Bites Nearby: Restaurant L&E

The last place you want to be tonight is the kitchen. Let’s eat out!

Restaurant name: Restaurant L&E

Address: 59 Main St., Chester                       

Phone number: 860-526-5301; www.restaurantlande.com

Cuisine: French-inpired dishes using locally sourced ingredients.

Price range: $9-$36

Kid-friendly:  L&E makes everyone feel special, but the vibe is more grown-up than child-centric.

Why you should go right now:  Shed your stress at the door, and enjoy the understated but charming décor, attentive service and leisurely pace of the meal at L&E. The seasonal menu tempts the appetite with a nice variety of beef, lamb, veal, fish and seafood dishes. The Spicy Watermelon and Cucumber Gazpacho, served with a small cup of avocado mousse, is the perfect antidote to the summer’s searing temperatures. A steak salad appetizer features rosemary sea-salted hanger steak, fingerling potatoes and Cato Corner’s farmstead blue cheese. Summer entrees include Nantucket Sound sea scallops and Block Island swordfish. The French 75 Bistro Menu of small plates lends itself to a grazing meal with choices such as monkfish in a bouillabaisse broth with white beans, mussels and butter clams or an arugula salad – with greens from Old Saybrook’s Hay House Farm – tossed in roasted red pepper vinaigrette.  Outdoor seating is available as the weather permits.