A Rizzuto’s Italian Kitchen has opened on Route 1 in Stamford near the Greenwich line,
good news for anyone with an appreciation for upscale Italian food served at a fair price. With siblings in Westport, West Hartford and Bethel, this is now the fourth outlet in the popular Rizzuto’s Restaurant Group.
A press dinner held earlier this month was a perfect opportunity to check out the new space, sample the food and even participate in a little pizza making. After receiving a warm reception,
I found my buddy and leading beer expert Gregg Glaser
already checking out Rizzuto’s tap offerings.
And I found dear friend and leading restaurant publicist Linda Kavanagh in the kitchen, where past chefs are bound to gravitate.
But after checking in with these friends, I couldn’t resist exploring the new digs before things got too busy. Although it was not yet the dinner hour, the bar area was already seeing some activity.
Scattered around the bar area and dining room entrance were blackboards touting various items of interest.
Kitchen staffers were already filling orders in the pizza-making area and adjacent salumi and formaggi bar.
If you like watching kitchen staffers at work, this area has great counter seating.
But at this time, the dining room was almost empty, making it easy to take my photographs without disturbing paying customers.
As a sometime mountaineer, I couldn’t resist taking the high ground, so I set down my glass of Moscato d’Asti
and headed upstairs where there was a dandy loft
with great views of the activity below.
I loved the sexy vintage black-and-white photographs that I found upstairs and scattered around the restaurant. See which ones, if any, you can identify!
As my fellow press members began to arrive, we were encouraged into aprons.
I’m not sure what I think of the look. Then we were rounded up for a lesson in pizza making, where we learned the chef is always right.
Wood blocks were stacked up,
pizza dough freshly made and ready to toss,
pizza fixings ready to go,
the high-tech oven from Naples as hot as Sophia Loren.
We were greeted by always-on-the-go patriarch Bill Rizzuto
and executive chef Tony Camilleri,
who educated us about the oven and pizza-making operation.
I kept a weather eye open, because actual pizzas were being made in the background.
Making it look easy, Camilleri demonstrated the technique,
and then Gregg
and Amy went at it.
Here you see Camilleri pulling out of the oven
a pizza he made and a pizza one of our press members made.
See if you can tell which is which!
While pizzas were being made, I also photographed some of the antipasto offerings, for which Rizzuto’s is justifiably famous.
Then we learned
about the salumi and formaggi bar from Camilleri.
Even his staff listened in.
Here is a look at some of the offerings.
Of course, the center piece of the bar is the Berkel meat slicer.
While we were preoccupied watching food being made, the restaurant grew busy
and we grew hungry. Now it was time for our reward. In short order, thanks to the friendly staff,
we had food and drinks and press dinner menus
in front of us—and smiles on our faces.
We were offered a choice of Pellegrino or Acqua Panna
as well as housemade bread.
We began our antipasti with a nice organic Pecorino wine,
wonderful accompaniment to shrimp diavolo with Italian chilies, plum tomatoes, fresh basil and toasted bread,
mussels steamed with garlic, white wine, tomatoes and parsley,
and an artichoke salad with grilled artichoke, prosciutto di Parma, baby arugula, pine nuts, lemon, extra virgin olive oil and shaved Grana Padano.
With the second round of antipasti we enjoyed a nice Talbott Chardonnay,
which went beautifully with meatballs al forno,
a chopped Gorgonzola salad,
and vine-ripened tomatoes with fresh burrata, basil, extra virgin olive oil, Saba vinegar, and fleur de sel,
The wines that accompanied our family-style entrées were an Irony Pinot Noir from Monterey
and a super Tuscan.
The entrées included shrimp piccata with ricotta gnocchi, baby spinach, artichokes and roasted garlic in a lemon-caper sauce,
crispy Panko-encrusted monkfish with citrus, olives and haricots verts,
Sunday gravy of housemade braised veal braciole, sausage and fettuccine,
and rosemary-marinated trattoria steaks with mushroom ragoût and asparagus,
shown here in close-up,
not to mention a nice pasta.
A delightful sampling of housemade sweets was partially concealed under a spun sugar lattice.
We also had our fill of wonderful housemade donuts.
With these desserts, I enjoyed a cappuccino,
Moscato d’Asti,
and housemade limoncello
served on these cool coasters.
Rizzuto’s is where it’s happening! Take it from Sophia!
Rizzuto’s Italian Kitchen & Bar, 1980 West Main Street, Stamford, 203-324-5900, www.rizzutos.com