This was a week that pulled between two gears — quiet weeknights working from home and a whirlwind weekend helping my daughter move into her first NYC apartment. There was lemon chicken piccata, a Testo’s takeout order that reminded us why we don’t order it often enough, and a foccia stop in the city that turned into an instant new favorite. Some weeks are about routine. This one ended in a full circle of boxes, burgers, and a very good sandwich.
Monday: Leftovers and Lemon Chicken Piccata
Monday was a work-from-home day, and lunch took care of itself — leftover pasta from Sunday, still holding up just fine a day later. There’s a certain relief in a Monday that doesn’t require any decision-making at lunchtime.
Dinner picked up the effort where lunch left off. I made lemon chicken piccata with artichokes, that bright, briny combination of lemon and capers that always feels a little more special than a typical weeknight dinner deserves to be. It’s one of those dishes that takes the edge off the start of the week.
Tuesday: A Quick Bite at Colony Right Off the Train
Tuesday meant an early start into the city, since a late-night call with the Korea team was already sitting on the calendar. Long days like that call for something simple and satisfying in between, so I grabbed a quick bite at Colony Grill in Fairfield, right off the train.
Colony has a way of being exactly what you need when the day is stretched thin — fast, familiar, and reliably good. Grabbing a hot-oil bar pie steps from the platform before heading into the city is one of those small local conveniences that never gets old.
📍 Colony Grill | 1520 Post Rd, Fairfield, CT 06824 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wednesday: Cajun Salmon at Home
Back to working from home on Wednesday, and dinner leaned into some spice. Cajun salmon with roasted potatoes and broccoli hit the table — a straightforward, well-balanced plate that didn’t need much fuss to feel like a proper meal. Some nights call for a dish that just does its job well, and this was one of them.
Thursday: Testo’s Takeout, and It Did Not Disappoint
Thursday was a work-from-home day too, and by evening we’d decided it had been too long since we ordered from Testo’s in Monroe. So we went all in — lasagna, penne vodka, chicken francese, and arancini. It had genuinely been a minute, and the whole order reminded us why Testo’s earns its reputation.
The portions, as always, were enormous. Testo’s has never been shy about giving you more than you can finish in one sitting, and this order was no exception. That turned out to be a good thing, because it meant lunch on Friday was already sorted before Friday even arrived.
📍 Testo’s Restaurant & Banquets | 505 Main St, Monroe, CT 06468 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Friday: The Best Kind of Leftovers
Another work-from-home day, and Friday’s lunch was simply the continuation of Thursday night’s takeout. Testo’s leftovers held up beautifully, which is really the mark of a good order — food that’s still worth looking forward to the next day.
Saturday: Move-In Day, a Foccia Feast, and Burgers on Beaver Street
Saturday was the big one — move-in day for my daughter’s first apartment in NYC. The movers showed up in the morning and made the whole thing look easy, loading the truck without a hitch. We met them in the city around 11:30, and by 1:00 p.m., the truck was already unloaded. The rest of the afternoon went to unpacking, organizing, hanging, and building — the unglamorous but satisfying work that turns an empty apartment into somewhere that actually feels lived-in.
By the time we were finished, we were genuinely hungry, and that’s when Best Sicily Bottega on Beaver Street saved the day. We ordered a round of foccias to share, and every single one delivered. The Capri came loaded with mozzarella, lettuce, tomatoes, basil, oregano, and EVOO — fresh and bright, exactly what we needed after a morning of lifting boxes. The Milano brought roast beef, artichoke spread, arugula, parmigiano, and a balsamic glaze, a heartier combination that leaned more toward a proper lunch. And the Palermo, with prosciutto cotto, mozzarella, oregano, and EVOO, was simple in the best possible way — a few excellent ingredients that didn’t need to compete with each other.
All three were excellent, and the spot isn’t far from my office, so it’s already on the list for a weekday lunch stop sometime soon.
Dinner brought the day to a close at The Continental Sports Bar, also on Beaver Street, where good burgers and cold beers were exactly the reward a day like that called for. After hours of boxes and furniture assembly, there’s something deeply satisfying about a burger that doesn’t ask anything of you.
📍 Best Sicily Bottega | 85 Beaver St, New York, NY 10005 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📍 The Continental Sports Bar | 82 Beaver St, New York, NY 10005 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sunday: A Tactical Trip Back to the City, Then Little Pub
Sunday started with an unplanned but necessary return trip into NYC — a few bed parts had been left behind the day before, and there was no getting around it. The trip was quick and purposeful: fix the bed, hang the mirror, and head home. Not every part of a move is exciting, but the tactical, get-it-done stops are just as much a part of the story as the fun ones.
Once we were back in Fairfield, a late lunch at Little Pub fit the moment perfectly. I ordered the cilantro lime chicken salad, and it was crisp and refreshing in exactly the way a meal should be after a weekend of hauling boxes and assembling furniture. Sometimes the simplest dish is the one that hits hardest, and this was one of those times.
📍 Little Pub | 2133 Black Rock Turnpike, Fairfield, CT 06824 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Closing Reflection
This week didn’t have one single centerpiece meal — it had a rhythm that shifted from quiet weeknight cooking to a weekend built entirely around helping my daughter start her next chapter. Lemon chicken piccata on a Monday. A quick bite before a late call. Cajun salmon at home. A Testo’s order so good it carried us through two days. And then a Saturday that started with a moving truck and ended with foccias, burgers, and the particular satisfaction of watching an apartment come together.
Some weeks are about food as the main event. This one was about food as the thing that fueled everything else — and made a big, busy weekend feel a little more like home.