| Reprinted courtesy of Hersam Acorn newspapers |
Best Bets: Restaurant
Reviews April 21, 2005 Featuring Tonelli’s
Restaurant Serving
lunch 11 to 3, Monday to Friday; dinner, 3 to 10:30, week nights, and 4 to
10:30, Saturday and Sunday. Early-bird complete dinner specials from 3 to 8,
Monday to Thursday. Available for private parties during the day on Saturday and
Sunday; also for lunch and dinner during the week. Reservations
accepted for 6 or more; major credit cards; handicapped accessible; children
accommodated; full bar; regional Italian, family-style dining; vegetarian
selections; dietary requests accommodated; global wines; take-out; on/off
premises catering; casual, stylish attire; senior discount if requested; piano
entertainment Friday and Saturday evenings from 6:30 to 9; well-lit parking lot
in rear of restaurant. Appetizers:
$2.50 to $9.95 Owned
and operated by the Fernandes family since 1986, Tonelli’s Restaurant in
Bethel, in its 19th year, recently added 100 seats to accommodate a total of 250
diners. Customers receive heaping portions of freshly prepared, top-notch,
regional Italian food served in a warm and friendly atmosphere. Coming
from a family of eight, four brothers and four sisters, Tony and Manny Fernandes
arrived in the United States from Portugal in 1969. They began working and
apprenticing in restaurants with the hope of opening their own restaurant
“down the road.” The opportunity came in Bethel when they established
Tonelli’s, the name derived from the two brothers’ names, “Tony” and
“Nelli” (Manny’s nickname). Tonelli’s
continued success, according to the two brothers, has come because they are not
only in the kitchen preparing food with seven line chefs, but they also take
turns “out front” visiting tableside making sure diners are kept happy. A
brother, Jack, takes turns as a host; Julia Fernandes, “mother of all” also
enjoys helping out in the kitchen occasionally. Tables
fill up quickly at Tonelli’s, and according to Tony Fernandes, approximately
800 pounds of pasta and 400 gallons of sauce, 100 pounds of shrimp and 300
pounds of New York strip steak are consumed weekly. Corporate events, birthday
parties, club luncheons and dinners are catered in-house and off-premises. Among
the signature antipasti are French onion soup, steamed clams, fried calamari,
mussels, escargots, and garlic bread with parmesan. A taste treat is the house
appetizer platter: stuffed eggplant, fried mozzarella, stuffed mushrooms, and
stuffed shrimp simmered in marinara sauce. French
bleu cheese, honey Dijon, and peppercorn Parmesan dressings top off a wide array
of salads: Caesar, calamari, tuna, chicken, and scungilli. Homemade sauces and
salad dressings are available to take out. The
luncheon grinder selection includes meatball, sausage, veal, eggplant, or
chicken parmesan, as well as tuna melt and steak. Italian
luncheon entrees, with soup and salad or pasta, are veal and peppers, baked ziti
with meatballs or sausage, baked ravioli parmigiana, and lasagna. American
entrees are fried shrimp, boneless fried chicken, broiled ground sirloin, and
broiled filet of sole, seafood platter, broiled shrimp and stuffed shrimp. Pizzas
at Tonelli’s can be ordered in small, medium and large sizes. A vegetarian
special includes broccoli, spinach, eggplant, mushrooms, black olives, green
peppers and onions. The Tonelli special features meatballs, mushrooms, onions,
pepperoni, sausage, pepper, black olives, hamburger, and bacon, with all pizzas
available up to an 18-inch size. A
children’s menu features fried chicken with French fries, baked lasagna or
ravioli, ziti and meatball, fried shrimp with French fries, and grilled cheese
with French fries. The
extensive dinner menu at Tonelli’s takes some studying, especially with 20
chicken entrees listed. A signature dish is chicken Francese (see recipe). I
agree it is a very special dish. On another visit, I enjoyed chicken Florentine
with chopped spinach and a cream sauce over penne. Entrees are served with
potato, or pasta and salad. On both occasions I took home generous leftovers
that reheated well. There
are also interesting combinations of veal, seafood and beef dishes, in addition
to fried seafood with potato or pasta and salad. No one goes away hungry from
Tonelli’s. The
dessert menu offers chocolate mousse cake, peanut butter pie, carrot cake, apple
crumb pie, tartufo with strawberries, butterscotch, chocolate or strawberry
sundaes, and spumoni. Tonelli’s
Restaurant remains an understandably convivial dining spot year round as it
heads for the 20-year mark. Side
Dishes Formerly
The Emerald City Cafe, a new restaurant at the Bethel Cinema, 269 Greenwood
Avenue in Bethel is called Lemongrass Cafe, and features Thai, Vietnamese
and Philippine cuisine designed by Executive Chef Matthew Denning of
Bridgewater. It’s open weekdays from 5 to 10; Saturday from 5 to 11. A limited
beer and wine list is available. Reservations, 203-797-1244...Luc’s Cafe -
Restaurant, 3 Big Shop Lane in Ridgefield, features non-stop lunch and
dinner service from 11 a.m. Monday to Friday, and dinner on Saturday starting at
5 p.m. Reservations 203-894-8522, for a four-person minimum. Larry Urban
performs gypsy swing and jazz music (Cafe Musette) Wednesday evening from 7:30
to 9:30. A
recipe from Tonelli’s
Restaurant Chicken
Frances for Two
Method: Put
flour in a medium-size bowl. Place eggs in another bowl and beat lightly. Rinse
and pat dry chicken breasts and salt and pepper to taste. Add
olive oil to a heavy 8-to-10-inch skillet and heat on high until very hot. Coat
chicken with flour; shake off excess. Dip chicken in beaten eggs, drain off
excess, place in hot skillet, and cook until light golden brown. Remove chicken
from skillet and drain off all olive oil. Return
chicken to skillet and add chicken stock, white wine, unsalted butter, and
squeeze juice from 1/2 lemon into the skillet. Stir
and cook on high heat for five minutes, and then simmer for about 7 minutes
until the chicken is totally cooked on both sides. Add salt and pepper if
needed. Cook
pasta and serve on the side.
04/27/2005 |