Gioia Italian Restaurant, Market, & Gelateria Opens In New Haven October 19th Restaurant New Haven Opening Pizza Wood Fired Steak Cocktails Gelato Specialty Market Pasta Homepage James Gribbon September 26, 2023 Gioia, the new wood-fired Italian dining/cocktail/gelato/rooftop bar on Wooster Street from partners Tim Cabral (Ordinary) and Avi Szapiro (Roìa), is set to open in October, but we’ve already visited the spot to give you a first look.You’ll see the space, get a glimpse of the enticing menu, and read our exclusive interview with the partners about the concept’s creation in their own words. Read on!Avi describes how the two met one night in 2011 when he was eating at Caseus: the seed event which would lead to the creation of Gioia.“I thought nobody knew me or what I was doing, and Tim comes up to me and says ‘I heard you’re opening a restaurant, what’s the concept?’”That turned out to be Roìa, which opened within two weeks of Tim’s Ordinary (“We literally shared a back door between the restaurants, we’d steal stuff from each other all the time.”), and the two became great friends, to the point they started brainstorming ideas just so they could work together. Read More
Three Girls Vegan Creamery in Guilford: All Vegan. All Delicious. Restaurant Vegan Vegetarian Special Dietary Needs Specialty Market Bakery Lunch Guilford April Guilbault June 07, 2023 Tender meatballs nestled in bubbling, vibrant San Marzano tomato sauce. Hearty breads that cradle cutlets generously smeared with homemade pesto. Crispy-on-the-outside Mac and Cheese balls and tender Crabcakes with a dollop of Horseradish Dill sauce. Lasagna that is layers deep, stuffed full of gooey cheese and smothered in more of that delightful tomato sauce. And it’s all vegan. Without getting too Hallmark-y, it is all based in love, as well. Tracy Alexander, with her two daughters Brittany and Taylor form the triumvirate of Three Girls Vegan Creamery in Guilford, Connecticut. Mama Tracy creates the recipes and menus, while daughters Brittany and Taylor run the locations and handle the marketing. Read More
Tim Cabral & Avi Szapiro Opening Gioia Restaurant & Market In New Haven Features Restaurant New Haven Openings Italian Specialty Market James Gribbon March 15, 2023 Long-time New Haven restaurateurs Tim Cabral and Avi Szapiro (Ordinary) have worked with contracting partners Anthony and Gerard Bianco to breathe new life into the former Tony & Lucille's at 150 Wooster Street. Gioia ("Joy" in Italian) should spark plenty, with a wood-fired grill and rotisserie, Italian grocery, full bar, gelato stop, and a rooftop deck. Read More
Guide To Juice Bars in Connecticut (2023 Edition) Features Restaurant Guide Best of CT Roundup Juice Cleanse Juicing Healthy Eats Health & Wellness Smoothies Acai Bowl Homepage Highlight April Guilbault January 30, 2023 Would the New Year transition be complete without some kind of purging and rearranging (um, no)? After the cookies and cocktails of the holiday season, vibrant fruit and vegetable juices and some super-duper, feel good cleanses might just be the reset that your bod is craving. Just think of it like a Home Edit for your, well, ultimate *home*. Feel free to label and color coordinate all you please. Enjoy our ultimate Guide to Juice Bars in Connecticut. Read More
DOM's Coffee, Cheese, and Now...Creamery: All The Good Stuff in Avon Restaurant Ingredients Specialty Market Cheese Cheese Shop Coffee Ice Cream Avon April Guilbault January 13, 2023 Nestled in the Connecticuty-quaint town of Avon, an area known for its New England beauty, historic homes, and the well-known Avon Old Farms School, sits the quietly chic and welcoming Dom's Coffee. But wait, there's also Dom's Cheese. And now, Dom's Creamery right next door. Avon may be steeped in history, but it keeps evolving, as does Dom's. Dom's Coffee opened its doors in 2015, the brainchild of Lithuanian couple Asta and Andrius Plankis and sweetly named for their son Dominic. What began as a place for the community to take time to sit and enjoy a great cup of coffee, not just grab-and-go-and-swill-it-in-your-car, has now become a beloved spot in town. With their European flair and attention to detail, Dom's Coffee seamlessly blends the CT aesthetic with the European, feeling all at once new but also comfortable and homey. Light and bright walls, with intentional and un-cluttered decor make his space both interesting and calming. Dom's serves a full range of coffee drinks made with beans from J. Rene Coffee Roasters (West Hartford), with inventive specials to get you in seasonal moods. Read More
