Down Shippan Avenue in Stamford, there is an unassuming building that looks more like a house than the home of one of the city’s most beloved restaurants. One step inside and you’ll find what I can confidently say is the best Italian food I’ve tasted outside of Italy. This is Cafe Silvium, and after years of dining here, it remains one of those places I never tire of returning to.
Brothers Nick and Vincenzo Petrafesa opened Cafe Silvium in 2001, bringing the flavors of their hometown of Gravina di Puglia, Bari, to Stamford. Their vision was refreshingly simple: create a warm, comfortable restaurant where people could gather over traditional Southern Italian cuisine. More than two decades later, that feeling is still at the heart of everything here.
When you enter Cafe Silvium, from moment you walk through the door, the aroma of garlic fills the air, tables buzz with conversation and laughter, regular patrons wave to each other across the room, and plates of pasta appear from the kitchen at a wonderfully constant pace. It’s cozy and convivial; the kind of restaurant equally suited to a night with friends, date night, or dinner with family. It’s the place I always trust for special occasions.
And then, of course, there’s the food. Everything is made fresh daily and in-house, but the handmade pastas are reason enough to visit. The cavatelli, a house specialty, is exceptional, though choosing what to order is never particularly easy. Beyond the regular, lengthy menu of pastas, chicken, fish, veal, salads and antipasti, there is an extensive list of daily specials that changes with the seasons. I highly recommend the osso buco, zucchini flowers if in season, and of course, a favorite, the fagottini or “moneybags” which has a cult-like following.
What I love most, though, is that Cafe Silvium has never needed to be flashy. The food speaks for itself, the hospitality is so genuinely warm, and there’s something wonderfully old-school about the entire experience. This little piece of Southern Italy on Shippan Avenue remains, without question, one of my favorite tables to visit.