CTbites Holiday Wish List Interview Holiday Amy Kundrat and Stephanie Webster December 18, 2011 What kitchen gadget or appliance, cookbook, hard-to-find food or spirit are you coveting this holiday season? We put this question to bloggers, writers, chefs and foodies hoping to get some inspiration to tackle our holiday shopping list in the hopes of finding that perfect present for the food-obsessed person in your life. What's at the top of your holiday wish list to give or receive? Liz Dorney Blogger, Twilight at Morningside Gift: An Illustrated Guide to Cocktails by Orr Sthuhl and Elizabeth Graber "In our home, Dale DeGroff is the final word on cocktails. The Essential Cocktail is our bible, but if you're looking for a bit of whimsy with your drink, Orr Sthuhl and Elizabeth Graber's self-published book pairs charming illustrations and back-story (full of intrigue) with each recipe." Chef Jeff BorofskyChef, Skinny Pines Gift: A yearly subscription to Fine Cooking's website. Giving the cook access to the magazine's vast collection of recipes. Gift for a vegetarian: We always turn to Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. This is a go to cookbook with great tips for all things vegetable. Read More
Graze Trivia Contest: Win $100 Gift Basket Christy Colasurdo December 16, 2011 GRAZE home delivery service is throwing down the gauntlet to our CTbites readers with a trivia contest. The first person to answer the following questions will WIN a Green Mountain Deluxe Basket ($100 value). Do you know the answers? Good luck! Which state in the US has the highest number of cheese makers per capita? In ratio of cows to people, which US state has the greatest number of dairy cows? Green Mountain Deluxe $99 Gift Basket includes: Read More
Great Gifts: Custom Gingerbread Houses from CakeSuite CTbites Invites CTbites Team December 15, 2011 Westport's own CakeSuite features delectable and creative creations by chef Michelle Klem...and this holiday season surprise and delight your kids, teacher or guests with one of her freshly baked custom made gingerbread house. We've got TWO options...For $25 you can score DIY kit complete with the gingerbread baked frame and lots of goodies to create your own masterpiece, or for $45 you can pick up an already decorated house ready for display (or for quick consumption). BUY YOUR GINGERBREAD HOUSE HERE through CTbites Invites. Pick from two styles (seen above):A-Frame Chalet (5x5x10")Mini Xmas Cottage (4x4x4.5") Read More
Fork It Over: Pop-Up Dinner for Westport Farmers' Mkt Restaurant Farmers Market Stephanie Webster December 15, 2011 Craving a new date night experience? Perhaps a chic city spot with the casual atmosphere you love in Fairfield County? Look no further. The Westport Farmers’ Market has the answer...an exclusive night of great food, great wine, great friends and a great cause. On January 28, 2012 the greenhouse at Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens will be transformed into a “Pop-Up” restaurant with a chef lineup that will make you drool. CTbites got the list and we are happy to share: Bill Taibe of leFarm, Matt Storch of Match, Tim LaBant of The Schoolhouse at Cannondale, Michel Nischan of Dressing Room, and John Barricelli of Sono Baking Company will provide the dessert course. Each chef wil prepare four dishes, and the entire menu will be paired with inventive cocktails and wine. This is truly an evening not to be missed. Read More
Volta: Fun Euro Fare on Stamford’s Spring Street Restaurant Brunch Stamford ice cream Lunch Dessert Lou Gorfain December 14, 2011 Spring Street, all of a block long, was once anchored by Bennet's Steak House and Andy Robustelli’s World Travel services. Both were venerable downtown institutions, but dowdy matrons against the vibrant young rialto of restaurants and bars around the corner on Bedford Street. In their place Spring Street this year welcomed Mary Schaffer's luxe Italian Bar Russo and Giovanni Gentile's sleek euro-style café, Volta. Designed by Giovanni himself, Volta’s pop interior complements the hip crowd, who one recent night were dining on such kewl stuff as brie and bacon crepes, grilled vegetable tartines, duck confit salads, and creamy sweet potato vichyssoise. With an Amy Whitehouse track in the background, “My life a wreck you’re making,” a beguiling model delicately sampled a gelato stracciatella while her debonair date sipped Remy XO. Read More
Napa & Co's Kale Salad w/ Bacon, Dried Cherries & Egg Features Stamford Recipe Sophie Blondeau December 13, 2011 I don't normally beg, and definitely not for kale. However, since consuming the Kale Salad w/ Bacon Vinaigrette, Dried Cherries & Poached Egg at Napa & Co. I've been begging Stephanie to get me the recipe...literally. Why all the begging you ask? Chef Arik Bensimon's Kale Salad is simply a superior way to eat kale and I now want to eat it every day. It's the perfect balance between super healthy (the kale) and indulgent (tiny morsels of bacon and dried cherries). It's both crunchy (pistachios) and smooth (the dressing is like crack) It's sweet and salty. A perfectly cooked poached egg sits right on top and makes it a complete and satisfying dish...not just salad. On a recent trip to Napa, every person at the table who ordered the kale salad wanted to order it again. Need I say more? When was the last time you begged for kale? Read More
Bistro/ Gastro Pub Boulevard 18 to Open in New Canaan French New Canaan Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger December 13, 2011 Boulevard 18 is scheduled to open during the latter half of January 2012 on Main Street in New Canaan. The restaurant will offer a French Bistro / Gastro-pub experience from the décor, to the beer and wine selections, to the traditional fare offered in Parisian bistros. The second venture by the team of Chef David Raymer, Steven Semaya, Luciano Ramirez and Henry Rosenbaum, Boulevard 18 will maintain the same philosophy as its sister Italian café restaurant, Strada 18 in SoNo, of quality food at quality prices. Chef Raymer described Boulevard 18 as “going back to my roots.” After leaving college to form a rock band in NYC, Chef Raymer supported his life as a musician by gaining experience and working his way up the ladder in the kitchens of several of New York’s glamour restaurants, including Joanna’s Restaurant and Gotham Bar and Grill. Read More
