Filtering by Tag: This Week In Wine,Underground Dinner

Introducing The Charles Underground: Darien Butcher Shop's After Hours French Alter Ego

Features Restaurant Darien Darien Butcher Shop Underground Dinner French Homepage

Andrew Dominick

It’s past 6 p.m. The Darien Butcher Shop is closed. You cruise by and you see people inside. Some are standing, others are sitting at community tables, and they’re all probably enjoying a glass of vino while they chat, laugh, and catch up.

You can’t walk in for a slab of bacon or a thick, bone-in ribeye, so what’s actually happening?

Four days per week, Peter Crawford transforms his business into The Charles Underground, a French-inspired eatery, and the shop’s after-hours alter ego.

The Charles is where Crawford, a former New England Culinary Institute graduate who has worked with Charlie Palmer, Jean-Georges, Neil Gallagher, and Terrence Brennen, gets to step back into his passion as a classically trained French chef.

Foie gras and dry-aged steak? Sure. Homemade boudin blanc sausage with Robuchon potatoes, and morel mushroom sauce? They have done that, too.

Lending a helping hand in the front of the house is someone you might recognize from his time at Kawa Ni. Anthony Rinaldi acts as a restaurant jack-of-all-trades at The Charles, whether he’s waiting and bussing tables or assisting in the kitchen with cooking and occasionally washing dishes.

Read More

Barcelona Wine Bar Launches Wine Education Series in Partnership with Wine.com

Features WIne Wine Chat Wine Tasting This Week In Wine Education

CTbites Team

Barcelona Wine Bar is launching a new, complimentary wine education series in partnership with Wine.com to bring a taste of Spain home. The best news…after the class, you can buy the wines on Wine.com.

The first class, Iconic Red Wines of Spain will be released on April 28th, and will focus on Rioja, Bierzo, Ribera Del Duero, and Priorat wines. While there are specific wines that are available in a bundle on Wine.com for $89.99, Barcelona restaurants have an expansive range of wines from these regions and participants can call BWB to pick-up wine from one or all of these regions to taste along with the experts. The series was created for any Bierzo, Priorat, Rioja, or Ribera del Duero red wine to pair perfectly for the course.

Read More

Fortina Launches "Underground" Culinary Experiences

Features Restaurant Underground Dinner Rye Brook Pop-Up Dinner Catering

Stephanie Webster

I initially held off on sharing my tasting notes for Fortina's epically unique "underground" dinner last week, as it felt like a tease to share an eating adventure that could not be experienced by our readers. Well, all that has changed. The private dinners that began as a way for the Fortina culinary team to stretch their legs, experiment with flavors and dishes, and ultimately serve to inform new menu items, can now be booked by YOU. Here is a little inside scoop on last week's carefully orchestrated 8 person dinner/performance, complete with 10 courses, alcoholic icees, an opera singer, a comedian, escargot served on a VCR, and heck of a lot of fun. 

Read More

Top 10 Wines of 2014 from Barcelona Wine & Spirits Director, Gretchen Thomas

This Week In Wine Wine Chat

Gretchen Thomas

It’s been an intense year of traveling (I visited Spain five times!), tasting, and learning. And with our various locations in other Eastern US cities, I’ve been given the chance to taste limited wines that are exclusively available in their respective states, which, if anything, has reminded me that understanding wine is a giant task for those who don’t work in this field. After spending so many years devoted to tasting and learning about wines, I can still be surprised, impressed, and sometimes completely blown away. There are always new (to me) grapes varieties, regions, farming and vinifying techniques, and I’m sure next year won’t disappoint me with a chance to discover something else unknown and worth it. Since I am closing up my 2014 tasting journals and looking forward to a new year of “explore-a-tasting,” I am sharing the 10 most striking wines I tasted for the first time in 2014.
Read More

Spring Wine Picks: Austria's Hopler Vineyards, Gruner Veltliner +

Ingredients This Week In Wine Wine Chat Wine Tasting

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

It seems as though everyone loves a good Riesling for springtime and summer sipping.  Last year, New York City was just one of the regions to participate in a “Summer of Rieslings” with a number of selections on the High Line and in restaurants. Germany is revered for its remarkable versions of the varietal.

However, a lesser-celebrated varietal promises to satisfy all of your desires as the warmer weather approaches.  Gruner Veltliner, a national grape of Austria, shares Riesling characteristics, but has lighter, crisper, and fresher tones than its counterpart.  On Friday March 28, Fairfield County hosted Christof Hopler, a respected winemaker and owner of Hopler vineyards in Austria.  He presented a selection of his delicious wines to an eager room of wine enthusiasts at South End Restaurant in New Canaan.

