Filtering by Tag: Easter,Latin Fusion

CT Easter Dining & Catering Guide (2025 Edition)

Features Easter Holiday Catering Guide

Carly Terzigni

With the spring season in full bloom, Easter can’t be far away! This year, restaurants across the state are preparing special menus, including prix fixe meals and buffets, to celebrate the holiday. Whether you’re looking for a festive brunch or dinner, there are options all over the state. If you are hosting an Easter gathering at your home and you are looking for catering options, there are businesses ready to help out with the cooking! No matter how you choose to celebrate Easter this year, it’s sure to be delicious.

This guide has been organized by county to help you locate a restaurant nearest you. Scroll to your home county to see what businesses offer Easter specials this year.


Lao Cocina Opens in Bridgeport: Laotian X Puerto Rican Fusion Cuisine

Features Interview Restaurant Openings Interview Bridgeport Puerto Rican Laotian Latin Fusion Homepage

Andrew Dominick

When the popular Venezuelan-meets-Mexican mashup, Mil Sabores, vacated their original brick-and-mortar at 2043 Fairfield Avenue and went onto opening a bigger restaurant further down the street, they left their digs to another tenant, even if it is for a limited run. Lao Cocina, a Laotian and Puerto Rican fusion spot, that’s mostly takeout, is filling out the rest of that lease. Created by the husband-and-wife team of April Khanthaphixay, her husband, Daniel Colon, and Daniel’s uncle Sergio, they’re mixing their respective cultures for a new kind of concept.


CT Easter Dining & Catering Guide (2024 Edition)

Features Easter Holiday Homepage

Carly Terzigni

It’s time to don your Easter bonnet and head out for what will hopefully be a bright and sunny holiday weekend! Whether you are looking for brunch or dinner, many Connecticut restaurants are serving tasty specials in celebration of Easter Sunday. If you are planning on hosting Easter at your house, several businesses have catering menus available as well.  

Be sure to double-check the dates on some of these events, as several restaurants are hosting Easter get-togethers the weekend before. We have broken this guide up by county so you can easily locate an Easter brunch or dinner near you!


Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Happy Monkey in Greenwich + Now Serving Lunch

Features Interview Ingredients Restaurant Jean-Georges Vongerichten Jean-Georges Happy Monkey Greenwich Greenwich Latin Fusion Latin American Homepage

Andrew Dominick

A bowl arrives at my table, and I’ve never seen arroz con pollo like this before. Pan seared chunks of chicken just barely peek out of the rice. And the rice? It looks a perfect midpoint between fluffy and al dente. It’s clearly well-seasoned, sucking up all that stock and sofrito.

But something about it strikes me.


CT Easter Dining & Catering Guide (2023 Edition)

Features Easter Holiday Guide Catering Homepage

April Guilbault

“In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it, you’ll be the grandest lady (or fella) in the Easter Parade..”, or so the song goes. The bonnets and parades may have gone by the wayside since that song was a hit, but Easter dinner, with its traditional ham, springtime vegetables, and pastel-colored desserts, remains something to look forward to. Gather your family and friends (and fellow jelly-bean lovers), and enjoy a beautiful day with good food and celebration of a new season.


Alma Bistro Cocina Latina Opens in Norwalk With Delicious Nuevo-Latino Soul Food

Restaurant Latin American Latin Fusion Norwalk South Norwalk Openings Happy Hour Homepage

Jessica Ryan

Alma Cocina brings soul to Norwalk’s Wall Street area.  

I recently had the opportunity to visit the newly opened Alma Bistro. Just a couple of weeks old, this Latin-fusion eatery features delicious Nuevo-Latino soul food with an upscale twist and promises to be the darling of the Norwalk restaurant scene.

Alma Bistro Cocina Latina was founded by Alma Miranda, Ulises Jiminez, Don Rene and Norberto Lucero out of a deep love for food that is authentically Latino. We have some real star power here. 


Bombar’BQ: Delicious Latin Fusion Food Truck in Byram

Features Interview Restaurant Food Truck Greenwich Byram Latin American Latin Fusion Homepage

Andrew Dominick

Finding article subjects can, at times, be difficult. I know that for me, the best resources are often chefs and restaurant owners. One questions that comes up often when we run into each other is, “Where have you been eating lately?” Sometimes we’ll randomly send a text or DM when we feel passionately about an establishment, or in this case, a food truck!

