Since April of 2024, a new restaurant by the name of Rye Bird, located in the longtime former home of Isla in Fairfield, teased a tasty, affordable, neighborhood restaurant concept. Operated by Post Road Hospitality, Rye Bird officially cracked open its doors on October 19 after hosting some patio preview parties prior to its grand opening. Rye Bird’s founder and president Frank Klein hopes it’ll catch on as the “next neighborhood joint” for a bunch of reasons.
Walrus Alley owner Joe Farrell has made the move to exclude all seed oils from his menus and, he’s getting quite the education. Only a week into the experiment he’s learning on the run. The popular Southern food & burger go to in Westport is now cooking with grass fed beef tallow and avocado oil. Yep! And Joe’s committed to staying the course despite the learning curve. Sure, he’s always done that popular fried chicken in tallow, used duck fat too. But it’s the fries they’re fighting with. And he and the crew are fighting a worthy fight.
Walrus Alley uses a special potato for their fries and that’s just the beginning. “Cooking with Tallow & avocado oil is a new experience. We’re starting from scratch,” Joe revealed. “And we are doing this while we are open!”
If not for her belief of setting “unrealistic goals,” Sandra Pittman’s namesake restaurant, Sandra’s Next Generation, may not have ever been born in the first place.
Now in over 34 years with no signs of slowing down as evidenced by our Thanksgiving week visit where we witnessed the crew rapidly filling catering orders and making so much cornbread stuffing and baking hundreds of homemade pies it would blow your mind.
And even with an already booming takeout business (the restaurant is mostly takeout, but there’s a patio when the weather is nicer), Pittman’s still finds time to put the SOUL in soul food by consistently giving back to the New Haven community and all its charitable causes.
Wait. Did I say 34 years? To tell the origin story of Sandra’s, we have to take it even further back to New Haven’s Edgewood neighborhood where Pittman, whose name back then was Harris, started cooking in the first place.
You’ve just sat down at the newly opened Greer Southern Table in Norwalk. You either order a refreshing, fruity, ice cold cocktail, or you’re like me and despite it being 90 degrees, you still order an old fashioned. You scan the menu. You probably ponder over a few tasty dishes to share with your dining companions.
“I remember we had just unlocked the doors at Walrus + Carpenter, and the first two customers that came in ordered a Bud Lights and a Coors Light. I heard Adam (Patrick) go, ‘Oh, we don’t have that.’ And one of the guys goes, ‘Fuck you! You won’t last’ That was our first reaction.”
Greenwich Wine + Food has announced the culinary talent that will be participating in The Big Easy at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York on Saturday, March 4, bringing the flavors and fun of New Orleans to life. Beneficiaries include two national non-profit organizations with roots in Connecticut - The Jacques Pépin Foundation and Wholesome Wave.
This completely new, dine-around evening event will invite guests to wander the New Orleans-style grand tasting event (view complete culinary lineup below) featuring signature Cajun and Creole dishes from area chefs from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Bourbon Street’s iconic drinks such as Hurricanes and Mudslides, as well as premium wine, beer and spirits, will be served throughout the entire evening. Special ticket options will invite guests to begin their culinary travels thirty-minutes early at 6pm, a private pre-party, access to a second-floor bar and seating area, VIP parking and more.
Musical talent for the evening includes headliner Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Big Head Todd & the Monsters and Dumpstaphunk + Cyril Neville (opening the evening’s musical line-up at 6:30pm).
At the tail end of December, I woke up to a text message from Greer Fredericks saying she’s coming back to Norwalk to open a southern themed restaurant. That style of cuisine in a sit-down restaurant setting is something I’ve thought this area has had a need for ever since Fredericks closed Peaches Southern Pub & Juke Joint some years ago when she moved to New York City and opened an offshoot of Peaches in Manhattan.
Connecticut are you ready? I mean really ready. You may have fallen under the spell of what others have told you is Soul Food, but Chef Chris Scott, of TV’s Top Chef Season 15 and beloved Brooklyn restaurants Butterfunk and Sumner’s Luncheonette, is not playing around. He is giving you the real deal, with seasoning to the nth power, and a history lesson to boot. In just 48 hours of opening, the reception has been tremendous. So much so, Chef says, “I might just have to sleep down stairs for awhile.” The lines have been long and the orders have been flying out the window. Birdman Juke Joint is on everyone’s list to try. But that is the thing. You can’t, or won’t just try it. You will be swept away. Or, as the fellers I sat with at the bar did, ….you might just use every curse word imaginable to convey your newfound love.
