Our Top 10 Eats of 2010
The Schoolhouse at Cannondale: Mushroom Truffle Soup Chef LaBant's Mushroom soup with truffle oil achieved maximum sounds of audible appreciation at a recent meal. His French culinary know how is evident in all of his sauces as well as this wonderfully decadent starter.
The Boathouse: Lobster Salad I'm embarrassed to admit how many of Chef Holzwarth's Lobster Salads I have consumed in 2010. A composed salad with the absolute freshest market vegetables, avocado and heirloom shell beans pedestaled on large chunks of succulent lobster meat. It's good stuff.
leFarm: Local Beets & Oregon Lentils, Pecans, Aged Ricotta with La Quercia Ham A celebration of fresh ingredients, tastes and textures, this dish sits in perfect harmony. Earthy, sweet, rich and savory, this is a dish often craved.
Chao Chi: Foie Gras Beignet Now shuttered, this amuse bouche is stamped into my memory from a long meal enjoyed there. The buttery softness of the foie gras paired with a light and doughy shell was finished with a blackberry jam drizzle. Bravo Prasad.
Bereket Turkish Restaurant: Manti This hole in the wall in Bridgeport (soon with a new larger location) serves a Turkish classic "Manti," tiny folded triangles of dough filled with ground meat and onion, floating atop a bed of yoghurt, meat drippings and spices. As close to Istanbul as it gets in FC.
Stepney Kitchen: Summer Steak The perfect summer steak with slices of sirloin cooked medium rare and served over a bed of light-as-air ricotta gnocchi, a slick of pesto, lightly dressed greens and heirloom tomatoes, with shards of blue crab perched atop. This dish signals, no, screams summer.
Napa & Company: Wagyu Burger Arik's rich Wagyu Burger sits like royalty on a crispy brioche bun with sweet red onion jam, sharp aged Gouda, black pepper mayo, and really solid rosemary fries. Even given the unique marbling in Wagyu beef, you'd swear this burger was bathed in fat, it's so good.
Match: Carpetbaggers Matt Storch's take on the fried oyster is an exercise is glorious excess. Semolina crusted & fried oysters are served in their shells with truffle cream, beef tartare, and truffle aioli. OMG.
Flanders Fish Market: Lobster Roll Served warm and simply at Flanders Fish Market, the lobster roll is served with a bit of butter and scallions on a toasted hot dog roll. This is the meal that officially kicks off the summer.
Tappo: White Broccoli Rabe Pizza Pairing a Negroni and a slice at Tappo is the answer to the ultimate winter comfort food.
Top 10 Eats
Reader Comments (12)
Great restaurants on the list and I would like to add some others that are top class in their respective space:
- Burgers Shakes and Fries - I love the bacon cheeseburger with fried onions on their white toast. Kory brings some of the best burgers to his customers and the chocolate shake reminds me of those i enjoyed 40 years ago
- Colony Pizza - Living in New Canaan I have Joe's Pizza for a great pie, but when a good NH style pie is required, Colony still the king in the area. There is nothing close to this genre this side of New Haven.
- Gelatissimo - This has to be the best frozen dessert in Fairfield County.
Thanks for this great list. Looking forward to trying some places in 2011.
Does anyone know if Souterrain will be returning in the New Year?
jfood: agree that Colony is a great add - - - especially now that one is in Farifield where I live.
But I wouldn't classify it as NH style pizza. When I think NH style (Pepe's, Sally's, Modern) I think of a bit thicker, chewier crust that has a dark char on the bottom.
Colony's crust is unique - - - ultra thin and really crispy.
In any event, Colony is awesome for pizza! I think it really outdoes the Pepe's that is in Fairfield.
Yes. Souterrain will be returning in January. Stay tuned for details.
Colony is not remotely like New Haven pie, it's "crust" is more of a cracker. I much prefer Pepe's (the original), though I can appreciate Colony's local appeal.
For reviews of New Haven style pies, see this.
http://www.stamfordpizzatour.com/search/label/New%20Haven
and for Colony, see this.
http://www.stamfordpizzatour.com/2009/05/colony-grill.html
Oh, so where did every one go on New Years? Did you guys notice if the prices got jacked up?
Insert my head slightly hanging down, slowly stated "mea culpa" under my breath...
Exuberence can sometimes cause hyperbole. I am a big Sally's fan and started to write about Colony above and got a tad ahead of myself. Colony and Sallys/Pepes are different; the ovens, the method the end product are different. But both are outstanding. I guess we are very lucky to have the choices. Thanks to those who pointed this out.
That being said, Colony belongs on the list for Stamford, Joes on the list for New Canaan, and let the New Havenites fight their civili war.
The local restaurant dish that I could eat for day after day is the Veal Milanese at Paci in Southport.
A hamburger with pickles and ketchup and a fountain coke from The Sugar Bowl!
I went to Red Bean last night and tried the Red Bean and Sex in the City roll. Loved the Red Bean roll and would highly recommend it.
I have to admit, one of my favorite dishes to get in the area is Orem's Split Pea Soup. I believe they serve it on Tuesdays and Thursdays and have for decades. I have no idea how they make the soup or the croutons, but would love to know.
One of the best meals I have had consistently is at Westport's Acqua- the Parmesan Halibut. It is one dish that never disappoints, in a "sea" of mediocre restaurants. Acqua's recent updates to their decor are lovely- hope to try it again soon.
I also love love love the Crispy Cauliflower Wrap at Valencia Luncheria in Norwalk...and at dinner the Scallop Risotto will knock your socks off. Wish these guys wold relocate to a bigger space- some days we just can't bear the wait.
The Baby Back ribs at Wlson's Holy Smoke in Fairfield are always delicious, moist and smokin' good- just make sure they are hot- once in while, the waitstaff isn't paying attention...
And one more of our consistent favorites--Chings Table in New Canaan- the Vietnamese Summer rolls and Vietnamese Salad are wonderful- to our delight the 2 dishes were included in a Lunch Special lsat Saturday!
Ordered the Parmesan Halibut at Acqua on the strength of the review above: absolutely delicious! Still thinking about it!