Elmo's focuses on the fish V
Jun. 9—VERNON — Along the Hartford Turnpike heading into Vernon sits Elmo's Dockside, a seafood restaurant that looks like it has been plucked up from the Long Island Sound shoreline and transplanted 50 miles inland to central Connecticut.
Its rustic exterior, with rugged wooden posts and ocean-themed paraphernalia, creates an expectation of casual but fresh seafood, ready to serve inside, which is exactly what owner Roberto Zaccardelli wants.
"I wanted a nice, local restaurant," Zaccardelli said. "I wanted to get away from that big impersonal place. We have a bar, but very rarely does someone come here and not get dinner or lunch. I'd rather have a meal, have a nice drink, enjoy your meal and talk."
Elmo's is named after Zaccardelli's father, Elmo Zaccardelli, who emigrated to the United States from Italy in the late 1950s.
ELMO'S DOCKSIDE
ADDRESS: 548 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon, on the Manchester/Vernon line.
HOURS: Monday through Friday, lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., dinner 4-10 p.m.; Saturday lunch noon-2:30 p.m., dinner, 4-10 p.m.; Sunday, dinner 4-9 p.m.
MISCELLANEOUS : Offers curbside pickup; has a casual, beachfront vibe; also has a pub room.
CONTACT: 860-646-3474; on Facebook; elmosdockside.com
"They were from the Liri Valley, where the Germans dug in at the end of World War II," he said. "My mother had to live in the hills for a year. My father, his house got taken over by the Germans."
Leaving the war-devastated area, Elmo took his family and set up in Connecticut, initially as a truck driver with the Teamsters.
"My dad worked three jobs," Zaccardelli said. "They saved their money because they were planning on returning to Italy, but Pop started liking America. He wanted to start his own business. He and another person from Italy, the Benacquista family, they decided to pool their resources and buy a restaurant."
Elmo and Santo Benacquista bought Murphy's Steakhouse from Everett Murphy in 1959, rechristening it Casanova Restaurant, where they specialized in Italian cuisine, Zaccardelli said.
"The kitchen was a little smaller," he said, They installed a pizza oven and started making Italian food.
"They cut long hours," he said. "They had a cot in the office for taking naps and it worked really well. It was a genuine Italian restaurant run by Italians."
The business excelled and the partners bought other restaurants in Connecticut and Florida, including the Horseless Carriage Restaurant in East Hartford, Zaccardelli said.
Once the two men garnered enough assets, he said, they went their separate ways, determining who got the Horseless Carriage and who got Casanova with a coin toss in the Casanova office. The Zaccardelli family ended up winning Casanova.
Though the Zaccardelli family exclusively owned Casanova, it was run by Victor Benacquista, Santo's nephew.
"Victor waned to own his own restaurant," Zaccardelli said, and bought The Patty Martin, site of the current Poncho Loco.
So as to not compete with two Italian restaurants, in 2007, Zaccardelli took over the restaurant on Hartford Turnpike and turned it into Elmo's Dockside, the seafood restaurant that stands today. He remodeled the entire building and doubled the kitchen space.
The menu reflects the focus on fish, including the "New England Lunch," a lobster roll platter available either hot or cold with New England clam chowder, French fries, and coleslaw.
"We make the food here," Zaccardelli said, from scratch.
His oysters come from the Long Island Sound and the clams are sourced from Rhode Island.
The salmon, which is served smoked, poached, blackened, or grilled, is delivered whole, he said.
"We skin it, head it, bone it, fillet it here," he said. "It's fresh the whole way through."
Elmo's has turf to go with the surf as well.
Zaccardelli said one of his favorite proteins on the menu is the pork chop.
"They come in with the whole rack in," he said. "We trim it and break it down ourselves. They have fat all through the loins. They're like an heirloom-type pig, so they're not lean. They're fatty and juicy and moist."
A specialty that is only served on Fridays and Saturdays is their one-pound certified Angus prime rib.
"We come in early, we coat it, we roast it slow and low," he said. "It's a popular dish for us."
On holidays they have a special menu with an item not readily found in the area — Beef Wellington.
"Whenever it's on the menu, I have friends who call to want to know when it's on the menu," he said. "It's a classic, Julia Child-, Mad Men-era of a dish. On every special occasion night, we have it on our menu. Then in the colder months we'll run it every four weeks or so."
Fish specials, he said, such as halibut and swordfish, get expressed shipped on the weekends from Alaska to Boston, then promptly shipped to Connecticut, where he gets to pick what he wants to use as a special that day.
"If we can get it fresh, we'll sell it," he said. "We're not buying it frozen."
Customer Stacey Vendetta of Vernon returned to Elmo's this week for the first time in several years.
"I had the New England lunch and it was absolutely delicious," she said. "I will be coming back because I really enjoyed it."
"I love running this restaurant," Zaccardelli said. "My first really good memories outside the house are here. From this it changed the path of life for me and my family."
For coverage of local restaurants, cultural events, music, and an extensive range of Connecticut theater reviews, follow Tim Leininger on Twitter: @Tim_E_Leininger, Facebook: Tim Leininger's Journal Inquirer News page, and Instagram: @One_Mans_Opinion77.
