Restaurant

Strega Restaurant

Name: Strega Restaurant
Address: 576 Main St, Branford, CT, US

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Lanna

July 9, 2019

trega Restaurant is on the corner of Main St. and Monroe St. Parking is easy in the lot in the back of the restaurant off of Monroe St. The owners are from Benevento, Italy. The owners Danilo and his wife and their staff Michael (the bartender) and Tymbre (the wait person) are as welcoming as can be. It only takes minutes to feel like you are part of the family. We now have been there several times. Each time we have been happily impressed. In addition to the diverse menu which includes meats, sea food and pasta; we have had the eggplant parmesan, clams, pizza and the cavetelli. I am not sure that I can find adequate words to describe the food which is why I have waited to write my review. For starters you get bread and olive oil. I am somewhat of an olive oil snob and rate restaurants on the quality of the olive oil they serve. (I am usually disappointed and often carry my own small bottle of olive oil.)The olive oil at Strega passed my test with flying colors. It had the deep flavor and slight astringent bite that is a quality of fresh olive oil. The eggplant was like nothing I have tasted outside of Italy. It was tender and sweet in a rich tomato sauce that can only come from truly authentic San Marzano tomatoes with just the right amount of cheese. The clams were in a broth with white wine and garlic and were cooked to perfection and extremely fresh. They were succulent and tender without being over cooked. The pizza is also reminiscent of Italy. Simple yet complex with quality ingredients cooked in their pizza oven that you can see from the bar. It is cooked just the right amount with the blistering dough bubbles turning dark without being burned to a cracker on the bottom. The dough is soft and fresh. We had the fresh basil and mozzarella with anchovies and the eggplant Parmesan pizzas. Both were made to perfection. The cavetelli were hand made and lighter than the cavetelli most of us are used to. They were a skinnier and a longer twist in a rich red sauce from San Marzano tomatoes. For anyone who has had the good fortune to travel to Italy, this restaurant will take you back there. It reminded me of the first time that I went and tasted a simple sandwich in the train station of fresh tomato and mozzarella and olive oil. I did a double take and said wait a minute, this can't taste this good! Everything tasted better in Italy. This is what Strega is. Everything tastes better. For all the foodies out there, this is the real deal! We want to go there every day!