Downtown Westport’s newest restaurant, Sushi Jin, has quickly become a hotspot. Located by the parking lot on Elm Street (across from Serena & Lily), Sushi Jin offers an expansive menu with authentic Japanese fare. The food is delicious and the decor is upscale, but the overall atmosphere is inviting. The space is long and narrow with options to sit at a standard table, an intimate booth, the bar, or sushi counter. Regardless of where you dine, you’ll immediately notice all of the decor details; the walls are lined with intricate wooden patterns, a Japanese technique called Kumiko, and the wood details are carried all the way to the ceilings.
The restaurant is run by a husband and wife duo, whom you’ll most likely spot while dining there —though they’re both very shy, so there’s a good chance they won’t introduce themselves as the owners. Their love story started around 20 years ago while they were both working at a restaurant in Flushing; he was in the kitchen and she was a server. As they were building out Sushi Jin, owner He Chen, kept a big surprise from his wife for several months: he named the restaurant “Jin” after her. Currently, the pair lives in Queens with plans to relocate closer soon.
After months of not-so-patiently waiting, the day is almost here. Tomorrow, Jeff Taibe and Steph Sweeney, co-owners of Taproot, are officially opening the doors to their new restaurant Bar Bushido, a traditional Japanese izakaya. While the restaurant is new, the idea isn’t; Taibe actually has been working on the concept for Bar Bushido for over five years. The name originates from Taproot’s former pop-up series, called “Bushido,” that took place prior to COVID. Taibe introduced the one-Sunday-per-month experience as a way to fuel his passion for Japanese cooking, something he missed dearly from his days at Kawa Ni in Westport. Bar Bushido has been years in the making, but it wasn’t until the 51 Wall Street space opened up, that it became a reality.
What are you doing on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.? If you’re tuned into the Japanese cuisine scene in New Haven, we know where we’ll find you: Standing in line to be one of the first to experience The Loop, a brand-new marketplace, food court, and kitchen by the enlightened crew that brought us Hashiroku Shokudo & Sake Bar, and Hachiroku Handroll Bar & Tapas. CT Bites was lucky enough to get a private preview, and we’re here to tell you: The Loop is about to revolutionize the way we eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
To catch you up: Yuta Kamori was a stranger to New Haven when he opened the first Hachiroku on Orange Street in 2022. But soon, very soon – in spite of not even a sign out front -- he had a passionate fan base and, much to his surprise, an outpouring of support from local chefs and restaurateurs. “I walked in cold,” he recalls, but found “good people here – people who spread the word.” By 2023 he had premiered the second Hachiroku, a spare, elegant sushi bar on State Street, which opened to great acclaim and which, like his first place, quickly became a statewide favorite.
Kevin and Carole Rizzo are cooking up something unique in Hamden CT. It’s pizza, but not like the pizza we Nutmeggers are famous for. It’s a “Pizza Tub” and CT residents are loving this new take on Connecticut Pizza.
“As a young boy, I would help my grandmother cook Sunday dinner every weekend. We'd start a day early, on Saturday and make everything from scratch. I learned the importance of fresh, quality ingredients,” says Rizzo
.Now, in his 400 square foot storefront, Kevin and Carole have taken this passion for Italian cooking, and a little inspiration from the “Pizza Cupcake” made famous on Shark Tank- to create the Original Pizza Tub.
“The whole venture was my wife’s idea…She loves pizza,” says Kevin.
In perfecting the pizza making process, he was also given mentorship from local restaurateur and friend, Albert Zuncja, of Alberto’s Restaurant in Seymour.
So, what is a “Pizza Tub?” It’s a handheld, 4 -bite seasoned pizza crust baked with sweet tomato sauce, Monterey Jack cheese & filled w/ tastiness including: bacon, sausage, pepperoni & onion. Guests can walk in to the Hamden storefront and Rizzo will bake them to order, or you can bring home a frozen four-pack. You can also save time and order them ahead online as they do take 11 minutes to bake.
Nestled among the charming mom-and-pop shops on Sound Beach Avenue in sleepy Old Greenwich, Sushi Bar is turning out some of the highest quality sushi we’ve tried in Connecticut. Two years ago, Chef Rio Yonathan quietly opened his restaurant and changed the Fairfield County sushi scene for the better. Using ultra-premium ingredients from near and far, such as Montauk whitefish and fresh wasabi from Shizuoka prefecture in Japan, Yonathan puts immense effort into fabricating almost everything from scratch. Luckily for us, the fruits of his labor have created an epicurean destination with the accessibility and family-friendliness of a neighborhood haunt.
Yonathan’s story is nothing short of inspiring: 20 years ago, after immigrating from Indonesia, he worked as a busser to fund English classes in New York City with his sights set on a law degree. Observing sushi chefs in their element, he fell in love with the cuisine and changed course, shadowing them on his own time for two years before he was allowed to touch a piece of fish “the old school way.” After attending culinary school, he cooked at Aquavit and Morimoto and then landed a job as head sushi chef at foodservice giant Compass Group. During Covid, he found himself working at a Japanese restaurant in Greenwich and was inspired to open Sushi Bar down the road.
