Written By Lisa Breslin
Westminster has an Irish Pub. It has a wine bar that offers light fare, and family-owned restaurants that feature home style meals and gourmet cuisine. As of late August, the doors of a new Italian bar and caf that offers food, wine, gifts and the ambiance of Italy opened at 84 East Main Street in Westminster.
Dubbed A Little Bit of Tuscany, the Italian bar is owner Rose Seaman’s “20-year dream come true.” A first generation Italian, Seaman remembers as a child waking up to the smells of rich sauces bubbling on the stove and the sound of Italian operas.
In addition to panini with ingredients like montasio, olive tapenade and sopressato with arugula, the caf offers gourmet pizzas and side dishes that include roasted beets with feta cheese, a warm tuscan white bean spread with baguette, warm roasted black mission figs with gorgonzola and prosciutto di parma.
Friday and Saturday dinners include small plates of lamb chops and pork loin roast. Desserts featured include cannoli, mascarpone panino, a biscotti plate and nutella panino.
Patrons can choose from a myriad of Italian wines to enjoy by the glass or buy by the bottle to take home. Sparkling water, Italian soda, espresso, cappuccino and latte are also offered.
Pasta is handmade, which contributes to the caf’s signature small-but-satisfying serving sizes.
“I’ve worked for several people, but I have never worked for people who put as much thought into their ingredients and products as Rose and her husband,” said chef Gregory Hutsell, whose culinary talents have been exercised at such restaurants as Maggie’s and Antrim. “They actually allow me to spend more for quality, imported ingredients. They care about a bottom line, but their bottom line is always linked to quality.”
Much of A Little Bit of Tuscany’s inventory is for sale; if patrons enjoy a specific oil or pasta, the items are available, but so are pottery, books, table art, jewelry, serving utensils, linens and stationery; almost all imported from Italy.
“We hope patrons find this a cozy, unpretentious place where they can chill, have fun, eat and shop,” Seaman explains.
Before A Little Bit of Tuscany opened, the building housed a childcare center. The space also sat vacant for many months, and Seaman is quick to note that every unwanted guest and nuisance took over, including mold, termites and joist rot.
Seaman, her husband, Kirk; son, Branden; daughter, Rachel; chef, Hutsell, and a host of friends and family members turned the place around.
The building also houses her husband’s law practice.
A Little Bit of Tuscany seats 30 people inside and an additional 25 people in an outdoor patio. The Italian bar is open Tuesday and Wednesday from Noon until 7 p.m.; Thursday, Friday and Saturday from Noon until 10 p.m. Information: (410) 857-4422.
