On a sweeping bend on the short stretch of road between Litchfield and Bantam stands a sturdy block of mansion with a sign out front. Made of rough-cut stone and backed by its own pond, the house has the permanence of geology, like it’s always been there. The mind wonders about the old stories contained in those sturdy walls even as you walk into its newest, Materia Ristorante.
In venerable New England tradition, Materia is also an inn, with the house kept as original as possible, having become a four-bedroom accommodation. For executive chef David DiStasi, it’s been a long and globally winding road which led him here. “When I was 14, my father and my brother Michael [who now runs the inn] started a catering business,” he says of his early years in Watertown. “It was never, ‘Oh, I want to be a chef,’ growing up. Food was just there, all around me, and my first restaurant job was at La Tavola in Waterbury.”
The seed had been planted, however, and with some encouragement, DiStasi attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. His first post-graduation stop was at Eric Ripert’s famed Le Bernardin in New York, where he learned lessons that still inform his cooking to this day. “Their style … the attention to detail still comes into play, the standards they set. The sauces, I love sauces now, and incorporate the techniques into the Italian food I make.”
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After four years at Le Bernardin, DiStasi’s father asked if he wanted to visit cousins in Australia. “I made a point of eating at Sepia in Sydney, and as soon as I did, I knew it’s where I wanted to work.”
What made him want to move to the other side of the world? “The food was so technique driven, but so clean and simple,” he says. “Martin Bern had training in a lot of Japanese techniques, and the more I learned about it, the minimalistic approach, it was similar to Italian cuisine. Two or three flavors, boom: done. It’s all about the ingredients.”
Not only a name — materia translates to matter, stuff or, in a culinary context, ingredients — but a philosophy was born.
Unusually for Connecticut restaurateurs, DiStasi offers tasting menus of small plates, a bit of a culinary tour of his abilities. I had traveled to Bantam specifically for the five-course pasta tasting, the degustazione di primi. Since tasting courses are only available for the whole table, my companion and I both take the same recommendation, and dig in.
The first course is an amuse bouche of yellowfin tuna crudo with gazpacho drizzle and cucumber brunoise. Deep pink, firm and flavorful, the Boston-caught tuna’s meaty texture is offset by crunch in the form of a crisp cracker made from risotto rice foam. A drizzle of tomato gazpacho adds more delicious umami.
Why does DiStasi introduce guests to a pasta tasting with a dish of fish and tomato? “It’s super fresh, a great way to start if you’re going to have a lot of pasta and bold flavors. The clean, simple tuna, the brightness of the gazpacho ... it almost wakes you up before you get into the fatty risotto.”
The risotto arrives brilliant, lively green in a house-grown basil pesto with stracciatella cheese, and additional fresh basil. Beautiful in texture, intensely creamy and herbal with the slightly acidic, almost yogurt funk of the cheese, the dish is additionally perked up with a pairing of La Gioiosa prosecco amorosa. The sweet, bubbly, DOC prosecco creates a refreshing counterpoint to the richness of each bite.
A one-year visa meant DiStasi had to leave, or stay another four years in Australia. With the opportunity to fulfill seemingly every chef’s dream, he planned a move to Italy, landing at Michelin-starred Trattoria Enrico Bartolini in Tuscany. Skills DiStasi learned at the CIA, Le Bernardin and Sepia came into focus in Tuscany. “I’m trying to be a classic, true Italian restaurant — do here what they’re doing there. My inspiration comes from living in Italy, dishes I’ve eaten, reading up and learning about their history.”
DiStasi is quick to say Materia is not a Tuscan kitchen, nor Neapolitan, or Genoese. “It’s an Italian kitchen. I take inspiration and flavors from all over Italy and make it mine.”
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The second course is an example. “It’s my way of bringing a common dish, spaghetti all’Astice, where they cook the whole lobster in the pan, with long, dried pasta, tomatoes and basil. I wanted to make it more than just pasta with sauce.”
DiStasi’s creation is fresh, housemade ravioli filled with burrata, lemon zest and herbs. Chunk claw meat is served over three plump ravioli, each stuffed with creamy cheese spiked by the sweet acid of lemon zest, drizzled with peppery red lobster sauce. Cream, acid and heat combine with perfect al dente pasta and chewy lobster in delicious harmony.
