Off the Vine Wine & Spirits Opens in Norwalk Ingredients Norwalk Wine Chat Wine Shop Emma Jane-Doody Stetson January 23, 2013 “Come on in. I just finished putting the wine away about an hour ago,” says John Noakes as I enter Off The Vine Wine & Spirits, a wine shop in Norwalk. “I had about 100 cases just sitting in my basement.” Off the Vine is a work in progress; a paint brush lies in the corner waiting for use and the shelves have a few empty spaces awaiting bottles. Still, Noakes is well on his way toward reopening the store in its new location. The shop, previously situated on the corner of Spring Hill Avenue, is moving across town to Winfield Street. The space has its own legacy. It once housed the original location of Fountainhead Wines before it became a part of Fat Cat City on Wall Street. Off the Vine is a relatively small operation. Noakes owns and works in the store full-time and has two people who assist him part-time. The new location is physically petite as well, even more so than the previous shop. Don’t let the size fool you though. The shop offers an enviable collection of boutique wines. “Having a small store poses its challenges, but it makes it so that your taste has to be spot on,” explains Noakes. He strives to offer only the best products to his customers and tries to find unique, small production wine. Read More
Bistro Latino: Chef Rafael Palomino Comes to Old Greenwich Restaurant Celebrity Chef Greenwich Spanish Latin American Lou Gorfain January 20, 2013 Acclaimed chef, author and restaurateur Rafael Palomino recently opened Bistro Latino in the space first occupied by Boxing Cat Café and then Greenwich Tavern in Old Greenwich. The vast dining room has been done over in dark wood flooring which is flanked by racked walls that flaunt an extensive portfolio of international wines. Palomino won his food-star stripes when he opened Sonora in Manhattan almost two decades ago, introducing Manhattan to Nuevo Latino cuisine, and earning raves from the city’s food critics. Sonora's wild success inspired Rafael to bring his unique cooking style to satellite restaurants in New Haven, Tuckahoe, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Sonora now lives in Port Chester. Despite its name, Greenwich's Bistro Latino is not really Nuevo Latino since the dishes are more of Spain than Latin and South America. Rafael has created a menu that features European tapas and paella -- which he anoints with flavors from his Columbian and Queens roots. "Spanish bathed in Picante Style," is how the restaurant describes it. As a result, Bistro Latino is really more about invention than tradition. Read More
Friday Froth: Winter Update Ingredients Friday Froth Beer James Gribbon January 18, 2013 "You shouldn't be scared of spiders," I remember my mother telling me. "You're much bigger than they are." At the time this line of reasoning seemed like neither a straight line, nor particularly reasonable, but I had no adequate retort at eight years old. Spiders were little, misshapen beasts from hell's own imagination then, and they remain so now. Doubly so, since now I know about things like the Brown Recluse, but that's not important. A spider I can hit with a magazine before turning on my heel and shrieking away. I am millions of times larger than a cold virus, and that hasn't stopped it from kicking my ass. So take that, 1987 Mom. All this is to say I haven't been drinking a lot of beer lately, but here are a few tidbits from the scattershot days in which I've been both awake and able to breathe over the past month.Sixpoint in Brooklyn literally turns out (at least one) new beer every month. See their single-hopped Spice of Life series for just one example. In that vein, I finally had the Pacifica version which came out in November, and can still be found on tap here and there. Read More
Casa Villa: Beloved Taco Joint Opens in Bridgeport Restaurant Bridgeport Delicious Dives Tacos Mexican CTbites Team January 16, 2013 Stamford's beloved Mexican restaurant Casa Villa opens a new location in Bridgeport TODAY. The menu will be very similar to that at their East Main Street location, including their signature al pastor tacos and tamales. Congratulations to owner Alvino Villa and his team! Hacienda Villa is located at 2810 Fairfield Ave, Bridgeport CT. Click here to read our review of CASA VILLA Read More
