Early in 2025, I started doing a ton of research on vermouth for an article in The Valley Table. You can read it HERE, but if you choose not to, no worries, it was general; what vermouth is, the guidelines for classifying vermouth in Europe versus the U.S., and who’s making it in the Hudson Valley. But if you do read it, there’s a cool, funny Winston Churchill bit in there. Just saying! One of the places that helped significantly with my vermouth knowledge was Klocke Estate in the Hudson-Claverack area where they make their own wine for vermouth, from their own grapes, that’s fortified with their own apple brandy, that’s made from apples grown on the grounds. The botanicals? Also grown right at Klocke Estate, well…with the exception of cinnamon.
When Kawa Ni messes around with fusion, they don’t miss. Over three years ago, at one of the friends and family previews of Kawa Ni’s expansion into the space next door, I remember asking chef-owner Bill Taibe which newish dishes I should try in addition to my usual pork + garlic ramen, karaage don, spicy lamb dan dan, and pork Szechuan dumplings. His reply: “I gotta tell ya, one of my favorites, and a sleeper on this menu, is the kimchi carbonara.” In the present, Kawa Ni’s carbonara is no longer a sleeper. Also in the present, and another foray into Italian–Asian mashups, is their chicken katsu parmigiana.
I ordered a pizza, they delivered an apizza, and they called it ah-beetz.
Pizza lovers in Connecticut know exactly what the word apizza means, and they also know that one of the best (if not the best) versions in the entire state is found at Roseland Apizza in Derby. On a recent Saturday night, we joined some friends and made the pilgrimage to the neighborhood that has had the privilege of protecting this pizza icon. We sampled three distinct combinations, each with three distinct personalities and three different tastes, all sharing one undeniable theme: perfection.
Before diving into our visit, it’s worth appreciating Roseland's roots. The story begins in 1935, when Giovanni “John” Scatolini, an Italian immigrant, opened a bakery and grocery store in neighboring Ansonia. He originally baked bread in a coal-fired oven in his backyard; a tradition he carried with him when he moved the business to Derby in 1938. World War II brought a family tragedy to the Scatolini family, when John’s son, Reno, was killed in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.
One could argue, that before Greenwich Avenue’s current restaurant boom, one of the hottest spots on the block from 2015 until it closed in 2020 was Back 40 Kitchen. Now, just a touch over the Byram neighborhood’s border in Port Chester, frequenters of Back 40 will see a familiar face in Ian Vest at his newly opened Talia. Vest, originally a St. Louis native, who got his start in the industry at 13 years old and never left it, has seen his fair share of stints working at delis, burrito places, and “everywhere you can imagine.” But hard work pays off, as it landed him an executive chef position at The Crossing, a French-Italian fine dining restaurant in Clayton, Missouri, then, to The Culinary Institute of America.
Norwalk’s growing coffee shop scene just got one new addition. Carpe Diem Cafe’s goal? Specialty, higher end, baked goods made in-house, coffee shop parties, adult beverages, and a few Dominican dishes amongst the pastry and breakfasty offerings. Owner Elvis Fernandez is setting out to be different from the rest of the coffee shops in the area and is relying on his entrepreneurial spirit and some industry experience to make that happen with Carpe Diem.
As the holiday season approaches, there are restaurants and catering companies ready to make this Thanksgiving memorable. While there are plenty of businesses open for seating on Thanksgiving, there are even more offering holiday catering with all of the classic fixings to take the work out of your Thanksgiving Day hosting. To help you find the restaurant nearest you to order from or dine at on Thanksgiving, we’ve organized the guide by county. At the end, you’ll find a list of local businesses including farms, markets, and butcher shops where you can purchase turkey to prepare at home. We also noted which businesses specialize in vegan options. Happy Thanksgiving!
