Updated Atmosphere Pleases Old Friends And New At —

My Place Restaurant

Serving great food, with great service at reasonable prices has been the mantra at Newtown’s My Place Restaurant for 30 years.

Opened as a luncheonette by Louise Tambascio in 1979, in one of a string of Queen Street Plaza storefronts, it was a popular place for breakfast and lunch. In 1989 her sons John and Mark took an adjacent store to start a New York-style pizzeria in combination with provincial Italian cuisine dinners. Three years later, the wall between the two establishments came down and My Place began serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, seven days a week.

When the Big Y came to town, the Tambascios relocated their operations in 1998 to the renovated building fronting Queen Street that had long served as Newtown’s post office, before that facility moved to Commerce Road.

The spring and summer of 2009 heralded still more extensive changes to the interior and exterior of the restaurant, and whether only a recent discovery or a longtime favorite, those changes have been favorably embraced by customers, said John Tambascio.

“One of the biggest advantages of operating an independent restaurant,” he noted, “is the ability to know our customers and respond to changing demand.”

Customers still enter through the handicapped accessible entrance located off the parking lot between the restaurant and Bank of America. Inside the foyer, decorated with an original water color by Michael Morshuk, take the doorway to the right to the busy takeout section and main dining rooms, or duck through the doorway to the left, now the main entrance to the 40-seat Tap Room. There, beer lovers will find a rotating menu of ten beers on tap and more than 50 varieties by the bottle. Mark Tambascio, a master brewer and a national beer judge, invites customers to pull up a seat at the horseshoe-shaped bar fashioned from natural bamboo wood, and from where the television can be easily viewed or a congenial conversation initiated. Regulars have branded the 13 new barstools as their own by purchasing a small, oval brass nameplate affixed to the back of a barstool. The Tambascio family, in memory of longtime regulars, the late Gene Donahue and Karl Switzenberg, purchased two of those nameplates. Duets and a table for four make up the remainder of the seating in the Tap Room. With Mark Tambascio’s expertise and connections, My Place regularly offers brews found only in select bars, and travelers from across the country regularly stop in.

Enjoy a draft with a delicious homemade German pretzel dipped in beer mustard, or fill up on a pulled pork sandwich or knockwurst on My Place pretzel bread, baked by Spinelli Brothers Bakery in Stamford. A small appetite will like the bite-sized sliders — all part of the new pub menu, available during pub hours.

Wine aficionados will appreciate the weekly feature of four wines from the extensive list of wines from around the world, available by the glass or the bottle. A full bar is available, as well.

Not only the Tap Room benefited from a face-lift. Newtown contractor David Kingsley is also responsible for the changes to the main dining areas. Wall sconces and drop lighting casts a warm, homey glow across the cream and black décor and over the newly configured dining area, where diners can choose between table seating (again, utilizing eco-friendly bamboo wood on the table tops), or booths upholstered in a pale caramel-colored leather. Arched windows with Italia-style louvers for privacy look into the back room of the restaurant now, from above a row of booths.

Private parties of up to 45 can be hosted in the rear room, where the back wall mural painted during a previous renovation by local artists Claudia Coopersmith and Linda Pickwick has taken on a new, distressed look. “Linda was involved in the process,” said John Tambascio, although Southbury painter Jerry Birdsal did the distressing and wall finish that extends into the Tap Room. An arched doorway provides easy access from the back room to the bar, or to the new 40-seat patio bordered by a waist-high brick wall along Queen Street. Only open since this past August, the patio quickly gained favorable reviews, said Mr Tambascio. The patio will normally be open from spring into the autumn months, weather permitting.

My Place regulars will still find the Italian dishes that have been the stronghold of My Place for three decades, said Mr Tambascio, but the new dinner menu reflects what Mr Tambascio called “Gastro Pub” cuisine, featuring “more great food and great drink.” The updated menu showcases contemporary European country fare like shepherd’s pie, beer batter fish ‘n’ chips, country-style chicken with home-style biscuits and gravy, and cheddar mashed potatoes, and Mrs Tambascio’s homemade, all-beef meatloaf with mashed potatoes. Input from My Place Chef R.J. Moody, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, helped shape the menu. “We strive to stay on top of current food trends,” said Mr Tambascio. The menu also reflects the growing trend toward healthier eating, he said. “And,” he added, “regulars don’t have to worry — mom still makes the meatballs.”

Seven days of the week, customers can feast on My Place breakfast specials as early as 6 am, and as late as 11 am, Monday through Saturday, and noon on Sundays. The “eggstraordinary” breakfasts of eggs any style are served with home fries and toast. Along with the specialty pancakes and French toast, My Place is known for its three-egg, country-style omelettes, Belgian waffles, and eggs Benedict Florentine. Brioni’s coffee gladdens the hearts of early risers, as well as the hearts of the regular group of midmorning coffee drinkers who have been a part of the My Place scene for 30 years.

Sandwiches at lunchtime are served on grinder rolls, the homemade pretzel bread, as a wrap, or on rye or wheat bread, or choose from a selection of pasta dishes, or ½-pound burgers served with a choice of beer batter, sweet potato, or Belgian fries. Also available is a selection of entrée salads, including the new grilled heart of Romaine with champagne vinaigrette, sliced almonds, and gorgonzola. Served warm, the salad is a standout from usual fare, said Mr Tambascio.

The Tambascios know not to throw the baby out with the bath water, though. Still on the menu and still immensely popular are the New York-style pizzas, baked directly on the stone. Nearly 300 pizzas go out the door each Friday evening, and approximately 150 to 200 more each Saturday night, including the new Italian Stallion pizza with broccoli rabe, and the Buffalo chicken pizza. Pizzas and all menu items are available for takeout, and My Place delivers daily to all of Newtown.

The welcoming atmosphere beckons to individuals, business meetings, special gatherings, and of course, families, said Mr Tambascio. Always family friendly, the restaurant provides toys and coloring material for children while they wait. In a nod to parents’ concerns about what children eat, rather than “everything on the children’s menu coming with fries,” Mr Tambascio noted that the My Place menu offers children a choice of a tossed salad, fruit cup, or applesauce with their entrees.

My Place has put on a new face, but the heart and soul of the restaurant continues to beat behind the fresh facade.

My Place Restaurant, 8 Queen Street, is open from 6 am to 10 pm, seven days of the week. Breakfast is served until 11 am, Monday through Saturday, until noon on Sunday. Late night pub menu available. Menus and catering information for My Place can be found at www.MyPlacePizza.com. For take out, call 203-270-7061, or fax order to 203-270-1433. All major credit cards are accepted.