Invites: Celebrate CT! An Evening of Craft Beer & BBQ @ Bar Q

Join Bob Le Rose (of Bobby Q's) and CTbites for an evening celebrating "CT's Own!" Enjoy Craft beers from local CT breweries and 4 course dinner of CT BBQ as only BarQ can prepare it on Tuesday 2/26 7 to 9 pm for $40 per person. Buy tickets.

Taste and enjoy an authentic dinner of four courses of original CT BBQ, a dessert of Snickerdoodle Bacon Ice Cream Sandwich, all while washing it down with delicious beers from three local Connecticut micro-breweries, Half Full, City Steam and Two Roads Breweries. 

Menu includes:

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Dinosaur BBQ: Two Guys Eat Meat & Drink Beer in Stamford

Jim Morrison believed the ghosts of American Indians jumped into his head as a child and gave him spiritual direction for the rest of his life. I had a not totally dissimilar experience the night of Dinosaur BBQ's soft opening party after I returned home, wherein I undressed and found the ghosts of several pigs, cows and hickory trees inhabiting my shirt. The sign on the window said "Private Party" and there were people checking names at the door, but the attendance must have been close to 200. Owner John Stage seemed to have prepared for twice that number, thus accounting for the volume of aerosolized meat and wood, which, in their previous and more solid forms, were of course what brought Dinosaur to Stamford, the crowd to it. 

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Dinosaur BBQ Preview: Opening Soon in Stamford

“Did you ever in your wildest dreams think that when you cut a 55-gallon drum in half, filled one side with wood and grilled meats at a Harley Davidson Rally in 1983 that you would be standing in your sixth restaurant in Stamford, Connecticut almost thirty years later?” John Stage, the founder of Dinosaur BBQ, slowly shook his head and smiled ever so slightly as he scanned the interior of his new location and uttered a single word that so beautifully summed it up, “Never.” This soft spoken BBQ master was kind enough to give CTbites an exclusive tour of the almost completed Dinosaur BBQ (named after his partner Dino) in Stamford and we were overwhelmed by the space.

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5TH Annual Blues, Views & BBQ Festival + CTbites Chef Tent

Come on down to the 5th annual Blues, Views & BBQ Festival this weekend, September 1st and 2nd.

This event celebrates food, music and family with an exciting line-up of bands, craft beer, barbecue and cooking events, ribs and pie eating contests as well as fun for the whole family. And let's not forget the CTbites Chef Demo Tent on Sept 1st, where 6 top Fairfield County chefs will demo recipes and serve up tasty vittles all day long. 

Food vendors include: Bobby Q's Bodacious BBQ, Winnie's Jerk Chicken & Fish-Caribean Cuisine, Blue Lemon Restaurant, Dave & Jerry's Hot Dog Trolley-Beef Hot Dogs, French Fries & Fresh Squeezed Lemonade, Bar Q BBQ -Beef Brisket, Smoked Chicken Wings, Melt Mobile -Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Wild Bill's Olde Fashioned Soda, Rolling Cones Ice Cream, Rita's Italian Ice. Aurora's Gypsy Cafe-Desserts, Kettle Corn

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Chef Demo Tent Lineup @ 2012 Blues & BBQ Festival

Listen up food lovers. CTbites has rounded up some of the area's top chefs for an afternoon of live cooking demonstrations, recipe tasting and general good times. On Saturday, September 1st from 11:30-5pm come on down to the CTbites Chef Demo Tent at Westport's Blues Views & BBQ Festival to meet: Chef Matt Storch of Match Restaurant in Sono; Pietro Scotti of Da Pietro's in Westport; Chef Rob Troilo of Nicholas Roberts in Norwalk; Chef Joe Wolfson of Terrain in Westport; Chef Helton DaSilva of Barcelona Restaurant; Festivities Catering and Chef Judy Roll of Tabouli Grill. 

