New Canaan Farmers' Market Opens Today Restaurant Farmers Market New Canaan Amy Kundrat May 12, 2012 The New Canaan Farmers' Market opens today, May 12, in the Old Center School Parking Lot in New Canaan, CT. The market will run every Saturday through November 17 from 10 am to 2 pm. Among the vendors are familiar faces such as Shortt's Organic Farm, Baby Cat Milk bar, Izzi B's Cupcakes, Skinny Pines Pizza, Raus Coffee and Michele's Pies among many others. Opening day specials include $3 off all bottles of Cold Roman (while supplies last). Check out our post of the Market from last year and come down every Saturday and see for yourself. The New Canaan Farmers Market is located at the Old Center School Parking Lot at the Corner of South Avenue, Maple Avenue and Main Street in New Canaan, CT. The market will run every Saturday from May 12 through November 17 from 10 am to 2 pm, rain or shine. Read More
Terrain Home, Garden, & Cafe Opens Today in Westport Restaurant Local Farm Westport Lunch Stephanie Webster May 11, 2012 It takes quite a bit to impress this native New Yorker when it comes to home design stores, but Terrain opened its doors in Westport tonight, and I have to say...I’m impressed. This breathtakingly beautiful space is quite literally a gallery for impeccably sourced home, garden, specialty food and gift items. The use of indoor/outdoor space and broad skylights makes this store feel like a walk through an elegant English garden. And in the middle of this green space is a coffee bar boasting Counter Culture beans, well trained baristas and baked goods, as well as a restaurant with a local, organic menu that will reflects the cycle of the seasons and the local Westport community. Read More
Amuse Bouche: Food News for May 11, 2012 James Gribbon May 11, 2012 Here's week 2 of a new CTbites feature wherein we'll offer up small servings of news, happenings, and other ephemera for your delectation. Some of these may be followed up with longer reviews, others will fade into memory. - Mimosas for all! Elm Restaurant in New Canaan is now serving brunch every Sunday from 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., with local ingredients & seasonal twists on brunch classics. - Rising Pint Brewfest this Saturday, May 12, from noon-5p.m., at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. There will be over 250 different beers from 40 brewers, plus food from some of the Hartford region's best restaurants. - Eat your greens. The new Terrain garden center in Westport will include a garden café. - We hear: Westport's Liquor Locker is moving to Compo Shopping Plaza after 45 years at its old location. Read More
Best Burgers in Fairfield County: 2012 Edition Restaurant Darien Delicious Dives Fairfield Norwalk Stamford Westport New Canaan Comfort Food Best of CT Burgers Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger May 11, 2012 “It is the Americans who have managed to crown minced beef as hamburger, and to send it round the world so that even the fussy French have taken to le boeuf hache, le hambourgaire.” – Julia Child Forget the fish, hold the pasta, toss the vegetables to the side…May is National Burger Month, thirty-one days dedicated to one of my favorite culinary creations …the hamburger. And in honor of this great event, CTbites is please to highlight both the places that were included in the two Recommended Hamburger Lists from 2011 plus additional establishments from my continuous search for scrumptious hamburgers. Here (in alphabetical order) is a list of recommended hamburgers from Greenwich to Westport to enjoy during National Hamburger Month. Read More
Westport Farmers' Market Opening May 24 Restaurant Farmers Market Westport CTbites Team May 10, 2012 The Westport Farmers' Market will be opening for the season in just two weeks, beginning on Thursday, May 24 from 10 am to 2 pm. This weekly summer market runs every Thursday, from 10 am to 2 pm at Imperial Avenue Commuter Lot in Westport. If you haven't yet made it to this Market, you'll want to mark your calendar. This all-organic market will be announcing the final vendors next week and will be selecting a rotating group of featured artists, vendors, guest chefs and non-profits to join the Market each week. In addition, the Market is adding a new "Education Booth" to share information on healthy cooking, planting and living. The Market is also excited to share their opening day with Wholesome Wave and Michel Nischan's evening fundraiser, The Whole Hog, an all-star cast on the evening on May 24 that many from the Westport Farmers' Market community will be supporting. For more info, visit Wholesome Wave. List of Vendors (as of May 16): Read More
Shout Out: Best Brunch Spot in Connecticut Restaurant CTbites Shout Out Best of CT Amy Kundrat May 10, 2012 Breakfast with a dash of lunch, paired with a cocktail and not a single dirty dish to clean. That's brunch in a nutshell. What more could a mother want for Mother's Day? CTbites wants you to throw down your top candidates for BEST BRUNCH in CONNECTICUT. Is it a spot with white table cloths, or the neighborhood joint with individually wrapped maple syrup packets. Either way, we won't judge (much). Which spot is your favorite for brunch? Why? Read More
