I’m a big fan of everything Aaron Confessori is doing in Westport. After the Wilco concert at The Uptown Theater in December, I single-handedly (mouthedly?) ate about $40 worth of food from his food truck, Westport Street Fare, (full disclosure: I may or may not have purposely or not-so-purposely breathed in the fumes of some funny cigarettes during the show) and would eat at Westport Cafe & Bar every day if I could afford it. So, last night, I decided to try The Boot Ristorante, Confessori’s new Italian spot just a few doors down from WCB.
When my friend Billy and I arrived a little after 8:00 on Saturday night, the place was packed. The hostess said it would be about a 45-minute wait, or she could seat us in the middle of the communal table. We were thrilled with the latter option and sat across from each other at a long wooden table that spanned the length of the restaurant.
We decided to order a bunch of stuff and share it all, starting with the arugula salad with truffle oil and fresh-shaved parmesan. We moved on to the traditional and spicy pork meatballs with pomodoro sauce, risotto, broccoli rabe and the white beans. Oh, and a moderately-priced bottle of red wine, of course.
It was a really good meal (which Billy thought was a bit overpriced for what it was, and he lives in the waaaay-overpriced Brooklyn), but I disagreed. An order of four meatballs was $7, the risotto was $11 or $12 and the sides were $4. All told, we each spent about $35 before tip. But we agreed on two things: 1) the portion sizes could have been slightly larger (we are both from the Midwest, after all) and 2) everything could have had more salt.
Nothing blew my mind, but I left full — but not too full, which is a good thing — and happy. And I believe that with more time, and more salt, The Boot will be just as as great WCB and Westport Street Fare.
Have you been? What do you think?
