A Fast-Casual Restaurant for How People Are Eating Today
Perhaps you’ve driven by this fast-casual rotisserie restaurant and have wondered what’s popped up now in this food-forward nook in Cos Cob. Go ahead, check it out – you won’t be disappointed!
Wildacre Rotisserie opened this past summer when much of Greenwich was on vacay or at the beach. So, if you missed their early fanfare, now’s your chance to get it on their juicy pasture-raised chicken, bountiful sides, vibrant salads, hearty wraps, and house-made sauces that add to Wildacre’s flavorful experience. The place and the menu give off a California cuisine style vibe.
Owner/Chef Ben Pote’s colorful background includes Director of Development at Souvla in San Francisco, Director of Culinary Innovation at Starbucks, and Director of Culinary Strategy/Culinary Program Manager at sweetgreen, a healthy and sustainable fast-food movement currently serving over 300 communities throughout the US. After earning his bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Washington University in St. Louis in 2008, Pote cooked his way through reputable kitchens such as Hillstone Restaurant Group (Hillstone, Houston’s) and The Florence Group (led by the Food Network’s Tyler Florence), before graduating from the French Culinary Institute in New York in 2010.
Wildacre chickens are pasture raised, heirloom birds that are fed a diet of non-GMO feed. The result is the most flavorful bird you have ever tasted.Rotisserie chicken (served in family meals/pieces with sides and sauces or a la carte) is at the heart of the menu, along with the restaurant’s popular roasted potatoes which are cooked in the rotisserie’s bottom pan, catching the savory drippings from the chicken’s signature dry rub comprised of bay leaf, oregano, and fennel. Wildacre salads and wraps include such creative ingredient combinations as the Pacifica with shredded chicken, avocado, sheep’s milk feta, fennel, radish, toasted sunflower seeds, cilantro, and lemon vinaigrette, and the Medi (V) filled with roasted cauliflower, sheep’s milk feta, green olive tapenade, cherry tomatoes, shaved red onion, cucumber, and creamy tahini dressing. The primarily gluten-free (and often vegan) menu also features a variety of veg-tastic side dishes from crispy brussels to kale slaw to slow-roasted cauliflower. The restaurant’s California influence shows up throughout the menu with ingredients like fennel pollen, citrus fruits, and avocado, and flavors inspired by Mediterranean, Central American, and Asian cuisines.
Like the menu, the space is wrapped in a bright modern California design aesthetic. Throughout the restaurant are images of poppies – the state flower of California. The remodeled space was designed by Westport Architect Frederick William Hoag and conceived around the rotisserie, whose sights and smells evoke an inviting feeling upon entering, and the calming view of Mill Pond.
Fun Fact: Wildacre Rotisserie is a BYOB restaurant! Gather your friends and family, grab a bottle (or 2) of wine or your favorite beer and relax in the restaurant’s charming and comfortable dining room over a comforting meal.
Available for dine-in, pickup and delivery, and catered events.
11am-8pm.
