You’re visiting your favorite Neapolitan pizzeria. Almost always, the person “manning” the wood-fired oven is, well, a man. Shattering that mold is Alexandra Castro, whose love story with pizza began when she was a kid in her home country of Colombia. Making pizza in her youth, must have sparked something, because Castro went to culinary school, worked her way through the industry, and ultimately landed her locally at The Inn at Pound Ridge by Jean-Georges, and after that, as head chef at Pizzeria Magpie in Montreal, known for its Neapolitan pizza.
New Haven’s Graduate by Hilton Hotel is about a mile’s walk from Wooster Street, and in fact has a “pizza pay phone” in its lobby, with a direct line to Sally’s Apizza. But downstairs at its bar, a Connecticut dad has turned his own passion for pizza into a weekend pop-up with a loyal following.
Joe Pangia’s Three Sons Pizza got its start at Old Heidelberg last May, offering fresh-baked 16-inch pies and slices out of its bar kitchen on weekends. Pangia, who lives in Middletown, is an insurance professional and avid home cook who began to perfect his pizza recipes during the pandemic, working on the dough, sauce and toppings and asking for feedback from friends and family.
Gioia, Italian restaurant, market, gelateria and rooftop space located at 150 Wooster Street, New Haven, has just launched “The Red Sauce Joint by Gioia” in its rooftop dining and bar space. Running from January 31 – April 27, the fully-enclosed and heated space will be transformed into an inviting, nostalgic space inspired by classic and beloved Italian American eateries. The seasonal activation will blend this timeless culture and treasured environment – including red and white checkered tables, warm string lights, classic Italian greenery, Chianti bottles and cured Italian food products - with Gioia’s signature charm, warmth and fun, and a menu featuring classic and familiar Italian American cuisine and beverages.
The special pop-up food and beverage menu will include Eggplant Parm, Beef Carpaccio, Spaghetti sandwich, Fried Mutz with marinara, Clam Casino style Arancini and classic pastas preparations including Alfredo, a la Vodka and Lasagna Bolognese. Dessert options such as fun interpretations on a classic Cannoli featuring a Tiramisu filling and Olive Oil Cake with a Limoncello Zabaglione will be featured. The beverage program will include Italian wines by the jelly jar glass, a Winter Spritz, a coffee-steeped “Corsica Negroni” with Gin and a fun and playful twist on the “Godfather Cocktail.” Shared dish options will encourage communal dining, and classic and interactive dining elements will surprise guests.
Foxwoods Resort Casino will be hosting a pop up on February 1st with Iron Chef Morimoto ahead of his ramen restaurant, Momosan’s, official opening this spring.
This event is open to the public and guests will have the opportunity to meet Chef Morimoto and try some of his signature tonkotsu ramen between 12-2pm and 4-6pm at the Grand Pequot Tower Rotunda.
DETAILS
What: Meet and Greet & Food Sampling with Iron Chef Morimoto
When: Saturday, February 1, 2024, 12:00-2:00pm & 4:00-6:00pm at the Grand Pequot Tower Rotunda
Where:Foxwoods Grand Pequot Tower Rotunda, 350 TROLLEY LINE BOULEVARD, MASHANTUCKET
If you live in the Westport area, you will likely be familiar with Chef Matt Storch’s high end market, Saugatuck Provisions, offering customers a curated selection of the very best ingredients from the land, sea and grocery. The store features nose-to-tail butchery, the best seafood around, and cool gourmet seasonings, sauces and take-home sides enabling guests to create beautiful restaurant quality meals at home. But for those of us who don’t like to cook, Storch has something exciting launching Oct 29th. It’s a new way to experience Saugatuck Provisions, and it’s called Provisions After Dark.