CTbites Staff Picks For Top Eats of 2022 (Plus Special Guest Eaters) Features Restaurant Best of CT Top Eats Roundup Awards Homepage CTbites Team December 27, 2022 It’s that time of year, when the CTbites staff temporarily puts down our forks, and contemplates our most memorable annual eats. 2022 saw an explosion of restaurateurs and chefs entering the Connecticut culinary scene, and the CTBites team, alongside some special guest reviewers below, did our best to eat it all. There were some clear standouts, restaurants that you’ll find repeated in the “top eats” lists below, and some more hidden gems you should add to your dining dance card.In 2022 restaurants continued to struggle with both labor and supply shortages, and yet, chefs continued to innovate, creating memorable dishes, and sharing their love for cooking with Connecticut diners. It is critical that in 2023 we continue to support our favorite restaurants, chefs, bartenders, and front of house staff, who work so hard to bring you a unique and tasty experience. Be kind when you dine. And with that in mind, here are CTbites’ TOP EATS 2022. Read More
Saugatuck Provisions Opens From A Local CT Chef (Matt Storch), A Butcher & A Fisherman (Copps Island Oysters) Ingredients Features Openings Westport Grocery Store Ingredients Seafood Butcher Specialty Market Homepage Stephanie Webster October 26, 2022 What happens when a chef, a butcher and a fisherman walk into a bar? Stay tuned and I’ll tell you…If you’ve noticed some activity behind the brown paper covering the windows of what was once Westport’s Saugatuck Craft Butchery, it’s not just wishful thinking. Big things are happening behind that masked facade …big things that involve a culinary power team including Chef Matt Storch and Susan McConnell (Match Burger Lobster, Match) in partnership with Jimmy Bloom of Copps Island Oysters, and butcher, Paul Nessal, whom you will recognize if you spent any time at the nose to tail butchery, Saugatuck Craft, back in the day. After 5 years of discussion, this group is finally getting ready to open the doors to Saugatuck Provisions, a new concept offering customers a curated selection of the very best ingredients from the land, sea and grocery, enabling guests to create beautiful restaurant quality meals at home.Saugatuck Provisions is conveniently located next to Match Burger Lobster in Westport, and will be ready for customers in early November, with Thanksgiving pre-ordering already live here. Read More
Strega Restaurant Owners Open Strega Market In Milford Features Ingredients Openings Specialty Market Grocery Store Italian James Gribbon October 13, 2022 Chef Danilo Mongillo continues to bring his vision of Italy to Milford with the newly opened Strega Market. On the same block as the Strega restaurant he opened after the pandemic had closed his original location in Branford, the Market showcases the same sauces and ingredients used just two doors down, as well as sought-after tastes of home for Italian expats, like Mongillo himself.The market layout is simple, but its contents are rich with multitudes of flavors. First, though, Mongillo takes me to the side, past rows of gleaming jars, and selects a small package.“Cards,” he says, “From Naples. You go into a little market like this in Italy, they always have the cards for people.” It’s indicative of the outlook he has, wanting the market to feel instantly familiar to anyone who grew up in Italy, and to bring that experience, that food, to Connecticut. Read More
40+ Spots for Pumpkin Inspired Menu Specials, Beer, Ice Cream, Pasta, Baked Goods & Oh So Much More Features Roundup Pumpkin Season Seasonal Fall Treats ct beer Homepage April Guilbault October 08, 2022 Pumpkin, pumpkin everywhere. Isn’t autumn divine?! And how crazy that we all get so excited about, well, a gourd. Life is funny but it’s that time of year to embrace the crazy and roll with the pumpkins. From fancy-schmancy drinks to sumptuous desserts, handmade raviolis, cakes and sweets, pumpkin has hit everything that stands still. Get on the haywagon, it’s a good one!Here are 30+ spots to savor pumpkin season in EVERY WAY possible. Read More
Guide To Great Coffee in Connecticut: Happy National Coffee Day 2022! Restaurant Features Roundup Best of CT Coffee Espresso Coffee Shop Breakfast homepage Highlight April Guilbault September 24, 2022 September 29th is National Coffee Day. If this listing was a coffee cup it would be a mega-super-duper-de-booper-trente. To make the (brewing) process easier for you to discover fabulous-and sometimes hidden- java joints to caffeinate or simply enjoy the velvety and multi-faced notes of a fine cup of’ Joe, we have divided this list by county. Enjoy the thrill of a new favorite spot or re-visit an old favorite.The slow pour has already begun as you read this…Enjoy our guide to the best places to get coffee in the state of Connecticut. Read More
