Celebrating 60 years in business, Chez Pierre Restaurant in Wilton is a testament to one family’s hard work and dedication in the community, in combination with a unique menu of options.
Located at 979 Saratoga Road, right off of Route 9, Chez Pierre offers French options and comfort foods.
The restaurant was originally opened by Pierrette and Joe Baldwin in 1964. It was around the time Interstate 87 was being built, so there was a lot of skepticism that the French restaurant would be able to survive once the highway was built and fewer people were taking Route 9, said Pia Baldwin Field, the current restaurant’s owner and the Baldwins’ daughter.
The couple originally hired a French chef to work at the restaurant when it first opened, but after a number of months they decided that the French chef was not able to cook for an American palate.
Field said her father had learned some techniques, and after paying off the rest of the French chef’s contract, Joe Baldwin took over as the chef. The couple’s sons Pierre and Patrick worked in the kitchen and Pia and their other daughter Patricia worked in the front of the restaurant growing up.
“And my mother, we call her the ‘Grande Dame,’ ” Field said. “She always greeted everybody. She was from France, so she has that spark to her that people love.”
The restaurant has grown and changed over the last six decades, menu options differ, Chez Pierre now offers prix fix dinners, and half portion options as well.
The Daily Gazette recently spoke with Field. Here is what she had to say:
Question: What are some of the most popular dishes the restaurant offers?
Answer: I would say probably the Lobster Newburg. There are kind of those old, classic dishes, like Veal Oscar. People always say, “Chicken Cordon Bleu, is that really a French dish?” And it’s one of those comfort foods in France, and we make ours fresh and to-order, it’s also very popular. We have the Steak Au Poivre, which is a pepper steak we do tableside, the Steak Diane we do tableside, so we flame it in front of people. Those are all very popular, not many places do tableside service. We do crepes suzette and cherries jubilee for desserts tableside. The French onion soup is very famous in circles.
Q: What are some of your favorite things about your restaurant?
A: The people. When you’re in this business, all the different people you get to meet. Some of them just become lifelong friends, almost like family. I didn’t realize until COVID happened, and we had to shut down. I’ve done this my whole life, and I grew up in it, and I guess I never realized how important places like ours are to people. So what happened during COVID, of course being shut down, only being able to do takeout, we were getting calls from people who were telling us they had celebrated all 20 of their anniversaries at our place. Or I’d have people say their mother was turning 90, and this is her favorite place. It was shocking to me how much we mattered to people in their lives. I think, if anything positive was to come out of COVID, that was one thing. I realized how much the community appreciates us local, family-owned businesses.
Q: What makes Chez Pierre unique?
A: We’re still old school. Our dishes are hearty, we cook with real butter and real cream. We cut the filets off of tenderloin still, it’s not pre-portioned or pre-packaged. It’s all cooking from scratch, it’s not fast food, and I think people appreciate that we’re different. There’s nothing wrong with fast food, or chains — there’s a market for all of us — but, for us fortunately, we’re something a little different. Fifty years ago, when my parents were doing this, there was a lot of places like ours, but unfortunately a lot of them are gone now.
Q: How would you describe the atmosphere at Chez Pierre?
A: People have this impression from TV and movies that French dining is very snooty, and we’re not, we consider ourselves country French. I have had people here who were expecting it to be more of that Parisian French, which is like that fine dining, where you’ve got three different people waiting on you, that’s not us. A lot of people get to know their waitperson. We try to make people feel welcome. It’s funny, even when people come in and it’s their first time, they watch us and they’ll say, “Wow you know everyone,” and we do know about 80% of them. You get to be friends with people, and a lot of people keep coming back.
Q: As far as costs go, what do your customers typically spend when they come in?
A: The check average is probably around $50 to $60 a head. We have a $35 nightly prix fixe all year long, not just during restaurant week. Obviously, we have more expensive priced items as well.
Q: Why should someone consider coming and trying your restaurant?
A: Even after 60 years, we hear people say all the time that they’ve driven by hundreds of times. So I would say, I think once you come in we have lots of options, we have a big menu. And overall, most people will find something that appeals to them. Then once they try it, they’ll enjoy it. We also realize it’s not for everyone. I think there’s a market for everyone, too.
Q: What else do readers need to know about your restaurant?
A: I have an amazing staff. We’re not big, but we’re mighty. They are like family to us. Most of them have been with us for years. So when someone comes in they don’t necessarily have to see myself or my mom, we’ve got other staff members who have been here a long time, and they know our customers too. That’s a big part of our success over these 60 years is that we have been able to have people working for us that reflect the way we feel about it. I’m very, very lucky for the people we have working here. They take it as much to heart as I do.
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