Read More

Sun Winefest's Wine Review: What To Buy & Try

Ingredients This Week In Wine Wine Shop Wine Tasting

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

The annual Mohegan SunWineFest caters to a variety of interests. Restaurants, artisans, winemakers, and distributors unite in the sprawling Convention Center to deliver an epic weekend.  However, wine lies at its heart; it is a “wine” fest after all!  I enjoyed all of event’s facets, but as CTbites' wine correspondent, I paid careful attention to the hundreds of bottles presented.  I researched the offerings ahead of time, questioned the representatives, and- of course- tasted the bounties to bring you a full report on which wines reign supreme.

Check out my full report on: The Rise of Sauvignon Blancs, Is Oak a Joke?, Hail a Cab, Pleasing Pinots, Behold the Blend as well as a few other wine and spirit highlights. 

Read More

NyHaven in New Haven: A New Nordic Pop-Up

Restaurant Chef Talk New Nordic Underground Dinner New Haven

Amy Kundrat and Stephanie Webster

NyHaven, a one-time pop-up new Nordic dinner in New Haven on March 3, blew away a couple dozen diners lucky enough to purchase seats to the 15-course dining experience showcasing some of the most daring and inventive food in Connecticut. Conceived by Chef Simon Marcell Davidsen with fellow Community Table chef Tommy Juliano, they teamed up with John Ginnetti of 116 Crown, who not only generously offered the kitchen and dining space for NyHaven, but also paired each snack and course with an appropriate "cocktail."

An indelible evening marked by a provocative menu, curious cocktails, and a house filled with appreciate gourmands, we attempted to capture the meal in not just words, but an interview with Chef Simon Marcel Davidsen, photos of each course, and 116 Crown's video of the NyHaven experience:

Read More

Ny Haven: A Nordic Inspired Pop-up with Chefs Marcell Davidsen & Tommy Juliano at 116 Crown

Restaurant Chef Talk Underground Dinner

Amy Kundrat

Photos: Signe Birck

TICKETS HAVE GONE ON SALE! Tickets

A 13 course Nordic-inspired menu is the inspiration for Ny Haven, a one-time pop-up dining collaboration between chefs Marcell Davidsen and Tommy Juliano, that will take place at 116 Crown on March 3, 2014. Ny Haven is a play on words. In Danish, Ny means New, and Haven means garden. In Copenhagen, Nyhavn is a main gathering point for people to meet at cafés to eat and drink. 

The chefs, best known for their culinary risk-taking and locavore approach at Community Table in Washington, CT, will descend upon the kitchen of 116 Crown in New Haven for a single night for 25 lucky gourmands. 

"We are very excited to showcase our style of new New England cuisine, and Nordic influenced cooking, to New Haven," said Davidsen. "With my Danish background and Tommy's New England approach on desserts."

Read More

WestportREADS Dining Series featuring “My Life In France,” by Julia Child

Education Underground Dinner

ellen bowen

Shortly after docking in Le Harve, Julia Child had the lunch that changed her life.  It was sole meuniere, and Julia said "It was the most exciting meal of my life. " Julia and Paul Child lived in Paris and Marseilles from 1948 to 1954, and it was during that time Julia developed the love of French food and the skills that made her famous.  Paul fell in love with Julia because she was always herself, and America fell in love with her for the same reason.  My Life in France tells the story of Julia Child's life:  how she came to be an expert on French cuisine, revolutionize the writing of cookbooks and become the world's first celebrity chef.

Each January, The Westport Library selects a book and an author to be celebrated by the entire community through their popular WestportREADS program. 

This year’s selection, the iconic autobiography , My Life in France, by Julia Child, tells the inspiring, and at times humorous story of a young woman’s discovery of  France, fine food, and a passion for cooking. 

In conjunction with this event, CTbites is holding a curated dinner series, “Dine Around Town With Julia,” offering the opportunity to dine and sample many of her most famous dishes; Boeuf Bourguignon, Coq Au Vin, Poisson Meuniere, and Cassoulet in a private setting with local chefs and in local restaurants in celebration of what would have been Julia Childs 100th year.   The dinners, priced at $100 pp, include 3 courses, 2 glasses of wine, tax and tip and are limited availability.  A portion of the proceeds benefits programming for the Westport Library. 

Read More

Westport Farmers' Market Fundraisers Feature Mystery Location & Chef Lineup

Restaurant Farmers Market Underground Dinner

CTbites Team

This year, the Westport Farmers’ Market will turn its annual Fork It Over fundraiser into four dinners on four different nights, featuring some of the area’s most celebrated chefs.

