KLAFF’S Gets Cookin’ Winter Chef Series 2013 Restaurant Chef Talk Cooking Classes CTbites Team January 29, 2013 Throughout the month of February, Klaffs Norwalk and Danbury’s beautiful home design stores will welcome some of Fairfield County’s talented chefs into their kitchen showrooms. To highlight this impressive appliance store and the many kitchens found at Klaffs, guest chefs will be demonstrating their cooking prowess with a series of FREE cooking demonstrations and food samplings every Saturday afternoon in February from 12-2 pm. Chefs from Morello Italian Bistro in Greenwich, Bar Sugo in Norwalk, Cotto Wine Bar in Stamford & WAFU Asian Bistro in Southport are just a few of the chefs being featured in this series. View the complete chef lineup below: Read More
Picador Opens in New Canaan: Tapas Restaurant French Greek Spanish Tapas New Canaan Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger January 27, 2013 The culinary landscape of New Canaan now includes the vibrant cuisine of the Iberian Peninsula with the opening of Picador, the second restaurant of owner Alan Basaran. Located on Elm Street in the space formerly occupied by Harvest Supper, the interior’s décor offers a warm and inviting environment as backdrop to the region’s vibrant cuisine. Copper-topped tables and a wrap-around leather-covered banquette fill the entire back and side walls with additional copper-topped tables with dark leather chairs occupying the remainder of the space. The walls are adorned with plates, mirrors and sconces; reminiscent of the region. Read More
Pinkberry Opens in Downtown Westport Restaurant Frozen Yogurt Fairfield Kid Friendly Dessert Stephanie Webster January 25, 2013 Attention Pinkberry fans: This frozen yogurt mecca has a new location in Westport, and it is officially open for business. Head on over to 111 Post Road East in Downtown Westport for your next fro-yo fix. 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Dinners at the Farm Tickets on Sale TODAY= Great Gift Restaurant Farm to Table Local Farm Wine Dinners Farm Fresh CTbites Team December 07, 2012 The 7th season of Dinners at the Farm has just been announced...just in time for holiday shopping. Every summer Dinners at the Farm brings their celebrated benefit dinner series to local Connecticut farms by hosting amazing multi-course feasts of just from the earth food, cooked fresh that day. They'll be dicing, chopping, sautéing and plating delicious locally grown food in the fields of host farms including Barberry HIll Farm, Scott's Farm & Greenhouses and White Gate Farm for 12 glorious summer nights in 2013. And, as with every year, these dinners are benefits. Dinners at the Farm will be donating $20,000 towards the critical work of our beneficiaries CitySeed, CT Farm Land Trust, Working Lands Alliance,Region 4 Schools and NEW this year, The New Connecticut Farmer Alliance, a group of emerging farmers working to grow and sustain new farms in Connecticut ensuring a viable agricultural future. Visit their schedules and tickets page for more details and to purchase tickets. Farm dinners make great gifts, just in time for the holidays. View our PHOTO GALLERY here. Read More
10 Questions w/ Chef Scott Quis of Barcelona Stamford Restaurant Chef Talk Stamford Stephanie Webster December 05, 2012 Chef Scott Quis has been the Executive Chef at Barcelona Restaurant in Stamford since 2010. His credentials go like this: Culinary Institute of America; Executive Sous Chef @ Café Boulud; Chef @ Picholine in New York City...not too shabby. He lives in Norwalk, has a wife, and a baby, and loves coming in to work every day. Here are some things you may not know about the guy in the kitchen who cooked up those delicious Black Truffle Croquetas and Chorizo w/ Sweet & Sour Figs you enjoyed last weekend. Don't miss his recipe of the moment; Snapper Ceviche, seen below. If you had unexpected guests arriving at your home for dinner in 1 hour, what would you whip up?I have a fire pit in the backyard of my home so I'd probably roast a chicken or make a paella with a side of seafood risotto. Read More
Cotto Wine Bar and Pizzeria Opens in Stamford Restaurant Italian Pizza Stamford Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger December 04, 2012 There’s a new kid in town, Stamford that is, and its name is Cotto Wine Bar and Pizzeria. Husband and wife Claudio and Silvy Ridolfi have teamed with Chef Kevin Kraklio to create a traditional Italian menu (with a few exceptions) that includes a wide variety of Tapas, entrée-sized dishes and pizzas. Located in the space that formerly housed Tappo, the trio first transformed the interior into a sleeker space, with a front-to-back Italian marble topped bar along the right wall, black-and-white photos adorning the left wall, a curved wood-planked ceiling and an enormous gas fired pizza oven in full view in the rear. Raised in Rome, Cotto represents Claudio and Silvy’s first restaurant in the United States, while Chef Kraklio takes the helm of the kitchen after attending the French Culinary Institute and working at restaurants throughout Italy. Read More
Pink Sumo Opens in Westport w/ Former Nobu Chef Restaurant Asian Japanese Westport Sushi Sarah Green December 02, 2012 Why Pink? Why Sumo? I'm not sure that I understand the restaurant's name (as it conjures up images of a very large, pony-tailed wrestler in fuchsia bikini bottoms) but there is no mistaking the quality of the food at Westport's latest Sushi and Sake cafe, PINK SUMO! Located at 8 Church Street, across from the YMCA and the colossally popular Spotted Horse, PINK SUMO suits the cozy, subterranean space that formally housed Manolo and, before that, Zest. Those restaurants couldn't seem to make it work in this location but I am pretty sure that PINK SUMO is here to stay. Here's why... For starters, PINK SUMO'S owner, Skye Kwok, is doing it right by employing former NOBU Sushi Bar chef Eric Cheng to run the kitchen. With great expertise and aplomb, Cheng presents each dish as a work of art. And as the painter chooses the best oils for her art, Cheng uses the highest quality sushi-grade fish purchased by Kwok (also owner of SWEET BASIL in Fairfield) from YAMA, the renowned Japanese fish purveyor in New Jersey. Experienced chef, high quality fish and charming, newly popular location are certainly the ingredients for success. Read More
