This was a week that moved between two worlds — nights at home with Mancini pasta and farm sausage simmering on the stove, and evenings out that ranged from a solid NYC slice to a full-blown Newtown reunion dinner. There was a new discovery at Sinclair that’s already earning “new favorite” status, a rediscovery of an old Newtown haunt after more than a year away, and a Saturday afternoon of antique hunting that quietly checked another Connecticut town off the Little Pub list. Some weeks are about one big meal. This one was about the whole rhythm of a full seven days.
Monday: Eataly Bread, Tuffoli, and a Taste of Italy at Home
Monday leaned into leftovers-turned-lunch — salami, prosciutto, and cheese piled onto that Eataly bread from Sunday’s haul, pressed into a proper toastie. It’s the kind of lunch that only works when the bread is that good.
Dinner was where the week really opened up. I pulled out Mancini’s tuffoli — a pasta shape I don’t reach for nearly often enough — and paired it with hot sausage from the farm, simmered down into a sauce that turned a weeknight dinner into something worth slowing down for. A glass of Canonica a Cerreto Chianti Classico on the side sealed it. For a few minutes at the table, Easton felt like Tuscany. This is a version of the Pasta all’Amatriciana without guanciale but with sausage instead is something I make over and over again.
Tuesday: A Commuter’s Slice in FiDi, Then Farm Burgers on the Grill
Tuesday had that familiar commuter rhythm — city by day, backyard by night. Lunch in the Financial District brought me to Upside Pizza on Wall Street. It was fine — a solid 6.5, nothing that’s going to unseat the current leaders on the FiDi Pizza Trail, but a perfectly respectable slice on a busy workday.
By evening, I was back on home turf and firing up the grill for burgers sourced from Shaggy Coos Farm. There’s something satisfying about bookending a day that started in Lower Manhattan with something that simple and that good.
📍 Upside Pizza | 63 Wall St, NYC ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wednesday: A Wonder Delivery Bowl, Then a New Favorite at Sinclair
Wednesday started with a Wonder delivery order from LimeSalt — a burrito bowl that hit exactly right and made for an easy, no-fuss lunch.
Dinner, though, was the story of the week. It was a bit last-minute, but we ended up at Sinclair in Fairfield, and it delivered on every level. I started with The Bullet Affair — Bulleit bourbon, amaro, pomegranate, lemon juice, and rosemary-infused maple syrup — a cocktail that’s smart and warm and a little unexpected all at once. From there, four oysters as a quick starter: two local (Sherwood and Rhode Island) and two from further afield (Kumamoto and Ichiban), a nice little tasting flight before the main event.
The chicken scarpariello was the entrée, and it’s officially my new favorite thing on Sinclair’s menu. There’s a confidence to how that dish is built — the kind of dish that makes you understand why a restaurant becomes a regular stop rather than a once-in-a-while one.
📍 Sinclair | 1229 Post Rd, Fairfield, CT 06824 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thursday: A Rainy Day, an Old Neighborhood, and a Reunion Dinner in Newtown
Thursday’s rain kept me out of the city, which turned out to be exactly the right call — because the old neighbors called with an invitation to dinner at Nostrano Italian Eatery in Newtown. Our old stomping ground. Our old favorite. There was really only one answer.
We hadn’t been back since we moved from Newtown over a year ago, and walking back in felt like picking up a conversation mid-sentence. Manhattans to start, then spicy calamari and burrata to share, followed by chicken parm that tasted exactly like the version I remembered loving. Cheesecake for dessert put the whole night over the top. Some restaurants are tied so tightly to a chapter of your life that going back feels less like dining out and more like visiting an old friend. This was one of those nights.
📍 Nostrano Italian Eatery | 274 S Main St, Newtown, CT 06470 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Friday: A Fresh Market Run and Fresh Burgers on the Grill
Friday was a simple one by design. A grocery run to Fresh Market turned up their fresh-ground burgers, which went straight onto the grill for dinner. No frills, no fuss — just a good, honest weeknight meal after a week that had already delivered plenty of highlights.
Saturday: Antique Hunting in Stratford, a Little Pub Milestone, and Steaks on the Grill
Saturday’s plan was antique hunting in Stratford, which turned into a lunch stop at Little Pub. I ordered the steakhouse burger — bacon, caramelized onions, cheddar, and steakhouse mayo — alongside a Guinness, and it hit exactly the way a lunch during a day of browsing antiques should.
This one also came with a little bit of bookkeeping satisfaction. Between this stop and past visits, I’ve now been to the Little Pub locations in Fairfield, Wilton, Old Saybrook, Westport, and now Stratford. That leaves Greenwich and Branford to round out the list. Every single one has been consistent, which says something about a small regional chain holding its quality across locations.
📍 Little Pub Stratford | 10 Washington Pkwy, Stratford, CT 06615 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dinner brought things back home with grilled steaks, potatoes, and broccoli — a straightforward, satisfying close to a busy day out.
Sunday: House Projects and Grilled Chicken
Sunday was about momentum on the home front — more work around the house and progress on a table I’ve been building, which is finally coming together the way I pictured it. Grilled chicken with potatoes and broccoli kept the fuel coming, simple and reliable, the kind of dinner that asks nothing of you after a day of sawdust and elbow grease.
Closing Reflection
This week didn’t have one singular showstopper meal — it had a little bit of everything. A pasta night that felt like a trip back to Italy. A commuter’s slice in FiDi. A new favorite dish discovered at Sinclair. A long-overdue return to an old Newtown favorite with old friends. Grocery-store burgers. Antique hunting and a Little Pub milestone. And plenty of grilling to close it all out.
That’s really what this series is about — not just the standout nights, but the full shape of a week, told one meal at a time.