Omnomivore’s Guide to Stamford Summer Restaurant Weeks 2011 – Stamford, CT

Yup, yup, we got the deets for you.  It was surprisingly hard to find the info about Stamford Summer Restaurant Week 2011, but we dug and dug just for you.  It seems that restaurant week has more exceptions now (like no Fridays or Saturdays), which is kind of frustrating.  We hope it doesn’t become a trend, because we all love restaurant week!  What better chance to try a whole bunch of spots, eat cheap, and go home happy? :)  Here’s a link to the official site with menu lists.

What do you think of the new rules and exceptions?  Also, what spots are you planning on hitting?  If you want help or suggestions, let us know!  Either way, here are the vitals with OmNom next to places we’ve reviewed:

Monday, August 22 – Monday, September 5

Prix-fixe lunch and dinner at the following spots:

$10.11 Lunch & $15.11 Dinner

Black Bear Saloon           203-324-4448

OmNom * Grand Burger (Dinner Only)  ***Try the Elvis Burger!***          203-323-3232

Kujaku Japanese Restaurant           203-357-0281

OmNom  Lola’s Mexican Kitchen (Excludes Fridays & Saturdays)            203-674-5652

Lucky’s Classic Burger & Malt Shop            203-978-0268

OmNom    SBC Downtown Restaurant & Brewery            203-327-2337

* Tiernan’s Bar & Restaurant           203-353-8566

OmNom    Volta Gelateria Creperia           203-883-8841

$12.11 Lunch & $20.11 Dinner

BUtterfield 8 Restaurant & Lounge           203-504-8123

OmNom    Capriccio Café (Lunch Only)            203-356-9819

Kotobuki Japanese Restaurant           203-359-4747

Quattro Pazzi (Excludes Fridays & Saturdays)            203-324-7000

OmNom    Remo’s Brick Oven Pizza Company            203-973-0077

Tengda Asian Bistro            203-353-8005

$20.11 Lunch & $30.11 Dinner

  * Aria Restaurant          203-324-2742

* Barcelona Restaurant & Wine Bar           203-348-4800

 OmNom    Bar Rosso (Excludes Fridays & Saturdays)            203-388-8640

* The Capital Grille            203-967-0000

 Chez Jean Pierre (Excludes Sundays)            203-357-9526

Columbus Park Trattoria           203-967-9191

* Emme of Capri           203-353-0626

 OmNom    EOS Greek Cuisine (Excludes Fridays & Saturdays)            203-569-6250

 Mitchell’s Fish Market            203-323-3474

 * Morton’s Steakhouse (Dinner Only)            203-324-3939

 napa & co. (Lunch Only)            203-353-3319

OmNom     Tappo Restaurant (Excludes Fridays & Saturdays)            203-588-9870

OmNom     * ZAZA Italian Gastrobar (Excludes Fridays & Saturdays)            203-348-2300

 This year in partnership with Stamford Hospital, Stamford Tables will host KIDS’ FANS 5-2-1-0, a program designed to promote nutrition and fitness in Stamford. All children under 12 will be offered a healthy lunch for $6.95 and dinner for $9.95 at most of the above listed restaurants. An * next to the restaurants above means they aren’t participating in this new promotion.

Also, the first 3,000 Summer Restaurant Weeks patrons will receive a voucher for a free small popcorn with the purchase of a general admission ticket to the Avon Theatre, 272 Bedford Street, valid thru 9/30/11. Yeah popcorn.  Except, with a small, we’d have that done before the first preview! ;)

The Missing Link in Downtown Stamford: Gelato, Crepes, and Awesomeness. Volta Gelateria Creperia- Stamford, CT

Coppe of banana, cioccolato, and caffe

After many visits, we finally wrote up a review…and it’s with Alex from Sunday Diners.  Check it out.  

The Missing Link

Downtown Stamford has bars, Italian spots, Chinese spots, burger spots, and McDonald’s, but I don’t think Stamfordites realized what was missing until Volta showed up.  Downtown Stamford has always needed a nice, chill, hip spot for people to sit, relax, and surf on the net while eating.  Downtown Stamford has needed a change for a while, and Volta will bring it with its crepes, salads, drinks, gelato and great service.  Here’s the skinny (well, maybe slightly plump) on Volta and all they have to offer.

A Tour of Volta

Doesn’t that just call out, “summer”?

