Restaurant L’Ostal Debuts New Bar-Only L’apero Menu

Who doesn’t like a good “board” during happy hour? Bayonne ham rubbed with pimenton, Oussau Iraty sheep’s milk cheese, marinated artichokes, piquillo peppers, a couple of gildas (Basque pinxtos with olives, peppers, and anchovies), and bread from Flour Water Salt Bread is what you get on the Basque Board.

Evolution is part of the progression of any restaurant, even one as damn good as Restaurant L’Ostal in Darien.

Should you need a crash course in L’Ostal’s Provençal cuisine and on chef-owner and 2022 CRAZies “Chef of the Year” nominee, Jared Sippel, we covered all of that HERE a little more than a few years ago.

Caught up? Good. But if you haven’t been to L’Ostal yet, you’re seriously missing out. Just go.

But…back to that idea of “evolution.”

Sippel said the restaurant will soon start taking reservations at the bar.

Bar manager Kyle Storey puts the finishing touches on a couple of L’Ostal Spritzes

In this case, that means happy hour. Oops. I mean, L’apero, a word derived from the Latin word “aperire” which means “to open,” as in to open the palate for a later meal.

And at L’Ostal, happy hour or L’apero if you prefer (I’ll use both on and off), is limited to the one “happy hour,” 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. each weekday they’re open from Tuesday through Friday.

Oeuf en cocotte - slow poached egg in tomato sauce, roasted garlic, goat cheese, Flour Water Salt Bread’s toasted baguette

“The goal is to have people come in early,” Sippel says, citing that later on the restaurant often gets busy or is booked solid to begin with.

He continues, “A lot of people come to the bar and eat like this anyway.”

And that’s sort of what I’m getting at. Sippel is right. If you’ve dined at his establishment, it lends itself to trying a lot of L’Ostal’s seasonal dishes and daily specials. What I like, though? It’s a crazy affordable way to post up at the bar, order a few to a handful of dishes, a drink or two, and feel like you really experienced the restaurant.

Another unique highlight of L’apero Hour is a Ricard Pastis service at $7 per pour and you can choose your flavor from original, almond, grenadine, or mint. It comes with a sidecar of water so you can adjust your drink how you see fit.

Build your appetite with half price glasses of wine or beer, $10 house cocktails (or non-alcoholic cocktails for five bucks), and a signature spritz that blends Domaine de la Taille Aux Loups Triple Zero with Lillet Blanc, grapefruit, Brooklyn Seltzer (L’Ostal is the only place in Connecticut that gets this brand), and orange bitters that’ll soon switch to specialty grapefruit bitters, according to bar manager Kyle Storey.

Now onto the happy hour bites.

Marinated olives, spiced nuts, gigante beans, grissini (aka house made breadsticks), oeufs mayonnaise, gildas (the traditional basque pinxto with olives, pickled peppers, and anchovies), and Spanish style boquerones in vinegar. $4 each and L’Ostal regulars will recognize all of these from the regular menu.

Salmon tartare

Beef tartare

The rest of a vast happy hour list is comprised of other L’Ostal favorites, including the local burrata, hand cut coulotte steak tartare with crunch crostini made from Flour Water Salt Bread’s baguette, escargot, and a small serving of any of their constantly changing pasta dishes for $10.

But this “hour” doesn’t come without some new additions. A Basque board is a wise choice if you’re snacking and sharing, as is the case with the salmon tartare, dressed in pickled ramp vinaigrette, along with salmon skin “chicharrónes” for scooping.

There’s a bunch that I’ll leave to your curiosity, but one I will spill about is something you need two hands and a napkin for…it’s a burger. And it’s super limited to 10 per L’apero hour.

What’s on the L’Ostal Cheeseburger? Two-year aged Comte, mustard aioli, shredded gem lettuce, truffle vinaigrette, cornichon.

Have some “shake” alongside that burger.

“The burger is the big addition,” Sippel says. “Just the bun took two months to get right. The bun is a riff on our fugasse (a traditional French bread with herbs) that we do. Same seasoning. The beef is a prime custom blend. It’s not something I’m going to serve in the dining room. If you want it, you just gotta come between 5 and 6.”

There’s a little burger bonus, too, and it’s a drink pairing that Storey thought was the perfect accompaniment to a beefy, truffle-y, tangy, cheeseburger.

“The first thing I thought of was a shake,” he says. “What’s better than sitting down with a burger and a milkshake, a boozy milkshake? So, there’s no ice cream in it, but there’s cream, fresh blackberries, Tanqueray No. Ten, and my homemade honey syrup, shaken, then double strained into a frosty coupe. And no, it’s not called ‘My Milkshake Brings All The Boys to L’Ostal’ even though I thought of that for a few seconds. That got shot down.”

And if L’Ostal’s L’Apero Hour isn’t enough for you, Sippel is currently working on a little back room that’ll have its own identity as a cozy wine bar with its own menu of creative toast bites. We’ll be sure to fill you in when the time comes.

22 Center Street; Darien
475.328.9629; restaurantlostal.com