Chances are you’ve seen Japanese souffle pancakes on Instagram or TikTok – tall, thick and fluffy confections that jiggle at the slightest movement, topped with maple syrup, powdered sugar and berries. These have been hard to find in Connecticut, but they’re on the menu at a Simsbury Asian-fusion cafe that opened earlier this year.
Blossom Cafe owners Amanda Liu and Albert Zhang traveled through Asia last summer and fell in love with the cafe cultures in the countries they visited, coming back home to Connecticut inspired by what they’d seen.
Tim Shanley admittedly had butterflies right before he opened his small taproom in Port Chester.
“I was talking to a childhood friend that I’ve known for 50 years and told him ‘I’m nervous,’” Shanley says. “He said to me, ‘What are you nervous for? When you were in eighth grade, you bought a blitz beer ball (a plastic jug that holds around five gallons) and you charged $2 a person for people to come into your mom’s backyard to drink.’”
Ahead of Run & Hide Brewing Co.’s public opening, that recollection put Shanley’s mind at ease. He then recalled throwing keggers for upwards of a few thousand students and going through a couple hundred kegs when he attended SUNY New Paltz and bands like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones rocked the campus.
Those who are newly familiar with Nick Di Bona’s namesake Bona Bona Ice Cream should know he’s not just an ice cream man.
It’s no surprise that Di Bona’s small batch Italian interpretation of American ice cream has taken off. Nutella S’mores, Italian Rainbow Cookie, and Key Lime Pie are a few, but throw in Bona Bona’s signature toasted meringue topping, and it’s not only delicious, it’s highly photographable.
Oui, oui! You did hear correctly. There is a new French bistro on the block in South Norwalk and it goes by the name of Appetit Bistro.
And while it may be new to Connecticut, it may not be new to some of its residents. For six years and counting, Appetit Bistro has been a staple in the village of Port Chester.
For Montoya—who co-owns the restaurant with executive chef Ismael Carias—opening a second location three towns and a city away from the original was a no-brainer because of the fanfare they’ve received from the state that’s a stone’s throw away.
So, with that, they’re bringing all the duck a l'orange, chicken paillard, steak frites, and buttery, garlicky escargot you can handle, right to the center of SoNo.
But the pair’s French theme didn’t simply happen just because.
“He (Ismael) ran the kitchen at Crew in Greenwich,” Montoya says. “And I fell in love with French food when I started working at L’escale back in 2002. It was my first job ever and I loved it. I was there for five years. I ended up managing BLT Steak in White Plains and we opened our desired concept because we knew we would be the only French bistro in Port Chester.”
Their love letter to French food is evident at Appetit. Dishes are sometimes classic. The steak frites certainly is. Hard seared hangar steak, crusty on the outside, cool red on the inside, and tender as all hell—whatever that means to you. It’s served as it should be with a pile of salty shoestring fries and some frizzled onions that await the residuals of what should be a generous pour of the black peppercorn sauce. It’s always my ideal French meal when paired with a bold merlot or a strong Sazerac depending on the night. Most often for me, it’s the Saz.
As city-bound commuters dash to and fro’ and the pulse of the city continues to thrive, the Port Chester railroad station, a landmark since 1890, stands as a symbol of where we’ve been and where we’re going. Today, this turn of the century building is home to Our House Restaurant Group’s newest venture, Station House. In keeping with this dynamic restaurant group’s approach to hospitality, as seen with their popular Rye House Port Chester and Manhattan taverns, and last year’s mega outdoor hit, Village Beer Garden, Station House offers that same neighborhood vibe, this time, it comes rooted in history and coal-fired pizza.ctb
Four years. That’s the time Tyler Anderson devoted to perfecting his signature dish, Tapioca Custard. A lush confection of clams, bacon, onion, potato and fennel, the delicacy perfectly defines the wizardry of this celebrated chef … a magical spin on homespun.
The small portion is intentionally introductory, a riff on a classic New England starter. As if by sorcery, the custard conjures “all the flavors of clam chowder.”
Anderson conceived the dish as a tribute to the meal – and the moment -- that super-charged his culinary life. “I went to the French Laundry in 1997 when Tomas Keller was in the kitchen,” he recalls. “Up to then I had been cooking mainly to meet women and go drinking with my buddies.”
He began the feast with Keller’s classic, Oysters and Pearls, a sabayon of pearl tapioca with beau soleil oysters and white sturgeon caviar.
“I took the first bite,” he remembers. “And at that exact second understood that cooking could be more than just cooking.” He pauses and grins. “It made me smile. I was happy. I now had a passion to make people happy.”