Sick of the monotony of cooking and eating red meat and chicken, day in and day out? Hoping to step outside of your culinary comfort zone and venture into the world of seafood and all the delicious possibilities that await you? Well, we’ve got you covered! No matter what part of Connecticut you call home, or “summer home,” there is sure to be a fishmonger in your area, just waiting to help you pick out the fish that most suits your needs. Many of these locations source local and sustainably-caught fish, whether you want a flaky, white fish or a more oily fish, shellfish, or even mollusks, these fishmongers have it all! Many also offer a wide variety of pre-made meals and seafood platters that are perfect for a seafood party extravaganza. When you shop at neighborhood fish markets, you’re doing yourself, your family, small businesses, and the environment an incredible favor. Who could ask for more? Shop local fishmongers today…like right now
Moby Dick’s needs your help. The small-but-mighty bar/restaurant, which is quickly gaining fame as one of West Haven’s hottest spots, is trying to hit the one million mark by the end of 2024: that is, 1,000,000 oysters shucked and supped. So far this year Moby’s has served about 150,000, each with a squeeze of lemon, a bit of cocktail sauce, a drizzle of mignonette, and lots of fun.
Where else but Moby’s would you find food and drink specials every day of the week, including an $8 burger platter on Mondays and, on Wednesdays, a solo lobster roll with brown butter on a properly grilled hot dog bun, plus fries on the side, for $18? Tuesdays there are raw bar bargains, while a full sushi bar is featured on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. It’s no wonder that Moby Dick’s has racked up “best-of” awards, including “Best Seafood” by the Chamber of Commerce, since opening in 2022.
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.
CTbites is excited to be the Media Sponsor for an incredible dining event going down on June 22nd, DINNER ON MARKLE, “Cultivating Seeds of Community.”BUY TICKETS HERE
29 Markle Court, awarded “Best New Restaurant” at the 2023 “Crazies Awards” is taking the “Outstanding In The Field” concept and bringing that long communal table dining experience to the streets of downtown Bridgeport. This is going to be an unforgettable event you will not want to miss.
The community dinner, "Dinner on Markle," will be held Saturday June 22nd, 3-8PM and the experience will span the entirely of Markle Ct in front of the restaurant. Chef Damon Daye and Wesley Arbuthnot have created an evening filled with local artists, creative drinks, live music and a four-course dinner al fresco that will focus on the bounty the season has to offer from our local CT farms.
The evening will be set under the stars, surrounded by an exhibit of incredible community art brought to you by Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County.
“Cultivating Seeds of Community” will elevate local creativity, community, and art. A portion of the proceeds will benefit “The Green Village Initiative” and “The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County.”
Connecticut continues to be a dominant player in the food and beverage industries proving that we’re so much more than pizza and beer. With the rising number of award-winning and nationally acclaimed restaurants, it just makes sense that we celebrate the role that our oysters play in our culinary prowess
CTBites was invited to a special press event as Connecticut Tourism’s department, CTVisit, unveiled the launch of The Connecticut Oyster Trail celebrating all things oysters from the farmers who raise them to the restaurants and stores that sell them. Popularity in Connecticut oysters has certainly blossomed over the past few years and there’s good reason.
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.
Back in 2018 when Christian Burns opened Evarito’s on the corner of N Main Street, just past the 50 Washington Street building, “Hola!” was the restaurant’s catchy little social media term. Six years later, Burns, and the public, can say “Hola!” to the new concept that inhabits 14 N Main, The Pompano.
Before we get to what The Pompano is all about, a lot of folks are itching to know why Evarito’s is no more after announcing its last days earlier in 2024. While there were a few factors, the simplest answer is they never fully got back on track financially after 2020.
“We just did OK,” Burns explains. “We were popping in 2019. In the winter, we still had a crowd. Then we never really popped out of COVID the same way. 2021 came and it was less (customers). 2022 came and it was even less. I knew it was time for a change and I thought Evarito’s had run its course.”