This is paired with Bramito della Sala, an Umbrian chardonnay shockingly good for an Italian iteration. Smooth but robustly flavorful, it holds up well to the lobster and toothy fresh pasta.
The dishes arrive at a moderate pace, each showcasing a different concept, a different flavor, all mouth-watering.
Next is a black swirl of squid-ink linguine, with tomatoes, garlic and picked Maine crabmeat served with Aragosta Vermentino, a DOC wine from Sardinia.
Agnolotti di Genovese follows, each dumpling-like surprise founded on drizzles of Parmigiano fonduta, and veal jus. This is the first course paired with a red, in this case an outstanding Terre Nere Montalcino.
Genovese, a dish from Naples, surprisingly, is usually served as a sauce. Agnolotti is Piedmontese, and the chef describes this as another example of why he calls Materia a comprehensively Italian restaurant. “I put the two together — beef and onion, Naples and Piedmont — with the veal jus, and Parmigiano, and I can’t take it off the menu. People would revolt.”
Portions of all the courses are well thought out. My companion and I, even after having five courses, are just pleasantly full. The agnolotti are a microcosm of the experience. Each bite of fresh pasta is stuffed with a generous portion of slow-cooked beef and onion. Again, the simplicity of ingredients giving rise to extraordinary flavors is a hallmark of the experience.
Later, I ask chef DiStasi what it was like being in Italy. “They’re so passionate about food. That’s our philosophy here: ‘la materia prima,’ the finest ingredients,” he says.
I ask him what that means in Litchfield County, with farms and dairies around every corner. He immediately lists three on his menu: Hungry Reaper Farm in Morris, Vibrant Farm in Bantam and Desantis Farm in Watertown. Baby Romaine lettuce, beets, carrots — caprese salad comes from three farms combined. DiStasi says he’s never had so many compliments on any dish.
A wonderful Montepulciano wine, Podere Castorani Cadetto is served with ribbons of tagliatelle pasta in a beef and pork ragu.
Days later, DiStasi says something which makes me nod vigorously, as if he could see me on the other end of the phone. “The ragu has been on the menu since day one,” he begins. “Probably the one dish I could eat every day and never get sick of it.” I heartily concur.
Chef swears by “Mutti” brand tomato paste from Parma for its low acidity and fresh-tomato sweetness. This may be his most Tuscan dish, combining just beef, pork, carrots, celery, onion, herbs, good olive oil, and red wine. Deceptively simple, it contains flavor born of excellent yet easily accessible ingredients, plus a lot of time. Popular year round, it promises to be some of northwestern Connecticut’s best comfort food as the year winds down, and the nights grow long.
I watch stand-alone entrées whisking their way to other tables, and a steak catches my eye, since Tuscany is famed for its white Chianina cattle. When I ask if there is anything particularly Italian about the preparation of bistec a la Fiorentina at Materia, DiStasi’s answer is surprising: “In Florence, a steak is a sign of commonality and sharing; no one has a steak alone. It’s cooked over open embers, served very rare, with olive oil, sea salt, and wine. I have a Japanese grill in my kitchen with Japanese oak charcoal; cook it over the open fire. It’s about the experience of being together.”
The final course is millefoglie al pistacchio, crisp pastry layered with piped pistachio cream. “I love pistachio, it’s one of my favorite desserts, and a lot of people don’t quite know what a real one tastes like,” DiStasi explains. “There’s a depth of flavor, and I wanted to show people what they actually taste like.”
He laughs. “That, and it’s my own favorite dessert that’s in my kitchen.”
DiStasi holds dual U.S. and Italian citizenship, but came back to his home state when the opportunity to open Materia presented itself in 2020, while he was still abroad. The other reason, he says, is after living in New York, Sydney and Tuscany — and despite loving them — he didn’t want to live in a city anymore.
“There’s so much more inspiration here than looking at buildings all the time.”
We’re certainly glad he did.
Materia Ristorante 637 Bantam Road, Bantam 860-567-3326, materiaristo.com, @materiaristorante on Instagram Open for dinner Tue.–Sun. Wheelchair accessible
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