Elizabeth Keyser photo

La Zingara's twist on sausage and peppers

La Zingara Ristorante
8 P.T. Barnum Square, Bethel. (203) 744-7500, www.lazingararistorante.com

At the 126-acre organic farm in the Hudson Valley where the owners of La Zingara grow their produce, it hasn’t been a good year. Heavy rains at the start of summer took a toll. All we’d eat from the farm tonight was garlic, our waiter told us. But, he assured us, the restaurant was getting good stuff from other local farms.

Six and a half years after opening La Zingara (“the gypsy” in Italian), owner Lisa Tassone and her husband, chef Tom Giudice, are creating classic and inspired versions of northern and southern Italian cuisine. The restaurant draws devoted customers from near and far.

From outside, La Zingara’s ochre stucco façade beckons. Inside, dining room walls are deep yellow, up-lit by wall sconces. Red velvet curtains dress the windows. Wood floors are worn, chairs are sturdy, and white-clothed tables are spaced to give a roomy feel. Cut-outs in an interior wall reveal deep red walls in the bar area, a popular dining spot.

La Zingara’s menu gives you a lot to read — descriptions of the eight appetizers, eight pastas, seven main courses, five salads, three contorni (vegetable dishes) and the night’s specials — and much of it sounded good.

The absolute hit of three appetizers we tried was salmon napoleon ($12): house- cured organic salmon, red onion, avocado and tomato layered on fried wontons (the dough is made inhouse), with horseradish aioli and black caviar. Crisp, creamy, sharp, smooth, spicy, with pops of the little caviar eggs, it was hard to keep my dining companions’ forks out of this (my) dish.

From the pastas, we chose pappardelle with pulled braised duck ($19). A large bowl of house-made wide-ribbon egg pasta arrived glistening with olive oil, heaped with soft, rich duck sprinkled with parsley. The tarragon-scented sauce was thin, almost broth-y, and had absorbed into the pasta. Truffle oil lent earthiness. Grapes added sweetness. Out, out, damn forks!

A special main course of thick smoked pork chop arrived seared on the outside, tender inside, and drizzled with balsamic glaze. The richness of the meat was cut by sautéed broccoli rabe. Horseradish jazzed up the mashed potatoes. It was a hearty and satisfying dish. A meal for a man, my husband said, fending off my fork. (Truth be told, we both brought home doggy bags.)

Pan-roasted wild salmon ($22) was almost overpowered by cumin crust, but inside the fish was moist and flavorful. Quinoa salad was an unexpected delight. The light semi-translucent grain was mixed with avocado, scallion and ricotta salata (the Italian version of feta cheese). You won’t find this dish in an ordinary Italian restaurant.

From the contorni, we tried sautéed escarole: briefly sautéed greens slick with extra virgin olive oil, studded with caramelized garlic (from the farm), tossed with cannelini beans. This classic dish was attentively prepared — greens full of life, beans just soft, all permeated with garlic.

An appetizer of another classic, sausage and peppers, was given a new look: homemade pork and parmigiano sausage skewered into a flat coil, grilled and propped on a miniature skillet of roasted red peppers and onion.

Less successful was the spiedini di manzo appetizer. It sounded good — grilled scallopines of beef wrapped around artichoke and gorgonzola, and drizzled with molasses reduction. But on the night we were there, the molasses had been poured with a heavy hand, overwhelming the beef, artichoke and cheese with cloying syrup. And the roll-ups were not heated all the way through.

Desserts, made by Giudice and his cooks, were excellent. Strawberry fig tart was baked to order, served warm in a cast iron pan and topped with crème caramel ice cream. Panna cotta with poached peaches and crumbled amaretto cookies was creamy yet light, fresh and crunchy and not overly sweet. The coffee, however, was substandard.

Our waiter helped make our meal enjoyable. He knew the food and the wine. The staff, most of whom have been with the restaurant for five years or more, attend daily meetings to taste new dishes and learn about the wines. Throughout our meal, our waiter was attentive, humorous and casual. “You can pretty much do anything you want here,” he told us.

Our table ordered wine by the glass, each of us being in different moods and having different tastes. Most of the wines were Italian and reasonably priced. The whites were $6. When I switched to red for the main course, our waiter made a suggestion, described the flavors, offered a taste. It was $7, and I appreciated that he didn’t try to up-sell me to a $10 or $9 glass; at La Zingara, if you go the full apps-main-dessert route, the bill can add up. But the portions are hearty and the value is good.

La Zingara is also open for lunch and serves a popular $26-per-person Sunday brunch with unlimited bellinis and Bloody Marys and three courses. Grilled smoked pork loin topped with wilted spinach, fontina and fried eggs over toasted peasant bread? Who needs eggs Benedict?