The chef list reads like a Who’s Who of the Fairfield County culinary scene: Matt Storch (Chelsea and Match), Bill Taibe (LeFarm and The Whelk), Michel Nischan (Dressing Room, featuring Johnny Vaast), Tim Lablant (Schoolhouse Restaurant) and Jeff Taibe (Oak & Almond) to name just a few, are planning meals and menus unlike anything you’ve come to expect from them, and featuring ingredients from Norm Bloom, Sport Hill Farm, Fort Hill Farm, Oxhollow Farm, Craft Butchery, and others.

The catch?

WFM will tell you when, but not where (at least, not until the day before). And they’re not telling who, either.

Read More

Underground Dinner: Plum Luv Foods Pops Up at Butcher’s Best

Restaurant Chef Talk Newtown Underground Dinner

Jeanette Chen

This past Sunday, a group of us were six of the lucky 40 folks to nab tickets to a "hip" six course menu put on by Plum Luv Foods at Butcher's Best in Newtown, CT, showcasing sustainable local produce, seafood and grassfed meats. This was a sold-out event, even after adding ten more tickets than had been sold at previous dinners.
For the past few months, Chef Plum and Sous Chef Kern have been hosting Underground Dinner ("pop-up dinners") in Connecticut, where they take over a space for the evening, and prepare dinner in a casual, local setting.
No one in our group had ever been to a pop-up dinner, but we knew we were in for a fun night when we were greeted with a glass of bubbly champagne with local blueberries as soon as we walked in the door.
Take a peek at the menu ~ this particular evening, Chef Plum showcased grass-fed meats from Shiregate Family Farm (carried by Butcher's Best), local grown produce (from Farming 101 and Holbrook Farm), and fresh fish and oysters caught right off the Connecticut shoreline.
Read More

Dinner Underground in Newtown CT with Chef Plum

Restaurant Events Newtown Underground Dinner

Nicole Straight

I wasn’t sure what to expect as we entered the butcher, but were warmly greeted with a glass of champagne by Chef (Chris) Plum himself and were shown to our table.  Butcher’s Best deli and butcher in Newtown, CT has been transformed twice in 2013 to offer 30 lucky diners one of Plum’s "Dinner Undergound" culinary evenings. I was lucky enough to enjoy night #2.  

Chef Plum is a graduate from The Culinary Institute of America with over 18 years of experience. He has worked all over the east coast in five-star hotels and resorts, as well as small neighborhood restaurants. Plum-Luv-Foods was born in 2006 and since then has brought whole farm foods to families, small parties, Broadway actors, executives, Food Network and network TV. 

Plum’s happy demeanor shines through his food.  His inventive style and clever riffs show both his appreciation for food and simple enjoyment of offering his guests thoughtfully created dishes.  As each course is served, Plum tells us about where the food is from, his inspiration and why he chose to marry the components. 

Read More

Reasons to Love Winesday: Wine Wednesdays at Mohegan Sun

Restaurant This Week In Wine Wine Chat Wine Tasting

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

It seems that Wednesdays are officially becoming synonymous with wine!  In addition to our “Winesday” column, you can now enjoy an array of vino-based festivities at Mohegan Sun’s latest weekly event, “Wine Wednesdays.”  The evenings embrace the acclaimed restaurants and lounges already present within the casino, but present them with an emphasis on wine.  Four course pairing dinners unfold every Wednesday at both Bobby Flay’s Bar American and Todd English’s Tuscany.  Casino guests can also relax with a glass of champagne and smooth jazz rifts at the Vista Lounge starting at 8pm.  The first Wednesday of every month, though, has a special offering: “Tasting and Tapas” at Todd English’s Tuscany.  I had the pleasure of experiencing the affair (which has an impressively alliterate title, I might add) earlier this month.

Tasting and Tapas unfolded on the beautiful “patio” in the front of Tuscany.  Tuscany has an indoor restaurant with the kitchen, bar, and tables, as well as a front portion looking out on the casino.  Mohegan adopted the motif of a night sky, so guests sitting in that area feel the illusion of eating dinner under twinkling stars on a summer’s evening. 

Read More

Winesday: When It Rains, It “Pours”... Wine & the Weather

Ingredients This Week In Wine Wine Tasting Winesday

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

“What’s going to come next- a sandstorm?” asked my friend as we stared out at the never-ending expanse of snow in front of us.

This season certainly has seen its share of weather anomalies from Hurricane Sandy to the recent blizzard that hit some parts of Connecticut with more than 30 inches of snow.  As I assessed the damage and tried to get my daily routine back in order, I couldn’t help but consider how these extreme storms have affected the wine industry.  A wine’s quality depends on a host of climate factors including the length of the growing season, temperature, and composition of the soil.  Even a small deviation can alter an entire bottle.  What happens to production in the wake of such monumental weather upheavals?

