade with pitas or antipasti of salamis and roasted vegetables. The real appetizers are called first courses: perhaps oxtail consommé, baked oysters, Thai fish stew or house-cured salmon “bacon” served with an apple-fennel slaw and juniper oil. Main courses are as complex as mustard-fried grouper with sweet and sour cabbage and apples, served with purple-top turnips, and as straightforward as beef bourguignonne with handmade porcini mushroom pappardelle. How about Chinese barbecued wild king salmon with a pea shoot-ginger-vegetable lo mein and a lemon-miso broth? Dessert could be baked-to-order date pudding with dark rum caramel or dark chocolate soufflé, warm apple and concord grape crumble or wine-poached pear with toasted pecans and honey-vanilla mascarpone. More choices are listed on the café menu, which included at one visit a charcuterie plate, a bowl of mussels and a dish called “two eggs baked with smoked bacon, thyme and cream.” Aforementioned appetizers and sandwiches served with potato salad have been featured lately. (860) 526-9417. www.rivertavernchester.com. Entrées,
$24 to $26. Lunch daily. Dinner nightly, from Lupo Lupo is an Italian word for wolf, and Shelley
DeProto once had a wolf for a pet in The result is Lupo, a sophisticated yet convivial
hangout on the You can make a meal from a list of two dozen little bites and five salads. How about lobster ravioli in a creamy tomato sauce, a wild mushroom and spinach salad or al dente asparagus spears swathed with manchego cheese and toasted pinenuts, sautéed tiger shrimp with garlic and chiles, scallop gratin or Moroccan spiced chicken wings with scallion yogurt? The list goes on, but consider the “big bites:” the bouillabaisse that’s been a hit from the start, horseradish-crusted salmon, sautéed chicken with artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes and the grilled bistro steak with wild mushrooms in rioja-shallot sauce with garlic mashed potatoes. Seared sea scallops tossed with white truffle cream and handmade linguini is a sure winner. The eclectic little wine list is gently priced, with half the offerings available by the glass. (860) 526-4400. Entrées, $17 to $24. Lunch,
Tuesday-Friday Jack’s
American Bistro and Wine Bar “Global comfort food” is featured in this
convivial new bistro opened in 2004 by Jack Flaws, former chef at the
celebrated Max Downtown restaurant in Typical starters are tuna tartare marinated in ginger and lime and served on toast points with wasabi aioli, steak carpaccio with creamy peppercorn sauce and shaved manchego cheese, southwestern chicken and black bean spring rolls with warm chipotle salsa and duck confit salad. Among the dozen entrées are crab-crusted tilapia
with bloody mary butter, honey-roasted swordfish with chardonnay-mustard
sauce and chipotle-marinated shrimp with roasted corn, avocado and
pecans. The cornish game hen is served Desserts are less exotic: carrot cake with maple cream cheese, profiteroles and warm chocolate truffle cake with caramel and chocolate sauces. A griddle in the kitchen might produces beignets with espresso syrup and hot chocolate dipping sauce. (860) 395-1230. www.jacksamericanbistro.com. Entrées,
$22 to $29. Lunch, Tuesday-Friday
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