2022 Connecticut Food Truck Guide: 100+ Local Food Trucks Features Restaurant Best of CT Roundup Food Truck Food Truck Park Caterers Catering CTbites Team June 19, 2022 Summer means travel, fun, parties, festivals…and food trucks! Our state is happily overflowing (in a good way) with great eats and many of them will be rolling through your town in the coming months. You can also book many of them for your next event, which translates to easy-unique-delicious as far as parties go. We have broken down this behemoth of a list by first featuring a variety of trucks and then we break all this fun into categories so you can quickly get to the foods that interest you: Pizza, Tacos/Mexican, BBQ, Ethnic, Lobster/Seafood, All-American, Plant-Based/Alternative Diet, Ice Cream/Sweets, Coffee/Cocktails & Beer. Happy summer, everyone, roll on!Enjoy our guide to 100+ Connecticut Food Trucks! Read More
8 Home Meal Delivery Services in Connecticut: Don't Cook! Order Up! Features Home Delivery Meal Delivery Delivery Service Prepared Food Best of CT Roundup Highlight April Guilbault June 07, 2022 Tired of cooking? Or maybe you love to cook but just can’t face the stove one…more…night. There are a million reasons why help is sometimes needed in the kitchen: a dear friend had a baby and hasn’t slept in 3 weeks, a neighbor is sick, your parents are getting older and you want to make sure they eat well, you’ve been away on vacation and would love to have some meals for when you return, or, well, you’re just plain sick of cooking (as we mentioned). It is vacation time, after all. Whether you need prepared meals for someone special or just to supplement your own cooking and streamline life a bit, there are plenty of options that make it easy. And delish! That’s precisely why we are highlighting these eight fantastic services. Some cater to dietary needs, some focus on local or organic ingredients, and all offer many tasty options to satisfy.Here are 8 home meal delivery services we have enjoyed in Connecticut. Read More
45+ CT Restaurants & Caterers for Mother's Day (2022 Edition) Features Restaurant Mother's Day Roundup Brunch Homepage April Guilbault April 30, 2022 For the giant purses stuffed with everything from snacks to bandaids, hair ties and toys, for the endless wiping of stuffy noses, the endless chauffeuring, the thoughtful advice on just about everything, the laughs and giggles and fun, the ever-listening ear, the big, enveloping hugs just when they were needed, the bowls of soup when you didn’t feel well, the shoulder to cry on, the craft projects during school vacations that killed some time and made a mess, the puddle-jumping on rainy days, the shivering on cold benches during long lacrosse games, the cheerleading from your biggest fan, the notes of encouragement in college care-packages filled with all your favorite things and…for all the things yet to come.We love you, Moms, in all of your many, wonderful forms. Read More
Chef Geoff Lazlo Opens The Country Table in Greenwich Features Restaurant Specialty Market Sandwich Breakfast Sandwich Eggs Egg Sandwich Lunch Breakfast Prepared Food To-Go Kid Friendly Grab-n-Go Homepage Stephanie Webster February 26, 2022 The Country Table recently opened its doors in the Glennville area of Greenwich, but the story behind this new popular eatery started roughly 25 years ago. Greenwich residents, Geoff Lazlo and Greg Oshins have known each other since childhood, and this concept has been in the works since the age of 10, when the highlight of their day was scouting the best deli sandwiches in the Greenwich area (shout out to their beloved Rinaldi Country Deli, still in business today). The search for the best sandwich was a strong part of their culture, deeply nostalgic, and the driving force behind this new brick-and-mortar extension of Geoff Lazlo Foods. Read More
CT Guide To 35+ Spots for Healthy Eats & Wellness: Markets, Apothecaries, Nutritionists, Spice Shops, Juice, Teas and More Features Restaurant Ingredients Healthy Eats Juice Bar Specialty Market Spices Tea Acai Bowl Smoothies Health & Wellness Roundup Homepage Highlight April Guilbault January 26, 2022 We are officially into winter and, in addition to the regular flus and colds, all that other “stuff” is still swirling around. Behold, a listing of establishments where you can grab healthy eats, products, and even some classes that will boost your immunity and overall health in an attempt to steel you against whatever might endeavor to chase you. From the humble elderberry and cup of tea to stores that stock all manner of healthy living goods and purveyors specializing in quality goods for your wellness, we want to help you stack the deck in your favor this season.Here are 35+ Spots for Healthy Eats & Wellness: Markets, Apothecaries, Nutritionists, Spice Shops, Juice, Teas and More! Read More
