We were visiting the Haile-Mariam crew in Connecticut, and DJ's dad was kind enough to take us all out for lovely dinner at Viale.
This family-owned restaurant in Fairfield is a great refuge from the various chain restaurants serving Italian cuisine for the masses. The decor is very homey, and the staff are very welcoming as you settle in for some comfort food.
What we didn't know is that the serving sizes are quite generous. We each ordered our own pasta entrees and quickly realized we could have ordered just a couple of them and shared around the table. But it was fun to sample a lot of the different dishes.
cheese and olives
(a great start to any meal!)
fried calamari
(could have used a little more seasoning)
gnocchi
(delicious fresh mozarrella on top)
penne a la vodka with spinach
(pasta was a nice al dente and the sauce was not overpowering)
In addition to these, we also sampled the chicken parmesan (tasty) and grilled steak (prepared nicely; apparently they are known for their steaks).
To close things off on a sweet note, Hirut and Manny got the tiramisu (which they said was delicious), and Mel and DJ tried the "peach": peach-flavored pastry filled with cream.
Overall, we really enjoyed our time with family at Viale. You can tell that it's a place that has been in the neighborhood for a long time and treasures loyal customers. So while one might say their decor and recipes could use a bit of updating, no one can discount the value of that sense of community.
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