You’re driving on Washington Avenue in North Haven, your car is thirsty, and you pull into Forbes Premium Fuel. Wait a second. What’s that sign say at the gas station? Pat’s Apizza? That’s your sign to swing open the gas station’s convenience store’s door. Look to the left and there’s a full-on pizzeria in there. Be honest…you thought this was gas station pizza, didn’t you? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but there’s a (desperate) time and a place for Stewart’s Shops, Love’s, Speedway, and Wawa. Let’s scrap that whole deal. Pat’s is a pizzeria that just so happens to be inside of a gas station and they’ve been getting a lot of love on social media since they opened on September 4 of this year.
Malby, a new bakery in New Haven is churning out superlative sourdough alongside croissants, cookies, and Latin American baked goods.
Owned by married couple Malby Rojas and Karla Tejada Arias, Malby opened in late May and is steadily expanding its offerings. “Every day, we add a little more bread, a little more pastry,” Rojas says. The neighborhood is already well-acquainted with Rojas’ bread, as she has been baking and delivering loaves from the basement of their home. Now, at her brick-and-mortar location, Rojas sells pastries, breads, and beverages inspired by the couple’s Latin heritage.
Due to the shutdown of the federal government, millions of Americans will see their SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits halted on November 1, 2025.
This impacts many in our state. 360,000 Connecticut residents rely on SNAP to feed their families. 1 in 8 Americans and 1 in 5 children rely on SNAP.
Our neighbors will be losing their SNAP benefits and this is our time to step up and support them.
The following list of resources are here to help those who are seeking food pantries, organizations that assist those who are food insecure, and you’ll even find restaurants that are lending a hand at this time, or if you’re looking to volunteer, many of these local nonprofits could always use the extra help.
3 WAYS TO HELP
Donate to CT Foodshare at CTFoodshare dot com. Every $1 donated = two meals.
Volunteer your time with CT Foodshare. This helps spread the monetary donations further.
Donate food to a local food shelter. Find the closest one at 211ct.org
If you notice a bunch of people in Bridgeport’s Black Rock neighborhood entering a tiny storefront on Brewster Street, follow them, and the smell of fresh baked bread, inside. Welcome to Dos Hermanos Bakery & Cafe, owned by two brothers (hence the name), Giovanni and Nelson Castellon, who had a goal of opening a place of their own for a while to show the community an accurate representation of Guatemalan food.
The Connecticut Pizza Trail recently unveiled its list of the top 100 pizzerias for us pizza-loving Nutmeggers. While I could easily name a few they overlooked, it’s no surprise that many of the revered New Haven legends made the cut, with the rest fanning out in a 180-degree sweep west, north, and east across the state. Some of the additional names were instantly familiar, others have now earned a spot on my ever-growing “must-try” list. As I worked through the county-by-county alphabetical lineup, my attention naturally drifted to my home turf, New Haven County. One recognizable name after another appeared, and then, near the end, there it was: Zois Pizza. Tucked just off Route 8’s Exit 18 in Seymour, this unassuming gem might fly under the radar for outsiders, but for locals, Zois has long been among the Valley’s best.
Bar is located at 254 Crown Street in New Haven, CT, in an industrial building that proudly boasts its historical heritage with exposed brick, garage-style doors that open in warm weather, and vintage prints. As you walk through the different rooms and look at the food-beer offerings, you wonder whether Bar is a pizzeria that serves great pizza with a side of beer, or a microbrewery that drafts in-house microbrews with a side of New Haven pizza. For us, we were there for the pizza, and our single question was how it would compare to the other legendary New Haven pizzas.
There’s a new hot spot in New Haven, but you might drive past it without blinking.
This small, waterside gem is located within the Pequonnock Yacht Club in the tranquil City Point neighborhood of New Haven. It’s housed in the building that was formerly City Point Kitchen, just in front of Shell & Bones, and is the pride and joy of restaurateur couple Larry Wang and Bilian “Nia” Chen.
Despite having what may be the most progressive omakase menu in the state, Little Lotus is deeply rooted in history. So, if you enjoy things delicacies like sea urchin, O-toro, A5 Japanese wagyu beef, foie gras…and blow torches… keep on reading.
