Harper's Makes a Grand (Re)entrance

Joseph Sandolo's family has owned the former Centro space since the early 1980s. I was excited when I heard he planned to reincarnate the property as Harper's Restaurant & Bar.

A long-time and highly seasoned restaurateur, Sandolo is known for establishments in Greenwich and Stamford: John the Baker, Luigi's, MacKenzies and Bella Nonna.  

First and foremost, Harper's is gorgeous! A combination of good taste, experience, and the family's background in the construction business is set in play here as seen with the interior's sophisticated, yet warm, modern, yet comfortable atmosphere.

APPETIZERS TO DIE FOR

It's a steamy night and the rain has just fallen. My dining companion is already waiting for me, having made friends with the bartender Ryan. The hostess greets me with a big "hello" and opens the inside set of doors for me. I'm happy to be here already.

For starters, we are tempted by the raw bar items, which include the usual suspects: shrimp, clams, oysters, and lobster. But it's the cold poached salmon, crudo of the day (think "sashimi") and the ceviche that intrigue us.

The ceviche is a non-traditional version that many skeptics of this citrus-cooked seafood dish would enjoy. I liken it to an Italian frutti di mare salad with fresh mussels and clams, squid, and white fish tossed with fruity olive oil, lemon, and cilantro, and served atop peppery baby arugula. It's a fresh, healthful, light and refreshing.

Appetizers ($5-$11) include Harper's clam and corn chowder, which looked fabulous as our neighbor to the right slurped it up in a nanosecond. He said it was the best he's had.

Other small plates include roasted wings prepared with rosemary, garlic and balsamic vinegar. That's right. I said roasted. These flavorful morsels of chicken are dressed in pungent rosemary, toasted garlic, and sweet balsamic and oven roasted until the skin is crisped and the meat is falling off the bone. So long gooey, slimy buffalo wings!

SALADS AND SANDWICHES

There are 12 salads ($7-$15), appropriate as side dish or entree. All are generous portions of crisp fresh greens, seasonal vegetables, various cheeses, choice of steak, chicken, shrimp, and anything else you'd like to see on your salad. Dressings are all homemade. The Harper's salad seemed to be the green of choice with chopped lettuce, tomato, red onion, cucumber, bacon, crumbled blue cheese, and lovely avocado vinaigrette.

Sandwiches, sliders and burgers ($9-$16) are up next.

In true tavern form, Harper's offers an impressive selection of creative sandwiches such as veggie Portuguese roll with cilantro mayo; chicken Caesar with whole wheat wrap; seared salmon club; and a classic pressed Cuban sandwich with double smoked ham, pickle, gruyere, and aioli.

ITALIAN SPECIALTIES

Pizza ($7-$15) is indeed on the menu and the kitchen is not fooling around as they have built a real pizza oven.

The "Harper's pizza" is a tasty concoction of Executive Chef Erik Erlichson 's popular pulled pork and signature barbecue sauce, along spinach, peppers, caramelized onions, sharp cheddar and pepper jack cheeses.

Pastas ($12-$18) are done right here, too.

We couldn't get enough of the al dente linguini with white clam sauce. Chef creates an intense reduced clam broth with olive oil, butter (not too much), white wine, roasted garlic (the key in this dish), and fresh parsley. Over a dozen whole, sweet, tender clams are nestled on top of the pasta and crisp garlic toasts are there for the sopping. I will go out on a limb and declare this the best linguini with white clam sauce in Fairfield County!

UPSCALE ENTREES

Entrees ($14-$26 and $58 for Porterhouse dinner for two) cover a range of tastes and cultural backgrounds. Chef brings over 28 years of culinary experience to Harper's, incorporating his education from New York Restaurant School and vast experience working at such prestigious restaurants as Joe Allen of New York and Paris, Sole e Luna in Westport and La Colline Verte in Fairfield.

We were treated to the blackened scallops, with roasted red pepper sauce, which was served with a coarse basil pesto and fragrant jasmine rice. Other main dishes are fried filet sole with tartar sauce and coleslaw, chicken paillard with herb pommes frites, New York strip steak au poivre; and a 30-day aged porterhouse.

Chef butchers his own cuts of beef and will be dry-aging on-premise. The process lends itself to a more intense flavor – almost gamey – retaining the fabulous juices that meld well with Chef's cabernet reduced au jus. Shoestring fries come seasoned with thyme, pepper and salt and were sinful when dipped into the au jus.

Chef prepares all of the desserts in house, but I confess I did not have room. Me? Yep, we cleaned our plates and ran out of steam.

If this article sounds like a rave, that's because it is.

I am excited about Harper's Restaurant & Bar. If they stay consistent with the quality of food and service that I enjoyed, Darien can be proud of this family owned and operated restaurant.