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.
Our server, Patty, with her straightforward and helpful style, completed the frame for our night at Rocco's. After that, it was all about the reasonably priced, solid Italian menu.
For appetizers, I was pleasantly surprised to find the thick cut tuna carpaccio meltingly tender and sweet, accompanied by tart caperberries and served over a pile of crisp greens. We weren't as impressed with the other appetizers — clams oreganata and stuffed artichoke — as we were with the pastas and entrees.
The appetizers were the farthest thing from our minds, though, when the sublime house-made ravioli arrived. This is the classic four-cheese version, with a velvety-creamy filling of ricotta, mozzarella, fontina and parmigiano reggiano. It was dotted with bits of fresh sage and scented lightly with nutmeg. The pasta itself — large, round pillows — was excellent, neither too thick nor flimsy and cooked to al dente. Bathed in a bright, tangy tomato ragu to cut the rich mildness of the filling, pasta just doesn't get any better than this.
Next, we dug into the gigli della nonna, pasta twists with broccoli rabe and sausage. The fennel-flecked sausage was flavorful and the broccoli rabe properly prepared and crunchy. The olive oil- and garlic-based sauce is seasoned with chicken broth and packed with enough flavor to coat the pasta without being oily. Red pepper sprinkled over all adds a little kick.
Slightly less successful was the spaghetti alla bolognese. The main ingredients were all accounted for — garlic, parsley and tomato, with the meat trifecta of beef, veal and pork, all topped with a dollop of herby ricotta. The chef also adds some minced carrots to her sauce, not entirely uncommon, but something was needed to balance out the sweetness of the carrots and bring all the flavors to the fore. A splash of a big, fat red wine would've helped.
The two entrees we tried were maiale ripieno, a stuffed pork chop, and chicken parmigiano. The juicy, double-cut chop was stuffed with herbs, sheep's milk ricotta and roasted and chopped cherry tomatoes. The dish was served atop a bed of perfectly braised escarole and broccoli rabe (the crunch on the greens was still intact) and topped with a savory portabello and wild mushroom glaze. Superb.
The chicken parmigiano is actually a chicken-two-ways dish. The duet includes a cutlet of the standard, breaded boneless breast, topped with melted mozzarella and Rocco's amazing ragu, and a second, pan-roasted, un-breaded cutlet, which lacked the punch to stand up to its sister. Some hot cherry peppers for the plainer Jane might have helped.
I was hesitant to go for sweets until Patty informed me that many were made in-house. I was never a fan of the common cannoli, but "Rocco's Nachos" changed my tune. This deconstructed version of the typical Italian dessert starts with a mound of smooth, nutty, chocolate chip-infused cream, "spiked" with pieces of crunchy cannoli "chips" and drizzled with melted chocolate.
The presentation of the vesuvio, a warm chocolate pudding cake with an orangecello truffle center, blood orange sauce, and a melting scoop of vanilla gelato, doesn't do justice to its artistry. You wouldn't think a dessert floating in a vast orange pool would work, but it tastes like heaven.
Rocco's serves pizza, too, and is kid-friendly. While we opted for martinis, the wine list covers the full spectrum of Italian wines (reds in particular) from Barolo and Super Tuscans to simple Chiantis and Sangioveses.