Fridays and Saturdays are for sipping…TEA! Pinky extension for each taste of herbal, green, or black tea is mandatory, of course. On the heels of Elm’s overhaul of their interior and food menu, afternoon tea is back! If it feels like we’ve taken this tea journey once before, we certainly have. Back in 2021, I covered Elm’s spread of scones, bites both savory and sweet, a piping hot teapot, and for an extra charge, and if you desire, a glass (or bottle, if that’s how you get down) of bubbly.
After well over a decade serving traditional carnitas and Mexican street food on Bridgeport’s State Street, owner and lifelong taquero, Gil Salvador Perez Hurtado, is shutting down shop at his beloved Super Taqueria Las Salsas. October 19, 2025 will be the final service day for the legendary taqueria which, if you read our story in 2024, began first as a low-key pop up out of Hurtado’s apartment, then became one of the state’s more popular food trucks, before he moved it to a brick-and-mortar location.
Walk through the doors of Jeff Taibe’s izakaya, Bar Bushido, and chances are, you’ll be greeted by Kylie Keeley, especially if you’re sitting down at her bar.
Correction. One of her bars.
The pub part of Bar Bushido—where you’ll find yakitori, ramen, karaage chicken, DIY hand rolls, and other Japanese bar bites—is where Keeley says the “drinks match the energy.” The izakaya is a vibe; it’s loud (but with good energy), casual, and a great hangout for any occasion, and it’s where she’s rocking out a drink list of highballs, creative sake bombs, and cocktails ingredients (especially Japanese ingredients) that should spark your curiosity and tickle your tastebuds.
At the very back of the space is Bar Bushido’s alter ego, a quieter, more intimate hand roll bar, where Keeley’s cocktails are more focused on highlighting a certain flavor profile.
Over the past months, I’ve been on a quest to find the best pizza in the Valley, exploring Waterbury and its neighboring towns. Now, it feels like the right time to turn my attention to what many consider the epicenter of Connecticut pizza: New Haven, where you're met with no shortage of options to explore. When a couple of buddies and I were scheduling a pizza lunch, we decided to sidestep the potential chaos of Wooster Street and headed over a few blocks to Modern Apizza on State Street. Once you manage to find parking, be prepared to wait, and count yourself lucky if you have that lucky timing of an immediate opening. We arrived just after noon and, to our good fortune, a booth was open in the back room. We took it as a sign of good things to come. As soon as our server arrived, we ordered a couple of bottles of Foxon Park, Kola and Root Beer, then got down to topping talk. We kept it semi-classic: one pie fully loaded with pepperoni and the other topped with sausage and onion.
Just a mere mile and change from the Delamar Southport and Artisan, founder Charles Mallory’s Greenwich Hospitality Group has opened a new luxury hotel with a restaurant, Dandelion, that’s been booked solid for weeks right out of the gate. “We took ownership of it 2-3 years ago,” says Delamar’s corporate director of restaurants, Hicham Amaaou. “I’ve been working with Frederic Keifer (Delamar’s corporate chef/partner) since Artisan Southport in 2012, then West Hartford, and we created La Plage together from scratch. But this is two separate entities and the food is very opposite.”
In 2024, when I interviewed Sal Bagliavio, the co-owner of Bailey’s Backyard, about his second spot, Taco Dia in Newtown, he very cryptically mentioned that he and chef/co-owner Forrest Pasternack were actively looking to open something else, somewhere else to follow up their taqueria.
Cosetta Pizzeria and Paninoteca on the Post Road in Fairfield is that something else—and what it is, simply put, is a more gourmet version of the neighborhood slice shop, plus sandwiches (including breakfast), house-made pastry, and coffee.
Coffee is more than just a drink. For many, coffee is an important step in their morning routine and an absolute necessity before starting the day. With National Coffee Day being celebrated on September 29, there’s no better time to check out Connecticut’s vibrant coffee scene. From cozy neighborhood cafés to trendy specialty shops, we’ve rounded up businesses across the state where you can grab your favorite cup of joe. Whether you are into the latest coffee trend or you like to keep things simple with just cream and sugar, there’s a coffee shop in Connecticut perfect for you. To make your search for your new favorite coffee spot even easier, we’ve organized this guide by county. Simply scroll to your local county to find the nearest coffee shops.