Simsbury, a bucolic community nestled in the Farmington Valley about 25 minutes north of bustling Hartford, has rarely been considered a culinary hotspot. But unexpectedly, this former mill town is now home to what many critics deem the best new restaurant in Connecticut: Present Company, a small, rustic eatery located in what was once a horse stable astride the Farmington River.
Here the unexpected comes as no surprise. Consider the auspices of its co-owner, Jeffrey Lizotte, the acclaimed former chef at Hartford’s lux On20. His resume includes stints at Eric Ripert’s Le Bernadin and David Bouley’s Danube in New York, and two of France’s highly regarded restaurants, La Rupina in Bordeaux and the Michelin-starred La Bastide St. Antoine in Grasse. After all those glittering dining rooms, what is an award winning chef doing at a relaxed 49 seat venue in what some might call “The Sticks”?
The folks from Rye House wanted to share some recent updates. This is not a CTbites review but a head's up to restaurants in the area.
Located in a historical building, circa 1890, whose antique brick façade and grand door arches frame the corner of Willett Avenue and North Main Street in the New York City suburb of Port Chester, Rye House (opened in 2015) is named after the American distilled spirit and the spirit of an American neighborhood tavern. Spearheaded by Our House Hospitality, whose eating and drinking establishments include the original Rye House and Sala One Nine, Tapas Bar & Restaurant, both located in the Flatiron district of New York. Rye House Port Chester pulls no punches – instead, it offers a break from the norm, with good food and drink at the forefront.
Last week I accepted an invitation to experience the newly opened Saltaire Oyster Bar and Fish House which recently opened in Port Chester just over the Greenwich border. Located in the beautifully restored Willet House Building which has been redesigned and transformed into a bright contemporary restaurant with a wealth of historic nautical charm. The bar area, vibrant, energetic and spacious has a modern yet traditional feel. An impressive raw bar sits at the center, welcoming patrons as they settle in ready to place their drink orders. Two televisions sit on the opposite side of the bar so that sports enthusiasts can cheer on their favorite teams. The dining room, despite its grand and impressive size, is warm and welcoming. The antique hay lifts and wood beams retain the space’s history. Handsome black and white photographs of fishermen at sea capture authentic coastal life. The elegant yet rustic lighting casts a warm glow off the brick. The restaurant isn’t quiet; a lively energy permeates the air.
After undergoing a full renovation and transformation into the first ever food hall, beer pavilion and garden in one venue, Port Chester Railroad Station is proud to announce the opening of PORT CHESTER HALL & BEER GARDEN.
The Hall will be pouring 12 unique craft beer selections, created by Kelly Taylor, Director of Brewing for Port Chester Hall (in addition to Houston Hall and Flatiron Hall in Manhattan). These specialty beer styles include English, Belgian, German, and American, however all use mostly American ingredients. In addition to the proprietary beer selection, the Hall is serving imaginative cocktails by the in-house mixologist, as well as top shelf spirits and a variety of wines.
The station's historic architecture, originally designed in 1890, was preserved and retooled with vintage lighting, seating, and century-old murals. The Pavilion combines the original railroad steel design with communal wood tables and a towering stone fireplace.
Good news for people with Celiacs Disease or those going gluten free. Turns out...bartaco Restaurant is almost completely gluten free! We sent our roving reporter, 9 year old Maizy Boosin, who suffers from Celiac, to test out the menu. See what she found out below...
When bartaco opened its first location in Pt. Chester, NY last year, the goal was to serve simple, tasty food in a stylish yet relaxed environment. After having expanded to locations in Stamford, CT and West Hartford, CT, bartaco continues to fulfill its original goal with a considerable bonus: the vast majority of its menu happens to be gluten free.
Last night, 35 or so lucky CTbites readers participated in the Inaugural "CTBites Invites" event at bartaco in Port Chester, NY. The "Invites," offer CTBites customers unique culinary experiences in the form of special restaurant "happenings" and special product purchasing opportunities. You sign up while the offer lasts, you pay on line and you're in. Simple as that. At last night's event, those who signed up were treated to a TACOS and TEQUILA and a whole lot more.
Thanks to Bartaco, your brunch options just got a whole lot more interesting. Lazy weekends, newsprint-stained hands, Bloody Marys and now tacos are firmly in the domain of this weekend morning ritual.
The popular Port Chester taco joint owned by the Barcelona Group, has recently unleashed a brunch menu for Saturdays and Sundays that is a fitting extension of the brand’s signature breezy Mexican beach food. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this scene, think Mexican street food influenced by the tides (and an enviable location on the Byram River) with a backdrop fit for a Hampton's weekend of beach-going and people watching minus the traffic on the LIE.
