I (Heart)ford: Salute

I've been in the throes of a summer cold the past couple days, making it hard to sleep and leaving me without much of an appetite (horror of horrors!) Therefore, writing about food has felt a little odd. But. Must. Blog.

As I've mentioned before I recently moved back to Connecticut. On my first night back after a long, sweaty move James and I headed to downtown Hartford for dinner. We decided to try Salute, recently voted the best new restaurant by The Hartford Advocate and it did not disappoint. They have a lovely outdoor seating area which is quite large, especially for downtown. First, there was this:


Salute's "Almost Famous" garlic bread. If you're at all familiar with the Hartford restaurant scene (I just rolled my own eyes, but stay with me) you may recognize this from the old Hot Tomatoes menu. Several of Salute's owners left Hot Tomatoes to open this place but brought along this customer favorite. When I was a kid they used to sell a frozen version of it in a couple of local specialty food stores in the area (R.I.P Cheese and Stuff) and I distinctly remember that back before my father remarried his nearly empty fridge always seemed to have a loaf of this in the freezer.

The point is, whatever you do, order this garlic bread. Order it as a side, order it as your dinner, I don't care. Just. Get it.

Of course, there is a full menu of delicious Italian-inspired fare as well as chop house-style dinners. I went with the Shrimp Piccata pictured below which was made with leeks, onions, tomatoes, and capers in a white wine butter sauce.

James had the Pomodoro, which was a simpler dish of tomato sauce with garlic, basil, and mozzerella cheese over rigatoni. It was better than mine and a good example of how simple dishes made with super fresh ingredients can be great, especially when good basil is involved.

For dessert we went with the classic tiramisu, which they described as being in 'the traditional style.' It had a thicker texture and a richer taste than other tiramisus I've had--similar to a cheesecake. All in all it was a great meal in a lovely setting and made me feel a little better about leaving Boston for Hartford.



I should also mention that on Mondays their happy hour goes until the restaurant closes, so get down there and have a few then listen to free jazz in July and August across the street at Bushnell Park. Who says there's nothing to do downtown?