Rustico Trattoria: Traditional, Tasty Italian in Westport (sponsored post) Restaurant Gluten-Free Italian Special Dietary Needs Westport CTbites Team January 13, 2013 Wherever you are from, a meal at RUSTICO is like coming home. From the kitchen of Chef Miguel Angelo D'Onofrio, exquisite and thoroughly Italian dishes are only a heartbeat away. This family owned and operated establishment has been open for a year showcasing Chef Miguel's talents and passion for Italian cuisine. Chef Miguel was born in Brazil and his mother is from Spain, but he is all ITALIAN on his father's side and these roots run deep. From traditional recipes, handed down from generation to generation yet modernized by Chef Miguel's creativity, a meal at RUSTICO is a delicious culinary experience. Using only the highest quality meats and fish - no hormones or antibiotics of any kind - and sourcing only the freshest ingredients, Chef Miguel prepares each dish to perfection. For 25 years he worked as an executive chef in Connecticut and was most recently co-owner of Finalmente Trattoria, also in Westport. Now in his own space he prepares dishes that originate from the passion that is Italia, RUSTICO is an extension of Chef Miguel's history. Read More
Westport Farmers' Mkt Hosts Cabbage Recipe Contest Ingredients Farmers Market Local Farm Westport Recipe CTbites Team January 11, 2013 Cabbage -A cultivated plant (Brassica oleracea) eaten as a vegetable, having thick green or purple leaves surrounding a spherical heart or head... Do you have a cabbage recipe that you think can win a contest for the best cabbage recipe? On January 19, next Saturday, The Westport Farmers' Market will be accepting all entries. At 11:00 a.m. celebrity Judges/Chefs Nancy Roper (from Boxcar Cantina and Truck) and Bill Taibe (from Lefarm and Whelk) will taste their way through the entries declaring a winner at high noon. The winner will receive a Westport Farmers' Market tote filled with market goodies worth well over a $100 and have the option to share their recipe with the 3,000 people who receive the WFM newsletter each week. There is one stipulation to the contest - the cabbage that is used must be from a local farm and the name of the farm must be noted with the entry. Email Lori Cochran, Market Director, by Jan 17 to enter- director@westportfarmersmarket.com Read More
The Great Wall of Stouts Beer Event @ The Ginger Man Restaurant Beer Dinner Norwalk Beer Stephanie Webster January 10, 2013
Food 411: Name The Restaurant That Served This... Restaurant Food 411 Italian CTbites Team January 10, 2013
Kids Review: Vietnam Palace in Stratford via AsherZeats Restaurant Asian Delicious Dives Stratford Vietnamese Kid Friendly CTbites Team January 09, 2013 Asher is an 8th grader at Fairfield Country Day School. He has a true passion for food and started his blog, AsherZeats, in September of 2012. Asher reviews everything from Michelin starred restaurants to great dives. This review originally ran on AsherZeats. “Anyone who tells a lie has not a pure heart, and cannot make a good soup. “-- Ludwig Van Beethoven. This Saturday we traveled to Vietnam Palace (a new restaurant, opened this past June) located at- 955 Ferry Boulevard, Stratford, CT in a very busy shopping center. When we entered, we noticed two very cool statues of lions and a statue of a Buddha. The ceilings were filled with many upside down umbrellas and the restaurant was extremely clean. We also saw that it was a family run business (the best kind of business) with a very small number of people working there. When we were seated, we were greeted by an EXTREMELY friendly Husband/Wife pair who could not be any nicer. Read More
Pasta Bolognese in Fairfield County Roundup: Part I Restaurant Fairfield Greenwich Italian Norwalk Pasta Stamford New Canaan Jeff Schlesinger & Lou Gorfain January 04, 2013 Mangia, Mangia Mangia…and Mangia again. Pasta Bolognese..a dish so embedded in the DNA of Italian culture that the Italian Academy of Cuisine registered a recipe for "classic Bolognese ragù" with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce. The recorded recipe calls for beef from the plate section, unsmoked pancetta, carrot, celery, onions, tomato purée, meat broth, dry wine, milk, salt and pepper, plus a small amount of cream as an option to finish the sauce. There are numerous variations and nuances in the design, flavor, ingredients and most importantly the partner on the plate, the pasta, traditionally a taggliatelle. What started as a simple idea within CTbites to find and recommend a few good Pasta Bolognese dishes in Fairfield County took a life of its own as more suggestions led to more great sauces, which led to, well more great sauces. Over the last several weeks, the two of us have enjoyed some great Pasta Bolognese preparations (and several that were not so good) to give our readers a list of recommended restaurants that serve delicious versions of this traditional Italian fare. It is not all encompassing, is listed alphabetically and we look to our readers to offer other suggestions of restaurants that serve their favorite Pasta Bolognese to be included in next year's search. And this is only part 1…there were too many for just one list of recommendations, so stay tuned for part 2 in the near future. Buon Appetito!!! Read More
