The sixth Westport eatery I visited was the almost legendary Da Pietro’s.
Namesake Pietro Scotti was very much in evidence.
His good humor and scrupulous attention to detail manifest themselves in the comportment of his staff. Shown here are manager Mohamed Jder with his arm around server Claudio.
My dining companion, Amy Torbert, and I were seated near the kitchen, from which great smells emanated. Amy was excited to try Da Pietro’s for the first time.
We perused Da Pietro’s extensive wine list, which included a mind-boggling assortment of Italian vintages. We ordered the least expensive bottle on the list—a 2001 Handley Chardonnay, Anderson Valley, California—and found it exceedingly pleasant. We nibbled on good olives.
Warm floury rolls
and a ramekin flush with hotel butter
held our appetites in check as great-looking dishes passed us on their way to other tables.
We studied Da Pietro’s Restaurant Week menu even more closely than we had its wine list. Aside from the fact that everything sounded delicious and that the menu was vegetarian-friendly, what struck us was that Da Pietro’s was offering four—not the typical three—courses for its $35 prix-fixe dinner.
For the first course, we had a choice of soup or salad. We didn’t get the opportunity to try Pietro’s salad, with mixed greens, Gorgonzola and balsamic dressing. The soups, however, thrilled us. One as a very lobstery lobster bisque,
the other a terrific, flavorful roasted garlic and cauliflower soup.
Da Pietro’s also offered three appetizer choices. We didn’t manage to try its grilled portobello mushroom. However, its steamed Prince Edward Island mussels with parsley, garlic butter and panko bread crumbs couldn’t have been better.
And its homemade ravioli stuffed with ricotta and Parmesan and finished in a tomato basil broth with white truffle oil underscored what a terrible time I’m going to have trying to select a Best Pasta award for Westport Restaurant Week.
There were five main course selections, each more enticing than the last. The first was the veal blanket, a veal stew with mushrooms, white wine and onions served over egg noodles. The second was risotto al funghi, Arborio rice with wild mushrooms and Parmesan cheese. The third was salmon Selvaggi, pan-seared wild salmon finished in a citrus beurre blanc and served over sautéed spinach.
As tempting as all of those dishes were, the two we succumbed to were delicate potato-encrusted orata in a citrus beurre blanc served with mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach,
and succulent grass-fed beef in a red peppercorn and Cognac sauce served with mashed potatoes, carrot and green beans.
Finally, we came to the desserts, and even here, there were choices aplenty. We didn’t get to try either the sorbet or the crème brûlée. We did, however, greatly enjoy this lavish profiterole au chocolate.
And this delicate, quivering vanilla panna cotta with strawberry sauce, crème anglaise and fresh berries was absolutely delightful.
Da Pietro’s is a dining Mecca that every Nutmegger should at some point visit. Westport Restaurant Week gave everyone the perfect opportunity. Anyone who has dined at Da Pietro’s knows that it’s not very spacious, but whatever it lacks in spaciousness
it makes up in coziness and charm.
Da Pietro’s, 36 Riverside Avenue, Westport, 203-454-1213