Restaurant Review: ON20

If you are seeking a more formal dining experience, you may find your options in Farmington are  limited. 

With the closing and demolition of The Silo and relocation of The Grist Mill, Farmington lost two treasured local establishments that were standard for special occasions.

West Hartford fills that gap somewhat with restaurants like Grant’s, but they are not places to find serenity.

But what if you are someone like me, looking for somewhere quiet to spend a couple of hours enjoying fine food?

The answer is a little farther down the road. 

Ask most people in Farmington what the Polytechnic ON20 is and you will probably get a weird glance followed by “I’ve never heard of it.”

You might not have guessed the highest overall Zagat-rated restaurant in Connecticut is located at 400 Columbus Boulevard, just steps away from the Hartford Megabus stop and the UCONN Business school campus.  The only thing indicating its presence is a tiny overhang outside the Hartford Steam Boiler building. 

Even inside you need to keep an eye out for the signs guiding you from the parking garage to the lobby and finally to the elevators that take you to the restaurant.   20 floors later, you turn and confront frosted double doors, out of place with the average looking office building hallway they face. 

The maitre’d pulled back my chair and lifted the table cloth for me as I sat down at a table next to one of the large windows making up the outside wall of the restaurant.

He then asked my grandmother, who accompanied me on this trip and is my go to expert on fine dining if she would like a glass of wine.  She ordered a glass of Sancerre, a very dry white Loire wine from the extensive wine list. 

It was difficult to bring my attention to the menu since I kept looking over my shoulder at the beautiful panoramic view to my left - much to the dismay of the woman sitting directly behind me, who probably thought I was spying on her.

Two other things caught my attention before I began thinking about what I was going to eat. 

The first was how quiet it was in there.

An empty piano sat off to the side in the most open part of the room and I have read other online reviews that say a piano player is sometimes present.  But that day only the quiet murmurs of friends and business people drifted over faint background music. 

The second detail I noticed was in the table setting.  It included a knife rest, a small half cylinder designed to keep a food-covered knife off of the table cloth.  These are quite useful tools to keep the table clean and I think more restaurants should adopt them. 

The arrival of our server snapped me out of my utensil epiphany. 

She had brought us a basket of house made focaccia with sea salt.  I thought this was a less creative choice but the bread was rich enough to stand on its own without any added butter. 

After giving us time to settle in and nibble on the bread, the server returned and we placed our orders from the three course Restaurant Week menu ON20 featured during the Taste of Hartford.

For my first course I ordered the White Gazpacho with Marcona Almonds, Verjus Grapes, Compressed Cucumbers and Anise Hyssop. 

When the soup arrived a short while later, I was presented with a nearly empty bowl.  At the bottom was a neat cluster of what appeared to be tiny pieces of grape, cucumber and possibly the flower.  I only saw these ingredients for a split second because our server poured the actual soup over the pseudo-garnish almost instantly. 

In many ways, eating the gazpacho was like eating melted almond ice cream with sugar removed.  Although no one flavor overpowered the others, the almond stood out because the blended nuts had left a bit of their own texture to the soup’s base. 

The grapes provided sweetness while the cucumber taste was fainter but gave the dish moisture and thickness without making it too heavy.   

One of the best parts about eating at ON20 is the slow pace of the meal.  For those in a rush, the staff will ask before the meal if you have any time constraints.  Since we did not, we were given a full 15 minutes to digest our food before being given the main course.

I had selected House Made Berkshire Pork Sausage with Gnocchi, Summer Squash Succotash and Lemon Verbana Pesto.

Thick inch-long slices of sausage pointed outward from the center of the plate and the golden brown gnocchi, succotash and pesto mixture. 

The sausage itself was a darkish brown color and glistened with a little more grease than I expected.  Luckily it did not impact the paprika-like zing of the well-seasoned pork. 

The succotash was a spectacular array of flavor and was by far the tastiest part of anything I ate that day.  Rather than using corn and lima beans, this non-traditional mix featured generous onion and a soft texture almost like whipped cream.    

The fresh squash and the lemon pesto kept the dish moist and softened the density of the gnocchi.  The pasta met expectations but did not have any particularly astounding qualities.

For dessert, I chose the ON20 S’more with Graham Cracker Croquant, Chocolate Marquise and Smoked Caramel.

The s’more looked more like a precision cut sliver of chocolate cream pie with a thin layer of marshmallow on top and a crust of graham cracker on the bottom.  After placing the dish on the table the server pulled out a torch and “toasted” the s’more by browning the marshmallow. 

Crystallized graham cracker and micro marshmallows were used as decoration.  Although these bits were hard and crunchy they provided a nice contrast to the s’more.

Before our meal I had done some reading up on ON20’s executive chef Noel Jones and learned he did much of the cooking at the restaurant himself so I assumed he cooked most of our meal. 

A short post in the Entertainment section of the Hartford Courant website a week later informed me said otherwise.  It stated that after eight years at ON20, Jones had moved on and the restaurant’s chef de cuisine Jeffery Lizotte would be taking his place. 

A follow-up post on the same website says that Jones is now a partner at the Copper Beech Inn in Ivoryton (Essex).

Overall my experience at ON20 was excellent and I plan to make it at least a bi-annual destination.  It is not a budget restaurant but for the level of service and food you get in return it is a bargain compared to similar restaurants in Boston or New York. 

If you’re like me, you’ll probably go into the new CVS and stand somber in the spot where you once had Steak Diane prepared tableside at The Silo. At least you can do that knowing there’s somewhere you can still eat away your problems in high style.   

Notes:

1.) Unfortunately ON20 has slightly inconvenient hours.  According to Yelp it is only open from Noon to 2PM Monday through Thursday and Noon to 9PM on Fridays. 

2.)  I apologize the only picture is of the view from my table, my phone died shortly afterwards.