Amici Miei Café                                                                                             

957 Main St., Downtown Bridgeport

 

“I tried the Quarttro Stagioni (1/4 Margherita/1/4 mushrooms/1/4 ham/1/4 artichoke) pizza. It went down fine, really fine.”

 

You can trust you’ll walk away with a historic experience when you enter the lobby of the City Trust Building, a 10-story Art Deco slice of late 1920’s history that now houses dozens of city-dweller apartments. From Main Street you enter into Amici Miei (My Friends) Café – “A beautiful dance between food and ambience,” boasts the website. Drawing from a wide range of Italian plates – antipasti, salads, pasta, thin crust pizzas and paninis, I tried the Quarttro Stagioni (1/4 Margherita/1/4 mushrooms/1/4 ham/1/4 artichoke) pizza, the best variety in a pie. The Café, popular with local office workers, is a good place for a quick lunch or relaxing dinner, including access to a patio area.

 

One night I extended my lunch by heading to the bar and billiards place at the other end of the lobby – passing through sofas and lounge chairs scattered through the center lobby section. A lively private party, catered by Amici Miei, filled the remainder of the lobby that day. Five billiard tables are spread out in front of a long bar. A 60-foot high ceiling with wide, peaked skylights provide a striking step back in time. A glistening golden vault door, a remnant of City Trust Bank days, is centered in an exposed red brick wall behind the bar. Very large; very cool. I could swear Bonnie and Clyde were drinking bourbon at the bar, ready to bump off the bartender and make their latest heist. Like I said, you walk away from that City Trust lobby with a historic experience.