Sneak Peek at Spiga Ristorante: New Italian Opening in New Canaan

Many residents of New Canaan have been eagerly awaiting the opening of Spiga Ristorante in the space that formerly housed Barolo restaurant on Main Street. The wait is almost over. In the next two weeks, Spiga will unveil its newly revamped interior, offering a wide variety of Italian cuisine in a relaxed environment. CTbites was invited for a sneak peek and discuss the vision of the restaurant with two of the owners, Dan Camporeale and Rose Dionne. This is the first restaurant for Rose and the fourth restaurant for Dan, who is also one of the owners of Pizzeria Molto in Fairfield. Spiga will be his group’s first restaurant in New Canaan. When I asked Dan why he chose New Canaan he mentioned, “There is no true Italian restaurant in New Canaan. The space has a lot of positives and there is plenty of parking directly across the street.”

The entire dining area has been redesigned to offer more seating in booths, tables or at the long bar that occupies a fair portion of the right wall. As Dan explained, “It’s not your traditional looking Italian place. Fairfield is very Rome. This is old and new world put together.” The rear of the restaurant features a brick pizza oven, pasta and antipasto stations with numerous cured meats dangling from the ceiling, all tempting the diners. The dining area is flexible; the rear can be separated by a curtain for a private party for up to 50 people. Dan’s vision is for families to enjoy the early times and then around eight- or nine-o’clock, the crowd will become more adult oriented.

With seating for over 130 guests, the new relaxed interior is the perfect backdrop for the menu. A quick scan of the potential offerings shows a large and diverse menu, with a variety of meats and cheeses, numerous salads, an abundance of pasta and pizzas, plus small and large plates. Spiga will have something for every taste and size. Dan described the pizza as Neapolitan, “you can pick up a slice of our pizza and it stands up with the toppings.“ The space is much larger than Molto and he will hire two pizza men. “We serve over 1,000 pizzas a week in Fairfield with one pizza man,” so with the additional seating offered at Spiga, he is comfortable that he can deliver the same quality with a second pizza man. Many of the pastas and sauces will be house-made, and a large delivery of San Marzano DOP tomatoes interrupted our discussion. In addition to dining, Spiga will offer customers the option of purchasing its cured meats, pastas and sauces to serve or cook at home.

With many in New Canaan on vacation during August, the current plan is to just open the doors and allow the quietness of town bring the people in slowly. After Labor Day, when the schools re-open, the rush will begin. For me, I will take advantage, and visit in August.

Stay tuned as CTbites returns after the opening for a full review of Spiga.

136 Main St, New Canaan, CT 06840

(203) 920-1351