Pumpkins have been slowly disappearing from all the stoops and porches in Connecticut, which means that some were lucky enough to be turned into golden carriages on Halloween while the rest – lucky for us – are being turned into pies, cheesecakes, and other sweet treats for the upcoming holidays. With Thanksgiving and various religious holidays approaching quickly, it is easy to stress about every little thing, including arguments with the in-laws, the one gift you didn’t get your child even though they swore it was on the wishlist (it wasn’t), and the “homemade” cranberry sauce you forgot on top of the car before you drove down 95 at an alarmingly fast rate because you were late to Thanksgiving dinner. Apparently dinner on holidays must start at 1pm (I don’t make the rules), which means we’re up at 4am eating breakfast and lunch is eaten on the drive to grandma’s house. Despite these apparently oh-so-necessary stresses, it all works out in the end. And frankly, it’s because of the good eats and even better desserts. This year, let’s eliminate the dessert-making anxieties that society forces upon us and get those pies, cakes, cookies, etc. from any of these wonderful, Connecticut-grown locations. They are arranged by county for your convenience because everyone could use a little extra ease this time of year.
Malby, a new bakery in New Haven is churning out superlative sourdough alongside croissants, cookies, and Latin American baked goods.
Owned by married couple Malby Rojas and Karla Tejada Arias, Malby opened in late May and is steadily expanding its offerings. “Every day, we add a little more bread, a little more pastry,” Rojas says. The neighborhood is already well-acquainted with Rojas’ bread, as she has been baking and delivering loaves from the basement of their home. Now, at her brick-and-mortar location, Rojas sells pastries, breads, and beverages inspired by the couple’s Latin heritage.
Covering the hospitality industry for as long as I have, it’s a given you’ll come across people who left a completely different career to pursue their passion in cooking or baking. Sandeep Gupta is one of those people. She left her job doing app design and once she moved from San Francisco to Stamford, she started her own donut business. “I told my husband (Mayank), who’s also a developer and does IT, that I love designing apps and logos and everything, but that I want to follow my passion as a baker,” Gupta says. “I actually liked my job! It was creative and I wasn’t just coding. I made buttons, themes, making apps look pretty. That was me.”
If you notice a bunch of people in Bridgeport’s Black Rock neighborhood entering a tiny storefront on Brewster Street, follow them, and the smell of fresh baked bread, inside. Welcome to Dos Hermanos Bakery & Cafe, owned by two brothers (hence the name), Giovanni and Nelson Castellon, who had a goal of opening a place of their own for a while to show the community an accurate representation of Guatemalan food.
’Tis the season of football, hayrides, haunted trails, apple picking, pumpkin cold brews—I could go on and on. But in honor of the first weekend of fall, let me set the scene: it’s a crisp 60-degree Sunday morning, you’re heading back from the farmers market with a slightly overstuffed bag of fall goodies, just to go rot on the couch and alternate between RedZone and Gilmore Girls. A New England fall is like no other and, in my opinion, one of the best times of year.
The farmers market in question is New Haven’s Edgewood Park Market, and the bag in question is filled with treats from Downright Breads—a micro bakery in the greater New Haven area where the wonderful baker Soli, alongside her family, serves up absolute heaven in bread form. We’re talking sourdough, cookies, challah, cinnamon rolls, English muffins—the list goes on. After a quick trip down Whalley Ave, I indulged in a full feast of Downright Breads’ offerings, and I’m here to report back on my five favorites.
There’s Mozart, Stevie Wonder, Picasso — legendary prodigies who started young and made their mark early. And while Liam Shemi may not be composing symphonies, what he’s doing in the kitchen deserves some attention. At just 22, the chef and owner of Crunch in Woodbridge, Connecticut, is already turning heads with homemade artisanal boreks that are as ambitious as they are delicious.
Boreks are his specialty. Turkish bourekas, or Turkish borek- these traditional Mediterranean pastries are made with homemade filo dough that ferments in-house for two days. Then it’s stretched by hand until it’s paper-thin and filled with all kinds of flavor. At Crunch, they’re available in savory, sweet, and everything in between. Spinach, jalapeno, cheese, Dubai chocolate… but we’ll get to that in a bit.
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.
Nothing beats the summer heat like ice cream! No matter what your favorite flavor is or whether you prefer your frozen treat in a cup or a cone, there are plenty of ice cream shops around Connecticut open for business this season. Ice cream has evolved quite a bit over the years, and you’ll find that many of the businesses listed in this guide offer something for everyone, including dairy-free options, gelato, sorbet, Italian ice, unique flavors, and, of course, the classics like vanilla and chocolate.
To help you easily navigate this guide, we’ve organized the ice cream shops by county. Simply find your local county to see which options are nearby!
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.
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 Barabe
By 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.
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.
Mrs. London's Cafe & Bakery has announced the sale of its Westport location to Maman, (@_mamannyc) the popular NYC based Provençal-inspired café, created by co-founders Elisa Marshall and Benjamin Sormonte. Maman will bring its fan-favorite salads, sandwiches, made-famous-by-Oprah Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookies to the Westport community.
Maman, known for its cafés, bakeries, and event spaces, features a menu that celebrates childhood favorites from the South of France and North America. This will be their second CT location, after their launch in Greenwich.
