SoNo Market Place Opens December 1st in Norwalk Ingredients Restaurant Bakery Chocolate Coffee Norwalk Pizza Specialty Market Wine Dinners Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger November 26, 2012 A week prior to the official opening on Saturday December 1st, SoNo Market Place decided to sponsor a soft opening on November 23rd and I decided that tasting some good local food was a whole lot better than fighting the crowds at the mall. All of the food purveyors were in full test-mode and my first stop was Flat White Coffee to taste the coffee described to CTbites by owner, John Palino, back in September. This was a creamy blend of rich coffee and steamed milk, a brand brought over from New Zealand, and one that should meet with great success in CT. But it's not just about coffee at SoNo Market Place. With over 20 food vendors and eateries, this European style market is poised to be a foodie destination. Guests lined up at Wise Guys Pizza for New Haven style pies; Norm Bloom served up fresh oysters and clams straight from the Norwalk waters, and Fish & Chips were on the menu from Gotta Nibble. Caterering company, Festivities, has a permananet spot here with their take-out biz, "Party Express." Local specialty purveyors and well known brands such as Knipschildt Chocolatier, Wave Hill Breads, and Nothin' But Granola have also opened shop at the market. Read More
Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup Features Chef Talk Thanksgiving Recipe CTbites Team November 20, 2012 Back by popular demand, here is our "Best of Thanksgiving" Recipe Roundup with great cooking tips for your holiday table. leFarm's Cider Braised Turkey Legs Roasted Pumpkin & Squash Soup via The Dressing Room MATCH'S Luscious Whipped Potatoes Napa & Co's Chestnut Corn Bread & Foie Gras Stuffing Butter & Herb Roasted Turkey with Madeira c/o Fine Cooking Bernard's Baby Pumpkins filled with Pumpkin Mousseline, Sautéed Shrimp & Wild Mushrooms Bread Pudding w. Bourbon Pecans & Butterscotch 3 Fave Thanksgiving Side Dishes from Chef Michael Batt of Food Design Catering Thanksgiving Shout Out: Best Dish? Worst Dish? The Boathouse's Autumn Harvest Apple Contorno The Day After Thanksgiving: Turkey Pot Pie Chestnut Stuffing w/ Leeks & Apples c/o The Parsley Thief Stuffed: The Benefits of Stale Bread Ask Chef Nicole: Thanksgiving Side Dishes Cranbellinis: The Holiday Breakfast of Champions Read More
CTbites TV:Chef Bernard Bouissou Demo's Baby Pumpkin Holiday Recipe Features Entertaining Holiday Recipe Video Thanksgiving Recipe CTbites Team November 16, 2012 Chef Bernard Bouissou of Bernard's in Ridgefield is somewhat of a Fairfield County legend amongst both chefs and diners alike. Talented chefs including Arik Bensimon and Bill Taibe have gained valuable skills in his contemporary French kitchen, and when it comes to entertaining, no one has a larger repertoire of beautiful holiday recipes. Recently, Chef Bouissou stepped into CTbites' test kitchen to demonstrate his recipe for Baby Pumpkins filled with Pumpkin Mousseline, Sautéed Shrimp & Wild Mushrooms. These are stunning on a Thanksgiving table and simple to make. Watch the video for great tips while you try out this recipe at home (Recipe Below). Read More
Brazilian Chef Leticia Schwartz's Pecan Pie Recipe Features Brazilian Chef Talk Holiday Thanksgiving Recipe Dessert Leticia Schwartz November 15, 2012 Chef Leticia Schwartz is the author of The Brazilian Kitchen, the cookbook that made Brazilian cooking accessible to the masses. She has appeared on The Today Show and teaches cooking classes in Fairfield County and NYC. Welcome November! With the aftermath of hurricane Sandy and the elections behind us, I think we all want to move on to Thanksgiving, just around the corner, and the perfect occasion to be thankful for what we have. This is my favorite American Holiday and truly the biggest gourmet feast on the calendar year. As a Brazilian living in the US, it took me a few years to understand the deep meaning of Thanksgiving— especially the repeated menu every year. On the other hand, the chef in me loves to see the whole country talking turkey and cooking this one giant meal. One of my favorite desserts from the Thanksgiving picture is Pecan Pie. Over the last few years I have tried recipes from magazines, newspapers, cookbooks, and web sites. They are all good but in every recipe I wish something was different. There are just so many variables that impact the end result of a pecan pie. Read More
