Mecca
Owner/Chef: Jamie Lopez
Cuisine: Spanish/Mediterranean
Location: 44 Main Street, Norwalk (opposite Mcmahon Ford)
Phone: 203/831-8636
Perhaps I keep coming back to Mecca because it evokes memories of romantic evenings spent dining fashionably late in Marbella and Madrid.
Perhaps I’m just wild about saffron.
Nah.
It’s the food that brings me back, week after week.
Let me concede upfront two odd things about Mecca. The first is its Arabic-sounding name. This is not a Middle Eastern restaurant.
Second, it’s located in the last place you’d expect to find a restaurant of this caliber, at 44 Main Street in Norwalk, directly across from McMahon Ford, where you bought your Explorer.
Get over its name and location and you’ll quickly learn that Mecca is an extraordinary dining experience, from the minute you enter the mellow-yellow faux-painted dining room where you’re greeted warmly by chef-owner Jaime Lopez, to the moment a perfectly crusted, flour-dusted roll appears on your plate and you realize that, for an evening at least, you’ve left your white bread Wilton life far behind.
Start with tapas, served one plate at a time so everyone at the table can ooh and aah at the presentation. Try the Croquetas de Bacalao Servidas, tiny codfish croquettes with garlic aioli, and the Pimientos del Piquillo Rellenos, wood-roasted piquillo peppers stuffed with albacore tuna and drizzled with saffron vinaigrette. Have some Altoids for the ride home? Go for the Gambas al Ajillo, sautéed shrimp in a delicate garlic sauce.
If you insist on a salad, there are three. The best is a pear salad with endive, pistachios, Cabrales blue cheese, and beets vinaigrette.
Entrees include Filete de Cerdo Marinado Al Estile Andaluz, Andalusian-style marinated pork tenderloin in a sauce of sherry, raisins, and pine nuts accompanied by sautéed spinach and sweet potato puree, and Cazuela de Pescadas y Mariscos a la Gallega, a cioppino-like stew of fish and shellfish poached in a delicate saffron, vegetable, and fish broth.
For those blessed with low cholesterol and the ability not to obsess about such things, grilled sweet breads are served with sea scallops over a caramelized onion polenta topped with a fig sauce.
Most times, provided someone at my table agrees since it’s prepared for a minimum of two, I opt for the Paella Valenciana with chicken, chorizos, shrimp, and scallops. Jaime’s version reminds me of the paella my wife and I shared one stormy night in a seafront restaurant in Tenerife, while a group of rowdy Russian tourists at an adjacent table threw back vodka shots. A gypsy boy at the front of the room played “Autumn Leaves” over and over on an accordion until we and the Russians finally paid him to stop.
I digress, but that’s what I like most about Mecca. It makes me feel like I’m on vacation.
Mecca has perhaps the most extensive selection of reasonably-priced Spanish wines in Connecticut, including Riojas and full-bodied Priorats. A wine aficionado friend raves about the Naif Reserva, a blend of tempranillo, garnacha, and mazuelo grapes that, the wine list notes, contains hints of cherry, flan with caramel, chocolate, cloves, and other good stuff.
Desserts include a lemon meringue-topped tart, a rich chocolate mousse cake, and the ubiquitous flan. Be nice to Jaime, and you’ll likely be treated to an apple liqueur on the house.
Mecca’s name and location aren’t perfect. But everything else is.
Expect to pay $110-$125 for two, including tapas, entrees, one dessert (two forks), a bottle of Spanish wine, and tip. Reservations are essential on weekends.
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