Recap: Little Pub's Berkshire Brewing Co. Beer Dinner James Gribbon May 18, 2012 On May 22nd, The Little Pub in Ridgefield will hold a beer dinner featuring Brooklyn Brewery. The last beer dinner there featured beers from Berkshire Brewing Company, and American Craft Beer Week seemed like great time to recap that event and give some insight into how these events go at The Little Pub. Wisdom really begins when learning enables you to realize just how little you know. It's gratifying to the ego to consider one's self an expert on a subject but, just like there's always someone bigger or faster in sports, there's always some greater expert perfectly capable of putting you in your place. I thought I had a pretty good handle on Berkshire Brewing's place in the cosmos before I sat at a table with Jason Hunter, BBC's director of sales/GM/sometime brewer. Read More
Blue Laws Officially End Sunday, May 20th Ingredients Specialty Market Wine Chat Beer James Gribbon May 17, 2012 It's not quite as momentous as the end of Prohibition, but Connecticut now has its own Repeal Day, as Gov. Dannel Malloy signed a bill Monday to end our state's archaic Blue Laws. And on American Craft Beer week, too. Way to go, Guv'na. Connecticut liquor stores will now be allowed to operate from 10a.m. - 5p.m. on Sundays, and choose one item per month to offer at a 10% discount. This last item was the lone concession to proponents of blue law repeal who sought the end of the state's mandatory minimum pricing practices. Discounts had previously been outlawed. Like most of the other measures signed into law by Gov. Malloy, this decision came down to the economic bottom line. Read More
You're Invited: Paella Making Class @ Barcelona SoNo CTbites Team May 16, 2012 Join CTbites & Barcelona SoNo's new Executive Chef, Gavin Blair, for a fun & delicious Paella Making class and lunch on Thursday June 7th from 11:30- 1 pm. Learn the secrets to making perfect Paella rice by using the right seasonings and then how and when to add the key ingredients: chorizo, shellfish and chicken. Enjoy tapas while you learn key cooking tips and techniques from Chef Gavin, followed by a feast featuring this traditional Spanish dish. Finish with an authentic dessert and coffee to complete your dining experience. The cost for this event is $40. Purchase your seat HERE. Each attendee with get a take home recipe so you can re-create and impress your family and friends at home! Read More
Aventine Hills Wine Importers: Italian Wine Made Local Ingredients Wine Chat CTbites Team May 16, 2012 If you're reading this article, you're most likely adventurous…at least when it comes to food. You look to CTbites.com as a guide for new culinary experiences, so we'd like to take this opportunity to broaden your horizons from the plate to your glass. Allow me to introduce Jodi and Garrett Stonehouse of Aventine Hills Wine Importers with wines featured at local restaurants including Paci, Quattro Pazzi, Osianna, Aqua, Tarantino's, Fat Cat, Rowayton Seafood, and The Schoolhouse, just to name a few. It all began back in 2006 when Jodi and Garrett discovered a love of Italy, and more specifically of the wine in Italy. Read More
WIN a Weber Grill & Free Tix to The Sun BBQ Festival Stephanie Webster May 15, 2012 CTbites & Mohegan Sun are giving away for TWO PASSES to any one day of the SUN BBQ FEST @ Mohegan Sun on June 1 - 3, 2012 + a Weber Smokey Joe grill. TO ENTER: Post your favorite BBQ dish in the comments section below. 1 lucky winner will be chosen at random. Good luck! Read More
Class is in Session at 109 Cheese & Wine Ingredients Cheese Education Fairfield Amy Kundrat May 15, 2012 School is back in session, and I don't mean the kind that requires boarding a yellow school bus. I'm talking about an education involving terms like bloomy, soft-ripened, blue-vein, washed-rind, and brined or full bodied, flowery or peppery. Ridgefield's 109 Cheese & Wine Shop's Spring/Summer class schedule is out with a full offering for any level of wine, craft beer & cheese appreciation. These classes expertly led by owner, Monica Brown, a wine and cheese connoisseur who, along with her experienced team, is dedicated to bringing a curated selection of the best products from around the corner to around the world to 109. Check out the full line up below: Read More
Memorial Day BBQ & Party @ Barcelona Fairfield Restaurant BBQ Events Holiday Stephanie Webster May 15, 2012 Join Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant’s first barbeque blowout of the season. This Memorial Day, May 28th, have fun in the sun on Barcelona Fairfield's patio or enjoy some cocktails in their newly renovated bar. This fun-filled family event will feature: live music from the Jason Spooner Trio, beer tasting from Berkshire Brewing Company, kids events include face painting and a magic show as well as a lemonade, popsicle and ice-cream stand. For only $20 a person ($10 for kids) you can enjoy a delicious buffet of the best from their grill and kitchen. From beef, chorizo & cochinita sliders and suckling pig to grilled vegetables and assorted salads, there’s something for everyone. Read More
The Schoolhouse's Millstone Farm Summer Dinners on Sale May 16 Restaurant Farm Dinner Local Farm Wilton Stephanie Webster May 14, 2012 The 3rd annual "Farm 2 Fork" dinner series will officially begin on Wenesday, June 20th at Millstone Farm, 180 Millstone Rd., Wilton, CT. Those of you who have enjoyed these wonderful communal dining experiences in the past, are likely already drafting that email for reservations. For newbies, here's what to expect. A tour of the beautiful 75 acre Millstone Farm will begin at 6:00PM followed by a pristinely farm fresh, family style dinner beginning at 7:00PM. The cost is $100. per person with a featured wine. BYOB is welcome. Tax & gratuity is excluded. Space is limited so I would suggest you act quickly. Reservations will be taken by email starting this Wednesday, May 16 at 10:00AM. Read More
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
