Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Steaking a Claim

New restaurant sees promise in Bridgeport

By Dana Ambrosini

There's a new place to go in downtown Bridgeport for all the carnivores out there hunting for a good piece of beef. Ye Olde Tollgate Steakhouse, a five year establishment in Mamaroneck, N.Y., Monday opened a second restaurant on Fairfield Avenue.

And if the first day's packed lunchtime crowd is any indication, this one promises to be a success. "I needed a challenge," owner Joseph Kustra said with a smile as he took questions about everything from orders to cuts of meat from his staff.

Rust-colored ceilings and pale yellow walls frame the brick wall and hardwood floors that give the restaurant an old fashioned, New York appeal. The building once house Jasper McLevy and O'connell's restaurants.

But the succulent beef, for which Ye Olde Tollgate Steakhouse in Mamaroneck has received rave reviews, was te main attraction for a bustling business crowd Monday.

"We nee a good steakhouse," said James Powers, director of Caridinal Furniture LLC. Powers had scouted out the restaurant last week to confirm its opening.

"Ralph and Rich's needs competition," Powers said of another Bridgeport restaurant. "I always like a new, good restaurant."

Another patron, who had been Kustra's Mamaroneck restaurant, said the steak he had Monday was even tastier than usual.

"It's excellent food," Ivan Jukic, owner of I&J Machine in Milford. "I'm a steak man."

But perhaps the biggest smile  belongs to Mayor Joseph P Ganim's, who lobbied Kustra to open the business last year.

He was in New York with the other Bridgeport officials attempting to lure Derecktor Shipyard to the city when he came upon another gem.

"I had the pleasure of sampling his food in Mamaroneck," Ganim said of Kustra. "I don't know many of his caliber."

Kustra said Ganim's periodic suggestions to open in Bridgeport were instrumental in his final decision. Ganim said his hope is that Kustra's arrival will atrract other restaurants.

The restaurant received a $160,000 loan from the "Grow Bridgeport Fund" to renovate what was a dilapidated interior.

A luncheon serving of prime rib of beef is $11.95. Minute steak sandwich, $14.95, and steak Caesar salad, $12.95, are among the other offerings.

Beef alternatives include broiled salmon for $11.95 or chicken Cobb salad for $10.95 among other choices. Lunch is served until 3 p.m.

Dinner steaks come in four sizes-literally. The special selection aged prime beef is cut in sizes to feed one, two, three, and four-people parties. Those prices range from $28.25 for a single to $105.50 for four.

Kustra emphasizes the superb quality of his meats. "I buy the best prime beef available," Kustra said.

Born in Croatia, Kustra learned the trade working 15 years at Peter Luger's steakhouse in Brooklyn, voted New York's number one steakhouse 15 years in a row by Zagat's

Kustra opened shop in Mamaroneck in January 1996. The Bridgeport steakhouse employs 10 people most of whom were brought in from Mamaroneck or had been at Peter Luger's.

Now Kustra who lives in New Rochelle, N.Y. will divide his time between Mamaroneck and Bridgeport.

Kustra's wife, Susan, whom he refers to as the quintessential "woman behind the man," helped design the interior of the Bridgeport site.

"We're going to add some oils and prints," Susan Kustra said, noting that the restaurant is still a work in progress. "Rome wasn't built in a day."