Phase Two: The Haven Opens Rooftop Restaurant + Bar in Norwalk Features Interview Restaurant Seasonal Rooftop Rooftop Bars Norwalk The Haven Norwalk Cocktails Seafood Opening Interview Andrew Dominick July 07, 2026 In February, we brought you a piece highlighting The Haven and all its different components; the event space, the speakeasy, and two others that were on the way in a wellness forward cafe and the rooftop. Well, folks, the latter is here, and if you missed the rooftop that was formerly part of Evarito’s, it’s back, and it’s totally reimagined. Co-owner Christian Burns, who, as you know was behind Evarito’s and The Pompano in the same space as The Haven, and his partners, Joe and Aldo Criscuolo, saw a new vision for the roof that got launched just in time the summer season and beyond. Read More
A Scoop Worth the Drive: Grassroots Ice Cream in New Milford Ice Cream Restaurant New Milford Litchfield County Ice Cream Dessert Kid Friendly Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger June 25, 2026 Every Connecticut ice cream lover knows we're spoiled. From Ferris Acres and Rich Farm to Arethusa and Walnut Beach, our little state is packed with destinations worth the drive. Tucked away in the bucolic hills of New Milford is another scoop-shop that deserves a visit. It may fly a bit under the radar, but Grassroots Ice Cream has built a loyal following by serving handcrafted scoops in both familiar favorites and wonderfully off-the-beaten-path flavors. Read More
Luca's Beach Kitchen Opens at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk Interview Restaurant Seasonal Norwalk Calf Pasture Beach Luca's Beach Kitchen Beach Eats Beach Cocktails Interview Opening Andrew Dominick June 15, 2026 If you’ve been to Calf Pasture Beach anytime since the end of May, the bright colored, beachy food trailers near the concession pavilion very likely caught your eye and captured your attention. Aiming to make some changes to Norwalk’s beach with Luca’s Beach Kitchen is Anthony Luciani, his wife, Rosa, and their partner, Cory Burns. Luciani, as locals know, is a Norwalk native who owns the popular Mr. Frosty’s Ice Cream Shop nearby and a food truck, Seaside Sliders. As for Burns, he used to work for Luciani as Mr. Frosty’s first ever ice cream truck driver. Long story short, they stayed friends for over 20 years, Burns wanted to leave his career in finance behind and team up with his buddy on a cool concept. Read More
Getting the Scoop: Behind the Scenes at Gioia's Gelateria Ice Cream Ingredients Interview New Haven Restaurant Gelato Ice Cream New Haven Gioia Interview Dessert Andrew Dominick January 20, 2026 Just past the original locations of Sally’s and Pepe’s on New Haven’s legendary Wooster Street is Gioia. Opened by restaurateurs and longtime industry guys Avi Szapiro and Tim Cabral in 2023, Gioia is a fascinating concept. It’s not only a restaurant, it’s got a gourmet market, a rooftop that switches its theme seasonally, and a walk-up window where you can snag square pizza slices and gelato. That last part is what this is about. And when we’re talking about great ice cream in Connecticut, Gioia would like to enter the conversation. Read More
140+ CT Restaurants, Caterers & Farms for Thanksgiving (2025 Edition) Ingredients Features Events Restaurant Seasonal Thanksgiving Dining Guide Guide Thanksgiving Guide Homepage Carly Terzigni November 10, 2025 As the holiday season approaches, there are restaurants and catering companies ready to make this Thanksgiving memorable. While there are plenty of businesses open for seating on Thanksgiving, there are even more offering holiday catering with all of the classic fixings to take the work out of your Thanksgiving Day hosting. To help you find the restaurant nearest you to order from or dine at on Thanksgiving, we’ve organized the guide by county. At the end, you’ll find a list of local businesses including farms, markets, and butcher shops where you can purchase turkey to prepare at home. We also noted which businesses specialize in vegan options. Happy Thanksgiving! Read More
Elena's On Orange: Outrageously Good Ice Cream & Test Kitchen in New Haven Ice Cream Restaurant New Haven Ice Cream Callie Weyers August 21, 2025 From cookie butter to mango chai, Elena’s has tried it all when it comes to soft serve. Sitting on the corner of Orange and Canner, Elena’s on Orange has been serving the New Haven community since November of 2022. Although, many may argue it feels like it's been around for much longer, because of how seamlessly it blends into its surrounding neighborhood. They’re recognized for their innovative test kitchen that locals flock to every Wednesday evening where they come out with a new weekly flavor. Their test kitchen is run by Geena Fram who is responsible for creating weekly flavors and sourcing fresh ingredients. The idea for the test kitchen comes from Elena’s having an extra machine available and Geena desiring more freedom to think up her own ice cream creations. “Sometimes there are flavors that are a little too labor intensive or too special to do for the whole week right off the bat” says Fram. Read More