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 Japan, the best sushi is often found in unexpected places: on the 7th floor of an office building, for example, or, famously, in an underground hallway leading to a subway station. Who would think the same could be said for Connecticut, where one of the state’s most outstanding omakases is located beneath an overpass connecting to New Haven’s Temple Street Garage?
Otaru Sushi Bar, which Chef Sunny Cheng and his wife Kathy opened in 2018, is serving up some of the most sophisticated yet playful bites of sushi on the Eastern Seaboard, without a hint of the austere service that marks many sushi restaurants of a similar caliber across the Pacific. Rather, Sunny employs a diner-first attitude in his joyful omakase, featuring a diverse symphony of flavors, textures, and, of course, top-quality fish. When we requested no squid or abalone in our omakase, he immediately understood: “no chewy, no problem.” And when neighboring diners inquired about the fish that created the glistening bites in front of them, Sunny whipped out a dog-eared sushi guidebook to provide an informative visual reference while narrating his take.
Little Riggs sits on the edge of the Stuart, McKinney National Wildlife refuge on the Long Island Sound. Riggs opened 6 months ago from Chef John Kronfeld, who operated the very successful breakfast truck, The Chef Truck, until he opened Little Riggs, transitioning his uniquely delicious breakfast menu into a sit down experience. To call this place a hidden gem isn’t wrong, but this clichéd term is a tad overused these days… It’s like a half buried treasure. Among the locals it isn’t buried at all, and they have taken it by storm.
This little outpost that seats just 30 in the wintertime, is slightly larger than a hole in the wall and certainly significantly more elevated. It’s the type of place you want to go to for a leisurely comforting breakfast on a Sunday morning, but it’s not just a breakfast joint, offering significantly more than just morning fare, and lucky for those of us who do love breakfast food, we can now enjoy it beyond traditional breakfast hours. Kronfeld will be launching dinner service this week, and we will be the first in line.
Beyond the beautiful views, calming sounds, and salty smells of Sasco beach, one may hear the cries and laughs of a baby and delicious smells of pizza. These senses come from Proof Pizza, the food truck stationed at the beach Thursday through Saturday between four and eight pm in the Summer seasons, and out and about in CT spots including Sport Hill Farm and St. Thomas School in the Fall.
In another life, co-owner Jennifer DeGirolomo was in the banking industry, and her husband and co-owner Lenny was in construction. The couple has had a love for pizza since they started dating 16 years ago. In 2019, they made this love into a career.
“We had the opportunity to kind of restart and reinvent ourselves. He’s always wanted to do a food truck and we’ve always done pizza together and so it was kind of a no brainer. We said, we’re never going to have this chance again so we took everything we had, threw it into getting this little pizza oven from Italy and we did farmers markets and little pop up stuff,” Jennifer said.
“We love being down here, this has been kind of life changing for us. Like I said we love it, even on bad days that’s your view. We were driving down and my younger son was like, ‘Mom, there’s our office.’”
This oven from Italy was the perfect find for the DeGirolomo’s specific needs. They wanted a wood fire oven that was portable so it would fit in the truck, but was also high quality and could cook enough pizzas at once to keep up with demand. Once the oven was secured, they were able to develop the other key component of what makes Proof Pizza unique: the dough.
Restaurateur husband and wife super-team, John & Morgan Nealon, are back at it again! Enquiring minds wondered what was next for this duo, and now the wait is over. John & Morgan have just signed the lease on the old Davinci’s Pizza in Norwalk at 60 Connecticut Avenue. Get ready for CRUST ISSUES, a casual neighborhood joint, opening in early Fall. As the name might suggest, there will be pizza, but as per usual with these two, it won’t fit into a classic pizza-style. More on that if you keep reading… and wait till you hear what else is on the menu.
Crust Issues is housed in the bones of an old school pizza spot, with tiled floors and big pizza ovens in the open kitchen, and the Nealon will be leaning in to this relaxed vibe. Guests will order at the counter, grab one of the 40 seats, and enjoy a cocktail (John’s got some fun new tricks up his sleeve in the cocktails department…obvi), and you’ll likely get a Nealon bringing some tasty elevated comfort food to your table.
I recently had the pleasure of dining at Yuki’s Kitchen, a charming Korean, Japanese and Chinese culinary haven that left me utterly impressed and thoroughly satisfied. From the moment I stepped in to this primarily take-out spot, the quaint friendly ambiance and attentive service set the stage for a memorable gastronomic experience. Ken and Yuki Piao, a husband and wife team, have been in the Fairfield/Westport area for more than +10 years and decided in November of 2022 to open a lovely tiny haven of authentically excellent Asian food. We also had the pleasure of enjoying some special dishes prepared by Yuki’s mother visiting from Korea for 2 months.
