Nauti Dolphin: New York Style Pizza in Fairfield Restaurant Fairfield Pizza Amy Kundrat May 28, 2012 If you've ever missed a train or slogged through a daily commute, you know it often comes down to being at the right place at the right time. A few minutes late and you may find yourself recalculating your entire day's schedule. But if pizza is your business, and your ovens are quite literally at the tracks, you're always at the right place at the right time. Situated on the northbound side of the Fairfield train station, Nauti Dolphin in Fairfield serves up New York-inspired slices and pies that not only serve clock-watching commuters, but loyal Fairfielders who find themselves visiting the station whether or not they have a train to catch. Paired with fairly inexpensive prices, over ten years, and a constant stream of commuting stomachs, Nauti Dolphin is one of the town's favored neighborhood pizza take-out and delivery joints. Read More
Sticky Balsamic Ribs via The Parsley Thief Features Entertaining Recipe katie vitucci May 26, 2012 Looking for a great recipe for your Memorial Day BBQ? No joke, these are the best ribs ever! After asking my husband what he thought of them, he swallowed his bite & replied, "This may be the best thing I've had in my entire life". But, this is coming from a man who loves him some ribs...anyway, anyhow. Like all good ribs, these require time, but very little effort. Once they are done marinating & slow cooking in the oven, the grilling part takes about 5 minutes. The perfect thing when you are having company & don't want to be in the kitchen when your guests are there. This recipe will be a summer regular for us. Read More
Opening Day @ The 2012 Westport Farmers' Market Ingredients Restaurant Farmers Market Local Farm Specialty Market Westport Stephanie Webster May 24, 2012 CLICK ON IMAGE ABOVE TO LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY The Westport Farmers' Market opened today with an official ribbon cutting ceremony attended by members of the Fairfield County community who came to show their support for the market and "living local." First Selectman Gordon Joseloff and State Representative Jonathon Steinberg brandished their scissors with vigor as market shoppers applauded the start of the Westport Farmers' Market season. Also poised for the big day was Chef Jon Vaast of Dressing Room, one of the 23 guest chefs who will be appearing at the market throughout the season doing recipe demos and tastings (more on that later). The crowd was packed with people enjoying their Skinny Pines Pizza, Raus' Cold Romans, Boxcar Cantina Tamales, and Du Soleil Fine Foods...and the rain held out. VIEW PHOTO GALLERY HERE. Read More
Amuse Bouche: Food News for May 24, 2012 News CTbites Team May 24, 2012 The oh-so-beautiful Terrain is now open for dinner in Westport. Browse this stunning home and garden store before you sample Chef Wolfson's uber burger. Tickets for The Harbor Brew Fest in Bridgeport go on sale June 1st w/ over 20 craft beers on tap, food trucks & entertainment. Many Farmers' Markets are officially open for the season. Get the latest on all the markets & vendors updates for 2012 at The Fairfield Green Food Guide. Sun BBQ Fest is June 1-3 @ Mohegan Sun. Don't miss your chance to win free passes & a Weber Grill in our Sun BBQ Fest Giveaway. Read More
CTbites Invite: Blue Lemon Cooking Demo & Lunch Recap Restaurant CTbites Invites Westport Lunch Meaghan Morelli May 23, 2012 Blue Lemon chef Bryan Malcarney can clean, prep and sear a baby squid in just under 10 minutes, all while making small talk with a patio full of hungry diners. In fact, he makes it look pretty easy. “That’s my job,” the affable chef joked to a lunch crowd last week at a cooking demo organized by CTBites. The lattice and flower enclosed patio was packed with avocational foodies who had jumped at the chance to learn from one of the area’s most established chefs through the CTBites Invites program, which has regular offerings to take people behind the scenes in some of Fairfield County’s most respected kitchens. Read More
Kids Review: Cadiz Tapas in Bethel Kids Bites Restaurant Bethel Gluten-Free Spanish Special Dietary Needs Kid Friendly CTbites Team May 23, 2012 Most of the time at restaurants, I have no idea what to order because there are so many great choices. At Cadiz, however I can choose many different dishes. I can even order ten and share with friends and family. Cadiz is a place where you order several tapas and share among the group. Don’t be fooled though. It is located in the Bethel movie theater but that doesn’t mean it's cheap diner food. Plus, there are some great gluten-free options. My family started out with a basket of bread, a small plate of hummus with baked pita chips, and a bowl of Greek olives. The bread had a crunchy and flaky crust with a soft and warm inside. It tasted amazing; a great way to kick off the meal. Read More
