Arezzo Ristorante & Bar in Westport was the site of a dinner that recently opened the eyes of a lot of food press and bloggers.
I made a point of touring the restaurant before joining other early arrivals in the bar area.
A certain modernism was a common thread in that bar
and even in the entry corridor.
I inspected the attractive dining room,
and this interesting little offshoot.
I also took note of the maître d’ station
and wood-burning pizza oven.
And even though the season hadn’t quite caught up with the calendar, I checked out the patio seating potential
and river view.
The nice bar staff
fixed us some good drinks
and we had some tasty bar snacks
and pizza
before we adjourned to a pair of tables in the main dining room.
At our seats, press dinner menus awaited us,
wine was spilled,
and we were served bread,
spread
and olives.
We each received a trio of pastas and risotto,
shown here in close up.
Pan-seared halibut
and roasted New Zealand lamb chop
were our main dishes.
For dessert, we enjoyed a quivery panna cotta
and triangles of Nutella pizza,
as well as cappuccino
and espresso.
Executive chef Vinicio Llanos comes out to take a figurative bow and answer questions.
Arezzo Ristorante & Bar, 5 Riverside Avenue, Westport, 203-557-9375, www.arezzowestport.com