Ridgefield Couple Opens Flobee's Featuring Southern Roadside Eats Features Ingredients Ice Cream Interview Restaurant Roadside Eats Southern Food Fast Casual Ice Cream Ridgefield Homepage Interview Burgers Andrew Dominick June 25, 2025 Nadia Blair has fond memories of being a passenger in her parent’s car driving from Katonah through the charming town of Ridgefield to go visit her grandparents in New Haven. She’d constantly bother her mom with “Why can’t we live there?” questions to be told that the reason is because it’s “too far away from the highway.” Spring ahead decades later and Nadia, along with her chef husband Aaron, don’t only live in Ridgefield, but they’ve opened a restaurant where southern eats meet roadside New England charm, named after Aaron’s mother, Florence. Read More
Honeycone Craft Ice Cream: Locally Sourced, Ingredient Driven Ice Cream in Chester, CT Ice Cream Restaurant Ice Cream Chester Dessert Kid Friendly Callie Weyers June 10, 2025 Within the heart of quintessential downtown Chester resides Honeycone Craft Ice Cream. Ran by mother and daughter duo, Tula McDougal and Christina Barabe who are taking fresh and local very seriously when it comes to their ice cream. Honeycone opened in October of 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic, giving the Chester community “A safe place where you could pop in and pop out, get something that would kind of make your day brighter” says BarabeBy being present in these tough times Honeycone was able to entrench themselves in the local community. Not only is Honeycone known for their delicious classic flavours such as pistachio, but they create innovative seasonal flavours such as this month’s rosemary with apricot and honey and their bestseller in July, sweet basil with blackberry swirl. Honeycone sources their ingredients for fruit and vegetable based flavors from local farms such as Deep Hollow Farm, Scott’s Farms, and Whitegate Farm. These collaborations allow them to help support other local businesses while guaranteeing the freshness and quality of their products. Don’t worry if dairy isn’t your thing, Honeycone also offers vegan sorbet options that rotate seasonally such as their tomato sorbet in midsummer. Read More
Microcreamery of CT: Highlighting The Best of Connecticut's Ice Cream Ice Cream Restaurant Milford Cheshire Woodbridge Ice Cream Dessert Kid Friendly Opening Callie Weyers May 27, 2025 Microcreamery of CT… Wait a minute, that's new. Did I get that right?Yes, you heard that right. Microcreamery of CT has been serving the New Haven county community since 2022. Just recently, they opened the doors of a new location across from the Shell on South Main Street nestled right in downtown Cheshire. The Microcreamery model arose from the owner Shahan Kukreja adapting the concept of a microbrewery, “Instead of doing local beers, why don’t we do all the local ice cream so that I can kind of give people a tour of local ice creams” Kukreja says. Featuring nearly 90 hand selected flavors compiled from local Connecticut companies such as Praline’s, Arethusa, and Big Dipper, Microcreamery of CT has options for everyone. Read More
2024 Connecticut Rooftop Bar Guide: 20+ Spots for Sips, Snacks, + Scenery Features Seasonal Homepage Rooftop Cocktails Rooftop Bars Guide Highlight Carly Terzigni August 16, 2024 Connecticut is no stranger to fantastic bars, but what if your beverage was paired with a spectacular rooftop view? There are several great rooftop bars around the state, each offering something unique. Read More
2024 Connecticut Lobster Roll Guide: 80+ Seafood Shacks, Roadside Stands + Restaurants for Meaty, Buttery Lobster Rolls Features Restaurant Road Trip Seasonal Guide Homepage Lobster Lobster Roll Seafood Serena Norr August 06, 2024
Tree House Brewing Co. Bought a Farm in Woodstock: Go...Drink Some Cider Features Brewery Ingredients Road Trip Seasonal Craft Beer Beer Cider Cidery Woodstock Tree House Brewing Company Homepage Andrew Dominick June 21, 2024 Ahh! Remember the good old days when standing in long lines at breweries was something people actually did?Me too. And thinking back on it now, and despite making snobby craft beer small talk, that legitimately sucked. What were we thinking? I’ve even heard tales about people sleeping on the street overnight just to get stouts at Other Half. Perhaps the undisputed king of waiting in a beer line took place in the first half of the 2010s when Tree House Brewing Company moved to Monson, Massachusetts in 2013 and you hoped with all you had in your soul that you could get a growler fill or even a couple cans of Julius, Haze, or Green. IYKYK.Hell, let’s take it even further to the days of making your non-beer drinking friend, mother, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, and possibly someone you didn’t even really like that much to go up with you, stand in line behind you, and you could potentially double your allotted Tree House haul. Read More