Chocolate, Pecan & Orange Biscotti c/o Nicole Straight Features Holiday Recipe Kid Friendly Dessert Nicole Straight December 12, 2011 Holiday cookie time is just around the corner, so if you are starting to gather recipes like we are, you will want to add this one to the "virtual" stack. Chef Nicole Straight likes to keep it simple for all those busy cooks out there. This recipe is no exception. Get some decorative boxes and give the gift of cookies this holiday season. Chocolate, Pecan and Orange Biscotti Read More
Community Plates Needs Food Runners!! Please Help Deanna Foster December 12, 2011 Community Plates is a non-profit organization that has employed one simple idea to address the complex issue of hunger, and in just a handful of months, made a huge impact in our community. Community Plates connects food to people in need of it, by rescuing good food that would otherwise be thrown away and delivering it to hunger relief agencies in Fairfield County. It has been less than one year since Kevin Mullins, Community Plates Executive Director, began asking restaurants and grocers if they were interested in donating food. Their response has been so overwhelming, that since CTBites first reported on CP’s launch in September, rescued food donations have grown from 5,000 pounds each week to more than 10,000 pounds a week. Their number of regular donors has risen from 12 to 22 and they are delivering food to 11 hunger relief organizations in Norwalk, Stamford, Bridgeport, Darien and Westport. However, now more than ever they need your help. Read More
The Whey Station Grilled Cheese Truck in Middletown Restaurant Food Truck Middletown Comfort Food Lunch Kid Friendly CTbites Team December 11, 2011 Jill Moskites works the grill while her husband, Josh, takes lunch orders from a hungry crowd. It’s a cold Wednesday afternoon in October, perfect for what The Whey Station is serving up -- gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, hearty, “truckmade” soups and specialty hot dogs. Fortunately for all of us, The Whey Station is the newest local addition to the handful of food trucks hitting the streets. It’s a new endeavor for the Moskites, who until recently were familiar faces at their family’s gourmet foods shop, The Wild Raspberry in Cromwell, and together they have about 19 years restaurant and specialty foods experience. Read More
CTbites Invites: Barcelona Iberico Ham Event Recap Restaurant CTbites Invites Fairfield Spanish James Gribbon December 10, 2011 Hearty souls splashed through the rain Dec. 7 on the way to Barcelona Restaurant in Fairfield, and were rewarded with a tornado of pork. Old world cheeses supplied by event host Michele Buster of Forever Cheese sat on the tables, piled on wooden boards, and would be joined by small blocks of quince jam and a roast suckling pig that ought to be legally classified as a mind-altering substance, but the star of the show, from start to finish, was a shoulder of cured Iberico ham. Read More
Chocopologie Greenwich Now Open Amy Kundrat December 08, 2011 Life on the Gold Coast just got a little bit sweeter. Chocopologie has opened a pop-up shop in Greenwich at 30 West Putnam Avenue open today through Easter. Serving Fritz Knipschildts' signature chocolates, truffles, cakes, cookies, coffee and hot chocolate, this location is Chocopologie's second pop-up shop and third location in addition to their wildly successful New Haven pop-up shop and SoNo factory and café. Read More
Holiday Recipe & Special Subscription Offer c/o Fine Cooking Amy Kundrat December 08, 2011 Fine Cooking Subscription Offer Fine Cooking, the magazine that's dedicated to bring out the cook in you, is extending an exclusive subscription offer to CTbites readers only: Read More
Invites: Matsu Sushi Making Class Event Recap Restaurant CTbites Invites Events Sushi ellen bowen December 07, 2011 A few fun facts on sushi... originally the seasoned rice found in sushi was used only as a preservative for the fresh fish in China...not Japan; Sushi chefs (mostly men, huh?) used to train for ten years before being able to work in restaurant...while now they train for about two years; The Japanese eat miso soup AFTER the meal to aid digestion...not before as in America. The history of sushi and some hands on technique for making maki, or sushi rolls, were served up at the CTbites Sushi Making Class at Matsu Sushi on November 16th. Read More
Ola Granola: Fairfield County Mom Creates Super Snack Ingredients Kid Friendly Dessert CTbites Team December 07, 2011 Ola Granola has been available in grocery stores from Maine to New Jersey for almost two and a half years, and it has already made a big splash with the crunchy crowd. And it was developed right here in Fairfield County. “It always tastes really fresh and natural” says Stamford mom, Elise Klein, “I even keep it in the refrigerator!” And that is what most people like about Ola. “It’s made from the kinds of things you would find in your pantry like cinnamon and maple syrup. The flavors are all natural,” says Dina Houser, Fairfield county mom and the founder of the brand. Inspired by her mother’s recipe, Dina has been making granola for years Read More
Michel Nischan Goes to D.C. via Dan Woog's 06880 Stephanie Webster December 05, 2011 This just in via Dan Woog's 06880 blog: According to this weekend's NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Michel Nischan is “usually found cooking in his restaurant in one of Connecticut’s toniest towns.” That would be The Dressing Room, here in Westport. But according to reporter Allison Aubrey, this week the world renowned chef was in Washington, DC. Nearly 1,000 “corporate movers and shakers” attended a summit aimed at shaping private sector solutions to America’s obesity epidemic. Actually, Paul Newman’s erstwhile partner was not just sitting listening to lectures. He cooked up a storm. A creative, healthful, and very, very flavorful storm. Read More
