Cavey’s in Manchester is one of my favorite restaurants.
Well, actually, Cavey’s is two of my favorite restaurants, a choice presenting itself to eager diners the moment they walk in,
whether to proceed to the hostess station for the delightful Italian restaurant situated upstairs
or plunge down the steps to the luxuries of its fine French restaurant located downstairs.
Let your mood dictate your decision, because both restaurants rank among the very best of their genre.
For my purposes—namely, covering Connecticut Restaurant Week offerings—the Italian eatery made more sense because it was offering a three-course, prix-fixe menu with multiple choices whereas the French eatery was providing only a single appetizer, entrée and dessert. Not that the French menu didn’t sound wonderful.
While my companions got settled in, I wandered around both restaurants and snapped a few photographs, eager to share my surroundings with our readers. Its own world, the French restaurant contained a handsome reception area,
a gorgeous little red-themed dining room,
and this luxurious main dining room.
The Italian restaurant contained a large lounge
with a serpentine bar
and live piano player (who surely deserved a better photograph than this one),
a main dining room,
and a smaller dining room in which we were seated.
That smaller dining room is just visible in the background as our server prepares to pour us
the herb-accented olive oil and red wine vinaigrette
that would accompany our good bread.
But we also enjoyed some creamy butter with our bread.
One dining companion opted for a glass of Chardonnay,
while my other companion and I were brought
a nice Tuscan red that was offered as a $20.11 Connecticut Restaurant Week special.
For our Italian appetizers, we savored minestrone alla genovese
and a “barlotto” with locally foraged mushrooms.
For our Italian entrées, we exclaimed over spaghettini with shrimp, calamari, mussels and fresh tomato,
a full-sized risotto with big chunks of slow-cooked Rowland Farm Berkshire pork and Savoy cabbage,
and incredibly flavorful short rib of beef with soft polenta and broccoli rabe.
And for our dessert, we relished a warm spiced apple torta with cider gelato,
which was great with a nice cup of coffee.
What an unbelievable meal!
But we weren’t done. On a mission to showcase Cavey’s full Restaurant Week offerings, we also asked to sample some delights from the French kitchen. A buttercup squash velouté with melted leek, green apple and curry was simply one of the nicest soups we had ever tasted.
The French entrée, a slow-cooked duck leg garbure in the style of Gascony, wasn’t fully available at the end of the evening when we got around to asking to try the French menu. The kitchen had run out of the duck (an order of duck was expected the following morning) but we got to try the delicious garbure (a soup that usually includes cabbage, beans, potato and pork and is so thick it could be considered a stew) that formed the base of the dish.
And finally, the French dessert—an almond pear tart with a chocolate caramel and pomegranate sorbet—simply blew us away.
Not surprisingly, everyone in the restaurant seemed to be enjoying himself or herself as much as we were.
At the end of the meal, we took the opportunity to visit with our gracious hosts, Steven and Kate Cavagnaro.
Cavey’s may be a little out of the way, but it’s well worth the trip from any corner of the state.
Cavey’s, 45 East Center Street, Manchester, 860-643-2751
www.caveysrestaurant.com