The Story Behind Fat Cat Pie Co. in Norwalk CT Ingredients Restaurant Pizza Wine Bar Wine Chat Emma Jane-Doody Stetson November 15, 2012 As an English enthusiast, I am always looking for meaningful ways to explain the concept of “irony.” It is perhaps the most misunderstood word in the English language. Although Alanis Morisette’s single “Ironic” proved catchy, it helped propagate the phony notion that irony must be linked to coincidence or misfortune. Irony is actually a simple “incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs.” Examples include a traffic officer avoiding parking tickets or the demise of “unsinkable” Titanic. But the best embodiment of the term is certainly the Fat Cat Pie Company. This venture, led by Mark Ancona, Anthony Ancona, Suzanne Ancona, and Mike Pelletier, is a dazzling display of all things unexpected. Read More
Calling All Pepperheads: Salemme Peppers Ingredients Local Artisan sherri daley November 13, 2012 If you are the type who scoffs at the red pepper flakes provided at the local pizza parlor, screwing off the top to be able to pour the maximum number of flakes on your slice while saying loudly enough for tables nearby to hear, “Ha! You call this hot?”, then you really need Tom Salemme. Along with his extended Italian family residing in and around Cheshire CT – and to be fair, Brooklyn - Tom keeps the Salemme tradition going. It started a couple of generations ago, great-great-grandparents growing peppers for their own use, but friends and neighbors had to have some, too. The tradition lived on long after the first and second generations passed away and the family farm was sold. Salemme peppers stayed, sowed and harvested on local farmland owned by T&D Growers, dried in nearby greenhouses, and, finally, the tiny peppers are plucked by hand from the dry plants at long tables in Tom Salemme’s backyard on an autumn afternoon. Read More
Friday Froth: What's New? Ingredients Friday Froth Beer James Gribbon November 09, 2012 Every day is like waking up in a new place when you're a beer fan. The craft beer scene continues to hit higher plateaus. Brewers and beer artisans no longer seem content to simply produce a great beer in a recognizable style, they're reaching out into the realms of winemaking, distillation and cooking just to see what they can offer, what they can contribute to zymurgy. I've mentioned the experimental barrel-aging going on with B. United's Zymatore Project, but every stumbling step seems to put me mouth to mouth with a pint of inspired brewing. It's like the Seattle music scene in 1990, or Parisian cafes in 1870: artists are communicating with artists, experiencing each others' product, and reconsidering what they can produce. Yesterday I had a Rogue Chipotle ale. Yes, yes, I know: chipotle has been done, done to death, buried, reanimated in a unholy ceremony using two parts voodoo and one part Guy Fieri's wrist band, and been put down and buried again, but there I was, having to recalibrate what I thought about beer. Read More
The Pantry in Fairfield: Market & Catering for Food-Lovers (sponsored post) Ingredients Features Bakery Butcher Catering Entertaining Fairfield Specialty Market pantry Advertisement Lunch Sarah Green November 07, 2012 You won't believe what's in our PANTRY! Located at 1580 Post Road in Fairfield, Ct, The Pantry is much more than a food shop - it is Mecca for foodies as well as a one-stop-shop for busy consumers. Established in 2003 through the collaborative effort of chefs & food lovers, The Pantry has blossomed into a bustling marketplace stocked with an array of products and services for today's savvy clientele. What have they got? Top quality butchered meats & seafood (delivered daily from various New York markets), award winning desserts and pastries (the bakery has received "Best Desserts in Fairfield County" from Fairfield Weekly for 9 consecutive years), restaurant quality prepared foods & catering services, a full deli and salad bar, groceries, produce and floral & customized gift baskets. Whether you are looking for a freshly tossed salad, pan seared salmon with citrus, basil & olive oil or a chocolate chip cookie - The Pantry is the place to shop. This Pantry is stocked!! Read More
Olive Oil Tasting Event w/ Olivette & Fairfield Green Food Guide, Nov 13th Ingredients Events CTbites Team November 05, 2012 Please join Olivette and the Fairfield Green Food Guide on Tuesday, November 13th frm 6-8PM, for an evening of sensory exploration with one of the foremost olive oil tasting experts in the US, Arden Kremer. During this two-hour workshop you will learn to taste and analyze extra virgin olive oils from around the world just as the experts on professional olive oil taste panels do. Bonus! This tasting will be held at the new Sono Marketplace...you can be one of the first to check out this beautiful new multi vendor market. Here are the details: Read More
