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.
Tender meatballs nestled in bubbling, vibrant San Marzano tomato sauce. Hearty breads that cradle cutlets generously smeared with homemade pesto. Crispy-on-the-outside Mac and Cheese balls and tender Crabcakes with a dollop of Horseradish Dill sauce. Lasagna that is layers deep, stuffed full of gooey cheese and smothered in more of that delightful tomato sauce.
And it’s all vegan.
Without getting too Hallmark-y, it is all based in love, as well.
Tracy Alexander, with her two daughters Brittany and Taylor form the triumvirate of Three Girls Vegan Creamery in Guilford, Connecticut. Mama Tracy creates the recipes and menus, while daughters Brittany and Taylor run the locations and handle the marketing.
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.
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.
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.”
Bufalina Wood Fired Pizza in Guilford is one of this shoreline town’s most charming and delicious destinations. Open since September 2011, Bufalina has earned a reputation for rustic, seasonally-driven, and Neapolitan-inspired pizzas.
“We wanted to recreate the feeling that you are in our kitchen and we are cooking for you,” said Melissa Pellegrino, chef and co-owner of Bufalina alongside her husband, chef Matt Scialabba.
When I reluctantly moved to Los Angeles at the beginning of this decade, I missed our annual fall apple and berry picking trip so much that I dragged a posse of ex-East Coasters and their small children to the closest orchard (two hours into the desert) to pick apples one hot October Sunday. To put it mildly, apple picking in California is a sad facsimile of the real deal here in New England. The air was heavy, we were sweaty and the only ones enjoying the adventure were the children– they didn’t know any better.
Being back in New England, where there really is a fall season and apples taste like, well apples, we recently took advantage of the pick your own trifecta: September peaches, apples and raspberries and visited Bishops Orchards in Guilford, CT.
