Laura Glesby Photo
Fest Faves' owners, employees, and town supporters snip the opening ribbon.
Neon candied apples, plump corn dogs, flaky fried Oreos, and carousel jingles await customers of a new Whitney Avenue restaurant, where co-owner Victoria Streeto hopes to offer a time-traveling portal to childhood comforts and delights.
That restaurant is called Fest Faves, which opened at 15 Whitney Ave. earlier this fall and which celebrated an official ribbon cutting Monday morning.
Streeto and her husband, Eric Balcerzak, have made a hobby out of visiting carnivals for the past decade — “mainly for the food,” she said on 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 other world within a strip of downtown commerce, brought to life through neon lights, vivid red, and an aroma of fresh popcorn that fills the storefront.
On the morning of Halloween on Monday, Fest Faves was filled with eerie dolls and images of possessed clowns in honor of the holiday, recasting the happy-go-lucky carnival atmosphere in a twisted, horror-inspired overtone.
Balcerzak, Streeto, and a host of local leaders and financiers gathered for what Mayor Justin Elicker called “the creepiest and spookiest and possibly sweetest ribbon cutting” he could remember.
Justin Elicker, a self-professed major Halloween fan, celebrates the restaurant's opening.
“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, said Streeto. The most popular offerings include her favorite — Buffalo chicken eggrolls, which pack in “a little bit of heat, a little bit of crisp.”
Eric Balcerzak and Victoria Streeto.
The restaurant has already garnered some regular customers. A trio of Housing Authority employees, whom Streeto affectionately calls the “Cheetah girls” after their frequent Cheetah-print outfits, said they visit Fest Faves nearly every day for sweet treats (they recommend the fried Oreos and churros) and the friendly environment. They cheered enthusiastically at Monday’s ribbon cutting, where they stopped by to show their support.
“I was born and raised on Coney Island,” said Lynn Brunache. The carnival theme reminds of her home.
"Cheetah girls" Lynn Brunache, Melani Baez, and Colby Jenkins.
Fest Faves' fried dough and popcorn.
A professional dancer trained in disciplines ranging from tap to ballet, Streeto has worked as a dance instructor in New Haven Public Schools and at Neighborhood Music School for 14 years. She’s also connected to New Haven through her family of Italian-American restaurateurs, who include a chef at the New Haven Lawn Club and Ristorante Faustini (her father) and a baker at the classic Libby’s Italian Pastry Shop (her uncle).
“It started out with my wooden spoon and my dad and my mom,” said Streeto. “I was the dancing chef.”
Streeto’s family also figures in the memories of childhood carnival visits that she’s channeled into the restaurant: she recalled 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.”
Thank you to Eric Balcerzak and Victoria Streeto for bringing us festival/carnival foods year round! I love a new cuisine to the restaurant scene, and I love to eat something naughty for my health (but so yummy,) every once in a while. I’m sure this will be a huge hit for the area’s terms and college students, and a few of us oldsters will enjoy an occasional guilty treat.