Filtering by Tag: RoofTop,Rowayton

Arden’s “After Hours” Dinner Series Returns With Guest Chefs+ In Rowayton

Events Restaurant Chef's Tasting Rowayton Norwalk Pop-Up Pop-Up Dinner

Sam Schwab

Rowayton’s Arden’s is continuing their “After Hours” dinner series for the third summer in a row, and we were lucky enough to sit down with owner Jill Lukeman to get a first look at what’s to come. 

For those who aren’t familiar, Arden’s is a neighborhood cafe located in the heart of Rowayton. Its coastal decor and delicious fare makes it the perfect spot to enjoy a delicious breakfast, lunch, or cup of joe. Since opening in 2022, the team has hosted monthly dinners to expand beyond their daytime offerings. 

“We have always been passionate about entertaining our friends and hosting dinner parties at home. When we opened Arden's, we thought why not bring this same spirit to our cafe and offer something that feels like dinner at a friend's house (without the headache of planning and the clean-up!). We are also passionate about music so we incorporated a music element to make the evenings even more unique and intimate,” Lukeman shared with us.


Arden’s Opens in Rowayton with Beautiful Seasonal Breakfast & Lunch Menu

Restaurant Homepage Rowayton Openings Breakfast Lunch Farm Fresh Local Farm Coffee Sandwich Eggs

Jessica Ryan

It’s Nantucket meets the Mediterranean. Arden’s, Rowayton’s newest eatery, is a community cafe offering up simple seasonal fare that’s as beautiful as it is delicious.

Inside the beachy décor is minimalist with hints of flea-market vintage finds. You’ll find antiquated oyster tins, vases filled with vibrant fresh flowers, beechwood furniture, a curated marketplace with specialty gourmet food items, locally fabricated linens alongside local honey, assorted spices, hot chili oil in beautiful glass jars, ceramics and other wonderful finds. Wonderful, whimsical floppy rattan shades resembling oversized straw hats hang from light fixtures overhead. Arden’s welcomes you in immediately with a warm embrace that doesn’t want to let you go.

Stay a while and linger over a simple menu of salads, sandwiches and toasts. While the concept is simple the recipes are elevated using ingredients from several local purveyors including Wilton’s Millstone Farm and Darien-based Flour Water Salt Bread, Nit Noi Provisions and Ilse coffee. Ingredients matter at this health-forward café. At the helm of the kitchen is Moises Aguilar formerly with Southend Backend. Here he is tasked with delivering the ultimate flavor profile from the simplest of ingredients which he has clearly mastered.


High George Rooftop Bar Opens At The Blake Hotel in New Haven from Chef Tyler Anderson

Restaurant Openings New Haven Cocktails Bar RoofTop Patio American Celebrity Chef Homepage

James Gribbon

"I've just always wanted to be a part of it," Chef Tyler Anderson tells me as we talk about New Haven and he hands me an everything bagel spiced cracker topped with a mound of bluefish tartare. "The culinary scene is so impressive here, and you have the city culture, the music. I had to do it some day." The "it" is where we're standing, six or so stories above a corner in the southwest of downtown, on the roof of the new Blake Hotel. High George (named for the intersecting streets) is Anderson's kitchen pied-à-terre in the Elm City - open air views open now.

Chef Anderson is a familiar face at his restaurants: Millwright's, The Cook & The Bear, and Porron&Piña, and to a national audience thanks to appearances on Top Chef and Beat Bobby Flay. He is also well known to the James Beard Foundation, who have nominated him as Best Chef Northeast every year since 2013. His idea for the menu at High George is to present small plate versions of New England summer food - clams, fish, coal-fired skewers - inexpensively, adding culinary interest through twists on flavors and presentation. Fried whole belly clams? Absolutely, and served wrapped in soft bao, the easier to knock back in a few bites while holding a cocktail in the other hand. Anderson and A.J. Aurrichio have brought on Tim Cabral as the third partner, using his experience at Ordinary to create cocktails in keeping with the light menu because this is, after all, a rooftop bar.


