The Best Connecticut’s Culinary
If there is one well-known tourist attraction in Connecticut, it is the coastal village of Mystic. According to the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce, about 1.5 million out-of-town visitors visit annually, whether for the beluga whales and aquarium’s sea lions, the seaport museum, or the charming downtown.
People are flocking to the village of fewer than 5,000 people for a more particular purpose these days: food. A large portion of southeastern Connecticut is experiencing a gastronomic revival.
Weathered shacks providing clam strips and lobster rolls have long been linked with the region. Today, you’re more likely to encounter barbecued monkfish cheeks and empanadas packed with local squid. The transformation is dramatic.
The Bakery Spot! Sift Bake Shop and Young Buns Doughnuts!
A bakery might be considered the tipping point. Adam Young, the chief pastry chef of the luxury resort Ocean House in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, established Sift Bake Shop in Mystic in 2016. It captivated a local throng with its 81-layer croissants and sticky buns drenched in toffee sauce. In 2017, Young was named the Food Network’s “Best Baker in America.” In 2018, he was victorious. The crowd then began.
Young and his colleagues eventually rebuilt the space and procedure within the clapboard building on Water Street to make them more effective. They added a rooftop bar and established Young Buns Doughnuts on Mystic’s main strip around the corner. Though the queues at Sift Bake Shop are now shorter, enthusiastic customers continue to visit on a regular basis.
Not those croissants alone were enough to put Mystic on the map. Dan Meiser and James Wayman’s 2012 opening of Oyster Club, a restaurant focused on local fish and goods on Water Street, sparked a thirst for refined cuisine. There were numerous restaurant alternatives back then, but none of them were necessarily destinations.
Oyster Club, which is now part of Meiser’s restaurant company, 85th Day Food Community, continues to provide fresh takes on local veggies, meats, and fish. For example, native monkfish is served with shio koji buttermilk, while polenta is created from Davis Farm maize, which has been in operation since 1654.
Mystic appears to be the most popular destination in New England these days. Some best-of-list culinary there are Port of Call and Nana’s Bakery & Pizza which offers made-to-order doughnuts and pizzas made from organic, naturally leavened dough.
The Shipwright’s Daughter, which is located around the Whaler’s Inn, which is the century-old property across the Mystic River that’s been renovated to feel beach-chic contemporary, is the newest eatery which receiving plaudits for its global take on sustainable seafood, such as fluke from Block Island Sound drizzled in a romesco sauce with herbs and served over roasted potatoes summer squash. It is led by David Standridge, who was drawn to the area’s beauty and wealth after leaving New York City.
Standbridge described the beaches, farmland, and boating community as a “kind of nirvana.” Looking out the window of the restaurant’s magnificent, deep blue-saturated dining room, you can see kayakers and sailboats fluttering along the Mystic River, surrounded by rolling green hills.
Old Saybrook, The Italian Restaurant!
Old Saybrook, about 22 miles west, has fluctuated as a popular seaside town over the years. Its bustling downtown with big-box businesses hides a ring of beautiful beaches and lush waterfront estates.
The Rat Pack used to perform at the former Terra Mar Hotel, which is now the opulent Saybrook Point Resort & Marina, and actress Katharine Hepburn retired there until she finally dies in 2003. It’s a source of pride for the community. The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, or the Kate, is located on Main Street in what was previously the Town Hall and has a museum and performance venue that hosts a rotating schedule of concerts, theatrical shows, and films, including Hepburn classics.
It’s a sophisticated restaurant that would not have drawn as many guests for its five- and seven-course tasting menus only a few years ago. Taylor opened the restaurant in Essex, Connecticut, north of the Connecticut River, in 2017. While the taco place Los Charros, which opened on that site in 2018, is doing well, the hunger for an upmarket dining concept has never been as strong as it is in Old Saybrook.
Along with salumi, Italian pastries, and formaggi, and prepared and to-order foods, there will be a pasta lab where you can watch chefs at work and get tips on which sauces go best with various kinds of pasta.
Bread prepared with red fife wheat from Maine, Skowhegan, and spelt from Oechsner Farm in New York, is also available in the 8,000-square-foot food hall. This bread is popular at the Garganos’ Grano Arso restaurant in neighboring Chester, along with rigatoni integrale the popular dishes, which employ roasted wheat from Maine Grains which holds up to a heavy beef ragù Bolognese.