Cinch Gourmet Meal Market & Cooking Classes Features Cooking Classes Entertaining Fairfield Special Dietary Needs Specialty Market Nancy Kleeger November 04, 2012 Years ago, around the time The Brady Bunch was infiltrating almost every T.V. set in America, it was unlikely that your mom would have picked up dinner in lieu of cooking a homemade meal. While it’s true that familiar words in your household at the time may have included Wendy’s, Burger King and Arby’s, you weren’t pulling up to the drive-in window to order healthy, gourmet food. At home it may have been a casserole or a roast while mom always remained neatly coifed, and eating meals at the table as a family were normal. Fast - forward 40 years and life is a lot different. In our fast paced world today we often find ourselves in a pinch, pressed for enough time to prepare a well-balanced meal for our disappearing family dinners due to time constraints. Enter Cinch, Fairfield’s newest “Gourmet Food Market.” A market where you shop for high quality meals that you just heat and serve in your own home. “Eat your heart out Carol Brady, let me tell you a little bit about the life of a 21st century family on the go.” Read More
Holiday Open House @ The Schoolhouse at Cannondale Features Chef Talk Education Entertaining Holiday Stephanie Webster October 26, 2012 This just in from The Schoolhouse: It's that time of year again! Head on over to a Holiday Open House here at the Schoolhouse at Cannondale Restaurant. Get inspiration for your upcoming holiday and dinner parties with a few signature ideas of Chef LaBant's. The Schoolhouse will be featuring several workshop stations starring some of their favorite Hor D'oeuvres, Desserts & Pies (also available for pre-order), a Prosecco and Italian Soda Bar, and a Floral Arrangements & Decorations workshop. The Open House will go from 7 pm to 9 pm on Tuesday, November 20th. Take home an original recipe book by Schoolhouse's own, included in the cost. Tickets are $65.00 per person. To reserve tickets, please contact: openhouse2012@schoolhouseatcannondale.com with your name, number of reservations, and a telephone number should we need to contact youdirectly. We will confirm your tickets via email. Read More
Nothin' But Granola Bars Make it Big @ Le Pain Quotidien Ingredients Local Artisan Breakfast Kid Friendly Dessert CTbites Team October 23, 2012 Big news for a local baker whose career CTbites has followed from the very beginning. Westport based NOTHIN’ BUT Premium Snack Bars have just announced that they have created a specialty blend granola bar for Le Pain Quotidien, an international chain of bakery cafes. Several months ago Nothin' But CEO, Steven Laitmon, and Jerri Graham, the founder and creator of the company, approached Le Pain with the idea of making a proprietary blended granola bar. Receptive about a Premium Snack Bar that could capture their commitment to excellence, the team at Le Pain readily agreed. Back home in Westport, Jerri and Steven set to work and started the process of crafting various combinations until they achieved what they felt was perfection. Read More
Food News: Openings, Parties, Election Day & Wine Ingredients Restaurant Brunch News Specialty Market Beer CTbites Team October 23, 2012 Half Full brewery in Stamford will host a Halloween party this Saturday, starting at 7p.m. For $50, you'll get open taps of Half Full Bright Ale, InaugerALE, IPA and Pumpkin Ale, Oktoberfest inspired food and Pumpkin Ale floats, via Station Eats, and a costume contest. Half Full recommends taking a cab to this one. Feeling stressed about Election Day? Fairway Market in Stamford has a solution. Eat cupcakes.. Go Donkey or Elephant - for $1.49 each - celebrate or sob into your sweets. The Spread opens TODAY in SoNo with Executive Chef Arik Bensimon. Don't miss out on this hipster scene and spectacular menu. More here. Looking for a good brunch spot? Bar Sugo, Chef Pat Pascarella's new killer Italian venue in Norwalk, is serving a regional Italian brunch Saturday and Sunday with rotating menu items including: Crispy Pork Belly w/ Sunny Side Up Eggs, Sausage & Broccoli Rabe omelettes, pancakes, and all the usual suspects. View menu here. Read More
Walter Stewart's Market Fall Shopping Guide (sponsored post) Ingredients Local Artisan Local Farm Special Dietary Needs Specialty Market New Canaan CTbites Team October 22, 2012 Fall is here and Walter Stewart's Market, a fixture in downtown New Canaan since 1907, is celebrating the season with great products for your whole family. For those who haven’t shopped this local gem, take a a trip down the aisles of Walter Stewart’s Market, where you’ll find an amazing array of local, seasonal and specialty items...not to mention the Stewart’s wine shop. Finally one stop shopping. How better to enjoy in these crisp Fall months, than with local apple and apple cider from Lyman Orchards in Middlefield CT or the exceptionally delicious Cider donuts from Blue Jay Orchards in Bethel. Read More
