Scratch-made comfort fare and live entertainment in Mystic

It took a little while, but Peter Fine realized he was always meant to be in the hospitality industry. He grew up watching his mother, Sue, who opened the beloved Soup’s On restaurant in Westport back in the late 1970s.

Sue’s eatery was “ahead of its time,” he said, with fresh, hearty takes on comfort food. Beyond soups and stews, she offered a more eclectic menu, engaging one of her chefs to make “amazing” empanadas, and learning how to perfect spanakopita. Weekends at the Peter family home featured lively dinner parties with great food, music, conversation, and meaningful connections.

“I guess, unbeknownst to me at the time, that kind of passion and joy was embedded in me for life,” Peter said. Today, Sue’s legacy lives on at Peter’s two Milestone restaurants. The original opened in Georgetown in 2018, and five years later, he brought the concept to Mystic, landing on Water Street amid some of the most celebrated restaurants in the seaside village. (Both locations feature the original “Soup’s On” chili recipe, with cheddar, sour cream, and green onions.)

Before following his mother’s footsteps as a restaurateur, Peter’s path took him to New Orleans, where as a college student he tended bar at legendary music club Tipitina’s. He moved back to the Northeast, where he worked in music promotion and then found his way into real estate, consulting in the restaurant and hospitality space.

But about a decade ago, he realized that although his real estate career was going well, it wasn’t feeding his need for hospitality in a way he could share with others.

He and his wife, Andi, were living in Weston at the time, and they kept looking at a building on Main Street in the Georgetown section of Redding. Finally, he said, “We looked at each other and said, ‘It might be the time to do this.’” Milestone is designed to be “a hip neighborhood joint,” Peter said. “It’s basically the under-the-radar place that only the coolest locals know about to get great food, great drink, and a sense of community, and listen to good music in a warm, comfortable space. It’s almost like your second living room.”

The Georgetown location built a reputation in Fairfield County for its scratch-made comfort fare, welcoming vibe, and vibrant live music schedule, and the Fines began thinking about their next step. They’d become familiar with the Mystic area while driving back and forth to Rhode Island for their kids’ soccer tournaments and saw the opportunity to bring the Milestone brand out east.

As we spent time out there, we looked and said, ‘Wow, this would be a great place to live,’” Peter said. “And I got very warm to the idea of being in Mystic and in this community, with the added benefit of the population ballooning in the summertime with the tourists. It seemed like a logical good next step.”

Milestone Mystic debuted in late 2023 at 12 Water Street, bringing the same laid-back neighborhood vibe from its Fairfield County counterpart with craveable comfort dishes, a relaxed atmosphere and lively entertainment with music every weekend. The Mystic crowd was introduced to its signature burger (built simply with two four-ounce patties, American cheese, and a special sauce featuring Dijon mustard and Worcestershire) and its pizza, which Peter says has the crisp bottom structure of New York style and the rise on the edge of a Neapolitan style.

“We’re not known as a pizza restaurant, but it’s certainly one of the biggest sellers that we have,” he said. Milestone offers five red and five white pies, like an “Arthur Ave” with sausage and hot cherry peppers, and a French onion variety with caramelized onions and Gruyere.

Peter notes the level of detail that goes into many of Milestone’s seemingly simple menu items, like wings with a Memphis-style rub that are par-baked and then fried, sauced with Frank’s Red Hot that’s kicked up with garlic butter and “five different kinds of peppercorns.” The “Good Beets” appetizer features red beets poached in balsamic vinegar and port wine and golden beets poached in honey and orange juice, on a bed of herbed ricotta with pistachio crumble and basil oil. Meatballs are made with a touch of pancetta for extra flavor, served with a simple marinara and sourdough garlic bread for “mopping and dipping,” he said.

Another appetizer of fish bites, chunks of lightly fried fresh cod served with house made dill tartar sauce, “sells like hotcakes,” Peter said. He added those to the menu in Mystic after realizing he needed more fish and seafood options in the seaside community. There’s also a fish and chips entrée.

A main plate of pork chop scarpariello (listed colloquially as “scarp” on the menu) has stood the test of time, Peter said, with tangy bite from vinegar and cherry peppers, while other entrees change preparations seasonally. Winter dishes included red winebraised short ribs with soft polenta, rigatoni Bolognese with herbed ricotta, and hanger steak Bordelaise with roasted garlic mashed potatoes. A brined half-chicken is enhanced by charred beet BBQ sauce and arugula salad, and Moroccan-spiced Faroe Island salmon features a chickpea and spinach ragout, lemon yogurt, and fried capers.

At the bar, the drinks lean classic, Peter said, with “fun, crisp, tasty” flavors. Margaritas are huge sellers, he said, and other creative concoctions include the Sideways in Reverse (silver tequila, Aperol, elderflower liqueur, lime and Peychaud’s) and the Dragon Colada, with shochu, coconut cordial, house made pineapple juice, sugarcane, and nutmeg. A Hurricane with light and dark rums and fresh passionfruit and pineapple juices is a nod to Peter’s time in New Orleans.

Peter said he was excited to join the restaurant scene in Mystic, which in recent years has become a nationally recognized dining region. The restaurant is steps from Oyster Club and Port of Call, which have both received multiple James Beard Foundation nominations since 2022, and just around the corner from The Shipwright’s Daughter, where David Standridge was named Best Chef: Northeast by the Foundation in 2024.

“The competition for the diner is much more significant here,” he said. “We’re known as a great place to go and have a good time. We’re trying to be very approachable, but for that approachable food to be culinary-driven and consistent and delicious.”

Milestone is actually about to expand again, Peter shared. He’s planning to open its third location in Glastonbury, in the space formerly home to Max Amore.

Milestone is at 12 Water St. in Mystic and 2 Main St. in Georgetown. milestonect.com