To start, it’s amazing to see how packed Volta was before it was even technically opened.  We stopped by on two of their soft opening days and the dining room was packed as was the outdoor seating. It seemed though, that the energetic and knowledgable staff moved things along nicely.  Giovanni, one of the owners of Capriccio Café, took us on a tour of his baby.  First stop:  Laboratorio del Gelato.  Seriously, that’s the name of the room.  Packages of fresh fruit are waiting there to be transformed into gelato and sorbet.  All the equipment was imported from Italy and you can see the pride on Giovanni’s face as he talks about how their gelato is made.  Fresh ingredients, made right, made the Italian way, made right at Volta!

Only a small section of their gelato choices

He showed us his gelato, 20 flavors in all, served the old-fashioned Italian way:  rather than scoop it up, they take two spatulas and form the scoops.  Volta is all about doing things right and staying true to Italian roots.  We felt like we were back in Italy for a few hours, roaming the streets of Rome-no pun intended, but certainly hilarious of course.

Gelato Paradise

First of all, just like Italy’s gelato shops, here you pay first, then you select your gelato.  Don’t be the dummy to mess things up, listen to our advice.  Give ’em your order, paesanos:  piccola ($4); media ($5.50); grande ($7); or a Coppe Speciali.  Step over to the gelato counter and drop your jaw in awe of the beauty of what is set before you.  They also have Coppe Speciali (special cups) that look sinfully good such as Coppa Romana:  gelato al fior di latte, hot chocolate, whipped creamed, and biscotto.  Well, we’ve been naughty and have come here two nights in a row so we’ve had 6 of their flavors.  Let’s give you a sampling of what they have:

Some of the amazing Coppe Speciali

What We Tried

Raspberry sorbet and gianduia in background at Volta

Cioccolato:  Holy chocolate batman, dark, strong, and so damn good

Gianduia:  A light chocolate flavor with great hints of hazelnut

Coconut:  Fresh coconut taste with flakes mixed in, delicious.

Banana:  Tasted like smashed up bananas in creamy goodness. Wow.

Caffe:  Good and medium flavored coffee taste, would get again

Raspberry sorbert:  Bright, summery flavors, seeds mixed in for a fresh taste.

What We STILL Hafta Try!

Stracciatella, Hazelnut, Bacio, Vanilla, Strawberry, Pistachio, Chocolate Mint, Biscotto, Nutella, Cream Caramel, Nocciola

Sorbets:  lemon, orange,

Holy Creperia!

Serving up classic Illy espresso!

Yes, Volta’s not just about gelato, they have sweet and savory crepes, salads, desserts, waffles, fresh squeezed juice, drinks, and that cool Italian cafe experience.  There’s free wi-fi and it’s just oh so chill.   We haven’t had a chance to try their food yet, but we’ll be sure to write up a post for our Omnomivores so you get the downlow on this new Stamford hotspot.  As for the Noms, if we based it solely on gelato, we’d give it a 4.5, but until we try their other goodies, we’ll have to hold off.  Ciao, buona notte.

Noms:  3.7

Cost:  $$

Volta Gelateria Creperia

Address: 30 Spring Street

Stamford, CT 06901

Phone: 203-883-8841

Website: http://volta.us/

Reliable Euro-esque outdoor dining in the heart of Stamford. Capriccio Café-Stamford, CT

You can tell when the weather is nice again because Capriccio Café on Bedford Street in Stamford is poppin’!  People sitting outside buzzing with conversation, enjoying some nice Italian food and wine, relaxing, and people watching.  Yeah, seeing the crowded outdoor dining on Bedford Street is a way better indicator of spring and summer than weather.com.

After we got to check out Zaza with Nick Racanelli Jr., we were jonesin’ for some food.  Capriccio Café has always been a nice go-to spot for dependable food in a nice atmosphere, so we were down to enjoy the beautiful night.  We started with one of our favorites, the antipasto misto.  A nice mixture (misto) of prosciutto, dry sausage, bresaola, speck, parmigiano, arugula, olives, and roasted peppers that’s big enough to share with two people.  Our favorite thing to do is take little bits of meat and cheese then stack that on the fork with the olive or the roasted peppers, then take a sip of wine.

For our meals, Kristien had the Gravina bruschetta and I had the Boscaiola pizza.  As our ritual, we take some shots of the food to make OmNomCT look oh so pretty.  Well, a funny thing happened.  One of the owners came by and said he just saw us talking with Nick Jr. at Zaza down the street.  We are pretty sure that he thought we were secret agents, working for Nick, ready to steal the recipes of Capriccio Café.  We assured him that we were just taking pics for our blog, but we’re still not sure if he believes us.  Do ya believe us now?

