The Search for Tony Pizza Napolitano’s Elusive Square Pie Features Ingredients Interview Pizza Weston Westport Pop-Up Homepage Interview Andrew Dominick May 15, 2024 The elusiveness of certain limited foods only makes me want THAT particular thing even more. That’s exactly how I felt trying to track down Anthony Kesselmark’s square pizzas, aka, the grandma pie. Read More
Joe Criscuolo Opens Luca’s Pizzeria in Greenwich's Glenville Section Features Interview Restaurant Pizza Italian Greenwich Takeout Openings Homepage Interview Andrew Dominick May 10, 2024 When trying to come up with the “what is it?” as it pertains to his new pizzeria in Greenwich’s Glenville section, Joe Criscuolo uttered the phrase, “it’s the evolution of the neighborhood slice shop, without the slices.” That’s exactly what Luca’s Pizzeria—named after Joe’s father, who founded the legendary Pizza Post in Cos Cob back in 1972—is all about. You won’t find doughy pizza that sits in your stomach like a brick. No wilted, colorless salads either. The cheesesteak, served on pizza bread? It’s not as dry as cardboard.And to think, Criscuolo, who you don’t only know from his family’s Pizza Post, but Meatball & Co. in Darien, almost didn’t open anything. The reality is, he almost left the state, and country, altogether. Read More
Connecticut Restaurant Confidential: Strange Stories, Odd Orders, + Twisted Tales in the Industry Vol. 2: Pizzerias Features Interview Restaurant Homepage Pizza Restaurants Chefs Customers Andrew Dominick January 02, 2024 It was about time this ridiculous, limited (but slowly working on more) series returned to bring you more of the weird, bizarre, and funny tales in the restaurant industry.And while edition number one was a hodgepodge of stories from chefs that you know in the general area, this version has a focus…PIZZERIAS!This one’s got a few longer stories that I promise are worth reading, a Wu Tang sighting, one video of a chef busting his ass, and plenty of weird customer orders.And if you’re wondering what volume three might look like, we’re hitting up bartenders because we know there’s plenty of tea there.But for now…PIZZAAAAAAA! Read More
John Nealon Opens Crust Issues in Norwalk Featuring Pan Pizzas Features Interview Restaurant Norwalk Pizza Homepage Interview Italian Andrew Dominick December 21, 2023 Roll into the former Davinci’s Pizza (or Cosmos if we take it back to 1985) at 60 Connecticut Avenue, and it’s a way different vibe than it used to be.Quirky artificial intelligence cartoons, featuring pizza, are pasted in the entryway. Sawed off cookbook bindings are the art on the walls. A black and white photo of Marco Pierre White stares at you if you glance to your right. Read More
My Favorite Dish: Grigg Street Pizza’s Dry Aged Cheesesteak Interview Ingredients Restaurant Favorite Dish cheesesteaks cheesesteak Pizza Greenwich Andrew Dominick October 03, 2023 Dave Portnoy’s 8.2 score of Grigg Street’s popular sour dough pizza was ehhh…good. Could’ve been higher even by a smidge in my opinion, but anything in the “8s” is a fine rating.What Dave wasn’t wrong about, though, was scoring Grigg’s cheesesteak a full point higher at a 9.2, and despite being on a major pizza eating and scoring tour, he kept going back for another bite, saying, “This is great. You weren’t fuckin’ around.”Portnoy dove in with his mouth. I’m about to dive into this haute “Philly” by giving you the culinary facts behind it.To get the skinny on this appropriately greasy, pungently cheesy, slightly spicy, and beefy sandwich, I caught up with my homie, Grigg Street Pizza co-owner and chef, Matthew Watson. Read More
SoNo Wood Fired Opens in South Norwalk: Neapolitan Pizza + Italian Soul Food Features Interview Restaurant Norwalk South Norwalk Pizza Neapolitan pizza Homepage Italian Openings Andrew Dominick March 12, 2023 Thin crust. Roman style. Pan pizza. Bar pies. Artisan. Grilled. Foldable New York slices.Norwalk has all of that. And you can insert your own quip about there being “too much Italian” if you want.What Norwalk has been missing in its dining history is a true wood-fired Neapolitan pizzeria.Check that. “Had been missing.”Newly opened on N Main Street is SoNo Wood Fired, where owner and pizzaiolo Besnar Kaba ferments, forms, stretches, and tops each pie, then slides each one using a long peel into his 800° Forza Forni Pavesi.Kaba is meticulous about it, though. He will only cook three or so doughs at a time, turning them feverishly for 90 seconds to two minutes, to achieve that perfect leopard spotted char that’s indicative of a proper Neapolitan pie. Read More
