La Strada In Monroe—

A ‘Bit of Italy’ Not Far Down The Road

By Kaaren Valenta

“It’s like a little bit of Italy,” a customer commented happily as she left La Strada, the new Italian restaurant and bar in the Tollgate Plaza on Route 25 in Monroe.

Opened in January at the site that for years housed the popular Clearwaters restaurant, La Strada offers fine authentic Italian cuisine in a setting that has been completely renovated by new owner Giuseppe Cinque.

Polished wood floors and walls painted golden apple yellow and olive tree green, accented with white woodwork, provide a pleasing backdrop for the well-napped tables that leave plenty of elbow room for pleasurable dining. On the walls are plates handmade on the Amalfi coast of Italy and bearing the restaurant’s logo.

The restaurant feels intimate, but seats 106 in two dining rooms, with additional tables in the bar room.

“We offer good food, with an upscale presentation, but very affordable,” Mr Cinque said. “Our entrees are $12 to $25 and include a salad.

“We use only certified Angus beef, the freshest fish and seafood, and the best vegetables. I was personally going down to Hunts Point in the Bronx on every Monday to get the best selection. Everyone talks about our selection of vegetables.”

Because he was aware of the many Italian restaurants in Fairfield County, Mr Cinque knew he wanted to offer something unique, an experience different from the others. He started with the name.

“La Strada means the road,” Giuseppe Cinque explained, gesturing at two movie posters hanging near the bar that advertise Frederico Fellini’s 1954 masterpiece starring Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, and Richard Basehart.

“This was the first of the Fellini movies that was popular in the United States,” he said. “And this is my first restaurant here.”

“I grew up 20 minutes from the Amafi coast,” Mr Cinque said. “My father was a hotel technical school director. After I got out of school, I was required to do military service but I was fortunate that in my year of birth, 1974, so many males were born. I only had to serve three months of military duty.”

He worked in restaurants in Italy, England, Germany, and Austria, both as a sous chef and as a waiter. While working for three years as the food and beverage manager at a hotel in Verona, he went to a wine exposition where he met a businessman from Connecticut, who later called and invited him to come to Stamford.

“I have an uncle who owns three restaurants in New Jersey so I had family here,” Mr Cinque said.

So in 1999, he arrived and on his first day of work he met Tina, the woman who would soon become his wife.

“She was eating there and spoke Italian so we started talking,” Mr Cinque said. “We got married, bought a home in New Canaan, and now have a son, Christian, who is 18 months old, and are expecting another in July.”

He worked at Sole in New Canaan for Ramze Zakka, a Palestinian who came to the United States and now owns six restaurants here. Then he met a Newtown businessman who agreed to help him launch his own restaurant.

“Michael Bodetti is my investor,” Mr Cinque said. “He owns TNT Offices and is building a building on Berkshire Road [across from the high school athletic field complex].”

La Strada offers a seasonal menu and many specials. Among the pasta choices is Linguine alle Vongole, a dish that features tiny, juicy New Zealand clams. Gnocchi Sorrentini is homemade potato dumplings sautéed with tomato sauce, fresh basil, and mozzarella cheese. Cappellini Positano is filled with shrimp, scallops, clams, and mussels, with fresh cherry tomatoes, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and parsley.

Spigola alla Livornese features pan-seared fillet of striped bass while Trota Rieina is oven-roasted rainbow trout wrapped in a crepe style, stuffed with crabmeat and vegetables, and served in a light lobster sauce. Salmone alla Zafferano is an interesting preparation of salmon, topped with sea scallops and fresh herbs, and served in a creamy saffron sauce.

Chicken, veal, pork chops, and New York strip steak are offered, each with a different sauce. Pork chops are frenched, stuffed with spring vegetables and fresh herbs, pan-seared, and served in a delicate porto reduction sauce.

The lunch menu is undergoing a change to include lighter, quicker fare for people on the go. The restaurant has a wine bar and offers more than a dozen wines by the glass. There is a separate private dining room available for private parties.

La Strada, 838 Main Street, Monroe, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30 am to 3 pm for lunch, 5 to 10 pm for dinner, and Sunday from 4 to 10 pm. There is a happy hour on Tuesday and Friday from 5 to 6 pm. The restaurant is closed Mondays.

A children’s menu, takeout, and gift certificates are available. For reservations, recommended on Saturday nights, call 261-2900.