When the popular Venezuelan-meets-Mexican mashup, Mil Sabores, vacated their original brick-and-mortar at 2043 Fairfield Avenue and went onto opening a bigger restaurant further down the street, they left their digs to another tenant, even if it is for a limited run. Lao Cocina, a Laotian and Puerto Rican fusion spot, that’s mostly takeout, is filling out the rest of that lease. Created by the husband-and-wife team of April Khanthaphixay, her husband, Daniel Colon, and Daniel’s uncle Sergio, they’re mixing their respective cultures for a new kind of concept.
Chances are you’ve seen Japanese souffle pancakes on Instagram or TikTok – tall, thick and fluffy confections that jiggle at the slightest movement, topped with maple syrup, powdered sugar and berries. These have been hard to find in Connecticut, but they’re on the menu at a Simsbury Asian-fusion cafe that opened earlier this year.
Blossom Cafe owners Amanda Liu and Albert Zhang traveled through Asia last summer and fell in love with the cafe cultures in the countries they visited, coming back home to Connecticut inspired by what they’d seen.
Bridgeport’s not-for-profit Green Village Initiative was founded in Westport in 2011. Several years later the decision was made to move GVI’s base of operations and programs to focus on the residents of Bridgeport, CT and has since incorporated values of racial equity, antiracismand food justice into its goals. The GVI runs three programs which consist of community gardens, youth leadership programs and The Reservoir Community Farm, a 1.7 acre educational farm in the heart of Bridgeport with over 47 plots for community gardeners to grow food for their families.
We had the opportunity to meet Eileen O’Reilly, who serves as a volunteer Board of Director as Chair of the Board. The former New Yorker and Vogue Magazine editor, told us all about the Green Village Initiative as we toured the farm on a warm day in late September. We wandered through rows of fruit, vegetables and flowers all being tended to by community members, as well as rows of wilder plants and greens with butterflies fluttering over the brightly colored flora and bees busily pollinating, their legs covered in brightly colored yellow dust.
Nestled in the hills of Litchfield County’s charming New Milford’s Bank Street is Sparrow Bar and Restaurant. John Bourdeau who’s been a fixture in the restaurant scene since opening Lucia Ristorante right next door, Main Street Grill in Watertown, and The Owl Wine & Food bar in nearby New Preston, has teamed up with Chef Mike Sorenson, formerly at the acclaimed Foundry Restaurant in Newtown. Here Bourdeau hangs up his chef’s hat and leaves the menu entirely up to Sorenseon who has created an eclectic, global selection with influences from South America to Asia. You won’t find specials on the menu as it tends to get changed up every few days.
Bourdeau who once owned a successful high end cabinetry business in New York City was greatly influenced by the food scene there and those exposures have parlayed into his, thus far, successful restaurant career. Sparrow, which has been open since mid-December, is already showing signs of success. “The response has been so overwhelming,” he told us. “People come in to check us out and then return with friends.” He’s modest with receiving compliments and credits his team, some of which have been with him for 15 years, since his Lucia days. “The restaurant isn’t mine, it’s ours,” he explains.
Foolproof Brewing Company is excited to announce the grand opening of their second location in Bridgeport, CT with a brand new brewery, taproom, and kitchen located at 800 Union Avenue.
Trattoria A’Vucchella is the epitome of a hidden gem. Open for a tick over a decade, directly across the street from The Bijou Theater in Downtown Bridgeport, it might be one of the city’s best kept secrets if you’re not a local, and if you didn’t somehow discover it naturally.
“It’s a tough location, but we have a loyal following,” says co-owner Pasquale De Martino. “They all found us organically, and once they find us, they come back and from all over. I love the community here.”
Martino—who opened the restaurant back in 2014 with Jennifer Galletti and Thomas Bepko—was formerly the owner of a limoncello factory for 10 years in his birthplace of Sorrento, Italy before selling it and eventually getting into the villa renting business in Italy with Galletti.
Just feet away from the Sacred Heart Discovery Science Center and Sacred Heart campus itself sits a row of food trucks and a wide shoulder where hungry eaters can park. Among the lineup, one small, silver truck takes its place there year-round, whether in cold, snow, heat or rain. Happily, I ventured to go see about Khemi’s Vegan Cuisine food truck.
