Chef Ian Vest Opens Modern Italian Restaurant, Talia, in Port Chester Features Ingredients Interview Restaurant Modern Italian Ian Vest Port Chester Opening Homepage Interview Pasta Pizza Greenwich Andrew Dominick November 19, 2025 One could argue, that before Greenwich Avenue’s current restaurant boom, one of the hottest spots on the block from 2015 until it closed in 2020 was Back 40 Kitchen. Now, just a touch over the Byram neighborhood’s border in Port Chester, frequenters of Back 40 will see a familiar face in Ian Vest at his newly opened Talia. Vest, originally a St. Louis native, who got his start in the industry at 13 years old and never left it, has seen his fair share of stints working at delis, burrito places, and “everywhere you can imagine.” But hard work pays off, as it landed him an executive chef position at The Crossing, a French-Italian fine dining restaurant in Clayton, Missouri, then, to The Culinary Institute of America. Read More
Smash Bay Burgers: A CT "Must Eat" Burger Features Ingredients Interview Smash Burgers Burgers Homepage Interview Food Truck Andrew Dominick November 14, 2025 Bussing tables, washing dishes, prep work, and something like flipping burgers are most people’s foot-in-the-door in the hospitality industry. Austen Bass isn’t most people. In fact, he did it backwards. After a long career in the technology field, and with no restaurant experience, you’ll now find him smashing, flipping, and assembling burgers inside of his Smash Bay food trailer, typically parked at a Connecticut brewery near you. Read More
Pat's Apizza Opens in a Gas Station in North Haven Features Ingredients Interview Restaurant Pizza North Haven Pat's Apizza Homepage Interview Ingredients Andrew Dominick November 05, 2025 You’re driving on Washington Avenue in North Haven, your car is thirsty, and you pull into Forbes Premium Fuel. Wait a second. What’s that sign say at the gas station? Pat’s Apizza? That’s your sign to swing open the gas station’s convenience store’s door. Look to the left and there’s a full-on pizzeria in there. Be honest…you thought this was gas station pizza, didn’t you? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but there’s a (desperate) time and a place for Stewart’s Shops, Love’s, Speedway, and Wawa. Let’s scrap that whole deal. Pat’s is a pizzeria that just so happens to be inside of a gas station and they’ve been getting a lot of love on social media since they opened on September 4 of this year. Read More
Bake Zone CT: Handcrafted Small Batch Brioche Donuts in Stamford Events Features Ingredients Interview Donuts Woman Owned Pop-Up Bakery Baker Stamford Interview Andrew Dominick October 29, 2025 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.” Read More
Dos Hermanos Guatemalan Bakery & Cafe Opens in Bridgeport Features Ingredients Interview Restaurant Guatemalan Bakery Latin American Black Rock Bridgeport Opening Homepage Interview Andrew Dominick October 24, 2025 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. Read More
Connecticut Chefs Open Up About Wellness, Bad Habits, Mental Health, Addiction, and the 86 Challenge Features Interview Homepage Interview Health & Wellness Mental Health Addiction Chefs Beto Ortiz Damon Sawyer Carlos Perez Dante Cistulli Andrew Dominick October 16, 2025 To “86” or to “eighty-six” something is a term commonly used in the hospitality industry. It’s defined, maybe best so, in the Urban Dictionary, where it’s summarized as “getting rid of something, removing it, or refusing service.” If a dish is popular for the evening, and thus, sold out, you might hear a chef say something like, “86 pasta special.” But to “reject, discard, or cancel” or to 86, has a different meaning to Beto Ortiz in the present day. Ortiz, the founder of Humans of the Kitchen (think Humans of New York for the service industry), a chef in his own right, and someone who’s open about his own struggles with mental health, substance abuse, and an overall rebellious nature, started the 86 Challenge, a wellness program for chefs and restaurant professionals. Read More
Delamar Hotels Opens American-Mediterranean Restaurant, Dandelion, in Westport Features Ingredients Interview Restaurant Mediterranean Opening Interview Westport Dandelion Westport Delamar Hotels Homepage Andrew Dominick October 03, 2025 Just a mere mile and change from the Delamar Southport and Artisan, founder Charles Mallory’s Greenwich Hospitality Group has opened a new luxury hotel with a restaurant, Dandelion, that’s been booked solid for weeks right out of the gate. “We took ownership of it 2-3 years ago,” says Delamar’s corporate director of restaurants, Hicham Amaaou. “I’ve been working with Frederic Keifer (Delamar’s corporate chef/partner) since Artisan Southport in 2012, then West Hartford, and we created La Plage together from scratch. But this is two separate entities and the food is very opposite.” Read More
