Just in time for Galentine’s Day – Thursday, Feb. 13 – West Coast restaurateur-chef, and “Top Chef” winner, Charbel Hayek opened BarVera amid Stamford’s bustling dining scene.
The restaurant, a spokesperson said, is designed to bring back the lost art of fine dining with a thoughtful take on Mediterranean cuisine. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Hayek embraces the nuances that embody Italian, French, Middle Eastern and Lebanese-inspired dishes, seeking to prepare them with the best land and sea ingredients and presenting them in a gracious manner.
Menu highlights include house-made za’atar akkawi man’oushe, a Lebanese flatbread made with akkawi cheese and manoushe dough, and muhammara, a spicy roasted red pepper and walnut spread served with fresh pita. Citrus-laced tuna crudo, Spanish white anchovies, grilled octopus and grilled whole branzino share the stage with their land counterparts, kofta meatballs, braised beef cheeks, shish tawouk (yogurt-marinated grilled chicken) and duck leg confit. Pasta dishes include spicy rigatoni and pistachio pesto orecchiette. A sweet end to a BarVera meal consists of homemade riz bi haleeb (Lebanese rice pudding), Limoncello syrup cake and a classic Italian Affogato made with vanilla bean ice cream and an espresso bath, topped with brittle.
The beverage program has the same international flare as the menu, including a curated wine list of smaller boutique wines. Seasonal craft cocktails and local beer offerings round out the bar menu.
It all happens amid dark wood furnishings and ivy-green banquette seating accented by original artwork and custom hand-painted murals that take you on a stroll through countryside vineyards and coastal cities along the Mediterranean Sea. The space seats 50 inside and 30 on the patio.
Hayek fell in love with cooking in his family’s Lebanese kitchen. He attended the French School of Excellence and honed his skills cooking at the two-Michelin star restaurant Mélisse in Santa Monica, California, under chef Josiah Citrin. In 2022, Hayek participated in Bravo‘s “Top Chef”in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he won the fifth season of “Top Chef Middle East and North Africa.” Today, Hayek’s California restaurants — Ladyhawk in West Hollywood and Laya in Los Angeles — have given Middle Eastern-Mediterranean cuisine a place among the top restaurants in the state. Hayek is also the author of the cookbook “Lemon & Garlic: Middle Eastern Cuisine” (Palmetto Publishing, 2023).
The restaurant, at 148 Bedford St., plans to be open daily, starting with dinner and adding lunch and brunch hours in March. For more, phone 203-674-1800.
