The Canopy Restaurant — Restaurant in Darien

First time visiting this place and now it's time for my first impressions honest review. I'm a big foodie and I love to try new places to eat, whether local or out of town, and share my thoughts on the places I visit so you can decide if it's something you would like to try out. This review is unsolicited and uncompensated, so you are getting an unbiased and totally honest review for your reading pleasure.

My wife and I were told from family to go check out this new restaurant in Darien, right inside the city limits. So we decided to go and check it out on a Friday night. In reviewing their website, they indicated to call and make reservations. It was a spur of the moment that evening to go, so I called and braced for the worst, but the hostess said come on down, no need for reservations tonight. (Which I thought was quite strange, for a Friday night of course.). In our county, we have literally over 100 good restaurants to go eat at and all the good ones will accept reservations or you should be prepared to wait for a table, ESPECIALLY on a Friday night, so to find out none was needed was welcomed, but unusual.

Just a short trip north of Brunswick, across the bridge and turn right, it was only a few blocks around the bend. When we got there, the parking lot was empty, literally only 3 cars there, and we had correctly assumed, those all belonged to the help. We parked and went inside, two ladies greeted us, allowed us to pick where we wanted to seat, and gave us menus. We were literally the only patrons there at 8pm on a Friday night. This was nice that we were their sole customers and center of attention but it felt almost eerie and weird that no one else was eating here this evening. (Side note, we had noticed another local grill restaurant was open up the road and their parking lot was very packed and busy)

We weren't drinking alcohol but they had a full bar and separate drink menu. The food menu was somewhat sparse and there were not a lot of options to choose from we noticed. We ordered an appetizer and an entree for the two of us, as we like to agree and split between those to make small plates for both of us. The chips and dip wasn't really a dip, more like homemade chips with braised pork on top with goat cheese and a sweet sauce drizzled, it was delicious. The flank steak entry with the puffed farro and asparagus was a very good cut of steak, definitely recommend both of these dishes and I've included pictures of the food and menus in my review. As you can see from the menus, it's not inexpensive to eat there but not overpriced either, just above average for places in the area.

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our solo dinner experience, the service was top notch of course, and the place is quaint and beautiful and a very good experience. We finished dinner about 920pm and they closed up the place as soon as we left. I'm not sure how they can stay open for business if they don't have crowds for the two busiest dinner nights of Friday and Saturday nights, when most people go out to eat, especially with the bar in place there. My friends say they are busy and open for breakfast and lunch, so maybe that's their main goals and where the business comes from. We will go back during those meals and update my review...

Sharing about the Canopy restaurant, a new establishment in the Darien culinary scene.

The old house cast a spell from the vintage southern atmosphere where comfort overtakes any attitude.

Although the decor is very traditional, the menu is not.

The Canopy Provides a really unique eclectic menu that develops new experiences in presentation, aroma, flavor, and taste.

Chef Megan Savic was Classically trained in culinary arts and brings western flare (Colorado) to her delicious dishes. Her ingredients are carefully selected from local purveyors with the freshest products.

The restaurant offers breakfast, brunch on weekends, lunch, and fine dining on weekend evenings.

Anita and I enjoyed a light lunch, consisting of:

A delicate rendition of a French onion soup. At first taste, one could immediately recognize the soup was constructed from an authentic custom made beef broth, very low sodium with an in-depth beef taste.

The broth had been filter or strained to reduce fat. The taste on the palate was so flavorful and clean.

When the spoon held the liquid and the delicate caramelized unions, the soup took on a new personality. The marriage of savory beef broth with the sweetness of the caramelized onions united to exemplify the best of the best for lovers of French onion soups.

Finally, the incorporation of toasted bread with melted Swiss (or fontina) cheese completed what is an exemplary soup.

Next, was an exclusive rendition of chicken salad. Very untraditional, yet delicious.

The white meat (only breasts) are boiled and shredded (not cut) then mixed with a tasty dressing incorporated with roasted pecan chips, thyme, parsley, with a touch of salt and hint of pepper. The surprise from the texture of the chicken salad is overcome by the delicious taste and lingering flavor.

The salad was garnished by thin slice green apples as a toner to the finish of the dish.

Finally, a simple bed of choice and assorted greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, with a chicken breast, delicately grilled. Moist and seasoned well. A fresh and robust flavored ranch dressing and home made ciabatta croutons.

These selections were absolutely delicious and prepared perfectly, the service was also great.

I was most impressed by the premier work of this artisan chef in her remarkable kitchen. From the hostess stand one can see it is small, well...

The only thing missing from this restaurant was more people! We booked this restaurant last minute for my birthday and we arrived early approximately 6 o’clock on a Saturday. We expected there to be a lot of people however, there was only one other couple in the entire restaurant. When we had booked, my wife had said it was my birthday, and our table was set with a card signed by the entire staff of the restaurant. This is such a quality touch, and with some thing that left a memorable impression up on both of us.

There are no hard liquor, mixed drinks here! No, Bourbons, no whiskeys! This made me very sad, but they have a pretty decent draft list and bottle list as well as wines and wine mixes. I really wish they had had a full service bar. This place could really be over the top good.

The appetizer was the ceviche scallops, and they were out of this world. My wife believes that the chips were too heavy, handed on the salt while I definitely did taste a lot of salt. They were perfect for me. The ceviche was outstanding. Both of us cleared the bowl.

I got the skirt steak and it was seasoned with a wonderful vinegary twang that went so well with the sweet, pumpkin purée. Absolutely five stars cooked medium rare just the way I like it. My wife got the 8 ounce filet mignon and while the steak was outstanding, and she devoured the whole thing, I actually thought the brussels sprouts were the best item on the plate. Lol so delicious.

My only real complaint with the night was that I ordered a latte at the end of dinner, and it was extremely weak. It honestly tasted like there was no espresso in the drink at all. I hope this was just a one off mistake. It certainly does not lower my score below five stars But I definitely think it was off.

For dessert we received the carrot cake to go with a scoop of ice cream, and my wife and I eat it watching the sunset in south Georgia. I don’t think there’s a nicer way to in the evening.

Parking is a little limited here, especially on a busy night. He could get crazy to find a spot, but the entire staff was outstanding, and the venue itself was beautiful very well decorated great...