Cheese Tasting Tips & Facts from Arethusa Dairy Farm Features Ingredients Litchfield Cheese Cheese Shop Cheesemaker Local Farm Local Artisan Cheese Tasting Jessica Ryan August 04, 2023 A few months ago I had the privilege of visiting Arethusa Dairy Farm to attend a special cheese tasting event which coincided with Connecticut’s Agriculture Week. The event was a celebration for their Europa cheese, an aged Gouda, that had just been awarded “Best in Show” in the US Championship Cheese Contest. Read More
At Home Raclette Primer from Fairfield/Greenwich Cheese Company Features Catering Cheese Dining At Home Play With Your Food Entertaining CTbites Team January 27, 2023 Raclette is a dish indigenous to parts of Switzerland. The raclette cheese round is heated, either in front of a fire or by a special machine, then scraped onto diners' plates. We went to the cheese experts tat Fairfield/Greenwich Cheese Company to learn more about making Raclette at home, and the different varieties of cheese used to make this ultimate comfort food dish, just right for winter.Raclette comes from the French word racler, which means "to scrape." It's a cheese traditionally eaten in the Swiss and French Alps. Cow herders used to take the cheese with them when they moved cows from the valley pastures up into the mountains. In the evenings around the fire, they would place the cheese next to the fire and, when it had melted, scrape it on top of the bread. Today we have easy to use machines to do the melting, but the results are just as delicious.These are our favorite raclettes: Read More
DOM's Coffee, Cheese, and Now...Creamery: All The Good Stuff in Avon Restaurant Ingredients Specialty Market Cheese Cheese Shop Coffee Ice Cream Avon April Guilbault January 13, 2023 Nestled in the Connecticuty-quaint town of Avon, an area known for its New England beauty, historic homes, and the well-known Avon Old Farms School, sits the quietly chic and welcoming Dom's Coffee. But wait, there's also Dom's Cheese. And now, Dom's Creamery right next door. Avon may be steeped in history, but it keeps evolving, as does Dom's. Dom's Coffee opened its doors in 2015, the brainchild of Lithuanian couple Asta and Andrius Plankis and sweetly named for their son Dominic. What began as a place for the community to take time to sit and enjoy a great cup of coffee, not just grab-and-go-and-swill-it-in-your-car, has now become a beloved spot in town. With their European flair and attention to detail, Dom's Coffee seamlessly blends the CT aesthetic with the European, feeling all at once new but also comfortable and homey. Light and bright walls, with intentional and un-cluttered decor make his space both interesting and calming. Dom's serves a full range of coffee drinks made with beans from J. Rene Coffee Roasters (West Hartford), with inventive specials to get you in seasonal moods. Read More
Guide To 2022 Fall Cooking Classes in Connecticut Features Cooking Cooking Classes Education Guide April Guilbault October 12, 2022 You’ve gotten the kids settled in school so, hey, maybe there is some schooling to be had for you too. Maybe you are looking to spice up your girls’ night out or do something beyond-the-water cooler with office mates. Maybe you are wanting to try a new hobby with a partner or honestly, maybe you just need some You Time. Something for yourself that expands your mind, your curiosity and possibly your palate. Take a class. The possibilities are endless and you’ll learn some skills that follow you through your life. What is not to love about that? Read More
Guide to Kids Cooking Classes & Camps in Connecticut (2022 Edition) Features Cooking Cooking Classes Kids kids activity Kids Cooking Classes Guide Education Highlight April Guilbault April 05, 2022 Feels like we were all just stuck home together and dreaming of getting OUT and low and behold, now we can! Let’s start with getting those kiddos some cool stuff to do once school lets out. Let’s hear it for cooking camps! To learn (in a fun way) about food, where it comes from, what the heck we can do with it, and yummm, how it tastes-what could be better? Follow it with some parent-kid trips to your local farms or farmers’ markets, and lookie there, you’ve just filled the calendar a bit for the summer months. Here’s to brilliant and tasty new discoveries! Read More