LUXE Modern Wine & Cocktails in Westport Ingredients Restaurant Cocktails Westport Wine Bar Amy Kundrat October 19, 2012 LUXE Modern Wine & Cocktails in Westport is focusing on mixology education this fall and winter just in time to get your bar fully stocked and your skills sharpened for the holiday entertaining to come. Cocktail Classes will be held on 10/29, 11/19, 12/17, and focus on the following subjects: Setting up a home bar, basic bar tools, basic cocktails with mixers; basic cocktails Spirits, punch and cocktails for a crowd, how to create your own signature cocktail, and prepping your home bar for a cocktail party. To RSVP, leave a message for LUXE @ 203 349 5039 or message on facebook. Read More
Friday Froth: Hopstacle Course Ingredients Beer Dinner Beer James Gribbon October 12, 2012 "Brain Blaster," huh? I crinkle the plastic bag in my fingers and stick my nose in once more to inhale the pungent aroma of the dried green buds it contains. "Its only sounds like 'Brain Blaster'," says Brendan Kingston. "There's no way anything with a name like that gets past the FDA." I drop the bag and pick up a small glass of brown beer. The beer's real name is An Braon, meaning "The Tasty Drop," which is appropriate. We're not here to discuss the forest here, though: we're looking at the trees. Well, vines, to be precise. I'm sitting at the first in a series of educational tasting classes conducted by B. United International, and hosted by Coalhouse Pizza in Stamford.Every day, CTBites chronicles the myriad ways in which we're lucky to be living in Fairfield County during the current food (and beer) renaissance in America Read More
Food Porn: Apple Tart Recipe Ingredients Features Cookbooks Food Porn Recipe Tina Rupp October 04, 2012 CLICK ON IMAGE ABOVE TO LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY Tina Rupp is a professional food photographer who works with Food & Wine Magazine and Weight Watchers and also photographs many cookbooks and national print ads. Today just after this tart came out of the oven, I FINALLY realized why I bake and don’t really cook. I burned applesauce. Who does that? The running joke between me and my husband is that I can burn just about anything I cook: eggs, toast, fishies for my daughters and then today it was applesauce made from all of the extra apples I sliced for the shoot. It finally hit me. When I bake, I have a timer! When I cook on the stovetop, no timer! Eureka moment for sure. Thankfully, my husband is an amazing cook, beef bourguignon, the works. Nice balance with all the baking I do and fortunately I can also make a mean salad. No timer needed. Read More
Rhubarb Kitchen: Cooking School, British Style, in Darien Features Restaurant Cooking Classes Darien Education Dessert Melissa Roberts September 26, 2012 As if on cue, the day I attended class at the Rhubarb Kitchen, a cooking school with an emphasis on all things British, the sun disappeared and the weather turned appropriately overcast and drizzly. A perfect backdrop for learning about the delights of the very English ritual of Afternoon Tea. But first, a little about the women who run this show. Rebecca Binks (aka “Becs”) grew up in Kent and learned the highlights of English food from her grandmother, mom, and eight aunts. A former banker and world traveler who has lived in France and Spain, Becs landed in New York City where she met Lisa McMullan. Lisa, an Irishwoman, grew up surrounded by lush farmland and her culinary path is inspired by a true farm to table experience. Lisa practiced as an optometrist, but her love of food always lingered in the background. Read More
Saugatuck Craft Butchery Classes & Events Features Butcher Cooking Classes Education CTbites Team September 06, 2012 The kids are going back to school, and so should you! Lead by example and take one of Saugatuck Craft Butchery's fall/winter classes. They are offering their usual Butchery 101 classes, as well as a special Holiday Edition. All registration is now done online, so visit the Craft Butchery website to reserve your spot. See below for details on all available classes. They are also conducting pig butchering demonstrations- unlike the classes this is not hands-on, but it is still a great way to watch and learn as our butchers walk through the basic anatomy of a pig, artfully carving it into primals, then individual cuts. Read More