6 Great Cleanses to Start the New Year Right Ingredients Juice Cleanse healthy Sarah Green January 02, 2013 What could be more appropriate for a CTbites article than to paraphrase a Shakespearan play whose title contains a tasty pork product? HAMlet, at his existential and post holiday binge worst probably also asked "To cleanse or not to cleanse...that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the gut to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous feasting, Or to take action against a sea of troubles and, by cleansing, - end them. Don't worry. And don't bother with the nunnery. Instead, get thee to one of the establishments listed below and sample a cleanse to rid yourself of post-food-orgy regret. Start the new year by taking care of your body with one of these 6 great cleanses: Read More
CTbites Staff Picks for TOP EATS OF 2012 Restaurant Top 10 Eats Best of CT Stephanie Webster December 31, 2012 It's that time again...time to reflect on the year that has passed, and look forward to what is yet to come. For the food obsessed in Fairfield County, 2012 was a stellar year. The restaurant scene literally exploded with some very notable openings, and 2013 promises to continue the trend. As we say good bye to 2012, we asked the CTbites Team to list the restaurants at which they spent the most time eating throughout the year. What you see below are the STAFF PICKS for TOP EATS OF 2012. Let us know your favorite spots as well. Happy New Year from CTbites. Read More
10 Questions w/ Chef Mario LaPosta of Tarry Lodge Interview Restaurant Chef Talk Italian Pizza Westport CTbites Team December 27, 2012 Mario LaPosta is the self proclaimed "pizza obsessed" Chef @ Tarry Lodge in Westport. Here are a few things you probably didn't know about this pizzaioli whose Margherita pizza placed in the top ten of the world pizza championships. Plus: Don't miss Mario's recipe for Mussels En Scapece. Marinated Mussels with wine, saffron and red wine vinegar (seen below). If you had unexpected guests arriving at your home for dinner in 1 hour, what would you whip up? I would make homemade sauce and meatballs. Sunday sauce is something that my family has been blessed with making exceptionally well; it is easy to make in an hour by substituting meatballs instead of slow cooking beef or pork. What is the last dish you cooked for yourself? Turkey Chili, in an effort to lose weight so I can fit into a tux on my wedding day, and in honor to watching my Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. What are your guilty pleasures in terms of food? I dream about food 24/7 so everything tends to be a guilty pleasure for me, but I like the combination of sweet and savory; Pork Belly with Apple Mostarda at Tarry Lodge and Foie Gras with Cinco Cebollas at Casa Mono represent this best. Read More
The Spread Hosts A "Mad Men" New Years Eve Bash Restaurant Holiday CTbites Team December 26, 2012 Still trying to figure out how to spend New Years Eve? Hmmm...What would Don Draper do? The Spread is hosting a Mad Men themed event that sounds like the perfect combo of good food and good fun...Here's the lineup. 7-8:30 pm Cocktail hour/Raw bar: Specialty drinks from late 50's/early 60's; Blue point oysters and anything else Chef Arik Bensimon finds fresh from the sea. 9-11 pm 5 course dinner: Black bass carpaccio, Cabbage and chanterelles, Lobster Thermidor, Roast lamb, Cheese course; Dessert Read More
DAVIDsTEA Opens in Westport Ingredients Specialty Market Westport Tea And Coffee Breakfast Nancy Kleeger December 26, 2012 On the twelfth night of Christmas, my true love brewed for me,” 1 buddha’s blend, 2 matcha matsu, 3 long life oolong, 4 la la lemon, 5 chocolate orange...and so the song goes. New to Main Street in downtown Westport, just in time for the holidays, is DAVIDsTEA, a Canadian company started by two cousins who wanted to introduce the masses to the ancient world of loose leaf tea in a fun, modern environment. Initially successful in Canada with over 80 stores, the cousins decided to set up shop in the U.S. with Westport following the likes of NYC, Chicago and San Francisco. Read More