Guide to Cooking Classes for Adults in Connecticut (2022 Edition) Features Cooking Cooking Classes Education Best of CT Homepage April Guilbault March 23, 2022 Spring is in the air and everything is growing like a mother! Hey, that can include you too-how about learning a new skill, discover a new culture through its food, and explore new flavors and spectacular taste sensations this season. Wooo! Get out there with your besties, co-workers or just fly solo; cooking and learning is for everyone and anyone. Whether it’s laughing together, creating, or just the discovery of some new tricks and tips, this will be time well-spent. Ah, those are good words. Go for it.Get cooking with our 2022 CT Guide To Cooking Classes for Adults. Read More
England Cheese Journey: Explore Dairy Royalty with CT's Fairfield Cheese Co Features Road Trip England Travel Cheese Cheese Shop Homepage Tenaya Darlington February 03, 2022 Imagine waking up in a 16th century English country house where designer cows graze just off the ballroom. You’re in Somerset, the seat of England’s best Cheddars, and you’re staying in a beautifully restored bedroom -- one of 25, no less -- in the opulent manor belonging to the Montgomerys, one of the best Cheddar-making families.Cheese royalty? Maybe you didn’t know such a world existed. But the royal family does. They’ve served award-winning Montgomery’s Cheddar for years. Now, thanks to a luxury food-tour company called Cheese Journeys, you can travel to the Montgomery estate (a.k.a. North Cadbury Court) and learn to make Cheddar with the head of the family, plus feast on the best British cheeses, wines, ciders, and whiskies from October 2-9, 2022.That’s where you’ll find Laura Downey, owner of Fairfield Cheese Co.“No one curates a trip like Cheese Journeys,” Downey says. “It’s a great way to combine a vacation with our passion for cheese and good food.” Read More
Plum Plums Cheese Opening in New Canaan Features Restaurant Openings New Canaan Cheese Cheese Shop Specialty Market CTbites Team March 16, 2021 Attn: Cheese lovers. This just in from New Canaan Advertiser…Elixirs for mocktails, a choice of 65 cheeses and coffee sourced from women farmers in Kenya will all be coming to New Canaan next month.Plum Plums Cheese is moving with its gourmet goodies from its Pound Ridge, N.Y., location to 149 Cherry St. in New Canaan on April 1.The 7-year-old enterprise, owned by spouses Gayle Martin and Michael Riahi, will be expanding its offerings with butchered meats in addition to the charcuterie, soups and sandwich options. The new location is 1,100 square feet, compared to the 700-square-foot space in New York.“We know the back story of every item we sell. If cheese, meat, bar of chocolate or jar of jam,” Martin said. “Our primary focus of cheese.”Read the full article on New Canaan Advertiser. Read More
Guide To CT Virtual (& In Person) Cooking, Cocktail, & Beer Classes Features Education Cooking Classes Cooking Virtual Cooking Classes Best of CT Homepage Kristin L. Wolfe January 19, 2021 How would you rank your cooking skills? Have you become a master baker or a serious mixologist at the bar? From baking or creating homemade pasta to perfecting classic cocktails, we have a list of VIRTUAL (& IN PERSON) COOKING & COCKTAILS CLASSES for you to get the creative juices flowing. Step up your kitchen and home bar chops now:Note to Readers: Many below who offer classes in person must adhere to strIct Covid guidelines, please heed protocols. That said, there are plenty of online options as well.Do you know of a cooking class spot we missed? Contact us. Read More
Millwright's Sous Chef, Jamie V. Bordonaro, Publishes "Pursuit of Passion" Cookbook Features Cooking Cookbooks Education Author CT Authors Chef Talk Stephanie Webster October 01, 2020 Chef Jamie Bordonaro’s “day” job is Sous Chef at Millwrights Restaurant in Simsbury Connecticut, but over the past six years, Bordonaro has been working on a project of his own, in all of that “free” time one has as a chef. Jamie recently finished the publication of a cookbook titled, “Pursuit of Passion,” and as you can imagine, he is more than a little excited to finally be able to share the fruits of his labor with the public.The cookbook is a personal narrative and compilation of Bordonaro’s cooking techniques, flavor profiles, and skills that he acquired throughout his culinary career. But it is so much more than that, and is grounded in purpose that relates to one’s own inner drive and the importance of creating opportunity within yourself to follow your passion. Read More
