Chef
Pietro Scotti
DaPietro's & Zest Restaurant
Westport, CT
According
to Lorraine Gengo, Staff Writer for the Fairfield Weekly,
"The inside joke is that Pietro Scotti had an underground
tunnel built under the Saugatuck River between Zest, his new
downtown Westport venture, and the venerable restaurant on
Riverside Avenue that bears his name—so omnipresent
does he seem at both places."
"Pietro
Scotti’s passion for cooking has made him a legend,
starting with the deli he used to own in town to the intimate
and pricey Da Pietro’s, and now bursting on the scene
with Zest—a cafe and restaurant that offers no fewer
than six menus for around-the- clock dining, seven
days a week."
Pietro
is indeed a legend in Westport, a town known for Martha Stewart,
Paul Newman and lots of larger than life personalities. In
this environment, his two restaurants have created a powerful
impression.
As CTNow said in a review from the Best Restaurants
of New England...
" DaPietro's stands out among Fairfield County's array
of good restaurants. A gem with 22 coveted seats in a snug
but stylish dining room, the restaruant is handsome as can
be with oak wainscoting, patterned banquettes, ladderback
chairs, Villeroy & Boch china, brass hurricane lamps,
and provençal prints and tapestries on the walls. Scotti
and his staff keep those seats filled nightly (and booked
far ahead), such is the renown of the northern Italian fare
lately augmented with southern French accents...A six-course
prix-fixe tasting menu is available for $120 for two. Italian
opera music plays in the background as you sip an Italian
wine and partake of the good life."
Critics
are equally enthusiastic about Zest. PATRICIA BROOKS of the
New York Times says;
" The food at Zest is as casually smart as the decorating...
Italian is the core of the menu, with a number of pastas,
though there are also surprises. The biggest was an exquisite
appetizer, stuffed baby aubergine. Filled with chopped and
sliced portobello mushrooms and scallions, the baked eggplant
wore a mantle of creamy melted Gorgonzola and piquant caper-and-basil
sauce. It was superb -- and rich enough to be a meal in itself"
As a member of Chef Affairs, you are qualified to
join the Preferred Customer lists of both Zest and DaPietro's,
an honor usually only conferred upon diners who have visited
both.
About once every six weeks, Jeanine Scotti creates and offers
special, members-only meals as well as first-looks at special
menus and reservations.
Special events and Chef's dinners are frequent and vary widely
in menu and presentation of wines.
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