Café Grappa:

All The Flavors Of A Trip To Northern Italy

Café Grappa at 900 Main Street South in Southbury opened two years ago, serving northern Italian cuisine with a Mediterranean flair.

“I am very proud of what we have accomplished here,” owner chef Hassan Zahran said. “The quality and creativity of our food, the ambiance, our 1,200-bottle wine cellar, our creative martini list — there is no place like this within 40 miles.”

Diners can start their meal with the soup of the day, $3.50 for a cup, $4.50 for a bowl, or one of nine appetizers, $9–$14. Two of the most popular are the Maryland jumbo lump crab cake served with Dijon aioli, potato gaufrette, and endive salad, $12, and eggplant Napoleon, grilled eggplant layered with spinach, roasted peppers, and fresh mozzarella with tomato sauce, $8.50.

There are also five salads that can be part of a meal, or a meal alone, ranging from Caesar, $7, to pistachio crusted chicken, $13, which comes with organic field greens, grilled pears, hearts of palm, mandarin oranges, and mango port dressing.

All of the entrée choices are served with a house salad, and the diverse choices include ten pasta and risotto dishes, and a half-dozen each from meats and fowl, or fish. Frutti di mare — shrimp, scallops, clams, and mussels served on linguine — and lobster and rock shrimp risotto, each $24, are favorites in the first category.

Among the meats and fowl, best sellers are the grilled black angus filet of beef, served with a wild mushroom demiglaze, truffle whipped potatoes, and sautéed spinach, $25, and duck breast, pan roasted with berries and brandy sauce, served with wild rice and fresh vegetables, $23. In the fish category favorites are the herb rubbed sea bass, $23, and the traditional paella, $24.

The menu and wine list are bound together, and the wines are explained. The characteristics of each category is described — fruity, full-bodied, dry, semisweet, etc — along with “food friendly” and “food foes” lists, enabling diners to choose just the right wines to accompany their entrees. About a dozen wines are offered by the glass, $6–$8, and more than half that by the half bottle, $15–$22. There are wide variety of wines by the full bottle — from Italy, France, California, South Africa, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand — many in the $25–$45 range, as well as a number of rarer selections. There is also a page offering 19 martini options.

Upon entering the 135-seat restaurant, one immediately sees a wooden spiral staircase, beyond which is a full bar area that features a shelf with an assortment of grappa, an Italian after dinner drink that is made from grape skins, and from which the restaurant takes its name.

And where does the spiral staircase go? “That is one the most-frequently-asked question I get,” said Mr Zahran. “The answer is ‘my office.’”

The restaurant offers a selection of environments. The high-ceilinged main dining room is to the left of the bar area and has a fireplace as the focal point to the open room. During the colder weather, a fire is constantly going and the tables nearby are the first reserved. What was once a porch that wrapped around on two sides is now enclosed, providing a more intimate environment. With its abundant large windows, however, there is a sense of being outdoors. In the summer, diners can choose a small outdoor eating area off a third side. There is also private room off to the right of the bar that can accommodate up to 35 people.

Café Grappa is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, hours are 11:30 am to 10 pm, and live music is offered on Friday evenings. Reservations are recommended on the weekends. Off-premises catering is also available.

Café Grappa is at 900 South Main Street, Southbury, just off of Exit 14 of I-84 (from Newtown, take Exit 14 left onto Route 172, make a right at the first light, then a left at the first driveway; drive around the back to Building 3). For information or reservations call 262-8001 or view cafegrappa.net.