"Room at the Table; Recipes from the Heart" E-Cookbook By Silvia Baldini Features Cookbooks Education Cooking Stephanie Webster September 23, 2020 Chef Silvia Baldini of Strawberry & Sage has released a wonderful new E-cookbook, “Room at the Table; Recipes from the Heart.” The cookbook is a collection of family recipes donated by ‘New Canaan Democrats’ members, friends, community leaders, and legislators. It’s a cookbook about the joy and benefits of sharing delicious meals with others. It is also about building a bigger table that welcomes and includes our friends and neighbors, embraces our diversities, and celebrates our expansive attitudes and values of compassion and care for everyone.Contributors to the project include: Senator Kamala Harris—vice-presidential candidate, Chef Marcus Samuelsson— award-winning chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, philanthropist and food activist, judge on Chopped, Gloria Steinem— Activist, author, Feminist…and oh so many more. Read More
Wood Fired Food Launches Private Cooking Classes/Dinner Events at YOUR HOME with Chef Dan Sabia Features Cooking Cooking Classes Education Catering Caterer Grilling Private Party Stephanie Webster September 16, 2020 What is it about fire? For most of human history, cooking over an open fire was the only way to cook a meal. Now, fire is just one technique in a chef’s culinary toolbox, but is one whose process and taste feel nostalgic, beautiful, and pure.Enter the master of all things FIRE, Chef Dan Sabia, who established Wood Fire Food catering and events in 2018 with a desire to cultivate deeper connections between food producers and eaters by blending his passion for design, Argentinian open fire cooking, community, and localized food, to transform the dining experience. His mission has always been to create an immersive and interactive experience where diners cultivate connections to their food, the chef, and each other. And now Chef Sabia is taking it one step further.In the Covid era, where events and live cooking classes have been all but eliminated, and indoor dining remains at reduced capacity, Sabia is bringing a new dining experience to CT, with all the comforts of HOME. Read More
Cook The Book: Tune In On CTBites Instagram Live July 1st with Chef Emily Mingrone of Tavern On State Events Recipe Cooking Cookbooks Education Instagram Live Recipe Video Stephanie Webster June 28, 2020 Readers, Diners, New Quarantine Couch Potato-Turned-Chefs! Tune into our new IGTV Weekly Series COOK THE BOOK.On Wednesday July 1st @8PM, join trained chef and beloved Connecticut Cookbook author, Anna Francese Gass (Heirloom Kitchen 2019) & Guest Chef Emily Mingrone from award winning Tavern On State, as they cook Emily’s recipe for Chicken & Dumplings from our recently released CTBites e-cookbook: Connecticut Chef Recipes for Restaurant ReliefTune In on @CTBITES INSTAGRAM LIVE!! Read More
Cook The Book: Recipe Demos On Instagram Live Every Wednesday with Cookbook Author Anna Gass Features Events Cooking Cookbooks Education Recipe Recipe Video Celebrity Chef Kristin L. Wolfe June 20, 2020 Readers, Diners, New Quarantine Couch Potato-Turned-Chefs! Get Ready to tune into our new IGTV Weekly Series COOK THE BOOK.Join trained chef and beloved Connecticut Cookbook author, Anna Francese Gass (Heirloom Kitchen 2019), as she makes her way one through some of the most delicious recipes in the recently released CTBites e-cookbook: Connecticut Chef Recipes for Restaurant ReliefStarting this Wednesday June 24th @8PM Gass + a weekly featured Guest Chef will bring the book alive and further whet your appetite and drive to get in the kitchen. This weekSo, grab your aprons, your whisks, and the new e-cookbook (should we still plug here? for fun, great food, and to continue supporting our state’s wonderful restaurant industry. Read More
