The Lunch Break Chronicles

Polpo restaurant in Greenwich is hosting “martini nights” from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

At $10 a pop for a martini, it’s not your most bargain basement happy hour. But with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and live entertainment in the longtime Greenwich standby’s piano bar, you could look at it as a relatively affordable night on the town.

Though not a celebrity hotspot on a par with Gabriele’s Italian Steak House or Mediterraneo, two other Greenwich eateries, Polpo has drawn its share of big names, including A-Rod and Kate Hudson, Katherine Heigl, and none other than John Boehner.

If you’ve checked out the martini nights yourself, let us know!

Stamford Downtown is sponsoring its semi-annual Restaurant Weeks extravaganza, with dining deals at more than two dozen of the city’s eateries. This year, the 15-day belly-busting binge will span from this Sunday, Feb. 26 through Sunday, March 11.

During that time, Stamford diners will get to choose from special prix-fixe menus, which range from $10.12 to $20.12 for lunch and $15.12 to $30.12 for dinner.

Here’s the complete list:

$10.12 lunch and $15.12 dinner:

Black Bear Saloon; Kujaku Japanese Restaurant; Picante Fresh Mexican Grill; Remo’s Brick Oven Puzza Company; and Volta Gelateria Creperia.

$12.12 lunch and $20.12 dinner:

BUtterfield 8 Restaurant & Lounge; California Pizza Kitchen (excludes Friday and Saturday); Capriccio Cafe; Grand (Dinner only); Kotobuki Japanese Restaurant; Lola’s Mexican Kitchen (excludes Friday and Saturday); Quattro Pazzi (excludes Friday and Saturday); SBC Downtown Restaurant & Brewery; and Tengda Asian Bistro (excludes Friday and Saturday).

$20.12 lunch and $30.12 dinner:

Aria Restaurant; Barcelona Restaurant (excludes Saturday and Sunday); Bar Rosso (excludes Friday and Saturday); The Capital Grille; Chez Jean Pierre (excludes Saturday and Sunday); Columbus Park Trattoria; Emme of Capri; EOS Greek Cuisine (excludes Friday and Saturday); Ferrante; Mitchell’s Fish Market; Morton’s (dinner only); napa & co (lunch only); Patrizia’s of Stamford; Sam’s American Bistro at the Marriott; Tappo Restaurant; and ZAZA Italian Gastrobar (excludes Friday and Saturday).

Many of the restaurants have participated before (remember Restaurant Week Bingo?). But there are also some new additions, like Patrizia’s, an awesome family-style restaurant that opened up in Market’s old location earlier this winter. If you do go to Patrizia’s, make sure you order the calamari alla Toscana. It’s amazing.

Looking for more details about Restaurant Weeks? Check out the Stamford Downtown website. As always, they’ve got all the information.

Looks like Darien Social, which opened last week on the Post Road, is shaping up to be a runaway success. By the restaurant’s second day in business, it had 100 reservations for dinner that evening.

Chef Baird Van Beever says he plans seasonal changes to the menu, which currently consists of small plates, pizza and entrees, including Swedish meatballs with foie gravy, shrimp and grits, wood-oven-roasted chicken, wild salmon and filet mignon.

Our folks at Darien News have done the reporting, now go try it and let us know what you think. Is this the hottest new spot to hit Darien? Or are you not believing the hype?

With Dunkin Donuts about to land in small-business-minded Old Greenwich, Arcadia Café is looking to expand its offerings. The old-school venue, which has an airy, New England feel complete with high ceilings and an arched entrance, recently applied to the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission to switch to a restaurant model, allowing them to serve beer and wine and increase the number of seats.

Which will you welcome? A new watering hole in the OG or the arrival of Coolattas on Sound Beach Avenue? Neither? Both?

Above: The Pan-seared scallops in chickpea purée at Café D’Azur, one of the participating restaurants in Darien Restaurant Week.

This just in from the organizers of Darien Restaurant Week:

Darien Restaurant Week will offer consumers great deals, the opportunity to experience some new restaurants, and re-visit a few of their favorites throughout the next installment of Darien Restaurant Week, Monday, February 6 thru Friday, February 10, 2012.

“We have had another year of great progress in our local food scene,” says Darien Chamber of Commerce President / CFO Carol Wilder-Tamme,” Darien has grown into a genuine restaurant destination.”

Beginning Monday, February 6 thru Friday, February 10, participating restaurant will offer a special prix-fixe lunch and/or dinner menu during the entire week. Number of courses to be offered is a minimum of 3 (Excludes tax and gratuity)

Mid-range: Lunch $10.12 Dinner $15.12
High-end: Lunch $20.12 Dinner $30.12

Some of the participating restaurants include:
Cesco’s Trattoria
Chuck’s Steakhouse
Matsuri, Ole Mole
Phil’s Grill
Robeks Juice
Rory’s Restaurant
Scena Wine Bar & Restaurant
The Goose
Backstreet Restaurant
Café D’Azur
The Melting Pot
and the newly opened Darien Social
(more to come)

“This is great timing,” says Chef Nick Bilello of Darien Social, “My team is excited to introduce our restaurant and what better way to do so than with a specially designed multi-course menu.”

Details and participating restaurant updates: www.darienchamberonline.com or 203-655-3600.