Restaurant Road Trip: Rive Bistro Opens on Westport's Riverfront

Although the riverfront restaurant located at 299 Riverside Avenue has exchanged owners, it still boasts the same spectacular views.

Rive Bistro, formerly the River House Tavern, will have a soft opening Wednesday and open officially on Friday. It will specialize in French-bistro style cuisine. 

Rive Bistro chef and co-owner Eric Sierra said the new restaurant has a much cleaner, and warmer appearance. Sierra owned Bistro Des Amis in Westport from 1991 until 2001 when he opened El Palio in Shelton. He said the restaurant’s new look is, “bistro style.”

Sierra, a native of Biarritz, France, has been cooking his entire life. He came to America in 1987 and was employed as a private chef in Greenwich.

Sierra and co-owner Vivi Torres purchased the restaurant from Kevin Burns, an investment banker who sold the business after ten years of ownership, Sierra said.

Sierra said Burns, a friend of his, did a fine job running the restaurant, but that it was inconsistent as it had several new chefs over the years.

“I am going to be here and run the restaurant the way it is supposed to be run,” said Sierra.

The restaurant is accessible by car and boat, with four slips at a public dock providing entry from the Saugatuck River. A wide patio with a panoramic river view vista invites outdoor dining seasonally.

For reservations, you can reach Rive Bistro at 203-557-8049.