I love bagels. I love anything that has to do with bagels, whether it’s simply a toasted plain bagel with some butter or cream cheese (often I choose both – sue me), or a B.E.C. on a sesame bagel, or it’s an everything bagel stacked with the works, like scallion cream cheese, smoked salmon, onions, and capers, I am all in! If you are from the tri-state area, you know the importance of a solid bagel shop, as we take this stuff very seriously, because what the heck would we do without a hearty breakfast sandwich in the morning? As luck would have it, Ridgefield needed a new bagel shop to take the place of what had previously been Steve’s Bagels, and in November of 2023, the same location on Main Street became Ridgefield Bagels and Bakes.
One sunny day in Bethel, I was interviewing Sara Oberhammer at her spot, Soulber Kitchen & Market, over lunch, smoothies, and at least one caffeinated beverage. That’s when a smiling face burst through the door with a cookie delivery. Dani LeBlanc and I met ever so briefly, but right after she left, Sara said, “Have you had her cookies?”
Westport, get excited. The highly-anticipated opening of Fatto a Mano is happening this Wednesday, February 12. If you’re not familiar with Fatto a Mano already, we’re guessing the name rings a bell. The Italian bakery moved to Westport about two years ago and sells at the weekly Westport Farmers Market and directly out of their kitchen space located at 971 Post Road East (next to Pop Up Bagels).
The new storefront has been a long time coming for founder Pierluigi Mazzella, who originally started Fatto a Mano out of his home kitchen under the Connecticut cottage food operation license back in 2022. Since then, Mazzella has quickly made a name for himself and his artisanal bakery; Mazzella was named the 2022 Baker of the Year by the Connecticut Restaurant Association, his Panettone was featured on Martha Stewart’s Roku channel series, and Forbes even dubbed him the “Prince of Panettone.”
After much anticipation Lyfe Café finally opened its doors and to much fanfare. Offering both grab and go as well as sit down breakfast and lunch options, the newest café to grace Westport’s bustling restaurant scene is the latest collaboration of Gino Riccio and Dimitri Pantzos. The dynamic duo (who also happen to be uncle and nephew) have already seen smashing success with Pizza Lyfe (just up the street), a favorite among locals and non-locals alike. Riccio, a longtime veteran of the restaurant scene, is also the owner of Quattro Pazzi and Organika.
Dimitri and Gino have spent nearly a year perfecting recipes. Everything at the café is made from scratch, and when you get the opportunity to eat there yourself, you’ll notice the quality immediately. I daresay they have perfected the croissant, with its crisp and flaky exterior, and layers of soft buttery goodness beneath. You’ll have to decide if you’re a traditionalist or wanting to try one of their viral offerings like the Tiramisu or White Chocolate Pistachio which sell out quickly, and after sampling one, I can see why. The sandwich rolls are also made in-house as are the bagels, and as a born and bred New Yorker, they pass my test – and I am very particular.
In the middle of 2024 at my dear friend, Anne Grossman’s Rebel Daughter Day, I just about stopped in my tracks when I saw what was on one of the vendor’s tables. Boxes of beautiful, chocolatey brigedeiros, alfajores, and an array of different hand rolled truffles and baked goods that weren’t just from Latin American countries, but a mixture of confections we’re familiar with in the states, too. Silvia’s Kitchen, created by Silvia MacLean, is the face behind the brand, and she bakes out of Rebel Daughter Cookies’ commercial space where you can preorder for pickup or delivery, plus you can find her sweets at various stores and farmers markets in the general area.
At this new Cromwell bakery, guests are treated to flaky croissants, cinnamon rolls with thick, rich icing; giant chocolate chip cookies and sugar-dusted palmiers. But beyond the classic French and American treats, the offerings spotlight tastes of Asia: jewel-toned ube and pandan custard tarts, an egg sandwich with Spam, garlic and soy sauce; a Korean galbi sandwich with crispy tempura onion rings.
The menu at From Chan Bake Shop is autobiographical for owner Chan Graham, who was born in Laos, emigrated to Texas as a young girl and earned a culinary arts degree at Johnson & Wales University, where she was classically trained in French cooking. She’s traveled the world, with a particular love of Paris and its renowned pastries. Now she’s channeling her culinary curiosity into her new venture.
Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, the NYC born and nationally beloved brand known for its made-from-scratch dairy and vegan ice creams, will open a scoop shop in Westport on February 6. The launch marks a return to its roots for co-founders Ben and Pete Van Leeuwen who are Fairfield County natives and whose ice cream journey began here twenty years ago.
In celebration, Van Leeuwen Westport will offer $1 scoops on opening day (Feb. 6) from 3pm-5pm and free totes to the first 100 customers beginning at 3pm.
The scoop shop will also showcase a special limited-time offering created by Westport-based cookbook author and creator Julia Dzafic (@lemonstripes). The vegan sundae features scoops of strawberry shortcake ice cream and banana pudding ice cream, and is topped with sprinkles, hot fudge and a “party hat” AKA a sugar cone.
When I sat down with Tim Topi to talk about his bakery’s expansion, and second location, this time in the form of a sit-down café, I jokingly told him that Wave Hill Breads could very well be the most mentioned place in the history of this website. It may not actually be a joke, though. Countless restaurants swear by Wave Hill and prominently feature their sourdough or burger buns on their menu and others have a deal with Topi’s bakery for custom loaves or buns. Off the top of my head? Damon Sawyer’s 29 Markle Ct uses their brioche buns, Jeff Taibe of Taproot serves Wave Hill sourdough with either butter or pimento cheese and bacon jam, Josie & Tony’s has them custom bake semolina for their terrific sandwiches, and they bake milk buns for Cwispy Chkn’s tasty fried chicken sliders. I’m sure I’m leaving out dozens more, but you get the idea.
