The journey to Dough & Co. Cafe & Bakeshop and Georgetown has been an adventurous one. After taking a brief break to welcome her son into the world, Christina heard that a Baking Company in Rowayton, CT was looking for a pastry chef. To date, her background had been focused specifically in savory, however she knew that with her passion and creativity, she could translate her skills to pastry and she said YES YES YES to the job! She tapped into the foundational courses she had taken, the internet, books, and Food Network shows to learn how to make pastries like french macaroons and fancy chocolates. The Baking Company in Rowayton started out as a baked goods and healthy salads eatery and eventually became Dough & Co. in 2008 with a rebranding in 2014.
Milestone Restaurant is redefining the idea of a neighborhood gathering spot offering made from scratch, simply prepared food with bold flavors and classic cocktails that are served up in a stylish yet understated setting. Drawing inspiration from the unique character of the area (the restaurant is on the site of a former lumber yard) owners Peter and Andi Fine aspire to do more than serve great food. The restaurant has been designed to be not only a welcoming gathering spot, but also to showcase fun and unique food events. (Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted!)
On certain mornings, the village of Georgetown smells as if it was baked inside a loaf of bread. That was my initial thought when attempting to track down local baker Rob VanKeuren. I had the address, but wasn’t certain where he was exactly. My “Where are you?” messages went unanswered, although not on purpose, the guy was wrapped up in baking. A cluster of mailboxes and my own lack of sleep the night before combined for confusion and I ended up in a driveway, still sniffing the air, and I was greeted by a tiger-striped cat, then a kid. I asked if he knew where I could find “the guy that bakes bread.” He brought my question to his mom and returned with, “Go to Lombardi’s. A right turn out of the driveway and immediately on your right.”
There are some ingredients in this world that, when you add them to anything, they pretty much make it spectacular. Bacon, for example. It would probably make a sneaker taste good. “Air” is another ingredient. Air-a bizarre ingredient on an episode of Chopped? No. Air, as in fresh air. Eating outside. Have you noticed that when you eat a lobster roll outside on a deck overlooking the ocean, it makes you happy? Or eat a grilled burger at a picnic table on a warm summer evening? Or sip a frothy cappuccino at a sidewalk cafe? What is the common ingredient here? Fresh air. Good food combined with a hefty dose of the outdoors.
And lucky for you, we’ve put together a long list of our favorite eateries (40+) that have lovely outdoor dining spaces.
If we missed an outdoor venue you frequent, please share your find below.
As food writers, photographers, and chefs, we have the pleasure of eating a lot of really great food. Fairfield County has experienced something of a restaurant explosion over the past year, as new chefs move in and move on, and menus expand. We've endeavored to expand our coverage beyond those borders, seeking to cover more of the state and sharing those experiences that are worth seeking out. Instead of coming up with a top ten list ourselves, we asked the CTbites extended family to share some of their most memorable meals and dining experiences this past year.
"My Signature Dish" is a new CTbites column featuring a rotating cast of chefs, and the dishes that define their cooking style, or simply make them happy to fire up the stove.
Jodi Bernhard hardly hesitated when choosing her signature dish at Fortina, Christian Petroni’s "casually hip" Italian restaurant in Armonk. Her eyes gleaming, she said, "It's our Pork Braciole." Braciole, hip?
If you grew up Italian, you probably hold memories of Braciole near and dear. This classic rolled, stuffed meat roast, usually serves as centerpiece for those sprawling homemade Italian dinners that lazily linger across Sunday afternoons into evening. Braciole invokes home. And family. Instant Nostalgia.
Ok, so how does a chef modernize a memory? Autograph a treasured family photo?
“That is the gist of our approach at Fortina,” Jodi explained. “ We try to not stray too far from ‘mom's’ version, but still make it a restaurant dish with our stamp on it. We are true to simplicity and flavor.”
The notion of putting “Mom’s dish” on Fortina’s playful, hip menu was Christian’s, one of the restaurant’s owners. (Patroni and and Jodi once cooked together at Barcelona in nearby Greenwich.) Though she and Christian work as collaborators, the task of “restaurantizing” this homey meal was largely up to Bernhard.
Cooking with wood fire has a preternatural, almost primal appeal. You could argue that as cavemen, it was our first foray into comfort food. The intense heat and smoke has the power to transform otherwise unassuming ingredients. The six-month old Fortina in Armonk, begins with this deceptively simple ethos–Italian food, cooked simply, in wood fired ovens–and elevates it with a thoughtful culinary execution and a familiar, if familial, disarming vibe.
“There is a complexity to the simplicity,” said Rob Krauss, one of Fortina’s three partners along with John Nealon and Christian Petroni, nailing what makes the restaurant’s cuisine tick. I’m fairly certain Krauss is also referring to the restaurant’s team, an extended family of sorts that works equally hard at the food as they do cultivating the culture at Fortina
More than the sum of its wood-fired parts, Fortina relies on the culinary prowess and Italian heritage of partner and Executive Chef Christian Petroni, formerly of Barcelona Greenwich, as both muse and ringleader. “My background is Italian, I grew up spending summers in Ponza. One of my favorite restaurants is Peasant. As a young cook, Frank de Carlo was an inspiration as a chef. I was intrigued by cooking in wood ovens. There is something about it that is so gratifying. It’s a beautiful thing.” Along with chef de cuisine Jodi Bernhard, formerly of Barcelona, the kitchen has the creative chops responsible for its daily printed menu.
Fairfield county residents will be soon crossing the border (passports not required)-- into Upper Westchester County's suburb of Armonk, after this week's opening of Fortina. Chef Christian Petroni, recently Executive Chef of Greenwich's Barcelona Restaurant, is joined by John Nealon, ex-GM of the same provenance and Nealon's childhood friend, Rob Krauss as business partners. Both Nealon and Krauss originally hail from Westport. Petroni, a local himself, is also co-owner of Cooked & Co., in Scarsdale.
Recalling the many memorable meals he had eaten during his time spent in Italy, Petroni's vision was to bring Italy's simple authentic flavors, cooking methods and presentation to the dishes he serves at Fortina. This vision is executed with the help of 2 wood burning ovens imported straight from Naples, Italy which serve as a focal point in the main dining room. In fact with the exception of just a few menu items, everything is cooked in these fiery hearths...even a pasta dish or two! (And you should hear Petroni when he speaks of his ovens...like a proud new Papa )
