In Suffield, The Romance Of Italy
Call it female intuition. My wife, Norene, picked up on the decided romantic ambiance that pervaded the dining area when we visited Suffield’s Tosca restaurant recently. “Oh yes, you had the most romantic table in the restaurant,” says Robin Gath, the general manager of this little gem, which features authentic Italian cuisine, an impressive list of imported and domestic wines, and ambiance aplenty. “The restaurant breeds romance. I’ve been here three months and we have had three couples get engaged while dining during that time.”
True to Gath’s description of Tosca’s as an “old-fashioned, full-service restaurant,” our visit was highlighted by attentive and friendly service, as well as tastebud-tingling dishes at reasonable prices.
“We think we are unique and that there really isn’t anything quite like Tosca from Hartford to Holyoke,” says John Nieroda, who owns the restaurant along with his wife, Brenda. “We have great food with an Italian flair and great service.”
The Nierodas have owned Tosca’s for two of its five years of existence.
“We used to come here to eat and I had always wanted to run a restaurant,” says Nieroda, who also owns a trucking company. “We heard it was available, and with the help of my father-in-law Jim Monroe, who had restaurant experience, we bought it two years ago.”
The evening my wife and I dined at Tosca we thoroughly enjoyed “pollo Gorgonzola,” an entrée of grilled chicken fillet in a rich Gorgonzola cream sauce of ideal consistency, with roasted red peppers, wild mushrooms and baby spinach over perfectly cooked farfalle pasta. We were also impressed with the antipasto plate (with several fresh breads) that our server, Debra, brought to us to start our meal, gratis.