The best way to start brunch at the Boot, the cozy Italian restaurant in Westport created by Aaron Confessori and Rich Wiles, is with an order of frittelle di mele, the airy but yeast-free (who knew?) fried apple fritters, each glazed with a spoonful of a sugar-and-orange-juice icing. I could eat a plate of them by myself. In fact, I did last Sunday, dining after church with my friend Martha who refused to sample even one of the warm pastries.
"I'm on a diet," she said.
Well, I am, too, but it's a diet of my own creation that luckily includes apple fritters, lemon ricotta pancakes, brioche French toast and scrambled eggs - all of which are served at this restaurant's one-month-old brunch, served both Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Confessori - who has been on a trip to Italy this month - and Wiles (who is fair-haired but half-Italian himself)
collaborated on the brunch menu that features some stylish spins on familiar themes. There's a roasted grapefruit, for example, with a crispy burnt-sugar crust, dripping with a sassy Campari syrup. The best-selling dishes, so far, are the light lemon ricotta pancakes slathered with lemon butter and the exceptional hash made with shredded browned potatoes, roasted tomatoes and gorgeously tender slow-braised short rib meat - all topped with two eggs, any style. (Poached eggs are particularly good.)There's a plate of braised tripe in a fresh pomodoro sauce with a fried egg; a steak-and-egg combo with grilled skirt steak and salsa verde; and an egg sandwich prepared with a fried egg and a smashed pork meatball.
I'm not generally a fan of the novelty known as a breakfast pizza, but the Boot serves up a very nice one (big, too - it will feed at least three people, especially after an order of those fritters) with a sexy, yeasty crust topped with mozzarella, soft scrambled eggs, cherry peppers, sausage and pepperoni. Seven heartier dinner entrees are available on the brunch menu as well, including trout sauteed in olive oil, braised short ribs, a hefty meatball sub sandwich and four pasta dishes.
