Less than a year ago, we introduced readers to Stamford branch of The Taco Project, a fast casual Mexican restaurant whose roots began in Tarrytown in 2014.
Since April of 2022, The Taco Project and its brand grew even more outside of its existing Westchester locations (Tarrytown, Yonkers, Pleasantville, Bronxville) and its High Ridge Road spot in Stamford, as they’ve set their sights on the Florida market and opened up shop in Coral Springs.
Christian (Chrissy) Tracey is a local Vegan Content Contributor, Video Host at Bon Appétit Magazine, and Head Chef at Chrissy’s. She lives in New Fairfield CT.
As a Vegan chef, Chef Christian Tracey knows a thing or two about the beauty of plants. She has recently launched a video series called “Plant Curious”, a plant-based series showcasing the food and cultures she loves. Tracey will be exploring cooking, baking, foraging, and a bit of her Jamaican culture. She strives to inspire her viewers to get excited about adding plants to their lifestyle---whether that be through diet and meal planning, or simply getting outside.
In this video, she features Ackee, the national fruit of Jamaica. The dish, Ackee & Saltfish, is an ode to her childhood and her Jamaican heritage. It's a traditional meal consumed on a regular basis in many Jamaican households, and is savory and vegetable forward.
Tarrytown, Yonkers, Bronxville, Pleasantville, and now Stamford.
Since opening in 2014 in Tarrytown, The Taco Project’s popularity kept growing in Westchester, and now they’ve brought their brand of Mexican-inspired fast casualness across the state border to the busy High Ridge Shopping Center.
Co-owner Carmelo Milio—who’s one of The Taco Project’s head honchos with partners Sebastian Aliberti and Nicholas Mesce—mentioned that opening their fifth location in Stamford was a natural progression for their brand.
“Being that we’re all Westchester residents (Sebastian is in Pleasantville, I’m in Armonk, and Nick’s in Dobbs Ferry), we come to Stamford to hang out often,” he says. “We’ve always thought about opening here, but we didn’t necessarily want it to be Downtown, so we can cater to our fans in Pound Ridge and Bedford as well. We like to be in these type of neighborhoods where it’s a little more laid back, more families, but still keep a fun ambiance while getting your food to you quickly, like within 15 minutes or so.”
This week on the History Happy Hour, bartender Craig Ventrice shares his recipe for The Sherry Flip, popular in 18th century taverns and quaffed by the likes of George Washington.
In our NEW “Chefs At Home” Cooking Series, we asked local CT chefs to help our readers find cooking inspiration in every day pantry items. Executive Chef Arturo Franco-Camacho of Geronimo Tequila Bar & Southwest Grill (Fairfield and New Haven) and Shell & Bones Oyster Bar and Grill (New Haven) has a wonderful recipe for Pantry Pasta to kick off this series. Enjoy!
WestchesterBites writer, Sibylla Chipaziwa, sits down with Chef Brian Lewis to discuss the inspiration for his Japanese inspired restaurant, OKO, with a new location in Rye, NY (in addition to CT’s Westport spot). Have a listen.
Here’s a little boozy teaser for our next CTbites Hot Dish Podcast episode featuring mixologists Craig Ventrice & Dimitrios Elias Zahariadis. Learn How To Make A Sazerac Cocktail as we do some “Day Drinking with Mixologists.” LISTEN TO THE FULL PODCAST EPISODE HERE: https://simplecast.com/s/54ee8396
Over 250 wines were poured and 30 restaurants sampled the best of their culinary offerings at the first ever West Hartford Food & Wine Festivalon the rolling grounds of the Kingswood Oxford school district. Guests enjoyed live music and plenty of space to roam, mingle, taste and sip over a leisurely summer afternoon.
Meet Minh Tsai, the investment banker turned tofu master, and learn about his company Hodo Soy, an artisanal tofu supplier from Oakland. Minh has been a pioneer in getting chefs and large institutions to use tofu including Chipotle (heard of sofritas?) and Costco. This talk is sure to entertain and inspire and provide an enlightening discussion on how traditional recipes (along with Masters students) can be used to change our future impact on the earth.
