One of the things I greatly admire about Carbone’s Ristorante in Hartford is the success that the restaurant’s third generation has had in transitioning Hartford’s oldest surviving restaurant into modernity. Unlike some of New Haven’s Wooster Street restaurants, which remain frozen snapshots in time providing as much of a tourist as a dining experience, Carbone’s feels like a fully realized modern restaurant that’s nevertheless mindful and respectful of its past. No one visits Carbone’s for a tourist experience—they go there for a nice atmospheric meal.
Carbone’s may have plenty of atmosphere, but it’s delivered with a sly wink—the restaurant’s ownership doesn’t take itself too seriously.
The dining areas are comfortable and stylish,
and in a nod to the past, some tableside preparations are still available.
The banquet areas are handsomer and warmer than most.
But I’m especially drawn to the library
and the bar area,
which has understandably developed its share of regulars.
Sometime I intend to join them and try out Carbone’s bistro menu (click to enlarge),
which is available Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. until closing time.
The bistro menu includes an offer similar to the Restaurant Week menu. It also includes grilled pizzas, pastas, sandwiches and paninis (a weakness of mine). Most impressively, it includes a Mediterranean menu created in conjunction with a doctor and a nutritionist to offer flavorful alternatives for people with dietary restrictions or with a simple desire to eat more healthfully. Who wouldn’t be intrigued by items like clam crudo, pickled shrimp, grilled baby lamb chops, seared scallops with salsa verde, and pan-roasted wild-caught cod?
My dining companion and I were warmly welcomed to Carbone’s by Mary-Beth Corraccio.
Throughout our meal, we were well cared for by Patty and by Ken, who was less camera-shy than his compatriot.
We availed ourselves of Carbone’s additional Restaurant Week deal to get a $20.11 bottle of Montepulciano D’Abruzzo.
It took us a few minutes to decide what to order, because everything on Carbone’s Restaurant Week menu sounded so good.
After we put our order in, we nibbled on Carbone’s great housemade breads,
which included addictive hand-rolled breadsticks seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper and fennel seed, as well as peasant bread which we sliced and then dipped in this mixture of olive oil, sun-dried tomato, anchovy, garlic and Parmesan.
For our first course, we enjoyed Carbone’s delightfully fresh garden salad
as well as this lovely fall lentil salad.
For our entrées, we swooned over sinfully rich, incredibly soft gnocchi tossed with sweet peas and baby spinach in a garlic Alfredo sauce and topped with bread crumbs,
over snappily fresh shrimp pomodoro,
and over delicious veal Marsala with a medley of roasted mushrooms.
And for our dessert, we enjoyed a satisfying blueberry crisp
and a luscious flourless chocolate and hazelnut torte.
At the end of this terrific meal, I went into the kitchen to say hi to Vinnie Carbone (pictured right, with Kevin Harding center and Chanthoeun Thanh left) and to tell him how much we enjoyed our Connecticut Restaurant Week meal.
Carbone’s Ristorante, 588 Franklin Avenue, Hartford, 860-296-9646
www.carboneshartford.com