Quattro Pazzi, Stamford CT

I’ll be the first to admit, I hadn’t been to Quattro Pazzi in a while, and did not intend on going there this day either. We were actually heading to a different downtown Italian eatery. It was around 8:30pm on a Saturday night, and we found out the hard way that you might start needing to make reservations downtown on certain nights. Truth be told; there are only a handful of places I’ve ever considered making a reservation for, but I think its time to start planning ahead a little better.

We still wanted Italian, and walked to Quattro Pazzi on the corner of Bedford Street. When we walked in the front door, we were asked if we had a reservation; at this moment, I feared we would be bringing planet pizza home with us, or getting pizza rolls from CVS. Fortunately there was a pair of seats at the upstairs bar we could sit at. I have always had a fondness for the barstool seats at restaurants. I used to travel a lot for work, and learned quickly that sitting at the bar was a good way of having more social conversations vs. sitting alone.

Our bartender/server was very friendly and constantly made sure we had enough to drink. I can think of a time when neither my water glass, or wine glass wasn’t always full. The service was quick, and the food we ordered was delicious. E ordered the Gnochi Bolognese. The ricotta gnochi was perfectly tender, and the veal bolognese was incredibly flavorful and hearty. I ordered the Rigatoni Buttera; a pasta dish with hot sausage, peas, in a creamy tomato sauce, with a riccota clump on top. My pasta was cooked to a great al dente feel, and the combination of creamy tomato sauce with the riccotta mixed up created a great flavor profile.

The beer selection here is ok, but not tremendous. I am happy they do serve the classics and have Two Roads as their local selection. The wine selection is definitely far better (I guess this is common sense for an Italian restaurant, but my love for beer did leave me wanting a little bit more).

We had a great experience at Quattro Pazzi, and honestly it’s probably a shame we have come here so infrequently. It’s definitely back on our radar, and in a way I’m glad I learned my lesson about making reservations.