The Cottage Westport Launches Farmers Market Prix Fixe Menu Ingredients Interview Restaurant Seasonal Ingredients Farmers Market The Cottage Westport Westport Interview Homepage Andrew Dominick June 14, 2024 Just over two months from this very publication date, The Cottage Westport welcomed back chef de cuisine, Christian Wilki, after his stints at Villa Mulino in Avon and Swyft and Ore Hill in Kent. Having worked with chef and owner Brian Lewis for five years previously, Wilki is happy to return to further cultivate and create culinary magic at The Cottage. ingredients from the Westport Farmers Market.“We did this a while back, but one day, me, Brian, and Ralph ( León)were sitting down after service sharing a bottle of water—I know, so exciting—and we sat here talking and I said that I wanted to do a farmers market menu again like we did years ago,” Wilki says. “Brian was like, ‘absolutely, let’s do it.’” Read More
Scoop This: OGGI Gelato Opens First Shop in the U.S. in Norwalk Features Ice Cream Ingredients Interview Gelato ice cream Ingredients Norwalk Interview Italian Andrew Dominick June 03, 2024 Udine, Trieste, Pordenone, Rome, Barcelona, Santiago, Athens, and…Norwalk, Connecticut? So, you usually don’t see six European cities and one South American city mentioned in the same breath as Norwalk, but when it comes to gelato and master gelato maker, Carmelo Chiaramida, this is perhaps the one time it applies. What Chiaramida is doing in Norwalk, opening his first OGGI Gelato shop in America, is simply every local ice cream lover’s good fortune.Call it a coincidence through connection, actually. And it’s best spelled out by Maurizio Ricci, who along with his brother, Graziano, are the founders of Romanacci and Norwalk’s Osteria Romana. Read More
Chef Zac Young's Sprinkletown Donuts & Ice Cream is NOW OPEN at Foxwoods Casino Ice Cream Restaurant Donuts Ice Cream Foxwoods Opening CTbites Team April 16, 2024 Sprinkletown Donuts & Ice Cream at Foxwoods Resort Casino, from Chef Zac Young, is NOW OPEN!. His newest addition to the Sprinkletown family focuses on customizable donuts and signature ice cream sundaes with a “choose your own adventure” menu and specialty creations. The bright and whimsical design reflects the menu, decked out with sprinkle light fixtures on the ceiling and a display for guests to watch the donuts being made to order. Read More
CT Cider Guide: 15+ Connecticut Cideries, Farms, and Taprooms Features Seasonal Ciderhouse Cidery Cider Apple Cider Farms Guide Homepage Highlight Hannah Goodman February 13, 2024 Are you looking to branch out of your basic beer and wine slump? Bet ya didn’t know there were cider houses all over Connecticut looking to prove that hard cider (and non-alcoholic cider) can be just as refreshing, if not more, than beer, wine, and hard seltzers. Don’t know where to start your cider-tasting journey? We got you covered! Read More
2024 Mardis Gras Guide: 15 Connecticut Restaurants Where You Can Let The Good Times Roll Events Restaurant Seasonal Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday Guide New Orleans Carly Terzigni February 06, 2024 You don’t have to be in New Orleans to celebrate big on Mardi Gras! Connecticut restaurants are preparing everything from limited-time menu specials to all-out festivities to mark the occasion, so why not head out and take part? Read More
40+ Places For Great Holiday Pies in Connecticut (2023 Edition) Features Ingredients Restaurant Seasonal Holiday Thanksgiving Catering Pies Pie Pie Guide Dessert Homepage April Guilbault November 15, 2023 In various rankings online, stuffing generally comes in first place on the Top 10 list of Thanksgiving foods. I personally cannot argue with that for one hot second. Desserts such as pumpkin or chocolate pie have hovered around 5th or 6th place, respectively, wistfully lagging behind mac and cheese and mashed potatoes but ahead of the love-it-or-hate it green bean casserole. Read More
Sweet Ashley’s Ice Cream in Norwalk Gets New Owners & Reboot Ice Cream Restaurant Norwalk Ice Cream Opening Dessert Kid Friendly Ella Alpert July 25, 2023 Sweet Ashley’s, the adored Norwalk ice cream spot, which has been around for 30 years has reopened this spring in time for a delicious summer! Frank Lanzo (Former owner of Nordic Fish in Fairfield) and his wife Judie, longtime Norwalk residents, decided to take over the business. As ice cream lovers with culinary experience, it seemed like a no brainer. “I’ve got a culinary background, I cooked my whole life, I went to culinary school in the eighties… now I heard this was for sale and what a great thing to keep going,” Frank Lanzo said. “I’ve been in Norwalk now for twenty two years, I live very close, who doesn’t love ice cream? Read More
Dock & Dine! Boat On Up to 30 Waterfront Restaurants, Seafood Shacks, and More Features Restaurant Seasonal Waterfront Water View Restaurants Seafood Summer Dining Summer Homepage Guide Highlight April Guilbault July 16, 2023 Waterfront. Dockside. Don’t those words just bring a smile to your face? Whether you are traveling by boat to go for a summer Sunday lunch or just wanting to enjoy your dinner with a beautiful view of the water, these restaurants will fit the bill for your summer enjoyment. And how is it exactly that everything tastes better when you are near the water? Read More