Chef Demo Schedule

11:30 Festivities Catering (Nicole Straight)

12:15 Matt Storch, The Chelsea/Match

1:00 Helton DaSilva, Barcelona

1:45 Rob Troilo, Nicholas Roberts

2:30 Joe Wolfson, Terrain

3:15 Pietro Scotti, Da Pietro's

4:00 Judy Roll, Tabouli Grill

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LeRose Tries A New Recipe At Bar Q in Stamford

"We're trying to establish Connecticut barbeque," says Bob LeRose, adding wood to the smoker cooking our ribs. I'm peppering Bobby Q himself with questions while trying not to lose my footing on the floor of the kitchen at the new Bar Q and simultaneously avoiding the hustling form of chef Tom Doherty. LeRose's second restaurant, located at 15 Clark Street in Stamford behind Black Bear, is the latest in his slow-smoked outreach program to those of us on the Sound. "This isn't Bobby Q's," he's quick to point out. "This is its alter-ego."

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Memorial Day BBQ & Party @ Barcelona Fairfield

Join Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant’s first barbeque blowout of the season. This Memorial Day, May 28th, have fun in the sun on Barcelona Fairfield's patio or enjoy some cocktails in their newly renovated bar. This fun-filled family event will feature: live music from the Jason Spooner Trio, beer tasting from Berkshire Brewing Company,  kids events include face painting and a magic show as well as a lemonade, popsicle and ice-cream stand.

For only $20 a person ($10 for kids) you can enjoy a delicious buffet of the best from their grill and kitchen. From beef, chorizo & cochinita sliders and suckling pig to grilled vegetables and assorted salads, there’s something for everyone.

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Sun BBQ Fest 2012: June 1 - 3 @ Mohegan Sun

Mohegan Sun’s first annual BBQ Fest will be held June 1 - 3, 2012 in the Winter Parking Lot in Uncasville, CT. Headlining this event will be plenty of BBQ, cooking demonstrations, live music and host Mike Petit of NESN’s Grillseekers, as emcee for the three day event. Tickets are $30 per day including 8 food tickets and go on-sale Monday, April 16th at 10am through Ticketmaster.com or at Mohegan Sun’s Box Office. Kids 10 and under get in free (does not include food tickets). 

The weekend will include loads of BBQ including ribs, pulled pork and classic BBQ chicken from the nation’s best barbeque experts and vendors. Guests will be able to visit the Farmer’s Market featuring Sardilli Produce & Dairy.

Competitive Eating Champion Joey “Jaws” Chestnut (famous for his hot dog championship titles) will appear in a rib eating contest on Saturday, June 2 at 4 p.m. 

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Bobby Q's BBQ & Craft Beer Dinner Recap

BBQ has achieved cult status in America. Like any fervent belief, splinter factions have arisen. Most people think of the tomato-based variety found in Kansas City and the deep south as "BBQ sauce," but adherents to the Memphis dry-rub sect or acolytes of the vinegar or mustard based churches of North and South Carolina will defend their take on slow smoked spirituality with manic passion. These churches and their branch faiths march under myriad banners, but they can all sit together at the same table and play nice under any tent serving beer. "Harmonious variety" would be an apt descriptor for the latest CTBites Invites event on Jan 12 at Bobby Q's in Westport. 

Bobby Q's Barbeque & Grill is the creation of owner Bob LeRose, who partnered with Greg Zanella of Northeast Beverage Corp., one of the area's largest microbrew distributors to enhance four courses of beautifully prepared BBQ dishes and a final chocolate course with expertly paired craft brews.

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Texas BBQ franchise opens in Bridgeport via ctpost.com

This just in from ctpost.com.

The biggest barbecue fast food chain in the country is coming to Connecticut in the North End of Bridgeport. Dickey's Barbecue Pit will have its soft opening Sunday and its grand opening Dec. 8.

Cohen is a Dallas native, and often ate at Dickey's growing up. The first Dickey's Barbecue opened in Texas in 1941. The original location is still open for business, and Dickey's Barbecue is still owned and operated by the Dickey Family, according to the company website. The company began franchising in 1994.

Customers can expect to get their food in three minutes or less, Cohen said, but the meat is smoked for hours. The brisket, for example, is smoked for 14 hours before it hits a plate. "We have fall-off-the-bone ribs," Cohen said. "Most restaurants use a thermometer to test if the ribs are done. We test our ribs by picking them up and if they don't break in the middle, we know they're not ready to serve."

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