Filtering by Tag: Winesday,CSA

Tips to Maximize Your CSA From Mike's Organic Delivery

Features Ingredients CSA Local Farm Ingredients How To Shop Local

Mike Geller

Having connected farmers to consumers for 10 years in Fairfield & Westchester Counties, Mike's Organic owner Mike Geller knows a thing or two about CSAs. And if there was ever a time to give a CSA a chance, it's now! First and foremost, our farmers need us. As many farms rely significantly on business from restaurants and other sources, a great way to support our farms right now is through signing up for a CSA.

This crisis has highlighted the importance of small, local farms. If planes stop flying or processing plants close, it is they that will feed us...let us never forget that. Second, it is a way to guarantee that fresh, healthy, local food will be on your table for a period of several months. There is so much uncertainty in the world and this is one way to regain some control over your food. Also, so many of us are home cooking and a CSA allows you to be creative and introduce new things to your family!

If you take care of your produce, it will take care of you. It's so fresh when you get it, and if you just give it a little love it will give a whole lot back.


Connecticut’s Brewery Legitimus & Barden Farm Partner Again for 2nd CSABC (Community Supported Agriculture, Beer & Cheese) Share

Features CSA Local Artisan Local Farm CT Beer Cheese Farm to Table

CTbites Team

Brewery Legitimus, the 7 barrel craft brewery co-founded by husband and wife team Chris and Christina Sayer, is partnering once again with Barden Farm (New Hartford, CT), to bring a Community Supported Agriculture, Beer & Cheese (CSABC) Share to the community.  Back for a second year in a row, the 10-week “Farm, Beer and Cheese Share” begins July 11th and will run until September 12th. 

The first in the area, the CSABC share brings together locally grown produce from Barden Farm, locally crafted beer by Brewery Legitimus, and locally made cheese from several different farms in CT.

A CSABC share membership is $485 for the 10 Weeks and includes Craft Beer from Brewery Legitimus, Cheese and of course a Farm Share from Barden Farm. It works just like a CSA. Here’s what’s included:


Taproot & Redding Roadhouse Owners Take Over The Holbrook Farm Business

Features CT Farms Farm Fresh Local Farm CSA Bethel Farm Stand

Maddie Phelps

More than 40 years ago, John and Lynn Holbrook purchased 12 acres of land in Bethel, Connecticut to open their very own family farm. With a mere 2 acres available for farming, the Holbrooks were tasked with maximizing space while remaining environmentally friendly. The rest is history.

While the Holbrooks still own the spectacular farmland, as of this past March, four new faces have joined the farming family. Jeff Taibe, Stephanie Sweeney, and Sean and Erin Reilly decided to tackle the business side of things when the previous tenant opted not to renew her lease. With Taibe and Sweeney owning their restaurant, Taproot, and the Reilly’s owning the Redding Roadhouse, the four decided to merge the Bethel and Redding communities with Holbrook Farm as their link.


Miya's Sushi Announces CSA/Fishery Limited to 12 Memberships

Ingredients Features CSA Fish New Haven

Amy Kundrat

Photos: Andrew Sullivan

Miya's Sushi in New Haven, led by Chef Bun Lai, is launching a first-of-it's-kind CSA/Fishery set to launch this August. Membership includes a monthly delivery of 6-8 servings of seafood for 5 months at a cost of $800, with delivery included (free to New Haven area, additional costs may apply to regions beyond). Here is the announcement and details from Bun Lai:

Miya’s Sushi is thrilled to announce the first installment of the member-driven Allies in Sustainable Food. This first season will be limited to a dozen memberships, beginning in August and ending in December of 2015.

By being a member of Allies in Sustainable Food, you are supporting the experimentation and research of a small, local, innovative restaurant. Due to high food and labor costs, Miya’s operates on a thin margin, so your financial support will go directly into the development of our most groundbreaking off-the-menu approaches to sustainable eating.


Wine Highlights from The Greenwich Wine + Food Festival

Wine Chat Winesday

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

How much can change in a year! Last year, I attended the Greenwich Wine & Food Festival as a CTBites contest winner.  I was just a typical reader who had entered the website’s Facebook contest in the hopes of getting a ticket to the coveted annual event. 

Now, just a year later, I was standing under the CTBites tent, which was prominently stationed right at the entrance to the festival.  After attending Greenwich Wine & Food last fall, I went on to write for the website and ultimately become their wine correspondent.  And at that moment I was preparing to interview some food and wine heavyweights including Gretchen Thomas of Barcelona and Laurie Forster, “The Wine Coach.”

2013 marks the third year for the Greenwich Wine & Food Festival.  Serendipity sponsors the event and a portion of the proceeds go toward Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. 