In order to find the answer to my question, I turned to Andie Martin, Tasting Room Manager, and Chris Moore, Vineyard Manager, at the Jonathan Edwards Winery. 

Read More

Souterrain #5: Bill Taibe Hosts Underground Dinner

Restaurant Underground Dinner Bill Taibe Events

Stephanie Webster

Bill Taibe and his team of chefs hosted Souterrain Sunday night, #5 in his series of underground pop-up dinners featuring local ingredients, unexpected locations, and good company. Ironically, Souterrain #5 was originally scheduled during last October's spectacular Nor'easter, and while Halloween did go on, Souterrain had to be cancelled.  This year, dinner prevailed, and guests were delighted to find themselves at The Westport Arts Center on the last day of the appropriately themed FOODIES art exhibit. (The location is only divulged 12 hours before the event). 

Bill Taibe considers Souterrain his "third restaurant, one without walls, where people come together at communal tables and share a unique culinary experience." The menu for Souterrain does not always follow a strict narrative, but Sunday's meal was truly an ode to duck. Green olives with roasted garlic cloves were cooked in duck fat. There was Duck Ham, Duck Liver & Huckleberries, and a spectacular Duck Confit. Corn bread drizzled with maple syrup paired beautifully with the foie and huckleberries, and a Brandade (Salt Cod Puree) made it into the first course, providing a taste of the sea. John Baricelli, of Sono Baking Company, even created a special olive bread for the evening. VIEW PHOTO GALLERY

Read More

Going "Grüner"... Wine Notes from Barcelona Restaurant

Ingredients This Week In Wine Wine Chat

Gretchen Thomas

Nearing the end of the summer, I always crave what’s ahead in the coming Autumn. I’m dying for some butternut squash, I’m researching fall fashion trends, and I’m assembling my line-up of brooding red wines to pour by the glass. Every now and then something shows up on my desk that brings me back to the present, and most recently it is this amazing white wine that can combat every humid day we have left in this season. Truly, it was a tough summer; I found it hard to reach for a glass of anything other than water on some days, but I have found the solution in the 2010 Grüner Veltliner (pronounced GREW-ner VELT-lee-ner) made by Gustav Winery in Austria.

If you are new to this varietal, here’s the scoop: Grüner Veltliner has been the darling white wine of nerdy sommeliers (like myself) for about 5 years now.

Read More

“Hot” Wine Picks for the Summer

Ingredients Features This Week In Wine

JoAnn LoGiurato

 JoAnn LoGiurato is a Certified Wine Specialist and the owner of Dancing on Grapes. 

Deck parties, outdoor picnics, grillin’ and chillin’…. summer is definitely upon us, and so is the summer wine dilemma. What to drink now? Hmm, many people believe that summer is all about white—au contraire! Here are 11 of my favorite wine sips for summer, including a couple of delicious reds and a rosé for those not afraid to “drink pink.” All of them are available at one of your favorite Fairfield County wine shops. If you can’t find the exact wine you’re looking for, ask the merchant to show you something similar—heck, it’s just fermented grape juice.  Taste, experiment, and have fun with it! 

Read More

leFarm's Souterrain #4 @ Sport Hill Farm

Restaurant Farm to Table Local Farm Underground Dinner Farm Dinner

Stephanie Webster

CLICK ON ABOVE IMAGE TO LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

Dauntingly overcast skies would not deter the guest list of 50 or so people who only 24 hours before the recent Souterrain event were summoned to Sport Hill Farm in Easton CT for a Sunday brunch. Bill Taibe's latest culinary adventure would be unique in both the mid day time slot (leFarm does not serve brunch, and according to Chef Taibe...never will), as well as the presence of a film crew shooting a TV pilot during the meal. But the stars of the show were the menu, the shared experience, and the magnificent backdrop of Patti Popp's sustainable Sport Hill Farm.   Check out the photo gallery here. 

And here's what we ate:

Read More

A History of Connecticut Wine: Vineyard in Your Backyard

Ingredients This Week In Wine

CTbites Team

It wasn’t until 1978 that the state of Connecticut passed the Winery Act that allowed owners and winemakers to be able to have their own places to make the wine. Nowadays, there are over 30 wineries throughout the state alone, which made University of Bridgeport English professors Amy Nawrocki and Eric D. Lehman interested in pursuing the idea of writing a book on this subject matter.

Their new book; “A History of Connecticut Wine: Vineyard in Your Backyard” was released on March 18 and published by The History Press out of Charleston, SC. The volume, which is the first in depth publication on this topic, talks about history of CT wine before and after the Winery Act was announced, while also answering the question why people should go to these local wineries and taste wine.

Read More
  Archive of All Reviews

Search by Tags