So, the Gravina!  Kristien’s face dropped in defeat after uttering the words just a few minutes before, “This will be a nice light dinner.”  Hahaha, no freaking way.  The thing was piled high and only cost $9.  I’ve got to hand it to her, she had lots of self control and didn’t knock it all down.  The bruschetta crust was nice and doughy, served cold, and was piled with gooey glops of goat cheese.  Fresh tomato chunks, soft cannellini beans, onions, and arugula all jived well together on top.  This dish would have been top notch if a real nice aged balsamic was sprinkled on top.  Instead, it was a good dish that could use a flavor spike, not a great dish.

My pizza, however, rocked it.  Ever since going to Italy, I’ve been obsessed with arugula and will even eat it alone now just for that peppery, earthy taste.  Whatever–don’t judge, don’t hate.  :)  Also for $9, you get a nice pie, served with tomato sauce, mozzarella, sausage, portobello mushrooms, and–damn skippy–arugula.  The crust was thin and crispy, setting off nicely with the earthiness of the mushrooms, the savoriness of the sausage, and the peppery taste of the arugula.  I had no problems at all devouring it.  They were light on the sauce, but I like it that way.  Too much and I feel like I’m swimming.

Later, when we finished, we talked with the same owner again because we noticed that Volta gelato was on the menu.  DING DING…after going to Bar Rosso we were mystified by Volta Gelateria Creperia next door.  Well, Capriccio Café is opening up Volta next door and we got a glimpse into what it will be like.

So, what it comes down to is you can always count on having a nice, quick, pretty cheap bite to eat at Capriccio Café.   Enjoy the nice spring, summer, and fall days sitting outside and watching the people stroll down Bedford Street.

Noms: 3.5

Cost: $$

Capriccio Café

Address:  189 Bedford Street

Stamford, CT

Phone:  (203) 356-9819

Site:  http://www.capriccio-cafe.com

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/Capriccio.Cafe

The Good, the Guac, and the Emme: OmNomable Guide for Stamford Winter Restaurant Week ’11

Fresh Guacamole from Riviera Maya!!!

Finally, the time has come, the time we’ve been waiting for.  Winter Restaurant Week in Stamford Downtown!  Take this for what it is:  a nice, inexpensive way to try out that restaurant you’ve been dying to get to or be daring a try something completely alien to you.  Here are the times to go hog-wild:  2/27-3/13!!!  Some of the places that we wouldn’t mind hitting again:

Capriccio Cafe ($10.11 lunch/$15.11 dinner)

Restaurant Week Menu

Great pizza, great food, really awesome in the summer when you can sit outside and chill.  Now you’d freeze instead of chill, but the food is still great.

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Lola’s Mexican Kitchen ($10.11 lunch/$15.11 dinner)

Restaurant Week Menu

Our previous review gave this new restaurant in Stamford 3.5 Noms.  I’d like to see if they’ve worked their way up!

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Quattro Pazzi  ($15.11 lunch/$25.11 dinner, only Sun-Thurs)

We ate here and the food was very good…would like to try again.

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Riviera Maya Mexican Restaurant ($15.11 lunch/$25.11 dinner)

Restaurant Week Menu

We also gave Riviera Maya 3.5 Noms.  Their margaritas are truly killer and the guac is customizable, made right in front of you!

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Tengda Asian Bistro ($15.11 lunch/$25.11 dinner)

Restaurant Week Menu

The food here is good and has the benefit of having sushi and other Chinese goodness combined.

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Columbus Park Trattoria  ($20.11 lunch/$30.11 dinner)

When we went here for a previous Restaurant Week we were blown away by the Squid Ink Pasta.  I dream about it.

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Emme of Capri  ($20.11 lunch/$30.11 dinner)

Restaurant Week Menu

We had an excellent waiter the last time we went here for Restaurant Week.  He gave us a great Sicilian wine reco and the food was really good.  It was a really nice and quaint place, very charming and romantic.

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Eos Greek Cuisine  ($20.11 lunch/$30.11 dinner, only Sun-Thurs)

Restaurant Week Menu

No doubt, best Greek place in the area.  Whereas I dream about the Squid Ink Pasta, I dream of Eos’ Grilled Calamari and Lemon Potatoes.

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Napa & co. ($20.11 lunch)

Restaurant Week Menu

A Stamford classic and mainstay.  The branzini with bacon on the menu looks great and your meal even comes with Domaine Ste Michelle Sparkling Brut.