Friday Froth: Scattershot Spring Ingredients Beer James Gribbon April 29, 2011 Spring in New England is pretty unreliable. A foggy morning can burn off into a sweltering afternoon and then plummet right on down to a cold evening. It's like a cat that doesn't know whether it wants to be inside or out. The scattershot nature of the season is still an absolutely joy as the plants reach out once again for the sun's warmth the same way we escape the confines of our homes to take advantage of the longer days and newly multi-hued outdoors. We're going to look into an equally haphazard selection of beers this week and see what we can see. Read More
La Paloma: A Cinco de Mayo Cocktail c/o Boxcar Cantina Features Chef Talk Cocktails Recipe Amy Kundrat April 28, 2011 If anyone knows about how to celebrate the upcoming Cinco de Mayo, it's Boxcar Cantina in Greenwich. We asked the New Mexican restaurant, whose commitment to local & sustainable food brings them as both vendor and customer to weekly farmers' markets, to share a recipe for the holiday. Not only did they give us the recipe for the tempting cocktail seen here, but also a bit of a history lesson. Read More
What's Happening Sweet Tot? Restaurant Delicious Dives Recipe Comfort Food Kid Friendly Amy Kundrat April 27, 2011 Photo: Via Flickr user cassaendra No, I'm not cat-calling you, but these fried pillows of sweet potato certainly called to me on a recent trip to Burgers, Shakes & Fries. A nice respite from the french fry with an unfortunate name that when used, makes one feel as if they are bleeding brain cells, the sweet potato tot boasts a shape that maximizes its fried surface area with an interior brimming with sweet potato goodness. Read More
Fairfield Cheese Company's 2 Yr Anniversary Party Events Stephanie Webster April 25, 2011 To celebrate two years in business, Fairfield Cheese Company has planned a day of celebration and customer appreciation to be held on Saturday, April 30th, from noon till 4pm. This kid-friendly party comes complete with FREE balloons, cow face painting, grilled cheese sandwiches and great deals on select cheeses. Owner Laura Downey promises a day of fun and appreciation. “Fairfield has really embraced the shop and while we want to celebrate our success we also want to express our gratitude to the community.” Located at 2090 Post Road (adjacent to Harry’s), Fairfield Cheese Company has quickly become Fairfield’s premier source for artisanal and farmstead cheese, charcuterie and fine foods. Read More
"Chopped" Chef Bynum Brings Beach Burgers to Norwalk Restaurant Norwalk Kid Friendly Dessert Burgers Multiple Eaters April 24, 2011 Our contributor Jfood and readers Andrew Dominick and Toni Tiller get to the soul of Chef Bynum's new Beach Burger in East Norwalk. Here's what they had to say….. Jfood on Beach Burger: If you are like me, you watch the Food Network and wonder how the chefs on Chopped develop each dish and how do they really taste? To sample the results of Chopped Champion Chef Marc Anthony Byrum’s renditions of hamburgers, residents of Norwalk need only drive to a restaurant on First Street to taste some inventive hamburgers being prepared at The Beach Burger. Housed in a non-descript white building across the street from his business partner Anthony Luciani’s Frosty Cone, the pair are delivering very good burgers at incredibly reasonable prices. Read More
Reheated: Weekly Food News for April 22 Amy Kundrat April 22, 2011 Carole Peck's Zee Burger is opening next week, April 26 adjacent to her ever-popular Good News Café. Barcelona Wine Bar in Stamford is hosting an Argentina Wine Class on April 23 at 3:30 pm, tickets are $30 per person. Sport Hill Farm is holding an Open House and Garden Tour on Saturday April 30 from 2 to 4 p.m. Fairfield County Eats! a fundraiser to benefit the lower Fairfield County Food Bank on Wednesday, April 27, with an impressive list of participating restaurants and purveyors. See you there! Tasti D-lite will host a weekend-long grand opening party from April 29 to May 1 including a free cup or cone. A portion of the proceeds from the weekend will benefit Operation Hope. Don't put that in your mouth! Catch a Healthy Habit is supporting a film event with Executive Director of the Institute For Responsible Technology, Jeffrey Smith on Thursday, April 28. Register here for tickets. Read More
Friday Froth: The Devil's Advocate Ingredients Beer James Gribbon April 22, 2011 "O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil." -William Shakespeare Every once in a while you have to let the Devil out: take a vacation from civilization and get back to human nature, permit rules made by somebody else to slide by and let your glands do the talking. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Spending all your time trying to be good is just living under the thumb of what you consider to be bad, anyway. Most of us spend enough time crying with the saints - this week it's time to laugh with the sinners. Read More