“It’s about the chicken…” says Chef Chris Scott (Top Chef Season 15), telling his new Connecticut fan base a story at his sold out Pop Up last Thursday night. And he’s about to knock nutmeggers socks off left and right with what he calls Real Soul Food, not the “gentrified” sort we’ve heard about or tasted before. There’s a story attached to the chicken, to the greens and black-eyed peas; there’s a story about the people who originally brought us the food. Real Soul Food is not just the celebrated dishes we’ve come to know and love. Chef wants everyone to understand the heritage behind this cuisine, and really hear about the ones who toiled long and hard for the meals we know as southern soul food. It’s time we learned about the Birdman; and Chef Scott is just the one to deliver the tale. He is passionate, he is immensely knowledgeable, he is experienced, and he just so happens to be one freakin’ amazing Chef.
CTbites has been following Greer Fredericks since she opened Mama’s Boy in Norwalk in 2013. She believed that low country southern cuisine could tantalize Fairfield County diners, from shrimp & grits, chicken and waffles to mile high desserts. Mama’s Boy’s food started the trend where down home, stick to your ribs cooking with bold flavors, deep fried, with cheese and calories were an accepted cuisine. Greer’s newest venture is Peaches’ Juke Joint, a fun-loving, take off your shoes, leave your inhibitions at the door and have some fun with a side of food. She hired Paul Failla to oversee the kitchen; many will remember Failla from his days at neighboring Bar Sugo. Ctbites was recently invited to sample Chef Paul’s newest creations and feel the vibes at Peaches.
World-class BBQ returns to CT with the homecoming of renowned pitmaster Nestor Laracuente, who is overseeing the kitchen at Mason Dixon Smokehouse in Stamford. When I heard that Nestor was teaming up with Mason Dixon, I was ecstatic, the mounds of his perfectly prepared meats that I raved about at Hoodoo Brown were indelible etched in my memory. Would Mason Dixon fill the void that I have felt for months? Bottom line…yes, the food is spectacular.
Laracuente is a soft-spoken lover of meats and Southern rock who spent years perfecting his craft. After leaving CT last year, he returned to Brooklyn where he spent time with his buddy at Beast of Bourbon in Bed-Stuy. His time was spent experimenting with new rubs, new dishes, waiting for the right opportunity for his return to Connecticut. His newest venture, of which he is part-owner, opened a few weeks ago and it is slowly expanding the menu.
Fairfield County offers some of the best food in the country, from trucks to fine dining, and when a restaurant serves food from the soul, it is special, it is uplifting, it makes you overjoyed. Every now and then I visit a new place that fits all these categories. Stephanie Webster, my CTbites partner, and I were looking for a new place for a lunch meeting and we chose Soul Tasty...we wanted to see what the buzz was about. It is located on Main Street in Stamford at the end of a dead end that doubles as the entrance to a pedestrian bridge and parking is incredibly difficult, have patience, it is worth it.
Soul Tasty is the brain-child and dream of Chef Jean Gabriel, Jr. When you walk in, you can feel the love. The walls are brightly painted, a little graffiti on the rear counter pronouncing FEED YOUR SOUL and a colorful menu above the hot trays holding the products of the chef’s homage to the Southern recipes of his grandmother.
Mama's Boy in Sono is celebrating the Derby in fine style with "Derby Days" April 27-May 3. Greer and her teamhave a full week of great events planned for your dining and partying pleasure. The week kicks off a Low Country Crab Boil on April 28th, followed by "Fillies & Lillies," (girls night on steroids), May 1 and culminates with their big Derby Day event on May 2nd. Read the full details below. Call Mama's Boy to make your reservations (203) 956-7171.
Whenever the owner of a restaurant that serves great food announces a second location, I am excited to see where this second venture will lead. After hearing that Greer Fredericks, the co-owner of Mama’s Boy in SONO, was opening JAX around the corner on North Main, I couldn’t wait for my first visit. JAX opened a few weeks ago and currently serves a wide range of breakfast options, plus a tremendous selection of creative sandwiches at lunch. It is also placing the final touches to its soon to be released take-away dinners, and awaiting the delivery of its ice cream machine.
Located just south of the SONO theatre, the interior is completely redesigned, accented with a red painted art nouveau ceiling and lots of wood throughout…it is definitely the sister restaurant to Mama’s Boy.
"My Signature Dish" is a new CTbites column featuring a rotating cast of chefs, and the dishes that define their cooking style, or simply make them happy to fire up the oven.
