An Old Soul: Terra Sole a New Classic in Ridgefield

It’s amazing to see how crowded Ridgefield’s newest upscale eatery was on Sunday night—Terra Sole held its soft opening only two weeks ago and relies on word of mouth to spread word of the northern Italian restaurant and wine bar.

When we sat down, we were treated to chunks of herb-studded focaccia with olive oil for dipping. A dapper guitarist favored the crowd of about 50 patrons with instrumental versions of everything from The Beatles to Led Zeppelin.

Terra Sole prides itself on changing at least a few elements of its printed menu daily and, aside from a few favorite staples such as the housemade pastas, the entire selection will change seasonally. Owners Pietro and Lana Polini pride themselves on using as many local and organic ingredients as possible, many of which come from the Ridgefield farm The Hickories.

“I change the menu every day or every two days,” Pietro Polini said. “It depends on what the market has to offer.”

We tried the cheese plate—for which we got to pick five from a selection of 15 cheeses, including French Brie, Vermont goat, Italian pecorino and English Stilton. Polini, obviously an expert on the subject, stopped by the table and gave us his personal recommendations. When the plate arrived, the cheeses were accompanied by crusty bread, red grapes, crisp pears, candied walnuts, dried cranberries and a few dashes of honey to complement the strong, savory flavors of the cheeses.

For the next course, we sampled the Zuppa di Zucca, a pumpkin soup with fresh sage and melted reggiano cheese, which featured a strong chicken stock, and the Vegetali Misti Grigliati, an organic bouquet of grilled vegetables browned to perfection and served with three sauces—a balsamic reduction, a red pepper remoulade and a traditional pesto.

Other highlights from the menu included Polipetti in umido, which is baby octopus in umido with gaeta olives and tomatoes; Ravioli Ripieni di Vitello, which is homemade veal panzotti ravioli with brown butter sage and Costoloetta d’Agnello, an espresso-rubbed lamb with fall vegetables and natural jus.

For dessert we choose the Profiteroles with Belgian chocolate ganache and vanilla-bean gelato. It took a few minutes to prepare but that, according to our well-informed server, Tony, was because the ganache sauce is made-to-order.

The service was a bit slow overall, but Mr. Polini made up for the wait by serving us complimentary glasses of Rosso Toscana and, later, petite glasses of his syrupy-sweet homemade limoncello.

“I try to make everyone who comes in happy,” he said.

His desire to please is likely derived from his background in sales and his food-savvy from cutting his teeth working at high-end Westport eateries such as his uncle’s La Villa. He and Lana Polini later moved to Italy, where they had their own ristorante near Tuscany.

The couple and their seven-month-old twins settled down in Ridgefield, because they prefer the American lifestyle to that of Europe, they said.

They fell in love with Terra Sole's location, at 3 Big Shop Lane, and oversaw a massive renovation. The couple has big plans for their restaurant, including booking long-time local Silvia Bianco as guest chef on Sunday nights, an upcoming white truffle tasting menu and live music on Thursdays.

Contact Terra Sole at 438-5352 for information or reservations.