CTbites Staff Picks For Top Eats of 2021 (Plus Special Guest Eaters) Features Restaurant Top Eats Best of CT Roundup Homepage Stephanie Webster December 25, 2021 It’s that time of year, when the CTbites staff temporarily puts down our forks, and contemplates our most memorable annual eats. In 2021, much like the year prior, food was critical to our collective covid endurance. Connecticut restaurants struggled with both labor and supply shortages, and yet, chefs continued to create memorable and beautiful dishes that gave diners something to look forward to and savor. Bravo to the CT culinary scene for making it through another challenging year, and to you, the diners, who supported this industry.Here are the very best things we ate in 2021. Read More
50+ CT Restaurants To Celebrate New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day (2021 Edition) Features Holiday New Years Roundup Homepage Events April Guilbault December 21, 2021 Here we go again, roaring into the 20s, this time #22! To celebrate this flip of the calendar, whether you choose to dine out or partake in a delicious and fun takeout with friends or family, there are a myriad of delicious menus and restaurant events that await you as we kiss goodbye one year and welcome another. Raise that glass, belt out Auld Lang Syne, hope for the best, and support our favorite restaurants while we do! Happy 2022, everyone. May we all have a happy, healthy, and delicious New Year (fingers crossed). Read More
Iconic CT Chocolatier, Bridgewater Chocolate, Looks To Expand Restaurant Features Chocolate Specialty Market Dessert Sweets Confections Brookfield West Hartford Stephanie Webster December 16, 2021 As I bite into my first milk chocolate dipped crunchy peanut butter patty, I’m overwhelmed by the feeling that I’ve waited far too long to discover the edible joy that comes from the confections found at Bridgewater Chocolate. A trip to any of their stores, located in Brookfield and West Hartford (as well as a Westport weekend pop-up through December), will elicit a type of longing that will have you dreaming of chocolate at night, and as Michael Stern once stated so perfectly…Walk into Bridgewater Chocolate, and the air inside is chocoholic heaven, with an aroma that is intense but not cloying, like vaporous cocoa laced with the sweetness of fruit. The store area is fairly small, decorated with the beautiful hinged boxes in which Bridgewater packs its goodies. — Jane & Michel Stern, Roadfood.com Read More
2021 Connecticut Food Truck Guide: 100+ Local Food Trucks Features Restaurant Food Truck Food Truck Park Catering Homepage Best of CT Roundup April Guilbault June 03, 2021 Ok folks, LET’S GET ROLLIN’! Summer is here and it’s looking like it might be a helluva lot better than the last one. Halle-freakin-lujah! Events? Parties? Going out to eat in public? Could it be? Let’s refresh our memories and gild them with bites of pure deliciousness. Saunter up to these ever-popular trucks when you are out and about or have one roll right into your own yard or venue! Let’s spin into a new, sunny summer with a drink in hand, tasty food on our plates, and friends by our side (after we’ve given them a big hug)! Read More
Plum Plums Cheese Opening in New Canaan Features Restaurant Openings New Canaan Cheese Cheese Shop Specialty Market CTbites Team March 16, 2021 Attn: Cheese lovers. This just in from New Canaan Advertiser…Elixirs for mocktails, a choice of 65 cheeses and coffee sourced from women farmers in Kenya will all be coming to New Canaan next month.Plum Plums Cheese is moving with its gourmet goodies from its Pound Ridge, N.Y., location to 149 Cherry St. in New Canaan on April 1.The 7-year-old enterprise, owned by spouses Gayle Martin and Michael Riahi, will be expanding its offerings with butchered meats in addition to the charcuterie, soups and sandwich options. The new location is 1,100 square feet, compared to the 700-square-foot space in New York.“We know the back story of every item we sell. If cheese, meat, bar of chocolate or jar of jam,” Martin said. “Our primary focus of cheese.”Read the full article on New Canaan Advertiser. Read More