We looked forward to learning about what Scott Ostrander had chosen as his signature dish at Mama’s Boy in SoNo, a Connecticut restaurant featuring Southern cooking and cuisine. But he was reluctant to tell us much about it. “We’re dealing with some major issues,” he confided. “Trying to dodge disaster.”
Issues. Disasters. Great. The stuff of a good story. We urged him on. But Chef Ostrander demurred. “I just can’t get into it right now,” he apologized.
The next time we met, the chef was all smiles. Problems solved. Scott shared the back story, one that reveals how a gifted chef deals with and solves both business and culinary challenges.
His new signature dish at Mama’s Boy is Crisp Pork Shank, an osso bucca-like braised pork shank with a dramatic Southern twist. Traditionally, slowly simmered meat is tender, juicy, and deeply flavored. But its soft texture is monochromatic. For his shank, Scott wanted contrapuntal textures. Soft. And Crunchy.
“It’s no sin to get sauce on your chin.” - Bishop Tutu
Last weekend I got a chance to make the short trek to Wilson’s Barbecue (1851 Post Rd Fairfield, CT ), to enjoy some incredible Pit BBQ. Wilson’s is owned by Ed Wilson, who has competed in and judged numerous BBQ competitions throughout his life. Ed is an extremely kind man, who goes out of his way to talk to everyone who enters his restaurant. He even happily agreed to sit down and talk to me after my fantastic meal, about what makes his food so good.
He couldn’t be nicer.
When we arrived at Wilson’s we were greeted by Mr. Wilson who said hello and wished us an excellent meal. As I entered the restaurant I noticed the comfy, road-house-esque atmosphere that was filled with memorabilia of his experiences as a chef and owner. When it was time to order, we got a lot!
CTbites re-visited NOLA Oyster Bar a few months after its opening to enjoy some of the newest additions to the menu. Chef Dan Kardos is clearly in charge of the kitchen and his culinary talent is evident as he creates some of the most delicious cuisine in Fairfield County.
The Seafood Tower, a dedication to cold shellfish (plus tuna), was the first course served to our table. The generous portions included Cherrystone clams, snow crab legs, Copps Island oysters, shrimp, and charred Hamachi crudo. A house made mignonette sauce accompanied the oysters. All of the items on the Tower were delightful. The crudo was marinated in white and dark balsamic vinegar plus a combination of lime and tangerine juices; it was tantalizing. The crab legs and shrimp were sweet with just a touch of seasoning to emphasize the natural flavors. The Copps Island oysters were a little bitter with very little salinity, but the addition of the mignonette sauce drastically changed the flavor profile from bitter to delicious.
Visit Mama’s Boy Southern Table and Refuge in SONO and experience some good old-fashioned southern hospitality and cuisine. The newest addition to SONO offers a Georgian-Carolina cuisine with the flavors and ingredients not seen on other Fairfield County menus; not spicy Cajun or Creole but grits, okra, shrimp, catfish, with a little fried chicken thrown in.
Fairfield County native and owner Greer Fredericks, and her business partner Ami Dorel, bring a southern feel to the décor, and flavors to the menu, from Greer’s years in the South. Overseeing the kitchen is Chef Scott Ostrander who recently relocated from Jacksonville, Florida. His previous restaurant, ‘Town, won the Robert W. Tolf Award for Best New Restaurant from Florida Trend magazine and voted one of Jacksonville Magazine’s Northeast Florida’s Top 25 restaurants. After graduating from the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, Ostrander worked in restaurants from DC to Florida and brings authentic southern cuisine to the Mama’s Boy menu. Ostrander is currently sourcing many of his ingredients from South Carolina while simultaneously building a stable of local farms, vendors and merchants.
With little fanfare, Mama’s Boy Southern Table and Refuge, the newest addition to the SONO food scene is slowly opening its doors. Based on traditional Southern hospitality and cuisine, the restaurant will deliver the comfort food of the south combined with a relaxed atmosphere. As the website states, “Mama’s Boy is putting the “South” in South Norwalk.”
The interior has been completely redesigned. Using woods and material from an old water tower from Florence, South Carolina, owners Greer Fredericks and Ami Dorel created a warm environment from top to bottom. The lighting is soft and inviting, the music gives a perfect background through various genres and the service is straight from Charleston, friendly and incredibly helpful. Upon entering you can choose a seat at the long bar or one of the tables along the wall with a long comfortable banquette. In the rear is a second dining area that is guarded by two windows that were reclaimed from Al Capone’s summer residence. This dining area features a traditional “mirror wall,” you have to see it to completely understand and appreciate.
