Tarry Lodge Westport Is Here

How do I know?  Well, after years of deliberating and many a conversation with people about ways to put my love of food and all things Italian to practical use after my stint in Italy, I took the plunge when offered the job working the pizza oven at the new Tarry Lodge in Westport, situated in the space formerly occupied by Bonda and Abbondanza. 

As of this Tuesday, July 18th, we're officially open for business.  The past week has been one of long hours of work prepping and testing the menu, as well as getting all the new staff oriented and ready to go.  Mario LaPosta, the perfectionist pizza maestro and guy who hired me, has been working particularly hard, but for months not weeks to get the place up and running, along with Executive chef Andy Nusser. 

As for me, it's been an interesting and memorable experience donning the chef's clothes (not a fan of baggy pants) to step back into the realm of cooking for strangers.  It's amazing how much you learn and the comfort level you achieve in a short span of time when you're working with food 10-12 hours a day.  I have a ways to go to master the beast of an oven we have at TL, optimal operating temp of about 850° F,  but the product promises to be good and comes closer to vera pizza napoletana than anything else I've seen around here.

If you know me reasonably well or have read my profile here, you make pick up on an element of fate in all this...after all, as I've said before, Mario "Battaglia" Batali was the reason I began cooking.  So when news came that he and business partner Joe Bastianich would be expanding their empire up I-95 into Fairfield County, it seemed like I had to take a shot considering things seemed to be coming full circle in a way. 

Anyway, I've got to get back to it, but I hope to have more to tell about the experience in the coming days...