NEW HAVEN, CT — Neon candied apples, plump corn dogs, deep-fried Oreos and carousels await patrons of a new Whitney Avenue restaurant where co-owner Victoria Streeto hopes to provide a time-travel portal to the comforts and pleasures of childhood.
This restaurant is called Fest Faves, which opened at 15 Whitney Ave. earlier this fall and which celebrated an official ribbon cutting on Monday morning.
Streeto and her husband, Eric Balcerzak, have made a hobby of visiting carnivals for the past decade — “mostly for the food,” she said Monday. They decided to open a carnival-themed restaurant on Whitney Avenue as an escape from the stressors of a new Covid-19 normal.
Two months after its opening, Fest Faves has become a joyful and nostalgic otherworld within a strip of downtown commerce, brought to life through neon lights, vibrant red and the aroma of fresh popcorn filling the storefront.
On Halloween morning on Monday, Fest Faves was filled with spooky dolls and images of possessed clowns in honor of the holiday, reshaping the happy carnival atmosphere in a twisted, horror-inspired shade.
Balcerzak, Streeto and a host of local leaders and funders gathered for what Mayor Justin Elicker called “the scariest and most thrilling and maybe the sweetest ribbon cutting” he could remember.
“Coming out of a pandemic, who doesn’t love guilty pleasures?” said Tony Rossley, vice president at Liberty Bank, which is working with the new business.
In its short life so far, Fest Faves has had slow days and busy days, Streeto said. Popular offerings include her favorite – Buffalo Chicken Eggs, which come packaged in “a little heat, a little cool.”
The restaurant has already gathered some regular customers. A trio of Housing Authority workers, whom Streeto affectionately calls the “Cheetah Girls” after their frequent Cheetah-print outfits, said they visit Fest Faves almost daily for the treats (they recommend the fried Oreos and churros) and the environment. friendly. They cheered enthusiastically at Monday’s ribbon cutting, where they stopped to show their support.
“I was born and raised in Coney Island,” said Lynn Brunache. The carnival theme reminds her of home.
A professional dancer trained in disciplines ranging from tap to ballet, Streeto has worked as a dance instructor in New Haven Public Schools and the Neighborhood School of Music for 14 years. She is also connected to New Haven through her family of Italian-American restaurateurs, which include a chef at the New Haven Lawn Club and Ristorante Faustini (her father) and a baker at Libby’s Classic Italian Patisserie (her uncle ).
“It started with my wooden spoon and my mom and dad,” Streeto said. “I was the dancing chef.”
Streeto’s family also figures in the memories of childhood carnival visits she channels into the restaurant: she remembers riding roller coasters with her cousins while “trying to scream as loud as possible.”
The new restaurant reflects her approach to everything she sets out to do, she added: “it’s over the top.”
The New Haven Independent is a non-profit daily public interest news site founded in 2005.
