A toast to taste: Our dining critics choose the best of 2022
The Day’s dining critics selected the favorites from the restaurants they reviewed this past year.
1902 Tavern, Lighthouse Inn
6 Guthrie Place, New London
www.lighthouseinn.us, (860) 709-7883
The ghost who haunts the Lighthouse Inn in New London offered the following quote: “What?! Again?”
Yep, the doors at the fabled and glorious Lighthouse Inn — or at least the tavern and dining rooms — are open after long years of inactivity. The food is very good. My wife Eileen and I, who live down the street and, for the first two years we were in New London, rented a house directly behind the Inn, have visited the new 1902 Tavern several times now and are quite pleased. Ditto for our friends and outta-town visitors.
The menu goes from upscale bar food to “fine dining,” and the kitchen is doing a really nice job turning out creative and delicious meals. It should be said that the response to the re-opening — and presumably the quality of the food — has resulted in large crowds. To that end, the kitchen can get overwhelmed. The wait staff is cheerful and positive, though, so rather than complain if you’re not eating at Wendy’s drive-through speed, order another cocktail and enjoy the fact that this landmark is back.
— Rick Koster
Zavala Mexican Bistro
135 Boston Post Road, East Lyme
(860) 691-1200
When Zavala closed its doors in New London, it was the end of an era in more ways than one. It was one of the first watering holes I visited with my new colleagues at the Day and I enjoyed many a happy hour/lunch at the cozy eatery at the foot of State Street. Years later, Zavala is back and in great form in its new location in East Lyme. Now dubbed Zavala Mexican Bistro, fans of the New London precursor will find plenty of old favorites, and newbies who enjoy Mexican fare should find lots to love on the menu.
Suggestion: Start by taking a look at the many margarita options over an order of freshly made chips and salsa. Both are delicious, with the salsa carrying just enough heat to make things interesting. After my first few visits, I can offer several recommendations, but we’ll keep it simple for this space. From the lunch menu, the Torta de Queso y Frijoles ($12) proved one of my most delicious dishes of 2022. If you like open-faced sandwiches loaded with perfect black beans, cheese, pico de gallo, and guac, you will discover a new favorite at Zavala. For dinner, the Citrus Roasted Pork entree ($22) is heavenly. The citrus notes are very subtle and simply brighten the overall flavor and complement the smoky/savory and very, very tender pork. The black bean puree served with it adds another excellent layer to the pork, but it’s also delicious on its own. Ready for margarita number 2? Cheers to that!
— Marisa Nadolny
The Tin Peddler
230 Norwich-Westerly Road, North Stonington
(860) 245-4249
It will be two years in February since The Tin Peddler opened its doors on the busy road between Westerly and Norwich, and the food is better than ever.
This roadside eatery, with a limited but inviting menu, sources its ingredients from local farms and fishermen and masterfully makes simple fare delectable.
Like their beer-battered fried fish sandwich with house-made tartar sauce and local greens on a sesame bun. It’s a whale of a sandwich. Just $15, and you pick your side from choices like roasted beet salad, chickpeas and artichokes, or standards like French fries or macaroni salad.
The soups are incredible. There’s a coconut curried squash bisque, $8, that will make you want another bowl. If you go for dinner, you may find a chicken dish with local mushrooms and butternut squash polenta, or scallops with a sweet potato puree, Moromi miso brown butter, pecan dukkah, and pea shoots. Main courses run from about $16 to $28, and the menu changes regularly.
This space used to house a chain sandwich shop and an ice cream place and is tucked between an adult-only store and a gas station, but it’s bright and clean inside, the staff is friendly, and the food never disappoints.
— Ann Baldelli
Nana’s Westerly
82 High St., Westerly
(401) 213-3911
Nana’s Westerly serves exceptional food in a cool space in a town that has a lot of very good restaurants.
Located off a parking lot behind the United Theatre in thriving downtown Westerly, Nana’s is an all-day café serving fare like sourdough French toast and chia pudding for breakfast, creamy tomato soup and grilled eggplant pizza for lunch, and charred fruit and vegetable salad, risotto balls, and Za’atar duck rillettes for dinner. Entrée prices range from about $15 to $28, starters $8 to $15, and the very popular pizzas $12 to $26 depending on the size and toppings.
Their bakery is known for its sourdough doughnuts, and their beverages range from house-made kombucha, to green teas, to chais, lattes, and espressos, as well as craft cocktails, IPAs, and wines from farms that practice sustainable, organic, bio-dynamic farming.
Almost all the ingredients are regionally sourced and the food artfully and deliciously prepared. The waitstaff is competent, and the dining options, from breakfast and brunch, to lunch, and dinner, wide-ranging. There is good reason that Nana’s Westerly, open since last March and a spinoff of Nana’s Mystic, has already attracted a faithful following. They know how to make their customers happy.
— Ann Baldelli
Surfridge Brewing Company East
6 Main St., Building 3, Suite 333, Centerbrook
(860) 662-4038
West Coast vibes brought some buzz to Connecticut when Surfridge Brewing Company East opened up in Centerbrook. The California-based brewery opened its sister brewpub in late 2021, and business continues to thrive thanks to our state’s abundance of craft brew-lovers. What perhaps places Surfridge even more firmly in the hearts of Nutmeggers is its second main offering: pizza. Pizza snobbery in Connecticut is fair and necessary, because we have way too many options to consider. Rest assured the brick-oven pies at Surfridge are worth your time and dollars, and we heartily recommend the prosciutto pizza ($16) and the Bananaroni ($16) pie topped with pepperoni and banana peppers.
Indeed, the pizzas go very well with the fresh beer on tap. A recent look at what’s on tap included two IPAs, a Kolsch, and a stout. Those will rotate, and Surfridge also has a great list of craft cocktails. For those not big on hoppy beers, consider the Mr. Pink white ale ($7), which delivers fresh pops of grapefruit and pink peppercorn. If, somehow, pizza isn’t your thing, you have options, from fresh oysters and fish tacos to chicken wings and meatballs. Still, here’s the best part about Surfridge: Its lovely outdoor patio area is dog-friendly. What else can one possibly need beyond beer, pizza, and happy pups?
— Marisa Nadolny
Herb’s Country Deli & Restaurant
1115 Norwich-New London Turnpike, Uncasville
(860) 848-9888
That Herb’s Country Store has closed its doors for the season — leaving only Herb’s Country Deli & Restaurant still operational for the holidays — makes me sad. It’s like last summer when John C. Reilly told Will Farrell that, despite the success they’d shared co-starring in buddy comedies like “Midnight Cowboy,” “The Elephant Man” and “Becket,” he was turning down the part of Iago to Farrell’s Othello at a dinner theater in Duluth.
HOWEVER: While the store is for sale, it will re-open under current ownership soon and, measnwile, Herb’s Country café rolls on! Which is heartening. Fattening, too. Their approach to traditional and creative spins on breakfast and lunch-counter classics are consistently impressive. Too, it seems like the whole staff has been together for years, and you’re treated like a regular from the first time you walk into the place.
Oh, and if you leave without buying a pie or two to take with you, good! That’s leaves more for me.
— Rick Koster
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