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59 BANK Reviews
Step Into
Soho At 59 Bank In New Milford
Successful
restaurateurs Chef Arthur Michaelsen and his family have
opened 59 Bank in New Milford, offering innovative
American/Italian cuisine in a Soho-style setting.
The care that has been taken with the new décor and
the menu reflects the style of Art Michaelsen, a
Culinary Institute of America graduate who most recently
operated the restaurant 33 1/3 in the Copps Hill Plaza
in Ridgefield.
“When the plaza was undergoing a major renovation
to fit Super Stop & Shop, there was a lease buyout and
our restaurant was torn down,” Mr. Michaelsen
explained. “So we began to look for another location.”
Located in the building at 59 Bank Street previously
occupied by the Kaleidoscope, the new restaurant is a
completely new experience, from the gleaming wood
floors, high tin ceilings, and expanses of brick walls
in the bar and lounge to the large downstairs dining
room where the spaces have been thoughtfully redesigned
to provide intimate dining areas.
Art Michaelsen and his wife Julia are co-owners in
the new restaurant, as they were about 16 years ago when
they operated Heibeck’s Ice Cream on Route 7 in
Georgetown for eight years.
”We did a lot of off-site catering there,” Mr.
Michaelsen said. “We continued the catering in
Ridgefield, where my sister, Nancy Burke, and my mother,
Josie Connelly, were involved in operating 33 1/3. My
sister is still involved in the catering operation
(Sizzling Creations) and my mother does the floral
arrangements for 59 Bank with another sister, JoAnne
Moore.”
Mr. Michaelsen, who also worked as a chef in
Greenwich, Stamford, and the Virgin Islands, has
designed a menu for his new restaurant that includes
nearly 59 items but has an emphasis on pastas and
grilled flatbread pizzas. ”We’ve priced the menu so
that everyone can feel comfortable,” he said.
Nine different flatbreads – delicate, crispy
grilled pizzas laden with various toppings – are
offered, $6.59 to $9.59, along with an equal number of
Oodles of Noodles (pastas), $9.59 to $13.59, and nine
“BIG” plates that range from Mama’s Meatloaf to
potato-crusted rack of lamb, pecan-crusted Atlantic
salmon, and a 16-ounce prime aged grilled rib eye,
$12.59 to $17.59. The pastas and entrees are served
with a house salad.
There are plenty of “Between the Slices” sandwiches
including a Jack Black Burger that features a half-pound
of sirloin patty pressed in peppercorn, flamed with Jack
Daniels and served on an English muffin with Monterey
Jack and Bermuda onion.
Salads include a wood-roasted salmon that features
caramelized pears, crumbled Maytag blue cheese and a
port wine vinaigrette, a Banker’s Cobb, and baby field
greens with pan-fried goat cheese among the more
traditional offerings.
There are lots of “small plates,” $3.59 to $9, to
start the meal or to nosh on in the bar. The entire
menu is available “to go.”
”I’m here every lunch and dinner overseeing
everything from prep to plating,” Mr. Michaelsen said.
“I think consistency is extremely important.”
Brunch on Saturday and Sunday can start with a
brunch basket that serves two or more and includes an a
la carte menu of two dozen varieties of omelets, crepes,
challah French toast, and Eggs Benedict-style dishes
like Eggs Montana (served with a grilled filet mignon
and béarnaise sauce) and Eggs Maryland (with crab cakes
and orange scallion hollandaise).
Wednesday evening is open mike night in the bar.
There is live music starting at 10 pm on Friday and
Saturday evenings, when dinner is served until 11 pm,
and never a cover charge. ”Downstairs is entirely
separate,” Mr. Michaelsen said. “There is dining music
downstairs.”
During the holiday season the dining room, which
accommodates up to 80, will be available for parties.
The bar and lounge can accommodate about 40.
Bank Street is a dining district with a half dozen
restaurants surrounding the movie theatre. “People can
come here for dinner or come afterwards for cappuccino
and dessert,” Mr. Michaelsen said. “We have an
extensive draft beer selection and a dozen varieties of
martinis.
“We’ve had a very positive response since we opened
on October 12,” he said. “We want everyone to come
through our doors and feel welcome. I think that people
just need to come and experience what we have to offer.
Once they’ve done that, they’ll realize what it’s all
about and they’ll be back. I am confident of that.” |
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