Burns—who you know from The Ginger Man and Cask Republic locations—had to think about if he wanted to relaunch the Evarito’s space, and if so, what would he want it to be. Travel was that inspiration. If Evarito’s was inspired by Burns’ trips to and love of various parts of Mexico, his new idea for a restaurant would be a New England seafood restaurant meets a South Florida seafood restaurant.
Walking into The Luke Brasserie in downtown New Haven, it’s apparent that this isn’t your average restaurant. The soaring space exudes grandeur, boasting ornate coffered ceilings, mosaic tile floors, and a wraparound mezzanine flanked by double-height Ionic columns. Impeccably prepared Mediterranean fare is served in oversized carved crystal bowls and wide-rimmed fluted plates. Deep red leather banquettes beckon, warmed by chandeliers and flickering candles.
“I fell in love with the space when I first saw it over a decade ago, and I wanted to do it justice,” says Executive Chef Vincent Chirico, a New York City culinary veteran with three previous restaurants under his belt. Like many of us, Chirico left the city during the height of Covid and was househunting in Connecticut when he happened to reconnect with the owner of the historic Taft Building in New Haven, who was a patron of his Upper West Side restaurant Vai. Years after encountering the space the first time, Chirico found himself weighing the opportunity to open a restaurant there. The timing felt like fate, and thus The Luke was born.
On certain days on or in the vicinity of Greenwich Avenue, take a whiff of the air and the woods you smell are in fact oak and hickory. Get a little closer to Mason Street and you’ll spot blue smoke coming off a Lang and that smell won’t just be logs, it’ll be…meaty.
When I visited Fryborg in 2023 for a follow up article on its new Trumbull location and expanded menu, owner Johnathan Gibbons tossed me a tidbit that I teased at the end of that piece about a weekend morning pop up featuring something sweet.
You’ll have to drive a little ways to find some of the best sushi in Connecticut. This one isn’t in any of the tony coastal towns. Incredibly you will find it in a small strip of storefronts in Brookfield. There might not be much to do in this sleepy little town, but there is some damned good sushi to be had.
You’ve likely never heard of Amai Sushi, we hadn’t. We were tipped off by CTBites friend Chef Jeff Taibe (Taproot Restaurant) who’s quite familiar with the area. When a chef tells us they’ve eaten somewhere really good, we’re all ears, especially when it’s someplace no one seems to have heard of. So last week we took a little road trip.
In the latter part of July, I covered the opening of Taco Guy and owner Adrian Hurtado. If you read THAT article, towards the end of it, I alluded to the wood burning pizza oven being used at some point.
If you’re a regular to Taco Guy like I have been, I’m sure you’ve asked Hurtado if he was going to fire that oven up. Well, friends, that time is now.
We recently had to the opportunity to visit the newly opened RAW* restaurant in downtown Hartford. Raw* is the newest concept by Gina Lauri, founder and CEO of The Statement Group which also owns the successful The Place 2 Be restaurants. Much like its predecessors RAW* is visual eye candy with a vibrant aquatic theme. The interior boasts an artistic and modern flare which was created by mixing assorted metals, white subway tile, neon lights, fun and whimsical artwork, graffiti, and a swimming-pool blue for an ultimate industrial-meets-under-water-vibe. But there’s no need to hold your breath here. In fact you’ll want to breathe deeply and take it all in. And there’s so much to take in!
Between courses at one of his collaboration special events, Prasad Chirnomula spoke to his full dining room about creating a bond with his fellow Connecticut chefs.
“We’ve been doing this for almost a year now, bringing chefs together,” he says. “The whole point of doing this, is we, as chefs, work our asses off. We’re always back in the kitchen on Saturday nights, Sunday nights, holidays, and everything else. I’ve done my share of work, so I said to myself that I’m gonna enjoy what I did for so many years of my life. I want to create a legacy and a bond with people I recognize and know of. Even if I don’t know someone, I’ll pick up the phone, call them, and say, ‘Hey, buddy! How are you doing? Do you wanna cook together?’ This is the hardest industry to work in and food brings people together.”