Dante's Pizza in New Canaan: Finally Entering the Inferno Features Interview Restaurant Pizza New Canaan Dante's Pizza Andrew Dominick November 24, 2022 On several occasions, chef Tim LaBant has suggested we check out Dante’s Pizza in New Canaan.“Have you been to Dante’s?”“Have you been to Dante’s yet?”“You gotta try Dante’s. I’d be curious to see what you think.”Before he mentioned it to me a year ago, I hadn’t even heard of Dante’s. I live pretty close to New Canaan, and what’s worse is I frequently visit my favorites there, namely the South Ends, Elm, Locali, and I’ve eaten an obscene amount of Joe’s Pizza. Read More
Old Mill Grocery & Deli: Rescued and Reopened in Westport Features Interview Restaurant Westport Deli Sandwich Sandwiches Pizza Beach Eats Openings Old Mill Grocery The Granola Bar Homepage Andrew Dominick August 13, 2022 On the heels of a slick renovation at their Rye, NY location, The Granola Bar founders, Julie Mountain and Dana Noorily are at it again. This time, however, their focus is in Westport. No, not at their flagship of TGB, but in the Compo Beach area at Old Mill Grocery & Deli.Old Mill, though, is a very different venture for this dynamic duo. But before Mountain and Noorily could put their magic touch on this neighborhood gem, a lot had to happen.First, the building that was built in 1919—which had been many iterations of Old Mill and a few Elvira’s in an over 100 year span—needed to be saved after the owners up to last year, Betsy and Hal Kravitz, moved out of Westport, putting a longtime neighborhood favorite at risk of being purchased and demolished for what likely would have been another beach area home. Read More
Swyft Revisited: Tavern Fare, Fine Dining, and What's Up with Ore Hill Features Interview Restaurant Swyft Kent Swyft Kent Pizza burgers Homepage Fine Dining Ore Hill Andrew Dominick April 29, 2022 So much has changed since we last covered Swyft’s modern tavern concept located on Kent’s main drag.Like most restaurants, Swyft had to deal with pandemic restrictions. But unlike most restaurants, they had to get up off the mat three more times. Lauded chef and partner Joel Viehland parted ways with Swyft around the time COVID shutdowns hit Connecticut.Mere weeks after Viehland’s exit, Swyft’s owner, philanthropist Anne Bass, sadly passed away on April 1, 2020, after a battle with ovarian cancer.And if that wasn’t enough, dynamo pastry chef Anthony D’Amelio went off to pursue other goals sometime last year.We know, that’s a lot to take in.According to Allison Mitchell—who’s essentially Swyft’s Swiss Army Knife as she handles social media, does photography, coordinates events, waits tables, bartends, and somehow fits in marketing duties—Swyft went through a “huge overhaul.” Read More
B.J. Ryan’s East Takes Over Norwalk's Legendary Partner’s Cafe & Pizzeria Features Interview Restaurant Norwalk Homepage Bar Pizza Pub Openings Andrew Dominick March 18, 2022 When you hear that a legendary hometown restaurant is ending its run after almost 40 years, a flood of memories tend to hit you. Suddenly, I was a kid again, sitting on a barstool next to my father. He’d chug away at a Heineken while I sipped on bubbly cola straight from the soda gun. Thin-ish, crispy crust bar pizzas—likely extra cheese, pepperoni, or both—were involved, too.Even as an adult, I’d occasionally grab a couple pies from Partner’s Cafe & Pizzeria to-go. Every time I drove by, I’d think about pizza, soda, my dad, and feeling pretty damn cool sitting at the bar.Thankfully, for me, and I’m sure for a hell of a lot of Norwalkers, Partner’s gets to live on thanks to B.J. Lawless and Keith Torpey, under a new name, but with intentions to preserve the bar’s neighborhood “where everybody knows your name” charm. Read More