Cosetta Pizzeria and Paninoteca Opens in Fairfield from Bailey's Backyard Team Features Ingredients Interview Restaurant Pizza Pizzeria Sandwiches Breakfast Coffee Fairfield Opening Homepage Interview Ingredients Andrew Dominick September 30, 2025 In 2024, when I interviewed Sal Bagliavio, the co-owner of Bailey’s Backyard, about his second spot, Taco Dia in Newtown, he very cryptically mentioned that he and chef/co-owner Forrest Pasternack were actively looking to open something else, somewhere else to follow up their taqueria. Cosetta Pizzeria and Paninoteca on the Post Road in Fairfield is that something else—and what it is, simply put, is a more gourmet version of the neighborhood slice shop, plus sandwiches (including breakfast), house-made pastry, and coffee. Read More
Massimo Tullio Opens Neapolitan Inspired Massi Co. in Westport Features Interview Ingredients Restaurant Neapolitan pizza Neapolitan Italian Interview Homepage Westport Opening Andrew Dominick September 21, 2025 The space at 90 Post Road E in Westport has played host to three different restaurant concepts over the past eight years; Jesup Hall (farm-to-table American), then Don Memo (Mexican), and now, Massi Co., a Napolitano style restaurant. At the helm is a familiar face, co-owner of those previous two restaurants, and The Whelk, Massimo Tullio. The switch to Italian came about earlier in the year when Tullio, and his then partner, Bill Taibe, announced they would be going their separate ways with Taibe taking over both Kawa Ni locations in Westport and in Denver, while Tullio would continue operating The Whelk and Don Memo. Read More
What's Geoff Smoking? A BBQ Pop Up at The Country Table in Greenwich Events Features Ingredients Interview Restaurant BBQ Greenwich Pop-Up Interview Comfort Food Andrew Dominick September 16, 2025 Something that Lazlo reflected back on wasn’t his storied culinary career at places like Gramercy Tavern, The Whelk, or Mill Street Bar & Table, it was smoking meats and listening to music. “It was about what brings me back to what my groove was,” he says. “Twenty years ago, I had this little smoker. I’d invite my friends over, crank up the Grateful Dead, have a couple beers, and have a good time.” Read More
Chef Nick Martschenko Opens Second SE Uncorked in Redding Features Ingredients Interview Restaurant SE Uncorked Redding Georgetown Gastropub Cocktails Burger Interview Bar Opening Andrew Dominick August 13, 2025 Right before New Canaan’s SE Uncorked celebrated its 10-year anniversary, chef – owner Nick Martschenko opened a shiny new sequel of his popular gastropub concept at the end of June in the Georgetown section of Redding. “I knew the area because initially, we looked in Redding for South End, but that idea folded,” Martschenko says. “All these years later, we’re here with Uncorked. Ryan Kundrat helped get me into this place (on Main Street). We wanted it to be this pubby sort of vibe, but you can see it’s a little different in the dining room. It’s still much like the original Uncorked.” Read More
Redding Residents Open Georgetown Owl Market & Saloon: Upscale Gastropub + Craft Cocktails Features Interview Restaurant New American Gastropub Redding Cocktails Market Interview Homepage Andrew Dominick July 30, 2025 Owls are, for the most part, a nocturnal species. For the owls that are, they’re probably not used to it being dark on a summer afternoon at 5 p.m. In this case, the “owl” is an owl in namesake, Georgetown Owl Market & Saloon, which experienced a power outage courtesy of a freakishly fast moving, powerful rainstorm on a hot, muggy July day. While brief, strong winds and some fallen branches resulted in a flickering of lights, “Oohhs and aahhs” in the dining room and at the bar, and ultimately, a more dimly lit restaurant than usual. For owners Kate Perry and Gerry Valenti, who opened Georgetown Owl in March of 2025, they rolled with nature’s punch smoothly, moving customers (and deadlifting tables and chairs) into the half of their space that still had electricity, and assuring confused walk-ins that they were still very much welcome. Read More
Renowned and Michelin Recommended Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao Opens in Stamford Features Ingredients Interview Restaurant Nan Xiang Nan Xiang soup dumplings Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao Stamford Chinese Homepage soup dumplings Dim Sum Interview Opening Andrew Dominick July 23, 2025 From Flushing, New York, Michelin Guide recommended soup dumplings have made their way to the cluster of restaurants outside of the Stamford Town Center. Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao, a growing Shanghainese micro chain, held its soft opening and introduction to Connecticut at the beginning of June as part of its expansion that includes locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, Chicago, and soon, again, in our general area when they open in White Plains. Read More
