By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — Call it a refire.

In restaurant lingo that’s a dish sent back needs fixing in a hurry.

In the case of Gabriele’s of Westport, a popular and well-regarded Italian steakhouse on the grounds of the Westport Country Playhouse, it’s not the pricey ribeye ($79) that needs more fire on the grill, but an entire outdoor dining plan.

It appears the eatery served up an area twice the size stated on its application to the Planning and Zoning Department. The zoning permit has been revoked. That doesn’t happen every day.

Owner Donato Gabriele applied last year to build a 20-by-20-foot pergola above a patio in front of the restaurant, which previously had little more than a fire pit, to create an outdoor dining area. The request was approved Dec. 21.

What was built — a pergola with retractable fabric walls and three chandeliers — was more than twice the approved size, 20.5 feet by 38.7 feet, according to the P&Z department.

Staff told the applicant he’d have to reapply to have that approved.

No re-application came.

On April 10, the department revoked the zoning permit. “Revoked,” is written horizontally in red ink across the zoning permit. “Not compliant to plans,” a notation states.

Outdoor dining, once tightly restricted locally, became more common and very popular in response the COVID pandemic. Connecticut issued orders easing the rules during the lockdown and Westport embraced them. People liked eating outside, and restaurants with available outdoor space survived and even thrived.

Along the way, bureaucratically, Westport transitioned from a Planning and Zoning Commission review of such plans to a less-rigorous administrative sign-off.

If there was confusion regarding local regulations and what the state’s pandemic rules allow is not clear. A call to Gabriele was not returned.

(The scuttlebutt in Town Hall is that a re-application will sail through.)

Fire Marshal Terrance Dunn was out of town Friday for a conference and couldn’t be reached for comment on potential safety concerns.

Westport Building Official Steve Smith told the Westport Journal that he and Dunn would be doing a review of the new structure.

“It has the ability to have sides on it,” he said.

Smith there were several concerns, including the retractable walls, and their ability to handle wind load. He said he wants to see an engineering report on that.

“Until everything gets addressed, they’re not going to use it,” Smith said.

Representative Town Meeting member Sal Liccione, District 9, said he raised concerns, on behalf of constituents, with various town officials months ago, but it took a lot of time to gain traction.

Liccione said he was contacted by people living in the neighboring Playhouse Square Condominiums, concerned about the size of the structure, the fact that it had walls, and the aesthetics. The new dining area blocks the view of the original, modest restaurant once run by Paul Newman.

Now that the zoning permit has been revoked, Liccione wondered why it took so long.

“It’s a great restaurant, and I’m not against any small business,” he said. “When I get a request from neighbors, I have to do something. I have to do my due diligence and contact Town Hall.”

He questioned if the town should re-examine its approval process.

“The rules should be for everybody,” Liccione said.

Thane Grauel, executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.