Atticus Market: New Haven Has A New Pizza Contender Features Interview New Haven New Haven Pizza Pizza New Haven Homepage Atticus Market Bakery Pop-Up Andrew Dominick January 23, 2022 “If this is good, people might throw bricks through the window. It would be a badge of honor.”The “this” that Brian Lance is referring to is the twice weekly pizza pop-up that goes down on Thursday and Friday at Atticus Market in New Haven’s East Rock neighborhood.Lance—who serves as Atticus’ bakery manager—knows that taking on pizza in New Haven could be viewed as crazy, but he, along with chef Matthew Wick and their staff have created something that’s both current and pays tribute to the city’s pizza style.They also know if they were going to tackle pizza, they needed a stellar dough recipe. Read More
The Spread and El Segundo Owners Open Magic Five Pie Co. in East Norwalk Features Interview Restaurant Pizza Norwalk Cocktails Homepage Andrew Dominick January 02, 2022 As if Carlos Baez wasn’t slammed enough as a partner and executive chef of The Spread and two El Segundo restaurants, he has added another gig to the mix as a pizzaiolo.Located at the East Norwalk train station in a lower level of the new Brim & Crown apartments is Magic Five Pie Co., a name that stands for the five owners including Baez, Chris Hickey, Christopher Rasile, Andrey Cortes, and Shawn Longyear.But from New American at The Spread and global street food at El Segundo, to pizza?Baez simply wanted to challenge himself to not only to learn to make something different, but he also wanted to make his favorite food. “Pizza is my favorite thing to eat,” he says. “If I knew a meal was going to be my last, it would be a good pie.” Read More
The Quartiere Debuts in Downtown Stamford Interview Features Restaurant Italian Stamford Pasta Pizza Openings Homepage Andrew Dominick September 05, 2021 If you’ve cruised down Bank Street in Downtown Stamford, you may have noticed there’s a new Italian restaurant located in the former Cotto Wine Bar space.The Quartiere—roughly translated is Italian for neighborhood, area, or district—aims to be a go-to spot for pizza, pasta, and the like, in an elevated, casual setting with affordable prices.“The Q” is owned by Martin Bates, a 30-year industry vet from the United Kingdom where he ran an umbrella of 400 pubs, bars, and restaurants before taking on the role of president at a well-known sandwich and coffee franchise.“I worked for a brewery in the U.K. that owned all these pubs; I was all over the country driving 60,000 miles a year, living out of a suitcase, I never saw my kids, and they kept buying all these businesses while I was burning myself out,” Bates says. “I took a sabbatical for a year, traveled, went to Spain. I eventually met the founder of Pret A Manger who offered me a job where I ran a chunk of the businesses. I came to NYC in 2007 to run Pret.”Post Pret, Bates started his own private restaurant consulting firm, Ellis Rowan, and continued to open restaurant all over.Three years ago, Bates decided he’d eventually like to open up something of his own. “I was looking for my thing,” he says. “I started looking into neighborhood Italian because I love this style of pizza and pasta. I’m a carb freak. I love it.” Read More
Rosina’s Opens in Greenwich with Elevated Old School Italian Features Interview Restaurant Italian Greenwich Cocktails Pizza Pasta Homepage Andrew Dominick August 29, 2021 There’s a rejuvenated buzz in Byram’s business district at the old digs once housed Mill Street Bar & Table and before it, Lolita Cucina.The sounds of chatter and laughter, forks clanking and squealing against bowls, and hungry patrons slurping peppery, parm covered cacio e pepe are all coming from Rosina’s, a new Italian restaurant brought to you by a couple of young industry veterans you should recognize.Rosina’s is the creation of Jared Falco and Coby Blount, who met at Fortina’s Armonk location in 2014. Falco helped run the show in the kitchen, while Blount managed front-of-house operations. “We’ve been trying to do something together for five years,” Falco says. “When we met, we clicked and always had mutual respect for each other. Even if we had it out, we could still be cool.”The pair had a dream to work together, they just needed it to come together. Separately, they kept honing their crafts in the restaurant industry. After his first stint at Fortina, Falco took up executive chef duties at Washington Prime, Amore, Speedy Romeo, and he’d return to Fortina to express his creativity as a co-culinary director. And there’s a chance you’ve come across Blount at SE Uncorked or East End to name a few.Their friendship kept them in touch, and they’d occasionally entertain meetings with possible investors.