If warm temperatures aren’t in the air, at least love is this time of year! If you want to book your Valentine’s Day dinner reservation, now is the time. Fortunately, many restaurants and businesses across the state are ready to make this Valentine’s Day one to remember. If you prefer to celebrate Valentine’s Day at home this year, there are businesses ready to cater the perfect dinner for two.
Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday this February, making it even more convenient to spend the evening out with a special someone. And don’t forget, Valentine’s Day isn’t all about celebrating with your significant other. It’s the perfect holiday to celebrate the love shared between our family and friends, too! On that note, several restaurants around Connecticut are offering Galentine’s Day festivities – gather your closest friend group and paint the town red and pink!
This guide has been organized by county, so you can quickly locate a Valentine’s Day special near you.
It’s February, which means love is most certainly in the air! If you’re looking for a romantic dinner for two to celebrate that special someone in your life, there is no shortage of places in Connecticut offering Valentine’s Day specials. There are plenty of prix fixe menus to go around, taking the guesswork out of the holiday! Be sure to book your reservations well in advance if you want to dine at your favorite restaurant. If your idea of the perfect Valentine’s Day involves less of a candlelit vibe and more of a laidback one, there are a lot of fun promotions to keep your Valentine’s Day more casual (I’m personally eyeing all of the great pizza specials). And if you want to celebrate Galentine’s Day with your closest friends, there are tons of special events happening this month, too.
Long story short, this is the month to celebrate all of our loved ones, and Connecticut’s finest restaurants want to be a part of that celebration!
Happily, eating plant-based is becoming easier and more accessible by the day. However, finding decadent desserts and sweets that fit this category have historically been a bit more of a challenge, given that milk, butter, and gelatin is usually involved when making things of the sweeter persuasion. Another challenge: finding gift-worthy artisan treats that are visual treats to the palate as well the eyes. You know, the type of special giant heart box of chocolates that Linus toted around waiting to give to Miss Othmar. At the end of the day, no one wants to be left out, including sweet and chocolate-indulging plant-eaters.
Well, these sweets do exist, Virginia, and they are located in Manchester so your plant-loving special someones can partake in all the sweet flavors and beautiful treats as the omnivores. Every sweet produced at Divine Treasures chocolate shop, which has been going strong since 2007, is vegan and gluten-free. In addition, Divine Treasures confections are made with health and enjoyment in mind. These European-style chocolates are crafted with high-quality ingredients but also, and here’s the amazing part, without refined sugar and corn syrup. Diane Wagemann, owner and chocolatier, studied the art of chocolate making in Belgium and Switzerland and then decided to adapt her grandmother’s family recipes to suit the goal of healthier eating. Instead of adding an abundance of sugars, Wagemann wants the inherent taste of the cacao to be the shining star. She sources the chocolate from small family-owned Fair-Trade certified businesses, so you can be sure that no fillers have been added to the chocolate, which sometimes can compromise the vegan integrity.
Whether you are celebrating a special someone in your life, or you want to get together with your best friends and raise a glass to Galentine’s Day, there are a ton of special menus and dinners taking place across Connecticut over the next several days for Valentine’s Day. That’s right, love is in the air and so are amazing eats and sips in each county around the state. Heart-shaped food and red-dyed cocktails are plentiful this time of year, so why not treat your loved one (or yourself!) to a special meal in celebration of all things love. Many of these restaurants have limited availability, so be sure to book your reservations ahead of time to guarantee a table.
To make navigating this extensive guide as easy as possible, we have divided the restaurants up based on the county in which they are located. Simply scroll to your local county and see what your region has to offer (or, if you want to take a small road trip for Valentine’s Day, see what is happening all around the state!).
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!
Craving something sweet but not in the mood for the full indulgence of ice cream? Do you want something that tastes just as good without as much guilt? Have no fear, Dave’s Gourmet Paletas has just opened in downtown Fairfield serving up 20 flavors of homemade paletas…made fresh daily. These pops are far cry fro from the average popsicle as paletas are made entirely from whole ingredients, delicious things…like fresh fruit and nut butters. Dave’s Paletas also feature gluten free, dairy free and vegan options with a menu ranging from classic flavors like strawberry and banana to more unique ones like matcha and mango chamoy. Paletas are a traditional Mexican frozen treat and owner and CEO Dave Rock says,
“We wanted to offer standard flavors, traditional ones that everybody likes, but we also wanted to sprinkle in some of the more uniquely Mexican options like a mango chamoy.”
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! In a time when giving a hug has become an event, any reason to celebrate love has to be embraced! Whether you are planning a cozy-delish dinner at home, venturing out (safely) to a restaurant, wanting to give a sweet gift or even try a new class with your sweetie, we’ve got you covered.
Take a lookie! We’ve arranged this listing in a different way this year, with the hopes that you can find exactly what you are looking for easily. About Valentine’s Day, ya got nice dinners, ya got chocolate and ya got time with your honey. So, those are our categories: Restaurants/Caterers, Sweets/Gifts, and Events/Classes. Scroll the list to find what you want and need and enjoy the holiday. There are some great ideas here, proving that nothing stands in the way of love. Pssst: This is also quite possibly the first time the word “thong” has appeared in CTbites copy. Find it.
Episode #4 of our Chefs At Home series is here…and it’s a heathy, simple and delicious recipe you can make all summer long. Chef Anthony Rinaldi, formerly Exec Chef at Kawa Ni in Westport, currently the Chef for Greenwich Country Day School, has been having some fun in his kitchen with this recipe for the Chia Seed Pudding. This recipe has 15 grams of protein and is easy enough for any kid to make themselves! Get your kids cooking and enjoy!
