Wednesday brought daunting news. In my first Taste of Hartford entry, I had expressed the regret that Restaurant Week didn’t last longer. But as the saying goes, you should be careful what you wish for. Perhaps someone was listening, because the Restaurant Week promotion has since been extended for a second week.
This is wonderful news, of course, for restaurants and consumers alike. But it’s tough news for yours truly. Although I had been lamenting the restaurants I could not visit, I was also beginning to realize that a week straight of heavy dining, note taking, photography, photo editing, article writing and article posting was likely to do me in. It’s just too much. And now, regarding the second week, I’m torn between survival instinct and a desire to reach as many restaurants as possible during this spectacular event. I guess I’ll have to take things one meal at a time…
Day three of Restaurant Week brought me to Carbone’s Ristorante, a beloved institution of more than seventy years that, through three generations, evolved from a fried-chicken-in-the-rough restaurant called Southern Plantation.
Very soon after my companion and I arrived, the spacious restaurant had filled to near capacity.
Prowling around the restaurant, camera in hand, I was especially taken with the bar area and the library room.
I also liked the seating in the main dining room under the mural.
Here’s a section of that mural (apologies for the flash reflection):
Due to my Gargantuan appetite, the breads served by a restaurant are important to me. Our server, Rita, who was partnered with Marcin, brought us two types of bread and a bowl of olive oil enhanced with sun-dried tomato, garlic, anchovy and Gorgonzola. One type was either an enormous roll or a small round loaf of peasant bread, depending I guess on one’s perspective, while the second was a Parmesan-and-fennel-encrusted breadstick shaped like a tuning fork.
During past Restaurant Weeks, Carbone’s offered a salad, prepared tableside. I regretted its absence this year, but understood that the time involved to prepare a salad tableside plus the sheer crunch of numbers generated by the Taste of Hartford promotion would just about bring the restaurant to its knees. Instead, Carbone’s offered its garden salad, with crisp greens, grape tomato and grated Romano or Parmesan in a balsamic vinaigrette,
or its tomato and Mozzarella salad with lettuce, vine-ripened tomato, boconccini, Bermuda onion and fresh basil in a red wine vinaigrette.
Entrée choices included veal Marsala, salmon alla senape, fettuccini and chicken Alfredo, eggplant parmigiana, penne pomodoro and tenderloin tips Gorgonzola. My companion and I decided to share our main dishes. We enjoyed the salmon alla senape, a Dijon-and-horseradish-encrusted salmon fillet in a Pinot Grigio, lemon and butter sauce served with baby spinach and polenta.
Also noteworthy were the tenderloin tips Gorgonzola, which were served in a veal Marsala demi-glace with roasted mushrooms, julienne vegetables and mashed potatoes.
For dessert, we had a choice between wild berry gelato
and Carbone’s Italian sundae, a lovely combination of creamy ricotta with orange zest and fresh berries garnished with whipped cream and an almond tuile.
As we dined, we noticed plenty of happy diners, including this attractive young couple.
An institution like Carbone’s not only draws well locally but attracts its share of celebrities over the years. See how many of these celebrities you can identify…
Carbone’s Ristorante, 588 Franklin Avenue, Hartford, 860-296-9646