CTbites is excited to be the Media Sponsor for an incredible dining event going down on June 22nd, DINNER ON MARKLE, “Cultivating Seeds of Community.”BUY TICKETS HERE
29 Markle Court, awarded “Best New Restaurant” at the 2023 “Crazies Awards” is taking the “Outstanding In The Field” concept and bringing that long communal table dining experience to the streets of downtown Bridgeport. This is going to be an unforgettable event you will not want to miss.
The community dinner, "Dinner on Markle," will be held Saturday June 22nd, 3-8PM and the experience will span the entirely of Markle Ct in front of the restaurant. Chef Damon Daye and Wesley Arbuthnot have created an evening filled with local artists, creative drinks, live music and a four-course dinner al fresco that will focus on the bounty the season has to offer from our local CT farms.
The evening will be set under the stars, surrounded by an exhibit of incredible community art brought to you by Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County.
“Cultivating Seeds of Community” will elevate local creativity, community, and art. A portion of the proceeds will benefit “The Green Village Initiative” and “The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County.”
The quiche Lorraine was fluffy, flaky, and mile-high, served with a crunchy wedge salad on the side. Crab Cakes Benedict glistened alongside seasoned home fries, while tender slices of smoked salmon with cream cheese and capers on a bagel made the New York transplants at our table nod with approval. Mimosas and Bloody Marys appeared and disappeared, as did the occasional espresso martini; our server was on-the-spot and full of wit.
Were we at a boutique hotel, a swanky resort, or a storied antique tavern? No: our delightful Sunday brunch, which easily stretched out into a two-hour party, was at 168 York Street, a laid-back gay bar on the lower level of a brownstone in downtown New Haven. The 30-seat dining room is simple and somewhat bare-bones, and the prices are equally modest: all the entrees on the brunch menu are just $12. Jumbo omelettes with veggies and meats of your choice? $12. French toast, Birds in a Nest (just like Mom used to make), even steak and eggs? Each dish only $12. Miraculous but true, and all prepared by Eddie Swanson, who has been the man behind the pan at 168 York Street for 27 years. Eddie has always managed to create big flavors in a tiny kitchen – seriously, it measures 10 by 16 feet -- with generous portions and appealing plating (orange slices are always a plus).
The CTBites team paid a visit to Gioia right before it opened last fall— you can read about it here. This past weekend, CTBites returned to check out the newly launched brunch menu where you’ll be sure to find everything your brunch-craving heart desires. In typical fashion, we browsed the menu with discerning eyes, deciding which items seemed particularly delicious as well as photo-worthy. While doing so we nibbled on some Weekend Pastries – a selection of 3 different baked treats served with honey butter and a fruit preserve. Included was a flaky cherry turnover loaded with fruit and a cornmeal scone. This was not your run of the mill scone; this one was particularly light. The cornmeal added a lovely texture and a touch of sweetness which paired beautifully with the honey butter. These were joined by an old-fashioned glazed cake doughnut, reminiscent of eras past — the kind you want to dip into your cappuccino and savor slowly.
If last year’s article on Taco Guy was the first “movie,” Super Taqueria Las Salsas is the sequel that’s actually a prequel. I’ll explain.
Taco Guy’s owner, Adrian Hurtado—who for this I’m going to use his middle name, Christtian, because that’s what he goes by if you know him—introduced a group of us to his father, Gil Salvador Perez Hurtado, back in March of 2023 at his dad’s restaurant, Super Taqueria Las Salsas. Christtian, you see, wanted us to know where he came from, where he learned his hard-working ethic from, and to introduce us to carnitas, something that has been in the Hurtado Family since 1931 in the Mexican state of Michoacán, where their family is from, and is also the birthplace of carnitas.
“My grandfather, Salvador, started it, but in the restaurant industry, I’m second generation,” Christtian says.
Go up or down Bridgeport’s North Avenue roughly a mile or so before or after the Fairfield town line and you’ll notice a neon blue awning with an emoji-like sandwich logo paired with the words “The Torta Shop” printed on it.
What’s not new, however, are the owners. Mariella Garcia and her husband Jose Santiago previously owned the bodega since 2017. Around a year and a half ago, the couple decided to flip the concept into something different.
“We’re originally from Oaxaca, then we came to Norwalk, and my husband and I moved to Bridgeport in 2016,” Garcia says. “In 2017 we got the grocery store and thought about switching it up over the years and wanted to make a bigger change. We wanted to bring this to Bridgeport. And there are a lot of Mexican restaurants here, but we wanted to focus on tortas, Mexican sandwiches. Other places do it, but we want to be known as a tortarilla.”