Dogtown Opens Second Location in Bethel With Killer Comfort Food Menu Features Ingredients Interview Restaurant Bethel Dogtown Hot Dogs Burgers Fast Casual Interview Opening Andrew Dominick July 10, 2025 Four years ago, when I first covered Bobby Manere’s Dogtown in Milford—where Cali-inspired fast casual and a little bits of his dad’s lower Fairfield County famous Swanky Franks meet—he talked about wanting to open a Dogtown sequel. That time is now, and Bethel, you’re the lucky recipient. Manere broke the Bethel news on my friend, Jeff Spencer’s Sweet’N Up Podcast, when he was a guest alongside Kyle Marcoux, aka, The Vulgar Chef. Read More
Ridgefield Couple Opens Flobee's Featuring Southern Roadside Eats Features Ingredients Ice Cream Interview Restaurant Roadside Eats Southern Food Fast Casual Ice Cream Ridgefield Homepage Interview Burgers Andrew Dominick June 25, 2025 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. Read More
Prasad Chirnomula Opens Chef Driven Meal Delivery Service, Gourmet United Interview Restaurant Features Indian Mexican Fast Casual Takeout Delivery Interview Easton Homepage Andrew Dominick June 10, 2025 The former Easton Village Store on Sport Hill Road has a new tenant and it’s a chef you know. Award winning chef, Prasad Chirnomula, and his business partner, Ron Berry, have transformed the space into Gourmet United, a takeout and delivery-based concept that, with Chirnomula involved, definitely features his lauded Indian cuisine alongside Mexican food under one roof. Read More
Elm in New Canaan: Phase 2.0 Features Renovations and Remixed Menu Features Interview Restaurant Elm New Canaan New Canaan Luke Venner Homepage Interview Menu Update Andrew Dominick May 15, 2025 Chefs that have a bustling restaurant never take a full month off. For Luke Venner, “vacation” wasn’t pina coladas in the Caribbean, nor was it one of his fishing or hunting excursions. Instead, he was mostly in New Canaan, at Elm, remixing popular dishes, creating new ones, and reimagining and renovating the entire dining room. Don’t freak out. Your beloved Double-Double was unharmed in the process. But the dining room? Transformed. And it’s something that Venner—who’s in his 10th season as Elm’s executive chef and co-owner—has been meaning to tackle for quite a while. Talk to him about it and you can tell he’s feeling refreshed about all of it. Read More
Seleste Tan of Lady Wong Patisserie & Chef Mogan Anthony Open La Bistro in Greenwich Features Interview Restaurant French Pastry Pastry Chef Greenwich Homepage Interview Opening Andrew Dominick April 26, 2025 Have a conversation with Seleste Tan for just a few minutes and the word that comes to mind is “humble.” Tan’s bakery, Lady Wong Patisserie, with two locations in New York City, speaks about it like she never expected it to be the megahit that it is. “I did it for a hobby during the pandemic and I never thought it would be big,” she says shyly. Her confections, inspired by flavors from her home country of Singapore, and travels throughout Southeast Asia, are her muse. And that hobby? It turned into national coverage in all the big food publications and then some. Read More
Preview: Taco Guy Opening Tacos 203 at the South Norwalk Train Station Features Interview Restaurant Opening Norwalk Preview Tacos Mexican Homepage Interview Andrew Dominick April 23, 2025 Everything you’ve heard about Adrian Hurtado and his Taco Guy brand opening a new taqueria in Norwalk are true, even if some of the details weren’t originally clear or correct. Numero tres for Hurtado, if we’re counting the taco truck first, then his Wall Street spot second, is Tacos 203, not Carnitas Michoacán, regardless of what you may have heard. Tacos 203 will be inside of Metro-North’s South Norwalk Station and the concept won’t resemble the fare that Hurtado’s fans have experienced from the truck or his restaurant. Read More
Dippin Chicken Opens in East Norwalk with Fast Casual Korean Fried Chicken Features Ingredients Restaurant Korean Fried Chicken Korean Fast Casual Chicken Sandwich Fried Chicken Norwalk Interview Homepage Opening Andrew Dominick April 15, 2025 Fast casual fried chicken is a hot craze that’s seemingly not cooling off anytime soon. Haven Hot Chicken, Birdcode Hot Chicken, the new to Connecticut Dave’s Hot Chicken, and smaller spots like Stamford’s Cwispy Chicken are proof of that. But even newer to the coop is Dippin Chicken in East Norwalk where Korean fried chicken is their menu’s centerpiece. Read More
