Crave in Ansonia & Studio 275 in Derby, CT

[Scargo]

Crave, Restaurant and Wine Bar has had an unusual amount of attention in the past few months on Yahoo "Local" for the New Haven, CT area. Most of the glowing (and sometimes over the top) reviews are from first-time posters. It sure has me curious... They seem to have opened in the fall of 2007. Several times referred to as a "New York style" place. I guess that's really saying something for Ansonia.

The other is Studio 275, in Derby. To quote their site: "Chef Leo P. Moscato, Jr. is a 1990 graduate of the well renown Culinary Institute of America located in Hyde Park, New York. Prior to attending the CIA, Leo was the head chef in his family owned restaurant the Olde Birmingham located in Derby, Connecticut."

The Olde Birmingham became Tartaglia's before becoming The Twisted Vine.

This seemed to be a sleeper to me, but I called him and his restaurant is only available for private dinners/parties. Has anyone used him?

I hope I don't wake up anyone in Connecticut!

[Scargo]

About Crave: The owner responded with this:

"dear scargo we are open tuesday thru saturday. i highly reccommend reservations on friday and saturday because we get packed! let yourself be known after your meal so you may let me know what you think of crave. two of these comments (leo the grape and buck naked jr) are from regular paying customers. they are my friends now because of the regularity of their visits. i pride myself in getting to know all my customers and sharing with them in a friendly manner. todd lyon reviewed crave in dec21st nh register. check it out....hope to meet you soon"

A good friend emailed me the day after my post and told me about having eaten at Crave. I said, thinking it was too much of a coincidence, "Are you reading my posts? The reviews make it sound phenomenal" He said,"Yes it almost is!" He can't wait to return. I may have to retract everything I've said, and eat Crow.

I'll have to go there soon to see for myself. You can count on it.

[Scargo]

Last night we went to Crave Restaurant and Wine Bar. This is an unusual place for the unassuming, quiet town of Ansonia, CT. Located at 102 Main, it is in the heart of downtown Ansonia. It is probably only 1,000 square feet, or so, in size and has about 15 tables, of which most are four-tops. There was one round table, smack dab in the middle, which could seat at least eight. There is a lovely, long bar along one side, towards the back. All-together I would guess Crave could seat about 90, if the bar was fully occupied. This Friday night, it was full at 7PM and after 8:30, it had only a few empty tables. The crowd was affluent late thirties to sixties. Almost exclusively, nicely dressed couples. Nice cars were prevalent. Seems to me that Crave has been found by the upper-class foodies of Ansonia (and the surrounding towns in the Valley). They were in dire need of a restaurant of this caliber. It has been open almost exactly six months, with little fanfare. When I first stumbled upon Crave (on the internet, as noted in my first post, here) I thought the reviews (pretty much on just Yahoo, Local) were unbelievable; they were so totally positive. The very next day a friend said he and his wife had been there. He said it was the real deal! Finally, I have first-hand information to share.

We made a reservation and it was probably a good idea. I think we could have been seated immediately without it, but it was close to full at 6:30PM. This was Friday night. I wanted a real test of their mettle. We were tended to fairly quickly and professionally and found that there were some nice wine selections and, like many better restaurants have wisely adopted, they had some better wines, by the glass. I guess you should expect good wines to sample, by the glass with the tag of “wine bar” on the name. We chose a bottle of Artizen (Zinfandel) @ $32 and were very happy with it. Later, we ordered one more glass of it. Warm bread was brought to the table right away and the cold and hard butter was infused with finely lime zest or possibly ground or grated Kaffir lime leaves. It was an unusual and tasty surprise! I would have preferred a stouter, chewier bread than the almost “white bread” personal loaves we were served. There are so many excellent artisan bakeries in the area that I think the bread deserves an upgrade.

We shared a “Classic” Caesar Salad and I had a bowl of seafood bisque. The salad was delicious and perfectly dressed. Not to much, nor too little; just coated. This was a good sign! I thought it lacked in anchovy and lemon flavor for a “Classic Caesar” but the wonderful, garlicky croutons made up for it. The shaved parmesan was a nice touch, though I wouldn’t call it well-aged (i.e., quality/expensive) cheese. Nevertheless, I am being nit-picky and will continue to do so. The salad was quite good. Also, I’ll whine about the seafood bisque, which was chocked-full of goodies and flavor, but a bit thin for my liking. Not so thin that it kept me from cleaning the bowl!

For our main course I had one of the specials: rack of lamb with a mustard seasoned coating and served with a nice red wine reduction coulis, which probably had some fruit, fruit jam and/or mint/mint jam in it. The lamb and the accompanying green beans and roasted baby red potatoes were au point and very flavorful! I can’t say anything good about the "tostones" or fried plantains, however. A little like overcooked fries, they were dry, fairly hard and rather tasteless, except for the dusting of salt. A clunker as far as I am concerned. I have eaten plantains at many restaurants and cooked them myself, so I know how tasty they can be. These were not. My mate had the jerk chicken, which we both liked a lot. The pinto beans were an amazing coincidence and surprise because it’s exactly how I usually cook them (and I’m a Texan). They were cooked with tomato, onion (and probably garlic, pepper and a little chili powder) and tasted terrific! The really “sticky rice” was flavorful (like there had been chicken stock and parsley added) but it was terribly gummy and not to my liking. Like Marge Simpson’s hair, it never budged from its tall, mounded shape. All the food was classy in its presentation, but not over the top. Nothing was “growing” or flying out of our food. Portions were average or normal, yet relatively pricey.