The tip about Bombar’BQ came from Nathalia Gonzalez, who owns the wonderful Colombian restaurant Antojos in Norwalk. “Their food is delicious!” she wrote to me. “You have to come by and try them!”

When I had time to visit, she even threw in her recommendations of a carne asada taco, an arepa, and a creation called “Bomba Fries” topped with smoked brisket as per Nathalia’s suggestion.

I hopped in my Jeep after a gym session and punched the address into Google Maps. I noticed it was just off Mill Street in the Byram section of Greenwich. Cool. Easy enough. No traffic on 95? Even better. Eighteen minutes later, I pulled up by Ebb Tide Boat Rentals and spotted the Bombar’BQ trailer sitting right on the side of the bait & tackle shop. I love fishing, but I certainly wasn’t there for sandworms or bunker.

Before knowing what Bombar’BQ is all about, getting to know its owner, Ruddy Bollat, is essential.

Bollat didn’t have a background in the hospitality industry until he came to the U.S. a decade ago. In fact, he was an accountant in his home country of Guatemala. “In my country it’s hard to succeed in the restaurant/hospitality industry,” he says. “I’ve always been passionate about food, so when I came to the U.S. I saw an opportunity. Since I was an accountant, being good with numbers helped me succeed as a chef here.”

From there, Bollat got bit by the restaurant bug when he took a job a bartaco Westport as a dishwasher. It wasn’t long until he was offered an opportunity to cook on the line. It was onward and upward after that. “I was hungry to succeed,” he says. “It took me two years before I became the executive chef of bartaco in Stamford. In 2016, I transferred to Barcelona Wine Bar. I worked in Norwalk, D.C., Denver, and Philly.”

After his long stint with the Barteca Restaurant Group, Bollat worked as the kitchen director at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, then with Hudson Grille in White Plains, and he helped out at Hudson’s other concept, Lilly’s.

Right around the time Bollat made the decision to do his own thing, the pandemic hit. “It was hard to open a restaurant, so we decided to open a food trailer,” he says. “The plan was to have a Latin BBQ fusion concept. A lot of the techniques and spices we use are influenced by Central and South American cultures.”

And that’s how Bombar’BQ was born.


45+ Spots for Easter Treats in CT: Cookies, Chocolates, Cakes, Bunnies & More

Restaurant Features Easter Holiday Dessert Cookies Chocolate

April Guilbault

Bunnies and chicks and eggs, oh my. So much chocolate, so many jelly beans. Our baskets will runneth over. We’ve got the classics and have also found some new and unusual Easter treats for you to enjoy. If anyone you love is not on this list, feel free to add them in the comments. We all need to know great places to go for holiday treats-I think we can all agree on that. Happy Easter, everyone!

(In case you need dinner recommendations too…head to our CTbites Easter Dining Guide!)


CT Easter Dining & Catering Guide (2021 Edition)

Features Restaurant Easter Holiday Caterers Homepage

April Guilbault

Spring is springing and life is getting closer to resuming. Almost. And we’ve got a holiday on our doorstep! What are we to do for this lovely and happy holiday? Well, let’s do what we have been doing and support area restaurants, some of which are open for indoor dining and most have take away service of fabulous meal packages. Sit back, bask in the warming sun, enjoy the daffodils at your feet and have a beautiful Easter. And lest we forget…we are guessing you need some desserts and chocolate bunnies to add to your fun, so check out the CTbites Sweets and Treats Guide!

*Unless noted, all Easter specials are for Sunday, April 4th, Easter Sunday.


30+ Connecticut Restaurants & Caterers for Easter Dinner To-Go

Features Catering Holiday Easter Special Occasion Entertaining

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

We may have to stay indoors, but the Easter bunny is ready to hop on over! Easter arrives on Sunday April 12, and Connecticut restaurants are making sure that you can still enjoy the holiday to its fullest with delectable to-go meals. From a la carte to family-style to catering to heat and serve, there are options to meet every need. Check out this list of 20+ places and let us know if you hear of any other places with tasty Easter meals