“They didn’t have what we wanted,” Falco says. They wanted Sophia Loren on the walls eating spaghetti and that’s not us.” Blount chimes in, “Some of them wanted to use other people’s ideas or rip them off completely,” he says. “It didn’t feel like what we wanted to do. Or they wanted to do something corny that we weren’t into.”What they wanted to do was classic but refined Italian food. And although it took a few years to come up with the concept, it’s the food Falco has been cooking for over a decade. Think along the lines of riffs on traditional pasta dishes, big salads, thin and crispy pizzas, and seasonal vegetable small plates. They also knew they wanted to be a neighborhood spot with affordable prices but with a handful of indulgent offerings if the mood should strike you. Read More
Food & Drink Podcast: An Interview with Letizia's Pizza in Norwalk Interview Features Interview Podcast Pizza Ken Tuccio July 19, 2018 In Connecticut when you think "pizza" a few places immediately come to mind, but Ken Tuccio has always championed Letizia's Pizza in Norwalk as the best pizza in Connecticut. Well, it seems like other people are jumping on the Letizia's train, because they just beat out "the big boys" and were crowned 2018 Best of the Gold Coast for pizza. Ken sits with Danny, Dennis and Dave from Letizia's to talk about their 20 years making pies in Norwalk, the struggles they faced as a business and what it means to finally be recognized as the best. Listen in here. Read More
10 Questions w/ Chef Mario LaPosta of Tarry Lodge Interview Restaurant Chef Talk Italian Pizza Westport CTbites Team December 27, 2012 Mario LaPosta is the self proclaimed "pizza obsessed" Chef @ Tarry Lodge in Westport. Here are a few things you probably didn't know about this pizzaioli whose Margherita pizza placed in the top ten of the world pizza championships. Plus: Don't miss Mario's recipe for Mussels En Scapece. Marinated Mussels with wine, saffron and red wine vinegar (seen below). If you had unexpected guests arriving at your home for dinner in 1 hour, what would you whip up? I would make homemade sauce and meatballs. Sunday sauce is something that my family has been blessed with making exceptionally well; it is easy to make in an hour by substituting meatballs instead of slow cooking beef or pork. What is the last dish you cooked for yourself? Turkey Chili, in an effort to lose weight so I can fit into a tux on my wedding day, and in honor to watching my Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. What are your guilty pleasures in terms of food? I dream about food 24/7 so everything tends to be a guilty pleasure for me, but I like the combination of sweet and savory; Pork Belly with Apple Mostarda at Tarry Lodge and Foie Gras with Cinco Cebollas at Casa Mono represent this best. Read More
10 Questions w/ Matt Stanczak of Stanziato's in Danbury Interview Restaurant Chef Talk Danbury Pizza Amy Kundrat July 19, 2011 Matt Stanczak is chef and owner of Danbury's two-year-old Stanziato's Wood-fired pizza. Trained at the Culinary Institute of America, he has worked for the last decade as both a private chef and for restaurants in New York City and Westchester but now, and thankfully for us, he calls Danbury home. Stanczak’s contemporary take on on the classic Neopolitan pizza is one of the most outstanding in the state. His puffy charred crusts, devotion to local ingredients and seasonality as well as his nightly specials with their intuitive pairings have made me literally pound the table in delight. 1. If you had unexpected guests arriving at your home for dinner in one hour, what would you whip up? This time of year I'm definitely thinking a fresh Guacamole....Avacodos from my favorite Latino bodega, Lots of freshly squeezed Lime Juice, Onion, maybe a chopped up jalapeno, sea salt, and lots and lots of cilantro! Simple, Fresh, Delicious. 2. What is the last dish you cooked for yourself? Read More
