Hartford institution though it may be, it has been a little difficult to keep track of the management of Hot Tomato’s since Tom Altman’s sad death in 2005. But from what I was able to glean on a recent visit, the folks who own the Aqua Turf Club in Southington are no longer majority partners, leaving the restaurant operation in the hands of brothers Dave and Keith DiNeno.
Although we stood on the brink of spring, it was still brisk weather when we visited Hot Tomato’s early this past Friday evening. After a long winter, it was refreshing to snag a daytime photo of a restaurant.
I had poked my head inside the restaurant in recent months, so the vast improvement in the appearance of the lounge came as no surprise to me.
I can’t say that I missed the garish tomato murals, however sacred they may have been to some Hartford area residents. I have always taken my meals in the main dining room,
although I can imagine that this special event room would be an appealing setting for a wine dinner.
Passing through a door at the far end of the special event room will remind you that the restaurant is after all located in a train station.
We were exceedingly well treated by the “new” Hot Tomato’s. Our knowledgeable waitress, Carolann, started us off with a nice bottle of red.
The restaurant was out of the one we had requested, and was kind enough to replace it with a significantly better, and costlier, wine. This is the sort of classy gesture that wins customer loyalty.
Warm dinner rolls
were accompanied by appealingly gussied up olive oil.
We began our meal with fried calamari—very lightly battered and cooked tentacles, rings and vinegary cherry peppers served with a delightful hot cherry pepper aïoli.
But my dining companion couldn’t resist asking for some of Hot Tomato’s good marinara sauce as well.
Realizing that my companion and I would be sharing everything, the restaurant nicely offered to split and plate each dish for us, again the kind of classy gesture that gets customers to come back. So every photo you will be seeing shows only half of the dish, which should make it obvious that the portions are exceedingly generous.
We shared a wedge salad with a chipotle ranch dressing, the smell of the freshly cooked applewood smoked bacon wafting to our noses.
We followed our salad course with the popular chicken Giovanni swathed in a Gorgonzola cream sauce.
Our next course was pork chop cooked with apple, a classic combination. We also enjoyed the vegetable medley and smashed potatoes that came with it.
Finally, Hot Tomato’s had a nice lineup of desserts,
from which we selected the risotto pudding, which was plenty large enough to share
and which was brought to us by this nice young lady.
After our meal, we checked out the busy bar area
and caught the jazz band that was playing.
Hot Tomato’s, 1 Union Place, Hartford, 860-249-5100, www.hottomatos.net
Keith has made many improvements…. Its a Hot Spot with great food and entertainment!!!!! I enjoy the openness and the out side patio! The staff is excellent! Great service!