I've said this before, butespressoNEAT, in my biased opinion, serves the best espresso in Fairfield County. Located in Darien, their baristas are well trained experts, and their devotion to their craft is obvious from the first sip of any of their coffee based beverages. Here's the info on their next home brewing class on Thursday May 31st.
Do you like the coffee you get at NEAT? Did you know you could enjoy that coffee without even leaving your house? No, we’re not starting a delivery service, but we are relaunching an educational series that will equip you to make a stellar cup of coffee in the comfort of your own home and bathrobe. We’ll guide you in the fundamentals of buying, storing, grinding, and brewing and help you get the best at home as well as at NEAT.
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Class size is limited to 8 people for maximum learning and tasting.
Email education (at) espressoNEAT.com or ask someone NEAT to sign up.
$10/person, includes 10% off whole bean coffee & Clever brewers after class.
Bleary-eyed Branchville commuters now have a few more options for their morning caffeine fix. Tusk & Cup Fine Coffee has opened across the street from the Branchville train station at 51 Ethan Allen Highway (Route 7) in Ridgefield. Owners Joe and Laura Ancona, the same family that owns and runs nearby Ancona’s Market and Ancona’s Wines & Liquors, opened Tusk & Cup in November, a fine complement to the family-owned businesses and this burgeoning neighborhood of small businesses.
Yep...You heard me correctly. The Sono Baking Company is expanding their bakery mecca and opening up shop in Westport. This Sono institution has just signed a lease on the charming new barn at the A & J Farm Stand, right on the Post Road (seen above). The Westport location will feature a cafe serving grab-n go-items as well as a full espresso bar to accompany their wide selection of baked goods, cakes, pastries, cookies and artisan breads. Owner John Barricelli says "We hope to be open in late August or early September." We hope so too. A good espresso is hard to come by around here.
Have you ever wondered why coffee houses bother with options at the brew bar? Do you think you could tell the difference between a $3 cup and a $6 cup if you tasted them side by side? Yes, much like wine, coffee has different varietals, single origin beans, as well as organic options. EspressoNEAT would like to invite you into their coffee obsessed world for an afternoon of sniffing, sipping, slurping, and spitting. (Nobody can handle all that caffeine at once.) They will be using a few handy tools to help keep track of what you're drinking and your discerning palate will never approach a cup of coffee in quite the same way.
Did your mother ever scold you as you reached into the fridge in the wee hours to grab a slice of leftover pizza? Bread, cheese, tomatoes…breakfast of champions, right? Fat Cat Pie Co. which is well known for their wafer thin crusted pizzas laden with decadent toppings (see our pizza shout out), has validated this college craving by mastering the fine art of pizza for breakfast. Yes, it is a little known fact. Fat Cat opens its doors in the am serving a casual breakfast and lunch daily from 8am to 2pm. You may not find a hash brown to speak of on this diminutive menu, but you will find more interesting fare including breakfast "pies" with local organic eggs, sandwiches boasting the culinarily renown Bloodroot bread, as well as a selection of home made baked goods and granola. It is a laid back affair with top notch coffee and a barista who cares (note the latte art). For a diner seeking something beyond the "diner," Fat Cat is a breath of fresh air...and fresh ingredients.
Alicia Fidalgo is the voice behindThe Clean Plate Club blog. She shares her time between West Hartford & Boston.
On a chilly Sunday morning I recently had the pleasure of visiting Hartford Baking Company in West Hartford, CT. Located in a strip of shops on New Park Avenue, the bakery's interior juxtaposes the cozy comfort of a local bake-shop with urban-inspired industrial design.
Baked goods run the gamut from sweet to savory: muffins, sticky buns and scones, as well as beautiful crusty European-style bread.
I was greeted by Donny Raus of RAUS Coffee at his home in Stamford, CT with a freshly brewed (French Press) cup of coffee waiting for me. This coffee, roasted in his own roaster, was so good it needed neither milk nor sugar. (I usually take both.) As I sipped my hot, smooth and bold cup of coffee I learned about the young man, his passion, and I scored some great tips for getting the best possible cup of coffee in your house (Check out Coffee 101 Tips below).
Being greeted with a cup of locally roasted coffee and the promise of a healthy prepared meal each day may be the only foolproof way to overcome the indignity that is a Metro North train commute. Located inside the Bethel train station, Daily Fare offers a nourishing and caffeinated segue into the freneticism of a work day and the welcome flexibility of a healthy prepared take-home meal for lunch or dinner.
This coffee shop-meets-gourmet-to-go is not just for commuters. For many of us faced with the daily demands and dwindling hours of busy schedules, Daily Fare affords us hungry and time-crunched souls the luxury of well balanced meals instead of shopping, cooking and preparing a meal. For many of us who like to cook, it can be a much-needed respite. For others who can't cook or don't want to, it's like having your own personal chef without having to foot the bill.
Coffee is ritualistic on many levels and if you worship it like many do, chances are you belong to one of its tribes.
There are those who home brew, and those who prefer their local barrista. There are the "fast food drinkers" who worship daily at the counters of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, and those who will not deign to cross their "millions of customers served and counting" threshholds. This brings me to the "I only drink espresso and its gotta come from a very expensive machine" drinkers and their crunchy cousins who have been carefully polishing their chemex carafe for decades. Embracing simplicity in preparation and materials, the French press method has enjoyed a strong revival as many of us attempt to simplify and take back the brewing process to our own hands. Translate this method commercially and you have businesses like west coast favorite Philz and in our own backyard espressoNEAT who have elevated coffee to an art, brewing each cup, one by perfectly crafted cup, at a time.
Have you ever wondered why coffee houses bother with options at the brew bar? Do you think you could tell the difference between a $3 cup and a $6 cup if you tasted them side by side? Yes, much like wine, coffee has different varietals, single origin beans, as well as organic options. EspressoNEAT would like to invite you into their coffee obsessed world for an afternoon of sniffing, sipping, slurping, and spitting. (Nobody can handle all that caffeine at once.) They will be using a few handy tools to help keep track of what you're drinking and your discerning palate will never approach a cup of coffee in quite the same way.
After moving back to CT after 7 years in Seattle, there were a number of adjustments I had to accept in making Fairfield County my home (again). Some were trivial, like relearning how to drive in the snow, while others were more signficant: Income taxes and humidity for example. But no other trade-off was as frustrating as my fruitless search for a great cup of coffee.
I'm happy to report that while humidity and taxes may be here to stay, my espresso quest is finally over.
You may be wondering what I'm making such a fuss about. You might be thinking "Aren't there Starbucks all over the place? Doesn't America Run on Dunkin? What's the difference?" If so, I'd say we have much to discuss. You see, coffee is actually a lot like wine. Both require an obsession with quality sourcing, solid application of repeatable scientific methods, and an attention to detail that borders on compulsion. Think I'm crazy? Here's a primer on the subject. And for better coffee at home, here's some further reading.
Overwhelmed? Intrigued? Good. Because I'm going to make this very simple for you.
If you want a great cup of coffee, of any variety, get your next caffeine fix at Espresso NEAT.
I've said this before, but espressoNEAT, in my biased opinion, serves the best espresso in Fairfield County. Located in Darien, their baristas are well trained experts, and their devotion to their craft is obvious from the first sip of any of their coffee based beverages. Here's the info on their next home brewing class on Thursday May 31st. 