Winesday: The Color Pink...Rose to Watch

Ingredients Cocktails Wine Chat Winesday

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

I love the color pink.  Just over a month ago, I bounded into the Kuwaiti restaurant with the tips of my hair dyed a vibrant hue of “funky flamingo,” the result of a renegade mission with a friend earlier that morning.  Yet when it comes to wine, I frequently find myself forsaking my favorite color.  I tend to prefer a rich red to a rose- even in the summer months.

Recently, though, roses that satisfy my taste for reds have garnered attention.  Shelves are slowly filling with roses made from robust, red varietals.  They manage to incorporate the robust notes while keeping the light nature of the rose.  They prove perfect for summer cuisine.  People can still enjoy a cold drink and the more delicate body will not overwhelm poultry or fish straight off the grill.  At the same time, the subtle smoke and black fruit from the red grapes can hold up to spicy dishes, red meats, or even a burger.

One of the most exciting bottles in this genre goes by the name of “Nigl.”  It heralds from Austria and is comprised of 100% Zweigelt, a red grape indigenous to the country. 


Winesday: Elm Restaurant Rhone Wine Dinner

Wine Chat Wine Tasting Winesday

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

“Are you here for the wine dinner?” asked a smiling gentleman as I entered Elm Restaurant in New Canaan, shaking snow flurries from my coat.  Before I knew it, he was whisking us away behind the bar, past a few tables, and into a smaller dining room tucked away in the back.  The area felt cozy and intimate.  Four glossy walls framed the small space and a table set for eight sat in the center.  Nearby stood a countertop, where a few more guests could perch while looking into the bustling kitchen.

“We want people to feel like they are at our homes,” explained Chef Brian Lewis. “It’s like the feeling of having close friends over for dinner.”


Winesday: When It Rains, It “Pours”... Wine & the Weather

Ingredients This Week In Wine Wine Tasting Winesday

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

“What’s going to come next- a sandstorm?” asked my friend as we stared out at the never-ending expanse of snow in front of us.

This season certainly has seen its share of weather anomalies from Hurricane Sandy to the recent blizzard that hit some parts of Connecticut with more than 30 inches of snow.  As I assessed the damage and tried to get my daily routine back in order, I couldn’t help but consider how these extreme storms have affected the wine industry.  A wine’s quality depends on a host of climate factors including the length of the growing season, temperature, and composition of the soil.  Even a small deviation can alter an entire bottle.  What happens to production in the wake of such monumental weather upheavals?

In order to find the answer to my question, I turned to Andie Martin, Tasting Room Manager, and Chris Moore, Vineyard Manager, at the Jonathan Edwards Winery. 


Winesday: Best Wines from the Mohegan Sun Winefest

Wine Chat Wine Tasting Winesday

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

There’s a lot to wine about at the Mohegan Sun Wine Fest.  I watched in horror as my printer spewed out 16 pages of wines that would be featured over the course of the weekend.  The annual event is an exercise in diversity; exhibitors bring everything from the commercial to the exclusive, the traditional to the innovative.  There are wines with long-lasting legacies and bottles that haven’t even hit shelves yet.

Fortunately, I carefully siphoned through all of the offerings to bring you a report of the very best the event had to offer.  Armed with my 16 page list, I diligently worked my way through the tables, asked questions, and sampled the wines.  (Don’t worry, there was a significant amount of spitting involved!)

It’s difficult to compare wines, especially with such an extensive range available.  How can one compare an expensive Napa Valley Cab to a fruity white made for casual drinking?  To solve the predicament, I broke my explorations down into categories.

In this first installation, I feature Robust Reds, Wonderful Whites, and Wines to Watch.  In Robust Reds and Wonderful Whites, my aim is to focus on quality.  Some of these wines might come off as a bit of a monetary splurge, but they drink beautifully.  Wines to Watch also hinges on quality.


Winesday: Don't Forget About The Glass

Ingredients Wine Chat Winesday

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

Wednesdays are my favorite day of the week!  I know that I have the New York Times Dining Section and a new episode of Top Chef to look forward to.  Now there’s one more reason to love them: our new weekly column, Winesday!  This is your pass to all things wine from amazing bottles to local retailers to restaurant vino offerings.

For the first article, I thought that I would cover a slightly atypical topic: the glasses in which we drink wine.  There are many articles about wine itself, but the vehicles in which we consume it is a less explored frontier.

I first encountered Bottega del Vino stemware at the Mohegan Sun Wine Fest and alluded to it in my article on the event.  Since then, I had the opportunity to try it for myself.  Some of you wanted further information, and now I can render my verdict!