DEEP DISH: Pazzo brings fine food and atmosphere to Westbrook

By Todd Lyon- New Haven Register, 5/19/05

Aren’t you always searching for a charming restaurant on the shoreline? When the weather is fine, and you’re meandering through summery towns like Guilford, Madison, Clinton and Westbrook, and the dinner hour is approaching, don’t you wish you’d magically happen upon a little restaurant with beautiful food served in an atmosphere that’s warm and attractive, but not forbiddingly fancy ... with maybe a patio outside?

If so, then it is my pleasure to introduce you to Pazzo. It’s a relatively new addition to the town of Westbrook, and does indeed have its own magic in the form of the very fine cookery of Chef Michael Achille.

Chef Michael has been a favorite of mine for ages. A Rhode Island guy who learned the nitty-gritty kitchen basics in his uncle’s Providence restaurant, he studied culinary arts at the Rhode Island School of Design, then migrated to Connecticut and cooked at such hi-fi joints as Max on Main in Hartford and Restaurant du Village in Chester before setting out on his own.

That’s when I started raving about him in print. I loved him at Campagna, a Madison eatery that was way ahead of its time; then at Gabrielle’s, the worthy successor to Steve’s Centerbrook Cafe in that section of Essex.

Now I’ve fallen for him all over again at Pazzo, a restaurant that was born when Chef Michael was poached by a painter.

Let me explain: There’s this guy from the Bronx named Lou Polidoro who is wicked fun to talk to. For 20 years, he lived and worked in Manhattan, learning the restaurant business from the inside — as waiter, bartender, manager and finally, auteur, opening restaurants and clubs in the tri-state area. His last official restaurant job was running the Italian Center, a 28-acre banquet facility in Stamford.

"I got out of restaurants for eight years and concentrated on being a painting contractor," says Lou. He grew his painting business so well that its clients reached from Boca Raton to Rhode Island; one of his customers was Gabrielle’s in Essex. There, he met Achille.

"We hit it off," recalls Lou. Then, he tasted Michael’s cooking, and an everlasting bond was formed. "It was the best American food I’d ever had," says Lou.

One year later, Michael left Gabrielle’s and was planning to return to Rhode Island. In the meantime, a friend of Lou’s named Frank Carpinito bought a 200-year-old house on Route 1 in Westbrook and turned it into a deli. "Things weren’t going well, so he asked me to come in and help him," Lou recounts. "I said, ‘The first thing we have to do is close.’"

Lou Polidoro contacted Achille, and the two visualized a new restaurant named Pazzo — meaning "crazy," in the mother tongue — that would showcase the chef’s culinary heritage. "If you grow up Italian, eating your grandma’s cooking, you know Italian food," says Lou. His goal was to free Chef Michael from the shackles of trendiness and let his natural Italianism run wild.

The chef was all for it. "Every Sunday, for years and years, my mom has made pasta and sauce and meatballs — we call it ‘macaroni and gravy’ — and for me, that’s comfort food," says Michael. "Lots of chefs are trying to cook chic stuff out of magazines, but if they don’t feel it in their hearts, why bother?"

And so it was that the partners — including Lou’s wife, Jacqueline — transformed a doomed deli into a restaurant with white tablecloths, wicker-and-wrought-iron chairs, a cozy bar and, yes, a patio with wide umbrellas and tall wooden fencing to guard against the din of the Post Road.

Pazzo opened Oct. 28th.

And right from the beginning, the big news was the deliciousness emanating from the kitchen. "Nine days after we opened, we got a three-and-a-half star review in the Norwich Bulletin," says Lou with a wide smile. "The day after Christmas, The New York Times gave us a ‘Very Good.’"

No wonder. Pazzo’s menu is a garden of delights. "We’re Italian, but we’re not traditional," says Chef Michael. "We haven’t stuck to one region."

Indeed, some dishes are boldly rustic — witness the Goat Cheese Ravioli with pork and veal meatballs — while others are subtle and delicate. I was wowed by an appetizer of poached asparagus with morel mushrooms and Parmesan-Reggiano, drizzled with truffle oil and topped with a warm and wiggly basted egg; and an entree of pan-seared hailbut with a mango-curry sauce and coconut jasmine rice.

Then there’s the Rigatoni with Bolognese Sauce. "A guy came in and said he’d only order bolognese at a certain place in Providence," reports Lou. "I said that if he didn’t like our bolognese as well or better, I’d buy him dinner." You can guess what happened. That guy is now a hopeless Pazzo addict who shows up regularly, and lines up alongside the buzzing crowd that’s willing to wait for tables on weekends.

I can imagine becoming addicted to Pazzo’s Grilled Duck Breast, topped with a warm apple and fig compote, or Pan-Seared Scallops Picatta, or the Rib-Eye Steak.

It’s all ridiculously delicious, and, better yet, for its setting, a welcoming place in a shoreline town with powerful talent in the kitchen and fine service in the dining room.

"It’s a happy restaurant," says Lou, and he’s right. Go there, and be glad.

Todd Lyon of New Haven is a freelance writer.

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