Chef Dan Kardos has made his mark on the Connecticut restaurant industry over the past two decades. He’s been the operator, the owner, and, of course, the chef of local favorites like Stratford’s Oar & Oak. This summer, he’s turning to something even sweeter.
Kardos recently opened Oar & Oak Creamery, a 10x6 soft serve ice cream truck currently stationed at Knapp’s Landing in Stratford. The truck, Kardos emphasized, isn’t some extravagant ice cream parlor with dozens of flavors and toppings galore. It’s straightforward yet refreshingly original.
Move over Santa! With the holidays in the rearview, cupid is coming to town. Valentine’s Day falls on Friday February 14th and Connecticut Restaurants and Caterers are serving up “sweet” deals to make sure that you and your special someone have an evening to remember. Here are 80+ places where you can go for a romantic night out.
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.
Leo Kelly, a 6 year old first grader in Fairfield CT has dreams of becoming “King,” well, the Shirley Temple King that is. Leo aspires to be the childhood arbiter of all things Shirley Temple (yes, the popular childhood beverage) , and he is making his way around Fairfield County doing just that. You can find him on Instagram at @theshirleytempleking, so heads up local restaurants owners. Time to get your Shirley Temple game on fleek.
Hot summer days and you don’t feel like cooking. The stove, oven, even the grill…it’s all so hot. But hold on a minute there, maybe *you* don’t have to! With a little foresight (read: now), your kids can learn to cook this summer, get inspired and whoa-oh, looks who’s not in the kitchen anymore?! Beyond your parental joy, though, kids will enjoy learning cooking skills, whipping up some pretty cool menus from around the globe and even having a cooking competition or two just to test their mettle. Just be sure to sign up your aspiring chefs soon, these classes and camps fill up quicker than hot grease will jump out of a pan!
Have you heard this lovely little conversation often during the summer months? Kids young and old let that horrifying phrase fall from their lips at an astounding rate. Are you just cringing thinking about how you will derail these declarations for 10 weeks? Well, now you can consider yourself informed and prepared to battle the cries of blahs and beat the little buggers at their own game! We’ve got some tasty ideas so that you can wave goodbye to boredom, and say hello to a creative and fun summer (not to mention, delicious). Maybe your kids will even treat you to a meal or two along the way. Maybe you’ll get the last laugh this summer…
Four young aspiring chefs are one step closer to making their dreams of attending culinary school a reality after being named finalists in Rachael Ray’s “Cook Your Way to Culinary School” competition. On Tuesday, February 13th, Jules Esposito, an 18-year-old high school senior from Wallingford, CT, will be cooking to win! She has had her sights set on culinary school since the 2nd grade. She started a baking blog in middle school and is part of a culinary program that has allowed her to manage a food truck and cater events.
'Tis the season, but when you get tired of shopping, take a break with your family, and enjoy some leisurely holiday baking. Sweet Lisa’s Exquisite Cakes has mastered the art of gingerbread (as you can see above), and they have been kind enough to share their recipes for Gingerbread Cookie Dough as well as a special (slightly more structurally sound) Gingerbread for Houses. It's a fine line when it comes to gingerbread.
If you decide to embark on a house of your own, please share it with CTbites and send us a photo.
Stew’s Christmas Cookie Milk will be back in stock at at all Stew Leonard's stores in Connecticut this week. This is the second consecutive year they’ve sold this special milk.
Stew Leonard's Christmas Cookie Milk is sweet, creamy milk that has the same flavor as a sugar cookie that’s been dunked in milk. It comes straight from award-winning dairy farms in upstate NY and is free from artificial growth hormones (rBST) and antibiotics. This milk goes from the farm to each of our stores in as little as 24 hours.
Stew Leonard's Christmas Cookie Milk is available only for a limited time and is sold in a ½ gallon glass container for $5.99.
Stew Leonard’s Apple Pie Milk a la Mode celebrates the season with the flavors of crisp fall apples and Stew Leonard’s dairy-fresh vanilla ice cream. It comes straight from their award-winning dairy farms in upstate NY and is free from artificial growth hormones (rBST) and antibiotics. This milk goes from the farm to each of their stores in as little as 24 hours. Stew Leonard's Apple Pie Milk a la Mode will be available starting on October 30 for a limited time. It is sold in a ½ gallon glass container for $5.99.
A trip to Ridgefield, Connecticut would not be complete without a visit to the quintessential ice cream parlor and candy mecca that is Deborah Ann’s Sweet Shoppe. Offerings span from homemade chocolates, fudge, and ice cream. There is even an entire room devoted to nostalgic candies and gummy treats. I am always looking for fun and interesting food experiences and packaging. During one of my recent visits to the shop/food safari, I noticed a wall of cotton candy made by Chocolate Storybook. The brand’s assortment offers upwards of 50 flavors including sweet and savory delights like Bacon, BBQ sauce, Atomic Fire, Pancake and Syrup, Frosted Donut, PBJ, seasonal desserts and fruits, merlot, and even a gender reveal option. The most unusual flavor however was Trump hair! The jury is still out on that one. You can add these to the list of memorable hybrid sweet treats trending these days.
Fried ice cream is a thing again! At least it is in Stamford.
If you haven’t heard the sweet whispers and the sizzle of the hot oil, the concession stand at Cummings Beach has a brand-new resident.
Drop & Fry was started by two city residents, Irving Diaz and Mario Forte, friends since freshman year of high school. They came up with the idea to batter-dip-and-fry pound cake-coated balls of ice cream, after being dissatisfied with fried ice cream desserts at Mexican and Asian restaurants, where you’d typically see if offered. They also saw an opportunity to capitalize on selling a sweet treat that’s not all that common in Fairfield County.
