‘Izzy’s Place’: A Look Back at Pierre’s

From Forest Street’s “Restaurant Row” to the establishments on Elm, Main and Pine Streets, New Canaan offers a diverse and ever-evolving lineup of restaurants. The choices in town are particularly impressive not only given the size of town, but also when one considers how far New Canaan has come in morphing into a culinary destination in a relatively short amount of time. As recently as the 1960’s and ‘70s, dining options were somewhat limited for residents and the food was far from exciting. Patricia Brooks—food critic for the New York Times and New Canaan resident since 1959—remembers those days well. “It just wasn’t that good anywhere,” Brooks told NewCanaanite.com.

Did You Hear … ?

A building permit application has been filed for a new, 8,600-square-foot home planned for 386 Weed St.—part of a large-scale project for a combined 7-acre parcel that had drawn some criticism from neighbors and originally included a 15,000-square-foot manmade pond that since has been withdrawn from the plan. The new home will include 40 rooms and will cost about $2.4 million to build, according to a building permit application filed May 15. The contractor on the project is Westport-based Coastal Construction and architect is Christian Rae Studio LLC of Easton. ***

Animal Control officers fined a Weed Street woman $90 for allowing her dog to roam after they saw her let a golden retriever off leash at Irwin Park at about 12:19 p.m. on May 22. The officers were in an unmarked car and watched the woman waiting for them to leave, which they did and then looped around to the far side of the park where they assessed the ticket for allowing a dog to roam (which now includes an additional $46 fine).