Little Riggs sits on the edge of the Stuart, McKinney National Wildlife refuge on the Long Island Sound. Riggs opened 6 months ago from Chef John Kronfeld, who operated the very successful breakfast truck, The Chef Truck, until he opened Little Riggs, transitioning his uniquely delicious breakfast menu into a sit down experience. To call this place a hidden gem isn’t wrong, but this clichéd term is a tad overused these days… It’s like a half buried treasure. Among the locals it isn’t buried at all, and they have taken it by storm.
This little outpost that seats just 30 in the wintertime, is slightly larger than a hole in the wall and certainly significantly more elevated. It’s the type of place you want to go to for a leisurely comforting breakfast on a Sunday morning, but it’s not just a breakfast joint, offering significantly more than just morning fare, and lucky for those of us who do love breakfast food, we can now enjoy it beyond traditional breakfast hours. Kronfeld will be launching dinner service this week, and we will be the first in line.
After he gave the closed-to-the-public dining room a warm welcome on a summer Saturday in August, Damon Sawyer told diners that they were about to experience something rare.
“To my knowledge, this has never been done in Bridgeport before.”
Less than a year ago, we introduced readers to Stamford branch of The Taco Project, a fast casual Mexican restaurant whose roots began in Tarrytown in 2014.
Since April of 2022, The Taco Project and its brand grew even more outside of its existing Westchester locations (Tarrytown, Yonkers, Pleasantville, Bronxville) and its High Ridge Road spot in Stamford, as they’ve set their sights on the Florida market and opened up shop in Coral Springs.
Edwin Mondragon, who co-owns the popular Mexican – Venezuelan mashup Mil Sabores in Bridgeport, credits his mother’s mole as his first taste of the food service industry. He recalls memories of packing mom’s mole in plastic pint containers, filling up his backpack, and selling it, as a family, to customers and stores who sought out the homemade Mexican sauce.
Some of you may be lucky enough to live near the popular Middle Eastern Pistachio Cafe in the Westville neighborhood of New Haven, but diners in downtown New Haven can finally experience the immense pleasure of settling into one of Pistachio’s signature Turkish Coffees or Pistachio Lattes. Last week, Pistachio Cafe opened a 2nd location at 1245 Chapel Street. Syrian artist, architect and owner, Mohamad Hafez, opened the original Pistachio location in 2020 with the goal of “giving guests the experience of hosting them in my domicile without taking them back to Syria.” In fact, the beautifully ornate and sumptuous interior has layer upon layer of detailing and decor straight from his childhood. . Every inch of this cafe is designed with objects of interest, and the stunning surroundings match the character of this Middle Eastern fan favorite.
“Mixing records is very similar to balancing tastes if you can imagine that. The lows of a record are like beets to me. That funk, the color of it. It’s a deep sound. You add shallots, it’s like a string session. That was a major component into my transition to being a chef. I knew what balancing sound was. Same thing as ingredients.”
A quote like that one could only come from a former musician, turned chef.
Park City Music Hall opened in 2020 in the Black Rock neighborhood of Bridgeport, after an extensive and beautifully executed renovation of what was once The Acoustic. The new team, the Torres family, also own neighborhood favorite, HarborView Market, situated just around the corner from the venue, where guests are often treated to live music, while enjoying a great casual seasonal breakfast and lunch menu. And let’s not forget their iconic chocolate chip cookies that always make the “best of” lists. The bottom line is, after 30 years in the business, the Torres folks know a thing or two about cooking and hospitality.
When they were offered the opportunity to reinvent and expand the beloved local music hangout, The Acoustic, they jumped in with what seemed like every hand in Black Rock. They created a spot that both increased the audience size and draw for the venue, but also amped up the experience with a new premium craft cocktail program and elevated bar menu, served Thursday through Sunday. Not only has Park City Music Hall become a spot to hear great local and national bands, but they are meeting the needs of hungry bar-goers, families, and food lovers, who come for dinner and their new…wait for it…BRUNCH!
The people demand tacos, and on October 15th at the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, they shall receive tacos. And also margaritas. Naturally.
The 2022 Connecticut Taco and Margarita Festival at The Amp is available to anyone with $15 and dream to eat tacos, drink margs, see live wrestling from Adrenaline, maybe get their face painted, have access to shop vendors, test their courage at the hot sauce expo, and possibly gain a championship of their own at the taco eating contest.
