Nationally recognized chefs and restaurateurs are rewriting the village’s culinary narrative that was once only known for the famed Mystic Pizza shop

By Andrea E. McHugh Globe Correspondent, Updated May 14, 2024, 6:00 a.m.

Mystic, Conn., is a village that straddles the Mystic River: the Town of Stonington governs east of the river while the Town of Groton governs the west side. The Mystic River Bascule Bridge connects the two sides of the village.BILL SHETTLE FOR THE MYSTIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

MYSTIC, Conn. — Like many popular coastal New England enclaves that lure throngs of travelers, Mystic, Conn., is sprinkled with charm, a handful of T-shirt shops, and nautically-themed boutiques. But the village’s culinary reputation has been anchored to one specific dish for more than three decades: pizza. “Mystic Pizza,” the film that put both Julia Roberts and the restaurant by the same name on the map, is hardly representative of the breadth of diverse cuisines and extraordinary talent elevating Mystic’s culinary culture.

Earlier this year, the James Beard Foundation shined its coveted spotlight on two local luminaries. Reneé Touponce, executive chef at Oyster Club and The Port of Call, has advanced as finalist in the 2024 James Beard Awards category of Outstanding Chef, while David Standridge, executive chef of The Shipwright’s Daughter, is a finalist in the Best Chef Northeast category. The chefs earned enviable reputations in big cities, rubbing shoulders with a who’s who of the culinary world, but both traded urban freneticism for a quieter life in this southeastern Connecticut seaport.

“My partner Jade and I were working out in Hartford and we used to go to Mystic for dates. We really liked the area and we were considering changing our lives,” said Touponce.

Reneé Touponce, executive chef at Oyster Club and The Port of Call in Mystic, Conn., is a finalist in the 2024 James Beard Awards in the category of Outstanding Chef. CATHERINE DZILENSKI/THE PORT OF CALL

Jade Ayala, the beverage director at The Port of Call and Oyster Club, and Touponce were separately interviewed by 85th Day Food Community, a Mystic-based restaurant group and catering company owned by chef-turned-CEO, Dan Meiser. Soon after, they were unpacking their belongings and making a home in Westerly, just about a 10-minute commute to Mystic. “Here we are, seven years later, and we haven’t looked back since,” Touponce said.

Her approach at the restaurant was atypical, however. Touponce took a step back from her executive chef role and instead, worked her way up through the kitchen, immersing herself in the surrounding culture.

“I didn’t want to step into a restaurant and have this vision of taking over the space or anything like that,” explains Touponce. “I just wanted to be in that area and learn from all of my peers and the people around me, and harvest those relationships with the community.”

The Oyster Club, a restaurant in Mystic, Conn.ANDREA E. MCHUGH

The role reversal was rewarded when she assumed the executive chef role three years ago. “Through those relationships with our fishermen and our farmers, the artisans, and the people in the community, I’ve just been able to push the boundaries.”

Although Bruce Flax grew up in Massachusetts, he’s been a resident of Groton, Conn., for more than 25 years, serving on the town council and as mayor before his current position as president of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce. (Mystic is a village that straddles the Mystic River: the Town of Stonington governs east of the river, while the Town of Groton governs the west side.) Flax said that during the pandemic, Mystic’s tourism surged, likely, he theorized, because of its location between New York City and Boston. “And it’s continued to grow from there, where people are continuing to return and I think a lot of it has to do with the food scene,” said Flax.

If you’re planning a trip to the Mystic area, try these destinations:

‘DIVERSITY OF TASTES’

A stroll down Water and East and West Main streets reveals menus far more boundary pushing than lobster rolls and chowder — popular New England tourist town staples — although you’ll find those here too, at places like The Mariner. The four-year-old restaurant is known for its lobster rolls served “Connecticut style,” with warm butter and tucked into a toasted split-top bun. Just steps from there, Samurai Noodle Bar makes an impression with flavorful pho, fluffy bao buns, bibimbap, and housemade ramen, and across the street is Via Emilia, an Italian trattoria with tables for two out front, though if you snag the inside bar seats perched along the front picture window, it’ll reward you with excellent people watching over dinner and drinks.

The Mariner, a restaurant in Mystic, Conn.ANDREA E. MCHUGH

“There’s really something for every palate here, and then some. The diversity of tastes is enormous,” said Flax. There are restaurants he called longtime mainstays, including Sea Swirl and the Sea View Snack Bar, seasonal seafood shacks known for fried whole belly clams; Angie’s Pizza, a family-friendly joint serving much more than pizza, and S&P Oyster Restaurant and Bar, where most of its 31 years has been led by executive chef Edgar Coben, originally from Ecuador, who merges Latin American flavor with traditional New England favorites.

Perhaps the most enduring of all is the Captain Daniel Packer Inne, “DPI” for short, built in 1756. The residence remained in the sea captain’s family and descendants through 1979, when the Kiley family bought it. Their daughter, Allison Kiley Nasin, runs DPI today, with a ground-level bar boasting centuries-old exposed beams and stone walls, and the more refined colonial-style restaurant upstairs (and no, it’s not an actual inn).

S&P Oyster Restaurant and Bar, a restaurant along the Mystic River.ANDREA E. MCHUGH

SIFT BAKE SHOP

The stalwarts are balanced by Mystic’s next restaurant generation, led by visionaries including pastry chef Adam Young. Before being crowned “Best Baker In America’' in the second season of the Food Network baking show competition, he was impressing palates at his French-focused bakery, Sift Bake Shop.

