bartaco In Port Chester NY Leads To Cross-Border Excursion

As Connecticut’s leading restaurant website, our focus is squarely on Connecticut. But this blog is primarily a record of my culinary adventures, and sometimes those take place outside of Connecticut. By expanding the discussion of food, I believe we elevate it.

However, there are even better reasons for my coverage of a recent press dinner in Port Chester, New York. First, for years Greenwich-area residents have been lured to Port Chester by inventive restaurants that have been able to thrive there due to lower operating costs. Second, newly opened bartaco

is operated by Sasa Mahr-Batuz and Andy Phorzheimer of the Connecticut-based Barcelona restaurant group as well as Randy Pike. Third, another bartaco is scheduled to open soon at 222 Summer Street in Stamford, with other locations being scouted. So this is a sneak preview of what you can expect to find available in our fair state before too long.

Anyway, Nutmeggers have an established tradition of trekking to Port Chester for things they couldn’t get in Connecticut. New York State lottery tickets, for instance. Growing up in the New Haven area, I remember making the 100-mile round trip on Sundays for beer emergencies, or on any day of the week to buy beers like San Miguel that weren’t available in Connecticut at the time. More recently, as a Westchester County restaurant critic for the better part of a decade, I dined in Port Chester dozens of times.

But enough reminiscing… When we entered bartaco, site of the former Ebb Tide, we were greeted by the hostess,

and then warmly welcomed by Matt Davies, Adam Halberg and Gretchen Thomas.

We joined other members of the press, who were milling about the western edge of the bar area.

Margaritas soon in hand,

we nibbled on oversized chips dipped in guacamole.

Our area was decorated with intriguing photography.

After I took the edge off, I took stock of my surroundings. There was a takeout counter in back, and no, you cannot take out the young woman at whom the arrow is pointing.

The bar area was certainly hopping,

and the babe quotient seemed pretty high.

There was low table seating along the southern edge of the bar,

and regular table seating along its eastern edge.

Outside those garage doors was a handsome deck overlooking the Byram River, which looked as if it will be equipped with heat lamps and which should be even more tempting when the weather warms up.

After our entire party had arrived, we gathered in a private function room to the left of the entrance.

Again, the intriguing, slightly edgy artwork included a photograph of what appeared to be a family’s unconventional sleeping arrangement

and a collage

with a high-spirited surfer.

We were fortunate enough to be seated opposite old friend and restaurant publicist Linda Kavanagh as well as bartaco partner Mahr-Batuz.

While other staffers stood by,

the always endearing Thomas,

already an important and knowledgeable wine buyer at a young age, educated her press audience on the subtleties of various Tequilas (those, of course, are not her hands),

which we sampled in small amounts in glasses like this one.

When we took our seats, our tables were already outfitted with this condiment holder,

this crunchy cucumber salad,

and these pickled vegetables.

Soon, wave after wave of food arrived at our tables, including these assorted gorditas,

this chopped salad,

these chicken tamales and zucchini à la plancha,

and this grilled corn with lime, cayenne and Cotija cheese.

And then there were the tacos, the star street food of this fun restaurant/bar concept. The restaurant offers eleven types of tacos, and we got to try more than half of them, including Baja fish tacos and Thai shrimp tacos,

spicy chorizo tacos and pork chili verde tacos,

and tongue tacos and veal cheek tacos.

We finished our delicious meal with churros con chocolate.

Then Halberg, executive chef for the whole restaurant group, introduced the bartaco chefs to a rapt audience.

It appears that the people behind bartaco are poised to do for Mexican food what they have already done for Spanish food in Connecticut.

bartaco, 1 Willett Avenue, Port Chester, New York, 914-937-TACO
www.bartaco.com