The homespun Italian atmosphere at Rocco's is so laid back and down to earth, I almost had to activate my GPS to be sure I was in New Canaan. Family-friendly and located in a strip mall on Pine Street, this large, four-month-young restaurant brings to mind the old-school New York borough eateries of the '50s and '60s. With its red booths, roomy tables and smallish, separate bar area, the place is nevertheless updated and polished, with a climate-controlled wine room and lots of steakhouse-style wood paneling in place of any Italio-American clichés.
Sitting around the kitchen table with friends and family, talking, laughing and eating classic Italian dishes is the foundation and dream of restaurateur Joe Rocco, who recently turned the dream into a reality with the opening of Rocco's Italian Kitchen in New Canaan.
It may not exactly be sitting around his kitchen table, but the place does have a real feel of an old-time Italian-American restaurant from the days when meatballs and spaghetti in abundance defined the genre.
The first thing to greet customers as they step into the entranceway of the new Rocco's restaurant along Pine Street is a cherry red 1967 Vespa Sprint 150.
The restored vintage scooter — originally owned by Joe Rocco's father in Italy, then shipped over and given a makeover in time for the restaurant's June 15 opening — is a visceral and eye-catching symbol of the Italian restaurateur’s attempt to recapture and update the "smells and sounds of our youth."