Nestled in a quiet corner of a shopping plaza located right off of the hustle and bustle of Fairfield’s Black Rock Turnpike is Vespino Pizza + Restaurant. Located in the space that was formerly Stefano’s, Vespino fills a void in the area’s restaurant scene. Best described as elevated casual in a stylishly modern setting, Vespino is an ideal choice for a quick neighborhood lunch, casual dinner with friends and family, or an after work cocktail. Vespino has already established a loyal clientele and has earned praises for their pizza, pasta, appetizers and main dishes. Sister restaurant to longtime local favorite Quattro Pazzi Café, Organika and the newer kid on the block, Pizza Lyfe in Westport, we came in with high expectations, eager to try a few dishes ourselves.
Sweet Ashley’s, the adored Norwalk ice cream spot, which has been around for 30 years has reopened this spring in time for a delicious summer! Frank Lanzo (Former owner of Nordic Fish in Fairfield) and his wife Judie, longtime Norwalk residents, decided to take over the business. As ice cream lovers with culinary experience, it seemed like a no brainer.
“I’ve got a culinary background, I cooked my whole life, I went to culinary school in the eighties… now I heard this was for sale and what a great thing to keep going,” Frank Lanzo said. “I’ve been in Norwalk now for twenty two years, I live very close, who doesn’t love ice cream?
The beloved New Canaan burger joint, Press Burger, has opened its second location in Wilton with even more delicious and creative eats. Co-owners Seth Leifer and John Gallagher set out to continue Press Burger’s mission as a delicious and fresh form of fast food, while expanding beyond its classic burgers and fries with new sauces, fried chicken sandwiches, the carrot dog (you’d be surprised how good it tastes), and more. As Leifer puts it, Press Burger is the Cava, Sweetgreen, or Chipotle of the burger world, a type of “cleaner, finer, fast casual.”
Hot dogs have been around in various shapes and sizes for centuries, some say dating back to 700 BC; today they are a staple at Fourth of July and church BBQs and grabbing a red hot at Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium was always my go-to food. Natural casing, foot-long, knockwurst, beef, pork, chicken, veggie, tofu, cheese conies, they have been a part of the American culinary scene since forever. There is something special about the salty-spicy combo, the ease of eating, the number of toppings that make them even better…sometimes they are the canvas, sometimes they are the art.
Finding a great and fun hot dog in CT has been an adventure, so when I read that Gooseboro Drive-In in Bantam was awarded the best hot dog at the Litchfield Fair, it definitely hit my radar.
Who doesn’t enjoy a cookie? Decadently giant or sublimely bite-sized, spanning traditional flavors of sugar, Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter or new-fangled recipes that include everything but the kitchen sink. Sweet, sweeter, sweetest. Then there’s the Great Debate: chewy or crispy? Where do you land? Are you a dunker, a nibbler, or a late-night snacker? Cookies are the universal dessert and knowing where to get good ones makes life all the sweeter. Dunk away…
Enjoy our sweet GUIDE TO THE BEST COOKIES IN CONNECTICUT.
Fans ofHachiroku Shokudo & Sake bar, which quietly opened in New Haven 2022, will be excited to hear that this team has expanded their portfolio of outstanding Japanese eateries with a NEW restaurant in the East Rock neighborhood of New Haven. The new spot is called Hachiroku Handroll Bar & Tapas, and much like the original, you will not find a sign outside….ya just have to know. Hachiroku Handroll Bar features a few highlights from Hachiroku Shokudo & Sake bar, but while the OG delivers a traditional izakaya menu with a few uber-fresh cuts of sushi, the new spot leans in on expertly executed, positively mouthwatering handrolls. And make no mistake, while the flavor profiles you will find here are not strictly “traditional,” the dining room looks and feels like a traditional sushi bar. With roughly 16 seats highlighting the artists/ sushi chefs in the center, dining here exudes the austere reverence that these handrolls deserve.
For those of you who have been craving a good New York style pizza that you can really sink your teeth into, let us introduce you to Pizza Lyfe, a slice of heaven in the heart of New Haven style pizza country.
Pizza Lyfe prides itself on using only the best and freshest of ingredients. Their specially made mozzarella comes from the Bronx, a location so secret they wouldn’t even share it with us ‘off the record.’ The dough is made from a special unbleached, high-protein flour that is fermented for two days before becoming a delicious pizza crust.
The menu is diverse with traditional cheese and pepperoni pizza pies (that are also available by the slice and very reasonably priced) as well as their specialty pies which are best described as a Neopolitan/New York, hybrid.
Traditional cheese slices and pies can be augmented with toppings such as sausage, meatball, onion, red peppers, bacon, spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, and olives to name a few. Their specialty pizzas include Salad Pizza, Margarita Pizza, White Pizza, Spicy Pizza Lyfe, Veggie Pizza, Truffled Mushroom, Pineapple and Ham, Buffalo Chicken, Burrata, Meatlovers and Artichoke. There are also two weekly specials on rotation.
Haven Hot Chicken, which brings Nashville Hot Chicken and “Not Chicken” to the area as one of the first fully dedicated Nashville Hot Chicken concepts in New England, today announced that it its fourth location at 146 Washington Avenue, North Haven is now open. This 1100 square foot location will feature the brand’s signature menu of crispy, crunchy, juicy, spicy, delicious chicken and vegetarian options ranging from Country (not spicy) to Haven (extremely spicy), along with their beloved fries, sides and seasonal limited-time offerings.