Nicholas Roberts Invites Event Recap via Fairfield Foodie Fairfield County Foodie May 10, 2012 These days the word “gourmet” gets thrown around in our everyday conversations quite often, but many of us may not know exactly what it means. I have to admit that all this time, I have associated the word with a style of food. It surprised me to learn that, a gourmet is a person with a sensitive and discriminating palate, one who is knowledgeable in the appreciation of haute cuisine. Well! one such person has set up a highly successful eatery in Norwalk. I am talking about Chef Rob Troilo of Nicholas Roberts. Nicholas Roberts opened its doors almost seven years ago, and since then it has created an almost cult-like following. Case in point: according to Chef Troilo, he has customers who would show up for dinner one night and be back for breakfast/brunch the very next day....no, seriously. Read More
The Naptime Chef: Local Chef Fits Great Food into Family Life Features Cookbooks Recipe Kid Friendly Jessica Ryan May 09, 2012 When Kelsey Banfield became a mother she quickly learned that organization was necessary to successfully run a household. Babies are unpredictable in their needs and they can easily wreak havoc on the day’s plans. A fussy baby needs tending to. Clutter piles up, as does laundry as well as those lists of things we need to accomplish. Many of us have been there and our babies are much older. While we can better organize our days, we’re still incredibly busy and there never does seem to be enough time in our day. So while Kelsey utilizes her daughter’s naptime to get things done, those of us without napping children can carve out some time during the day where we can do the same, whether it be morning, afternoon or evening. Whether we have newborns, active toddlers or busy teenagers with heavy schedules, Kelsey’s approach to fitting great food into our lives is one that can be adapted by us all, and you can share her secrets in her new cookbook, "The Naptime Chef, Fitting Great Food into Family Life." Read More
White Oak Farm & Table Jams: Worth a Taste Ingredients Breakfast Dessert sherri daley May 08, 2012 I’ve never turned down a free sample. I’m shameless. I go back for seconds. I eat those stubs of hot dogs dipped in mustard at Stop & Shop, the weensy little mini-meals served in tiny paper cups at Trader Joe’s, curls of glamorous artisanal cheeses from a display of food and flowers at Balducci’s, chocolate at Garelick & Herbs, a taste of wine at my neighborhood liquor store. Especially wine, but they don’t usually let you go back for seconds and thirds. This time I was snarking a free hunk of freshly-baked bread at Billy’s Bakery in Fairfield and a lovely young lady offered me a free spoonful of jam: strawberry-lemonade, blueberry-basil, or pineapple-kiwi. I chose the blueberry, primarily because I was intrigued by the basil, although they seem to be putting basil in a lot of things lately. I had a basil shortbread cookie last summer. Here is where the blueberry-basil jam became more than a free sample; it was the beginning of a beautiful culinary relationship. Read More
Stamford's @Bar Rosso v2.0 Redux Restaurant Cocktails Italian Pizza Stamford Lunch Kid Friendly Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger May 06, 2012 It has been a roller coaster first year for @Bar Rosso in Stamford. Given the renewed level of excitement for this stylish Italian food and wine bar, I decided to return and investigate the buzz. And I am glad that I did. The totally revamped menu, designed by the new operating managers Giovanni Gentile and Rosario Procino, presents more casual and traditional Italian selections. More importantly, the new management team has brought in a supremely talented pizza maestro, Giuseppe Quattromini, a trained Italian baker from the Puglia region of Italy, and he is serving one of the best pizza crusts I have ever tasted. It was thin, yet crispy and strong enough to hold the toppings without folding; soft, light, and airy in texture, baked in a traditional 750-degree wood burning oven. The end result was outstanding. Read More
Sun BBQ Fest 2012: June 1 - 3 @ Mohegan Sun Road Trip Restaurant BBQ Amy Kundrat May 04, 2012 Mohegan Sun’s first annual BBQ Fest will be held June 1 - 3, 2012 in the Winter Parking Lot in Uncasville, CT. Headlining this event will be plenty of BBQ, cooking demonstrations, live music and host Mike Petit of NESN’s Grillseekers, as emcee for the three day event. Tickets are $30 per day including 8 food tickets and go on-sale Monday, April 16th at 10am through Ticketmaster.com or at Mohegan Sun’s Box Office. Kids 10 and under get in free (does not include food tickets). The weekend will include loads of BBQ including ribs, pulled pork and classic BBQ chicken from the nation’s best barbeque experts and vendors. Guests will be able to visit the Farmer’s Market featuring Sardilli Produce & Dairy. Competitive Eating Champion Joey “Jaws” Chestnut (famous for his hot dog championship titles) will appear in a rib eating contest on Saturday, June 2 at 4 p.m. Read More
