On a misty Tuesday evening, I headed down the turnpike to new Scena Wine Bar & Restaurant for the announcement of the first Darien Restaurant Week. Scena is located next to the Darien Playhouse.
Arriving on the early side, I was able to snap a shot of the handsome dining room,
this appealing curved banquette,
and the bar area.
I got to make new friends and reacquaint myself with old ones.
These great marinated olives were still untouched,
as was this sushi
brought by the folks from Matsuri (and Matsu Sushi in Westport).
But within a few minutes, it got a lot harder to take pictures because the place looked like this.
The dining room also started to fill.
All kinds of treats started coming out of Scena’s kitchen, including this margherita pizza
prepared in the wood-burning oven,
these arancini (risotto balls),
this steak tartare,
and other treats.
The lids came off, so guests also got to attack Matsuri’s terrific sushi.
But my absolute favorite treat was Scena’s incredible mushroom pizza with portobello, Fontina, garlic and walnut pesto.
Announcing Darien Restaurant Week were Carol Wilder-Tamme, President of the Darien Chamber of Commerce, and Linda Kavanagh, a leading restaurant publicist.
Carol and Linda mingled with guests, answering questions.
Then the chefs from some of the participating restaurants assembled outside
for a proper group photo,
while the party inside raged on.
The participating restaurants include:
Backstreet Restaurant
Bertucci’s
The Goose American Bistro & Bar
Chuck’s Steakhouse
Coromandel
Fuji of Japan
Harpers
Little Thai Kitchen
Matsuri
The Melting Pot
Olé Molé
Rory’s Restaurant
Scena Wine Bar & Restaurant
Tengda Asian Bistro
The Water’s Edge at Giovanni’s
Visit darienchamberonline.com/announcements/ for more details.