CT Guide to Outdoor Dining (2019): 100 + Restaurants for Summer

Features Restaurant Best of CT Outdoor Dining Summer Patio RoofTop

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

Summer lasts for about six weeks, and I want to soak up every glorious morsel of sunshine that I can while it is here!  I also want to partake in the delicious food the season has to offer.  Connecticut restaurants are making sure that we don’t have to choose between those two options.  Places across the state are opening up their patios, decks, and rooftop bars.  Here is a lift of over 130 restaurants where you can fine al fresco this summer.

Tavern on State, New Haven: Tavern on State, owned by Chef Emily Mingrone, is one of the latest to join the dozens of exceptional restaurants in the New Haven area.  There are 45 seats outdoors.

Birdman Juke Joint, Bridgeport: The much-anticipated restaurant from Chef Chris Scott will have some outdoor seating in Bridgeport’s Black Rock neighborhood.

High George, New Haven: High George, located at The Blake Hotel in New Haven, is a new three-season rooftop restaurant that features a full food and beverage menu inspired by Summers in New England.  James Beard-nominated Chef Tyler Anderson, along with partners A.J. Aurrichio and Tim Cabral, is overseeing its operations. 

Geronimo Tequila Bar & Southwest Grill, Fairfield & New Haven: The Fairfield location of Geronimo Tequila Bar & Southwest Grill has a large patio for al fresco dining with firepits for cold evenings.  In New Haven, enjoy their heated patio that is enclosed for year-round dining. 

Shell and Bones Oyster Bar, New Haven: Shell & Bones Oyster Bar in New Haven has a fabulous view of the water with floor to ceiling doors that are open in summer and a deck directly on the water complete with fire pits and patio heaters for chilly nights.  Dive into their Harbor Sampler or the Tower of Shells, with lobsters, clams, oysters, and shrimp. 


Bar Zorro, Evarito's Rooftop Bar in Downtown South Norwalk, Your New Summer Spot!

Restaurant Norwalk South Norwalk Openings RoofTop Bar Cocktails Mexican

Andrew Dominick

If you’re strolling around South Norwalk, flip your Ray-Ban aviators on and glance up at the corner of N Main and Washington streets. You see that? The string lights, and oh, wait, there are people up there! And they’re drinking! They’re clearly having fun but you’re down there being lame. Go into Evarito’s and take the elevator to the roof. The doors open, you walk up the ramp’s slight incline, and you’re instantly transported to a tropical oasis. Brightly colored drinks are flowing, cans of Corona are being popped open, and tacos are getting crushed in three bites or less. I bet you feel the opposite of lame. Your cool factor just increased tenfold. 

Welcome to Bar Zorro! 


A Lesson In Sustainable Seafood: Rowayton Seafood & Copps Island Oysters

Features Seafood Sustainable Norwalk Events Rowayton Local Farm Local Artisan

Jessica Ryan

Last week I had the privilege of attending a truly wonderful and informative dinner at Wakeman Town Farm on the importance of sustainable seafood. We first heard from Norm Bloom of Copp’s Island Oysters, followed by Kevin Conroy, owner of The Restaurant at Rowayton Seafood and the Rowayton Seafood Fish Market. He was joined by Chef Charles Hoffman the restaurant’s executive chef who prepared a most memorable meal. 

The Blooms have been in the oyster business since the 1940s and currently operate one of the last standing traditional oyster farms in the United States. Norm Bloom and Son is a fourth generation family-owned farm that prides itself on high quality, consistent and sustainable products. They have a fleet of 15 boats and their dedicated crew harvests oysters and clams year round from the deep, cold, and nutrient-rich waters along the coast of Connecticut.


SAILS American Grill Opens in Rowayton

Restaurant American Norwalk Rowayton Lunch

Christy Colasurdo

When the River Cat shuttered its doors in March, after 12 years on Rowayton’s main drag, the closure of the beloved neighborhood restaurant and bar left a gaping hole in Rowayton’s dining and social scene. 

So when I returned to check out the recently launched SAILS, a new American bistro with a spiffed up nautical vibe, I wasn’t surprised that the highly polished teak bar was three-deep with old-timers and new fans, making themselves right at home in a familiar, yet completely transformed haunt.