Amuse Bouche: Food News for May 3, 2012 Restaurant News James Gribbon May 03, 2012 We're trying out a new feature on CTBites wherein we'll offer up small servings of news, happenings, and other ephemera for your delectation. Some of these may be followed up with longer reviews, others will fade into memory. - Website Lifehacker teaches occasional tricks for foodies: http://lifehacker.com/cooking-hacks- We hear The Ginger Man, Greenwich, has welcomed a new Executive Chef, Gerald Alcin. Chef Alcin comes to The Ginger Man from Lexington Square Cafe in Mt. Kisco. - Bar Rosso in Stamford has a new Italian pizzaioli, and he is putting out some mighty fine pies. - Tiny newcomer Relic Brewing opens to the public this Fri/Sat: https://twitter.com/#!/RelicBrewing/status/197473696313647106 Read More
Sweet & Simple® Cookies...Baked Locally, With Love Features Restaurant Local Artisan Fairfield Kid Friendly Dessert Margie Treisman May 03, 2012 Cookies are, by definition, hard to resist. Fairfield resident Michelle Jaffee has made resistance even more difficult with her new line of cookies, Sweet & Simple, adorable in their individual cellophane wrappers, brown and white labels and retro daisy logo. What’s more, the label proclaims, they’re “baked with love.” We at CTBites like to support the local, entrepreneurial spirit. (Plus – let’s face it -- we don’t hate eating cookies.) So we set out to sample the sweets. Read More
Beach Burger’s "Create Your Own" Burger & Milk Shake Contest Ingredients Giveaway Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger May 02, 2012 CTbites and Beach Burger of Norwalk are proud to announce the 2012 “Create-a-Burger & Milkshake” Contest. CTbites readers will have the unique opportunity to design 2 new items on Beach Burger’s menu: The signature "2012 CTbites Hamburger & CTbites Milk Shake. The winning combos in each category will be included on the Beach Burger menu, and the two winners will be treated to four combo burgers and any 4 milkshakes from the Beach Burger. The rules are pretty simple… 1. Choose the toppings that you believe would make the ultimate combination using Beach Burger’s all natural beef patty OR 2. Design a new combination milk shake 3. Post your burger and/or milk shake combos below. Read More
Holbrook Farm Dinner with Chef Michael Bick Restaurant Bethel Farm Dinner Farm to Table Amy Kundrat May 02, 2012 Holbrook Farm and Chef Michael Bick of Some Things Fishy Catering are hosting a BYOB farm-to-table dinner on Sunday, May 20, 2012 at Holbrook Farm in Bethel, CT. The event is $55 per person. To make reservations, email or call 914.572.5648 to make reservations. "John, Lynn, and I have been good friends for over 5 years coming to my events and often speaking about the importance of local and sustainable food sources. It just seemed like a natural thing to have dinner right on the farm where I get my produce," said Michael Bick. Holbrook Farm is a family farm run by John and Lynn Holbrook. They have lived on the 13-acre property for 34 years. "Holbrook Farm has been clean of pesticides and herbicides for at least the last 30 years that we have owned the land. We don't spray with pesticides, we try to use beneficial insects and companion plants," John Holbrook says, "and we don't use herbicides. Weeds have a place in the ecological mix as long as they are controlled." Read More
Sono Baking Co & Caseus at Barnes & Noble May 6th Restaurant Cheese Cookbooks Events Christy Colasurdo May 01, 2012 If you’re a sucker for hand-baked bread and artisanal cheese and seasonal farm fare (and who isn’t?) you'll want to head over to Barnes & Noble in Westport this Sunday, May 6 at 11 a.m. for a book signing, foodie and children’s event in support of Westport's Wakeman Town Farm. Jason Sobocinski of New Haven's Caseus restaurant and host of “The Big Cheese” will join SoNo Bakery's John Barricelli, host of "Everyday Baking," to offer tastes and sign copies of their beautiful cookbooks, Caseus Fromagerie Bistro Cookbook and the SoNo Baking Company Cookbook as part of a Bookfair Fundraiser for Wakeman Farm. Not only will you get to meet the authors and peruse their new books, but Caseus is bringing its famed Cheese Truck to the event. The Cheese Truck is a mobile kitchen that drives the streets of New Haven selling to-die-for grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, daily sausages, salads and more! Read More
Fairfield County Eats Fundraiser Recap: Woman Eats Herself Silly CTbites Team May 01, 2012 As I am drive home from my big night out at Fairfield County Eats, a tasting event to benefit the Food Bank of Lower FC, I am feeling so stuffed I can hardly breathe. Or see straight. Yes, not only is the rain slapping against my windshield taking away my visibility, but the fact that I have just eaten ten times my body mass in chocolate. This was serious fun. As if just released from solitary confinement, I have eaten myself silly. Here is how it happened. Read More
