First there was Saugatuck.
Then came Church Lane.
Soon, another sleepy area of town may be revitalized, with the arrival of new restaurants.
This time it’s the west bank of the Saugatuck River. Though an easy walk from downtown, few folks bother. Mentally, that area — behind the Inn at National Hall, next to Save the Children — has been No Man’s Land.
Now it may play Brooklyn, to downtown’s Manhattan.
The Westport News reports that on May 17, the Planning and Zoning Commission hears proposals for 2 new dining spots.
The owners of Fairfield’s Safita hope to open a Middle Eastern restaurant at 6 Wilton Road. That’s the old Vigilant firehouse. It housed a couple of pizza places; more recently it was a kitchen store.
Plans call for 50 seats, a bar and an outdoor patio. Very cool.
The Vigilant firehouse that may house the Middle Eastern restaurant is the slender building in the left-center of this photo. The MOJA restaurant would go on its right.
Also on the menu: MOJA Restaurant & Bar, planned for 12 Wilton Road next door to the former firehouse. The News says the menu would offer Japanese cuisine and “elements of South American flavors to make a very tasty, healthy and distinctive fare that will resonate with kids, teens and adults young and old.”
Despite Westport’s many eateries, we do not have a Japanese/South American spot for every age group. So that’s good.
The restaurants are part of a broader redevelopment planned for the area, including National Hall.
More parking is in the works. But I’d still like to see some kind of footbridge, luring linking people over the river, to the interesting architecture and offerings — culinary and otherwise — across the way.
Until then, here’s wishing good luck to the intrepid owners serving up a couple of new restaurants in a section of town that certainly needs them.