Festivities Catering Now at Wilton Farmers' Market Restaurant Catering Entertaining Farmers Market Wilton CTbites Team May 22, 2012 Festivities, one of Fairfield county’s premier catering companies for over 28 years will be “popping up” with their signature, hand-made party food- Party Express at the Wilton Farmers’ Market. Opening day is Wednesday, May 30 from 2-6 p.m. and running each Wednesday through September 12th. Party Express at The Wilton Farmer’s Market offers freshly made party foods featuring the harvest from local farms. The rotating menu includes a wide range of delicious foods from “Snacks For Beach & Patio” to “Bento Box Meals To Go” to ‘Legacy Foods” borrowing world flavors from our families of origin. Also offered are weekly vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free alternatives. Executive Chef/Co-Owner, Bill Kaliff is particularly excited to be expanding his menu to showcase “legacy foods” while incorporating Connecticut Grown whenever possible. Read More
Gold Coast Gourmet: Freezer...Meet Mark Ingredients Delivery Service Home Delivery Sarah Green May 22, 2012 Freezer, meet Mark. Mark Seigel, owner and purveyor of GOLD COAST GOURMET for the past 22 years, will be your freezer's best friend - reliable and ALWAYS there when you need him. I was lucky enough to be referred to Mark by a Westport friend (he only works by referrals, no door-to-door harassment) and just in the nick of time. With Memorial Day weekend and the warm summer months approaching, there is enormous potential for a lot of home entertaining with many "Mom, I also brought the rest of the team home for dinner " possibilities. If you are like me, this can cause some major anxiety. This year, no problemo. Gold Coast Gourmet provides home delivery of prime meats, gourmet seafood and much, much more. The great thing about this service is that you are purchasing items by the "box" meaning that most things come in individually wrapped, perfectly manageable, flash-frozen portions. Read More
Dine With Design @ The Glass House: Chef Update Restaurant Events Farm to Table Local Artisan Local Farm New Canaan Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger May 21, 2012 The second annual Dine with Design will happen June 9, 2012, on the magnificent and incomparable grounds of Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan. With the tremendous success of prior year’s food presentations, the afternoon will again feature incredible tasting menus designed and prepared by some of the most renowned and respected chefs in America. Several of the chefs are featured in Darryl Estrine and Kelly Kochendorfer’s cookbook, Harvest to Heat and this year’s day and evening lineup will create one of the most delicious culinary experiences of the season. The participating chefs include three locals, Jeremy McMillan from The Farmhouse Restaurant at The Bedford Post Inn, Frederic Kieffer from Artisan in Southport, and Tim LaBant from The Schoolhouse at Cannondale in Wilton; two chefs from Cambridge, MA, Tony Maws from Craigie on Main and Ana Sortun from Oleana; plus Missy Robbins from A Voce in New York City and Gabriel Rucker from Le Pigeon in Portland, OR. The last two of the featured chefs, Missy Robbins and Gabriel Rucker present two vastly different paths up the culinary ladder and as well as approaches in their current restaurants. Read More
Estia's American Opens in Darien: Breakfast & Beyond Restaurant Brunch Darien Local Farm Breakfast Comfort Food Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger May 20, 2012 When restaurateur Colin Ambrose decided to follow his wife and three daughters and return to Fairfield County from the eastern end of Long Island, he brought with him a reputation for delivering creative farm to table cuisine. As the former owner/chef of Estia’s in Amagansett and the current owner of Estia’s Little Kitchen in Sag Harbor, Ambrose is celebrating his Darien homecoming by opening his latest restaurant, Estia’s American. After Ambrose settled on the location that formerly housed Ole Mole, he immediately set to create a rustic Americana décor that included American flags created from book spines, relaxing beach paintings and his personal collection of cookbooks and novels, including several by his uncle Stephen Ambrose. Read More
Ambler Farm Summer Picnic Tickets on Sale CTbites Team May 19, 2012 Mark your calendars for Ambler Farm's Summer Picnic in Wilton, CT. Saturday, June 16th from 6 to 11pm. This event hails Ambler Farm's annual kick off to summer. Begin the evening picnicking on blankets and relaxing with friends and continue on with live music, hayrides and horseshoes. After dinner, do-si-do your way to the dance floor for some traditional country-western dancing! Back by popular demand, local country chic food will be prepared by Delicious Affair and will feature Ambler Farm organic produce. Read More
"The Whole Hog" Celebrity Chef Fundraiser, May 24th CTbites Team May 18, 2012 On Thursday, May 24th at 6:30pm, four of Connecticut’s superstar chefs with a passion for nourishing neighbors with fresh, locally-grown ingredients will gather at the Clarke Showroom in SoNo for a delectable evening of wine, vine and swine! Tim LaBant of the Schoolhouse at Cannondale restaurant in Wilton, John Barricelli of SoNo Baking Company in South Norwalk, Bun Lai of Miya's Sushi in New Haven and Joe Wolfson, the new executive chef of Terrain Garden Café in Westport will creatively prepare and serve inspired free-range pork creations and offer a few sneak peeks of their seasonal offerings. Read More
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
