RSVP: A Beautiful French Dining Experience in West Cornwall
West Cornwall is both peaceful and beautiful. Before dinner, you can walk around West Cornwall’s quaint center and shoot some photos by the river and under the covered bridge. Google Maps wasn’t wrong and there we were in the middle of a handful of shops, the flowing sounds and sights of the Housatonic River, and a covered bridge. It is a place where you’ll inevitably encounter friendly locals who are more than happy to have a conversation or snap a picture of you and your dinner crew.
The RSVP Dining Atmosphere
RSVP is a French restaurant in Litchfield County that features a French Chef's Tasting Menu. For over 20 years RSVP was the sole restaurant in West Cornwall. This simply reiterates how quickly the small dining confines, including the porch, can fill up. On the day of our dinner, we arrived roughly an hour before dinnertime. Arrive early and take a walk through the covered bridge.
Booking and Essential Information
Apparently the way to go about booking a table is to do it the old fashioned way: Pick up the phone. Call. To make it even more difficult, they’re only open Friday through Sunday with one dinner seating per evening. So, you call, and eventually co-owner Charles Cilona will hit you back to work it out. If you’ve reserved before, you get dibs on being able to book a table further out than newbies.
Key Details for Visitors:
- Seating: One dinner seating per evening, Friday through Sunday.
- Time: Dinner starts at 5 p.m.
- Pricing: $140 per person, including tax and gratuity.
- Payment: Cash or check only.
- Policy: It’s BYOB.
The Tasting Menu Experience
The first order of business for this relaxed three hour meal is to use the corkscrew to pop your bottle of wine open. It’s around that time when you’ll meet Guy Birster, RSVP’s chef and co-owner. According to RSVP’s “law” it’s customary to offer him a small pour of your wine. Not long after, Cilona—who’s also the waiter and the busboy—begins bringing out locally baked bread, followed by the first course, an amuse-bouche. That night it was tuna tartare served partially spilling out of a phyllo dough cone with sliced avocado. The menu typically consists of five mystery courses plus dessert.