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BUSINESS

BASIL'S FEATURE w/ 2 cuts

B Y S HANNON H ICKS

From the outside, Basil's Restaurant in Newtown looks the same as it has since

moving to its 91 South Main Street location over a year ago. The restaurant

serves delicious meals throughout the week and still has lines out the door

every Friday and Saturday night.

Take a look inside, however, and there have been a few significant changes

over the summer months.

These changes stem from one major incident: The changing of hands in the

restaurant's ownership. Gone are the days when Basil's was managed by original

owners Lulu and Sal Anello. As of July 23, the restaurant has been under the

proprietorship of Marc and Kathy Cotton. She is a full-time teacher who is at

the restaurant Friday and Saturday evenings; Marc, an executive chef for 20

years with culinary training, is managing Basil's full-time.

Although Marc Cotton's initial training was in electronics, his family owned

restaurants, so he grew up surrounded by the food business. He did an

extensive internship at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Fla. (1971-71), and

sa id he has had the opportunity to work under a large number of "strong

European chefs." Continuing education has been through classes at the Culinary

Institute in Hyde Park, N.Y.

In addition to being "on the stoves," being an executive chef means Marc

organizes and oversees the kitchen. He develops recipes and the menu, controls

costs, sanitation, the staff, handles payroll and ordering everything from the

meat for the bologonese sauce to the plum tomatoes that accent many dishes.

Before the move to Basil's, Marc was at Fairview Country Club in Greenwich for

seven years, where he was executive chef with 11 cooks under him. He has

opened restaurants with others in the past, but Basil's is his first venture

on his own.

"I was very aware of what was involved in the opening of a restaurant," he

said, "and it was a dream. [Owning my own restaurant] wasn't ever close to a

reality or an opportunity."

The opportunity was not there until he became aware of Basil's availability.

After watching and investigating the business, Marc decided to make his move.

"I decided I was happy with what was going on here, so I decided this was

where I'd like to be."

He is working closely with the Basil's staff these days, which has remained

mostly unchanged since he and his wife took over the restaurant. Geraldo

DeSouza, who has been with Basil's for three years - since its move from its

original site in Ricky's Shopping Center to its new home in the former

Hitching Post Inn - remains, now as chef, and Marc said much of the kitchen

staff has also stayed on.

"[This] gives me people to work with who know what they're doing. There was a

lot of concern among the employees that we'd make a lot of changes when we

first came in, but here we are now going into our third month and they're

still here.

"My concern was what the public was coming to Basil's for, I wanted it to

still be here when they did," he continued. "I didn't want to not have what

they still came here for."

Basil's, said Marc, is listening to what customers are asking for.

"We are getting some of our new equipment on line, so we'll be able to do some

grilling, add some new variety to the menu," said Marc. "That's where my

expertise in the kitchen comes in."

While the classics are still there, Marc has already begun implementing his

touch into the menu. One of this week's specials was a grilled swordfish dish,

something new on the menu. Grilled chicken entrees are also new, and coming

soon will be stuffed pork chops, tenderloin, beef and filet mignon dishes.

Fresh vegetables are also being prepared on the grill.

"I'll start interjecting some new items, but we'll still keep the same menu

and the same chef, the same items that people have always enjoyed here," he

said.

Variety also includes an improved lunch menu, something in the past many

customers felt was too pricey to merit frequent visits to the dinner-oriented

restaurant, he explained. Portions were always served in the dinner size,

which for most is too large a meal to enjoy at midday, he continued.

Variety also means that in a few months some of the items on the old menu will

be weaned off and new offerings will be added.

The lunch menu was Marc's first big project. Basil's now offers a lunch menu

with rotating items, a daily pasta du jour and changing soups. Most important,

with smaller lunch portions comes smaller prices, but with no loss of the

rich, fabulous taste the restaurant has offered in the past.

"I really believe, when I see the traffic going by each day, that lunch is a

good possibility to develop here," he said. Basil's is situated on Route 25

South, one of Newtown's main thoroughfares. "I think it's really just getting

the message out to people that we've added some variety."

The lunch menu has its own set prices, with dishes as low as $4.95 (the daily

pasta du jour special, with salad and bread); soup, salad and two slices of

pizza for $5.95; and a number in the $6.25 to $7.25 range - the grilled

chicken and roasted pepper sandwich, Caesar salad, a Tuscany white bean and

tuna salad, or the roasted vegetable sandwich with a splash of Balsamic

vinegar, for a few examples.

The day The Bee visited, the pasta du jour was fettucini al fredo. Served with

a side salad, the portion is smaller than the dinner portion would have been.

The pasta was delicious. A hint of butter without being overwhelming; a

creamy, melt-in-your-mouth sauce; warm, tender noodles. The secret must be the

pinch of gorgonzola.

Additionally, along with keeping much of the same kitchen staff, Marc has also

held on to the full Basil's menu, with customers still encouraged to order

their favorites: The already-classic Basil Tomato Cream Sauce (a perfect mesh

of Basil's three-cheese alfredo sauce with Filetto di Pomodoro, a tomato-basil

sauce) is still available; pesto is still listed, and the lasagna and ravioli

still change daily.

The difference now is that when ordering any of these Basil's classics for

lunch, prices are rolled back from what is printed on the menu. Any pasta dish

on the traditional menu is one dollar less for lunch (for a smaller,

lunch-size portion); any chicken or shrimp entree has two dollars deducted.

"My feeling was the menu was a little pricey for lunch," Marc said last week.

It was mid-afternoon, late in the week, and customers were still stopping in

for a lunch. Lunch runs 11:30 am to 2:30 pm Tuesday through Friday (the

restaurant is closed Monday), but Marc admits he isn't going to be terribly

strict when it comes to charging lunch versus dinner prices if people stroll

in to the restaurant around 2:45 for a late lunch.

The gourmet pizzas tried in the past are still there, too, from the Salad

Pizza (a classic pizza crust topped with a gourmet salad and vinaigrette

dressing, no mozzarella), the Blanco Supremo (a creamy blend of ricotta,

mozzarella, fontinella and romano cheese over olive oil and garlic), P.F.T.

Florentine (fresh chopped spinach, olive oil, garlic, bacon and mozzarella).

Too late for lunch, but not ready for a full-size dinner? Basil's also offers

early bird specials for diners Tuesday through Thursday, with selected entrees

off its menu offered at reduced prices, in the $5 to $8.50 range, from 5 to 6

pm.

"We view ourselves as a family restaurant," Marc said. "Families are not

coming in for a slower pace. Some of the items on the current menu [in their

prep time] are leaning toward a more fine dining experience.

"I think Basil's was already on the right track, but we do need more variety

to offer a clientele. I think this is a great opportunity. You have a great

restaurant, a nice ambience, it's located in a very upbeat town. It's on a

main traffic route, so it's easy to get to from southern or northern

communities... Danbury, Waterbury, Bridgeport, and everything even closer.

"By getting out there more of what was done well here and expanding on that,

that's where I believe lies the success of this operation."