The Spread in SONO: Beautiful Food...Hip Spot Restaurant American Cocktails Italian Moroccan Norwalk SONO Melissa Roberts December 19, 2012 Word of mouth, and great word at that, brought me to The Spread, a spanking new dining hot spot in Sono. Two months young, the restaurant is the result a partnership of four guys, all with two decades-worth of bar and restaurant experience combined, plus one young and very talented chef, Arik Bensimon. Formerly the Executive Chef of Napa & Co., Chef Arik brings the food in this rustic yet hip joint to a level of excellence and seriousness not seen in Fairfield County in some time. The Spread’s menu is global in scope. It represents a range of cultures--Arik’s Moroccan background and French training, the partners' of Costa Rica, Italy, and France with a dash of New York and California in the mix. Indeed, the menu is all over the place, locally sourced and international, but somehow this eclectic mishmash works. Though dishes are simply titled on the menu, they are, in fact, complex and beautifully executed. Read More
Friday Froth: Winter Update Ingredients Beer James Gribbon December 14, 2012 OK, first off: big news yesterday, as Westvleteren 12 hit retail in the United States for the only time ever. This is absolutely one of the world's finest beers (it scores a perfect 100 with over 1,300 reviews on BeerAdvocate), and the only way to get it, apart from this super limited release, is to travel to the St. Sixtus Abbey in Belgium. The sole reason Westvleteren 12 is available at retail (for an eye-popping $85/six pack with two glasses) is because the abbey needed a new roof. You can read all about it here, but Fairfield County residents will have to skip over the border into New York to places like DeCicco’s if they want to experience this ultra-rare elixir. A complete list of retail locations can be found here, so good hunting. Read More
Dinosaur BBQ: Two Guys Eat Meat & Drink Beer in Stamford Restaurant BBQ Stamford Beer Kid Friendly jeffrey schlesinger December 13, 2012 Jim Morrison believed the ghosts of American Indians jumped into his head as a child and gave him spiritual direction for the rest of his life. I had a not totally dissimilar experience the night of Dinosaur BBQ's soft opening party after I returned home, wherein I undressed and found the ghosts of several pigs, cows and hickory trees inhabiting my shirt. The sign on the window said "Private Party" and there were people checking names at the door, but the attendance must have been close to 200. Owner John Stage seemed to have prepared for twice that number, thus accounting for the volume of aerosolized meat and wood, which, in their previous and more solid forms, were of course what brought Dinosaur to Stamford, the crowd to it. Read More
Pagano's Seafood in Norwalk: Restaurant & Insiders Shop Here Ingredients Norwalk Seafood Specialty Market Emma Jane-Doody Stetson December 11, 2012 When a recipe called for whole uncleaned squid, I knew that the ingredient would be difficult to find. However, I did not expect it to be impossible. After 4 grocery stores, 4 markets, 6 restaurants, multiple phone calls and exactly 0 success, I began to think otherwise. Fortunately, a friend with ties to the food industry gave me a little tip as I was about to surrender: Pagano’s Seafood in Norwalk. Sure enough, they had plenty of whole squid for purchase. I started on my recipe within the hour. It turns out that Pagano’s is greatly respected in both the restaurant community. They provide fish to some of the area’s most popular dining destinations including The Homestead Inn, Quattro Pazi, Napa and Company, Barcelona, Match, The Spotted Horse, and Bartaco. They even serve restaurants and markets in Massachusetts and New York. When I asked Allen Pagano, a founder and owner, why Pagano’s was so sought after, he chuckled and responded simply, “Because we’re the best.” Read More
Seasons Eats: Stamford's Hidden Gem in Plain Sight Restaurant Deli Delicious Dives Diner Stamford Lunch Kid Friendly Lou Gorfain December 09, 2012 What to call it? By all outward appearances, Seasons Eats looks like your typical lunch takeout storefront. Looking through the window, you witness chaotic swarms of downtown types picking up a salad or sandwich to take back to their desks. But peer a little closer and discover a culinary gem that defies categorization. "We're not a deli. We're not a sandwich shop," says Phil Costas, a New York Times Three Star chef, who with his wife Liz, runs the place. “Maybe we're a cafe. I don’t know. We keep evolving.” That’s why the Costas have just changed the name from Katie’s Gourmet to Seasons Eats. What started as a gourmet specialty shop 16 years ago, an offshoot of their highly successful American restaurant Kathleen’s, has become a… I don’t know, maybe the best word for it is indeed “Eats.” In this tiny 1300 square foot storefront, Phil and his five elves serve nearly 1400 delightfully inventive breakfasts, lunches and dinners a week. Read More