“We came in right at the very beginning of [Mystic’s] culinary renaissance, if you will,” said Young. “I think what is really unique about Mystic is it’s a very special part of coastal New England in the sense that we have a very, very high concentration of extraordinary talent, not only from a food and beverage scene, but from a growers perspective. Vintners, great breweries, great cheesemongers, aviaries — you name it, we have it.” Young said he expects the village’s deep sense of community, its collective “what’s good for one is good for all” mentality, and being a good place to raise a family will continue to lure even more talent.

Since opening Sift eight years ago, he’s opened locations in Niantic, Conn., and in nearby Westerly. Still, it’s not unusual to find a line snaking out the door here at the flagship, particularly on weekend mornings, but loyalists agree sweets and savories are well worth the wait.

Lili Taylor and Julia Roberts in the 1988 film "Mystic Pizza."SAMUEL GOLDWYN COMPANY

PEARL PROVISIONS + TIPPLES

Among the new talent is Moses Laboy and his wife Lauren Wells, who are opening Pearl Provisions + Tipples, a 200-seat restaurant on Water Street, at the end of this month. A well-known mixologist and sommelier (level 2), Laboy was the corporate beverage director for the lauded Gerber Group base in New York. When he was ready to launch his own venture, Mystic rose to the top. Wells has family in Mystic, and the two saw an opportunity to bring something new and fresh to downtown. “We’re going to switch it up a little bit,” said Laboy, describing the restaurant’s menu as “New American.”

Drinks will have equal billing on the menu, with a speakeasy concept on the lower level and the main level serving “modern classics and theatrical cocktails.” Laboy says his Latino heritage will be “bringing to Mystic a little bit of diversity.”

NANA’S BAKERY AND PIZZA

Nana’s Bakery and Pizza, an organic bakery and sourdough pizza “all day cafe” by chef/co-owner James Wayman, head baker David Vacca, and partners, also got its start here, opening its doors on the riverbank in 2020. Testing the waters with a menu spotlighting ingredients from local fisheries and farms, this casual eatery with picnic tables outside was named one of America’s best new restaurants by Esquire Magazine in 2021, spawning a Westerly location in 2022. Wayman, along with partners Aaron Laipply and Josh Welch, will be opening a second venture in Westerly soon called River Bar, located in the former location of Bridge Restaurant.

Fried smelts at The Shipwright's Daughter in Mystic, Conn/BREAD AND BUTTER PHOTOGRAPHY/LISA NICHOLS/HEARST CT MEDIA

THE SHIPWRIGHT’S DAUGHTER

For chef David Standridge, known for whole fish butchery and championing sustainable fishing practices including cooking with invasive species and bycatch, Mystic was a natural for a restaurant of his own. Working his way through the ranks of the culinary world, including as sous chef at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in NYC, where his team clinched two Michelin Stars in 2009 under the leadership of the late and legendary Robuchon, Standridge always wanted to cook in New England, influenced by memories of sailing trips up the coast alongside his father. When a family friend based in Mystic learned that The Whaler’s Inn, a boutique hotel, would be opening a new restaurant, she connected Standridge with ownership.

David Standridge, executive chef of The Shipwright's Daughter in Mystic, Conn., is a finalist in the 2024 James Beard Awards in the category of Best Chef, Northeast.THE SHIPWRIGHT'S DAUGHTER

Moving his family to Mystic took little convincing, and Standridge opened The Shipwright’s Daughter in 2020. “The first thing I noticed when we moved to Mystic was the community. Just everybody that I approached about collaborating or just sharing what we’re doing was so excited to be part of it, and to help another business grow; it’s really, really inspiring,” he said.

Kelp is woven throughout Shipwright’s menu — garlic kelp butter served with the housemade sourdough bread, squid ink spaghetti with sugar kelp gremolata, scallops with sugar kelp Garlic Pesto, and blistered shishitos with Togarashi kelp aioli — are just a few of his creative executions of the seaweed. He sources from Stonington Kelp Co..

Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream in downtown Mystic, Conn.ANDREA E. MCHUGH

CREATING COMMUNITY

Despite new additions to the restaurant scene, Mystic’s architectural integrity remains intact, conjuring up nostalgic memories for many visitors. Preserving buildings and repurposing others is part of what makes Mystic an ever-popular destination. Bank and Bridge Brewing, a brewery and taproom opened in 2021, doesn’t look much different from the outside than when the building was constructed in 1851, save for the two wings added in 1931. Perennial favorite Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream, perched on the west end of the bridge, has been a homemade ice cream shop in one form or another since the 1800s. Taquerio, dishing up street-style tacos, opened three years ago, but the converted gas station it’s housed in has sat at the corner of Broadway and Washington streets since the 1950s. And anyone with a sweet tooth will appreciate the Mystic Candy Shop, a Hallmark-movie looking riverfront confectionery on the boardwalk that historically was a nail shed at the former Cottrell Lumber Company, a Mystic institution from 1820 to 1988.

“It’s so admirable that I get to work in a town where everybody is so encouraging and supportive of each other,” said Touponce. “We all eat at each other’s restaurants, we’re all trying to push the boundaries and create this community of people that just work hard and love what they do and make us food and drink, so it’s truly something special.”