The culinary centerpiece of The Village, Stamford’s new indoor/outdoor premium waterfront campus featuring office space, private event venues and an outpost of a Nantucket-based beverage company, debuts next week.
The Wheel, the signature restaurant at the 133,000-square-foot complex, opens its doors June 30 as part of The Village’s food and beverage offerings, which include the newest location for Nantucket-based Cisco Brewers. The Village also features a tequila bar and a rooftop garden, with pop-up chef experiences planned.
Media magnate and entrepreneur Brent Montgomery purchased the Stamford building in 2017, with the intent to turn it into the large multi-use complex. The Village will house his own conglomerate Wheelhouse, which he launched in 2018 in partnership with Jimmy Kimmel and handles everything from investment to media production. Cisco Brewers soft-opened its outpost in the space over Memorial Day weekend, with a grand opening set for July 4.
The Wheel’s menu is “coastal American, Mediterranean,” said Tom Dillon, the founder and CEO of APICII, which developed the restaurant and bar concept. The management and concept development company is responsible for restaurants, bars, event spaces, private clubs and co-working venues throughout North America.
The menu’s “for the table” options include East Coast oysters, a smoked swordfish dip and whipped eggplant dip with zucchini chips, followed by small plates ($14 to $21): burrata, “blooming mushroom,” Wagyu meatballs with polenta and seafood options like Chesapeake Bay blue crab cakes, tuna tartare, fluke crudo and salmon crispy rice. Salads ($14 to $17) include a grilled watermelon and feta construction with honey lime vinaigrette and a baby Gem lettuce Caesar.
A Wheelhouse burger ($18) on seeded brioche features D’Artagnan grass-fed beef, and a Maine lobster roll ($28) is served with sea salt fries. Pasta dishes ($21 to $24) include cacio e pepe and summer harvest primavera.
“From the hearth” options ($18 to $24) include brick chicken, roasted Maine shellfish and eggplant parmesan, and an array of pizzas: margherita, smoked ricotta with squash blossoms, black truffle with mushrooms and Taleggio. Grilled entrees ($28 to $51) feature scallops, salmon, swordfish Vadouvan, tuna paillard, skirt steak and ribeye.
The Wheel’s rooftop garden will also be part of the culinary experience, with fresh herbs and produce grown on site available to The Wheel chefs and mixologists. Chief food curator Mike Geller is also in charge of sourcing ingredients from a network of purveyors, many based in the Northeast and a few from Connecticut: meat from Newtown’s Sepe Farm, mushrooms from Seacoast out of Mystic, honey from BeeLove Apiaries in Wilton. Geller is the founder of Stamford-based Mike’s Organic.
Dillon, who like some of his business partners has small children, said The Wheel is family-friendly, but also offers some higher-end options, in order to accommodate all parties.
“A lot of Brent’s vision for The Village was that, his own experience with having small children, wanting to find places where mom and dad can find something great to eat, but it’s warm and friendly for kids,” he said. “I think all of that put together made me really excited about doing this.”
APICII’s culinary team at The Wheel includes executive chef Chris Shea, who has worked for David Burke Kitchen and The Wayfarer; beverage director Kyle Tran, whose resume includes Alinea Group/The Aviary in Chicago and Employees Only in Los Angeles, and pastry chef Alessandra Altieri Lopez, who has worked for Per Se, Bouchon Bakery, and Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro.
Altieri Lopez’s desserts are “super approachable,” Dillon said, including a take on a root beer float with stout cake and Foxon Park root beer granita, and an ice cream sundae with caramel peanut popcorn. A s’mores confection features chocolate lava cake with toasted marshmallow, graham cracker and cinnamon ice cream, and honey panna cotta is presented with strawberry rhubarb compote and berries.
Tran’s cocktail menu represents classics, like a Paloma, Sazerac, Negroni and rum-based Jungle Bird, along with signatures: an Andalusian gin and tonic, a Tamarindo Daisy with Bulleit bourbon, banana, tamarind, ginger and lemon, and an elderflower spritz with Ketel One cucumber and yuzu soda. The restaurant also offers a full selection of Cisco draft beers.
Cisco Brewers has been welcoming guests Friday through Sunday, another family-friendly offering with an expansive waterfront patio and food vendors. Like its Nantucket counterpart, the Stamford location also welcomes dogs outside.
The Wheel, at 4 Star Point in Stamford, will be open Wednesday through Friday from 5 to 10 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 10 p.m. Make reservations on OpenTable.