Ah, then dessert! We shared the “tres leche” cake. This is a whipped cream topped yellow cake (or “rum cake” style of cake) soaked in sweetened milk (and God-knows what else). It was fabulous! My partner, who usually doesn’t eat much dessert, couldn’t stop till she finished it off. Nuf’ said. The couple at our side seemed to really enjoy their flan. There is enough Southern flavor to the food we ate at Crave that I have to wonder if the owner or Chef is from Texas….. Whatever the case, the ethnic influences are varied, noticeable and appreciated. Crave doesn't have the same-old safe menu of many places. I love its eclectic menu!

OK. What I don’t like: The noise level. Crave got very loud. So loud that at times we had to shout at each other to be heard. There was a small speaker mounted overhead, in the corner where we sat, and it added “black noise” with the steady drone and thump of bass, to the already loud restaurant. The place is nothing but smooth walls, glass and hard floor, so it is no wonder that it gets loud. I think some attention to sound deadening would be appropriate. The place looks nice and classy, but just gets way too noisy. This doesn’t seem to stop anyone from coming though. I think I will time my future visits for when it is not so crowded.

Service was not perfect, but far above average. We never had wine poured for us after the initial service. We had to request that the salad plate be removed. Beyond that, and the slight slowness in service, I can say service was polished and professional, especially for a very busy night and (I was told) being short a waitress. I can tell that attention has been paid to training the wait staff in good restaurant etiquette.

Price? We were out-the-door for a buck-twenty-five. About right. This is not your down-and-dirty eatery. It measures up well to New Haven’s best.

So there it is. A delightful, chic restaurant in the most unexpected place! An owner, who is on the ball; greeting us at the door and personally seating us. I introduced myself at the end of the meal and Libby sent us both a gratis, green apple liquor aperitif. Can’t beat that!

Edited February 9, 2008 by Scargo (log)

[bcsuka]

Thanks for the review Scargo. I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting places in the New Haven area, and in particular outside of the city itself. Sounds like I'll have to make a point to visit Crave sometime soon.

Brad

[Scargo]

No prob. I think you will find it interesting. The menu portion of their new website works so you can get an idea of the fare and when we were there they had plenty of interesting specials, not on the menu. It was hard to decide. I was originally going for the short ribs.

I think I mis-spoke when I said they served pinto beans. They were quite dark and perhaps slightly smaller than a pinto, so they were probably Mexican red beans.

BTW, I went back to Leon's for lunch on Sunday, so I want to report on that.

[Scargo]

Last night we went to Crave for the second time. They were fairly busy at 6:30pm but there were a couple of tables still open. Some forty-ish ladies were finishing up at the other two-top in this corner and I heard them say that they liked Crave and had been there before. Crave has a following.

We ordered a bottle of Archetype Vineyard's Shiraz, 2006 and for $30, it was superb. Libby said it was one of her favorites. We were in appetizer land when she stopped by to see how things were and she recognized me (and knows I write on Chow. I don't think this had anything to do with the spectacular meal we had.

We often order quite a bit so we can get a good sampling of the food. That or bring help. On this occasion, we were alone and we just expect to take lots of "dogggy bags" home. I know that term is not used up here. OK, we had lots of things "wrapped". Much more civilized!

We tried the shrimp avocado salad, which is spilling out of a avacado skin, the fried calamari, with an unusual, sweet dipping sauce, and the chirozo with cannelli beans and chard. They were all great. I mentioned that there were not enough peppers with the calamari and Libby said to ask for more. Seems some people don't like it hot. Some serious heat would work great with the slightly sweet sauce. Everything was very fresh.

We liked the lime zest in the whipped butter, which was nice and soft. It went well with the soft rolls, though I prefer a chewier bread.

I had the salmon and mussels for a main entree while my partner stuck with the beans and chorizo. Amauri, our waiter, asked if medium was OK. I said no, that I wanted medium rare and that is how it was. The mussels were some of the best I have had and stand up well against the green-lipped imports. This grilled fish was really tasty, with a buttery, lime/cilantro sauce and perfect seasoned rice and fresh veggies. So often the vegetable medly is a "throw-away"; much like a garnish. These fresh, perfectly seasoned and sauteed veggies were wonderful!

Throughout the meal our waiter was attentive and kept the table clean and cleared in a timely manner. This was first class service.

We finished at the bar where I talked to three guys who semed to be regulars. Libby was tending bar (though she seems to tend to many things). I had an espresso and we sampled the pineapple-infused vodka. We left at 8pm and had a spectacular time for under $90.