Mango Sorbet via The Parsley Thief Features Recipe Kid Friendly Dessert katie vitucci April 20, 2011 This time last year I posted about my addiction to Champagne mangoes..also known as Ataulfo mangoes. These differ from traditional mangoes in that they are brighter yellow in color, have a smoother texture & are sweeter. I love mangoes in general, but this variety is truly something special. They have a super smooth texture & are very sweet. I saw them at the grocery store last week, in season once again & I bought a bunch. I bought so many that I couldn't eat them all before they became overly ripe...so soft I had no idea what to do with them. I was going to dice & freeze them to add to my "smoothie bag"--My smoothie bag is where I add fruit that has ripened too much to eat, but will still be great in smoothies. But, this time I decided that these mangoes needed something special. I decided to make some mango sorbet. Read More
The Best Movie Popcorn in Fairfield County Ingredients Restaurant Comfort Food Best of CT Kid Friendly Lou Gorfain April 19, 2011 YOU’LL LAUGH. YOU’LL CRY. YOU’LL MUNCH. Forget the sliders at Butterfield 8 or the pepperoni pizza at Remo’s. The tastiest treat along Stamford’s Bedford Avenue could be the popcorn served at the Avon Theater. Like its magnificent art-deco neon marquee, Avon’s popcorn is iconic. Always fresh, these tiny cumulus clouds lightly coated in pure butter, melt in your mouth and stir remembrances of times past: double features, dark balconies and stolen kisses. Popcorn may be the main profit maker at every movie house in Fairfield County, but there’s a lot of disparity, especially between chains and independents. The popcorns served by three independents get my nominations for Best Performance by a Popcorn. Read More
Harvest to Heat Cookbook: A Farm-to-Kitchen Journey Ingredients Features Cookbooks Farm to Table Farmers Market Recipe Deanna Foster April 19, 2011 Cookbooks used to be written for those who loved to cook or for those who needed to cook. Today’s food-centric culture has added breadth and depth to the genre. Food lovers and home cooks look to chefs not just for instruction, but for inspiration. “Harvest to Heat, Cooking with America’s Best Chefs, Farmers, and Artisans” by Darryl Estrine and Kelly Kochendorfer goes one step beyond, showcasing the local farmers, ranchers and artisans who serve as muse to those esteemed chefs. The result is a celebration of the symbiotic relationship between farmers and chefs and the masterpieces created by their combined efforts. Read More
Gabriele's in Greenwich: A Steakhouse With Italian Roots Restaurant Greenwich Italian Seafood Steakhouse Amy Kundrat April 17, 2011 An American Italian restaurant dressed in elegant steakhouse clothes, Gabriele's in Greenwich is the bespoke incarnation of Luca's, the Italian restaurant and caterer that's inhabited Church Street for the past fifteen years. Read More
Reheated: Weekly Food News for April 15 Amy Kundrat April 15, 2011 Fairfield County Eats! | Free FroYo in Darien | A 109 Cheese Class Openings: Michele's Pies is throwing an opening party at their new Westport location this Saturday, April 16; Beach Burger in Norwalk is opening this weekend in Norwalk at 10 First Street; Swizzles Frozen Yogurt is now open in Darien. Wilton is next. Free yogurt this Saturday in Darien from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Classes: Cheese Classes at 109 Cheese & Wine in Ridgefield on Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17. Call for reservations; Sugar & Olives will host "Eats, Shoots and Leaves," a class all about salads on April 19 from 7 to 9 pm. Farm news: Sustainable square foot gardening class at Sport Hill Farm on April 16; Master Farmer Annie Farrel will lead a Backyard Garden workshop at Millstone Farm on Saturday, April 16. Events: "Fairfield County Eats! a fundraiser to benefit the lower Fairfield County Food Bank on Wednesday, April 27, with an impressive list of participating restaurants and purveyors. Read More
Swizzles Frozen Yogurt Opens This Weekend Restaurant Darien Kid Friendly Dessert Amy Kundrat April 15, 2011 There is a new tart yogurt kid in town. Swizzles Frozen Yogurt is opening this week in Darien and Wilton with a third store in Ridgefield slated to open early this summer. Opening parties offering free yogurt are scheduled for Swizzles Darien on Saturday, April 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Swizzles Wilton on Sunday, April 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Swizzles will sell its yogurt at $.59 per ounce and will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. everyday. Read More
