The Red Barn parking lot was full at lunch today.
It often is. The restaurant — so beautiful, so rustic, so easy to reach for anyone coming from anywhere on the Merritt — has been a Westport landmark since perhaps before there was a parkway.
The Nistico family — owners of the beloved Arrow restaurant, a couple of miles south in Saugatuck — took over the Red Barn in 1983. They lovingly restored it, and have made their mark there over the past 3 decades. No time is more special than the holidays.
But rumors swirling through Westport had the restaurant on a death watch. Published reports indicated a foreclosure auction was set for Saturday.
“That was just a speed bump,” co-owner Richard Nistico said this afternoon. “We took care of everything. Can you please let everyone know we’ll be here another 30 years?”
Done.
