A seasonal menu is based on change, and Bistro Seven embraces change. The farm to fork restaurant that opened on Route 7 in Wilton two-and-a-half years ago, has changed again.
Chef-owner Breno Donatti recently overhauled the bistro’s kitchen and new chefs have created a new menu. Serving dinner and Sunday brunch, the contemporary bistro offers lots of options to diners concerned about food groups.
The menu is labeled with V for vegan, GF for gluten-free and VT for vegetarian. Asterisks denote the kitchen’s willing to adapt a dish. The homey menu features tacos, mac ‘n’ cheese and fried Brussels sprouts. New chef de cuisine Marcelino Martinez and sous chef Harrison Schaefer, who you can see through the open kitchen, play with Latin and Asian flavors. But the menu also reflects a certain practicality about the way that people in this neck of the woods eat today. People want choices.
“From the Fields” section of the menu, meal-sized salads, Tequila Fajita Shrimp Salad ($16) offered moist, plump shrimp, poached and then bathed in tequila-dashed vinaigrette. Fresh leaves of mesclun, dressed in cilantro lime vinaigrette, were peppered with peppadews – the cute, little, round, red-orange pickled peppers from South Africa. Crisp strips of corn tortillas lent gluten-free bonafides and crunch.
If you’re an omnivore, order the empanada ($7). The crisp, brown-crusted turnover was chubby with a moist, flavorful filling of ground beef, onions, scallions and potatoes, all bound with cheddar cheese. No fancy garnishing in the presentation, just a pool of spicy cilantro lime sauce. (Bistro Seven makes good use of cilantro lime sauce.)
At happy hour, there’s an ever-changing bar menu. On recent evening, we were intrigued to see duck wings on the bar menu. Without notice, we were served legs instead. They were draped in a glistening, sweet-spicy hoisin sauce topped with white sesame seeds. The sauce was so rich and sweet-salty that we couldn’t tell if we were eating duck. We would have liked to taste the duck.
Burgers ($16) are build-your-own, with choices of beef (blended chuck, short rib and brisket), chicken (made in-house) or veggie (mostly chickpea). There are lots of choices for toppings, sides and sauces. Sauces include house-made ketchup and mayo, garlic aioli and creamy cilantro lime. Yes, there’s a vegan option for sauces, too, Sriracha Veganaise. Buns can be brioche or gluten-free bread. The most expensive dish, Grilled Cow ($30), a eight-ounce New York strip, is cheffed-up with porchini sauce, tomato onion balsamic glaze, and parsnip and cauliflower purée.
Bistro Seven’s atmosphere is cozy, warm, candlelit. A warning: Sunday brunch is popular, so go early or late.
>>Bistro Seven, 991 Danbury Road, Wilton, is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 5 to 10.30 p.m.; and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 to 9 p.m. Information: 203-587-1287 and www.bistro7wilton.com