20+ Virtual Experiences and Cooking Classes for CT Food and Drink Lovers Features Cooking Cooking Classes Education Virtual Experiences Virtual Cooking Classes Homepage Emma Jane-Doody Stetson May 16, 2020 If you’re missing in person cooking classes or simply want to spice up your usual repertoire, Connecticut caterers, chefs, restaurants, shops, and bartenders have the perfect solution: virtual classes! Want to bake a cake? Mix up a cocktail? Cook a savory meal? Get private instruction? Do it as a group? There are opportunities for all of it! Here is a guide to virtual experiences in Connecticut. Read More
Barcelona Wine Bar Launches Wine Education Series in Partnership with Wine.com Features WIne Wine Chat Wine Tasting This Week In Wine Education CTbites Team April 24, 2020 Barcelona Wine Bar is launching a new, complimentary wine education series in partnership with Wine.com to bring a taste of Spain home. The best news…after the class, you can buy the wines on Wine.com.The first class, Iconic Red Wines of Spain will be released on April 28th, and will focus on Rioja, Bierzo, Ribera Del Duero, and Priorat wines. While there are specific wines that are available in a bundle on Wine.com for $89.99, Barcelona restaurants have an expansive range of wines from these regions and participants can call BWB to pick-up wine from one or all of these regions to taste along with the experts. The series was created for any Bierzo, Priorat, Rioja, or Ribera del Duero red wine to pair perfectly for the course. Read More
History Happy Hour Weekly Video Series: CT Bartenders Demo Vintage Cocktails Features Recipe Video Cocktails Bar Spirits Education Stephanie Webster April 12, 2020
Arethusa Dairy Farm: Saving CT Farmland Through Exceptional Dairy Features Ingredients Bantam Litchfield CT Farms Local Farm Local Artisan Dairy Farm ice cream Cheese Homepage Jessica Ryan February 26, 2020 CTBites and Terrain were recently invited to Arethusa Dairy Farm for a behind the scenes tour of their dairy farm and cheese making process. But before we get all cheesy, I want to share the wonderful story of a once little known dairy farm.It all began in 1999 when the Webster family put their 150 year old family farm up for sale. Worried that their view would be obstructed, and to preserve the historic property, neighbors George Malkemus and Anthony Yurgatis stepped in to purchase the farm once named for a small pink orchid that grew in a swamp on the land. Malkemus and Yurgatis promised to restore its original name, and such were the humble beginnings of the Arethusa Dairy Farm. Read More
World-Class Chef Dan Giusti is Giving School Lunch a Gourmet Overhaul (Starting in New London CT) Features Kids Celebrity Chef Education News Connecticut Magazine January 24, 2020 Dan Giusti was not used to failing in the kitchen. At 29 years old he had been named the head chef at Noma in Copenhagen, making him a de facto high priest of fine dining. As the leader of the kitchen of one of the world’s most critically acclaimed restaurants, he was tasked with executing owner and executive chef René Redzepi’s vision and making sure the culinary dreams of those who had spent years and months planning their visit to Copenhagen to dine at Noma came true. Giusti was good at this. But three years into the job, Giusti walked away to tackle the seemingly never-ending enigma that is school lunch. With Redzepi’s blessing and investment, Giusti founded a new company called Brigaid that sought to put skilled chefs at the helm of cafeteria kitchens in schools across America. The idea was “getting chefs who would never choose to do this work to do this work,” Giusti says. Read More
Terrain Cafe & Amis Trattoria Teach Seasonal & Sustainable Cooking Class Series Features Ingredients Cooking Cooking Classes Education Stephanie Webster January 07, 2020 Join the culinary professionals that lead the kitchens of Westport restaurants Terrain Cafe and Amis at Stamford Museum & Nature Center as they show you the joys of sourcing and cooking with the best in seasonal and sustainable ingredients. From salads and appetizers to entrees, pastas and desserts, this six-part series (January 27 through March 9.) takes you through the methodology of creating show-stopping dishes as you also learn how to source the best ingredients right in your own backyard. Read More
