What is all that activity on the corner of Washington and Main Streets in SONO? CTbites has discovered that SBC Restaurant and Brewery will open its fifth location in the space formerly occupied by Wasabi Chi. Currently name NOLA, SBC's Bill Dasilva told CTbites that the new restaurant will be an Oyster bar with “twists on traditional seafood from New Orleans to Maine” in “a very casual, comfortable and cool” atmosphere. The opening is targeted for February 2013.
Overseeing the kitchen will be long time favorite to many in Fairfield County, Executive Chef Dan Kardos. Chef Kardos began his culinary career with SBC while a teenager and worked in several Fairfield County restaurants over the last few years including Napa & Co., Harvest Supper, @Bar Rosso, and most recently with Chef Bill Taibe at The Whelk.
“The SoNo scene has lost a bit of luster and we'd like to help bring some flavor back downtown,” says Chris Hickey, Co-Owner of The Spread opening October 2012.
Mr. Hickey, and his partners, Christopher Rasile, Andrey Cortes, and Shawn Longyear may be just the men for the job. With strong backgrounds in hospitality and almost legendary careers managing Bar at Barcelona’s SoNo and Greenwich locations, these four partners are poised to create some dining buzz in Michael Young's former Habana location.
But, despite boasting one of the largest bars in Fairfield County, The Spread is not just about creative cocktails. Enter the talented Chef Arik Bensimon, most recently the Executive Chef at Napa & Co., and now you’ve got yourself some serious culinary street cred to compliment the talent behind the bar.
Gavrielides Restaurant Group, the family behind Harbor Lights, Eastside Café, and Overtons, all located in Norwalk, have added yet another egg to their already full basket of food establishments.
Recently opened “Estia”, which shows off the Gavrielides family’s Greek roots, is a welcome addition to SONO’sWashington Street. It’s official: This tiny block now proudly boasts a veritable potpourri of cuisine, and with Greek cuisine now on offer, it is fast becoming a diners paradise. Let’s hope Estia, along with its’ neighboring partners in crime can live up to the increasing demand for quality, sophisticated food, so SONO can continue to thrive.
Occasionally, we like to get a few opinions on a restaurant. Here are two shorts from Cathy Siroka and James Gribbon on Shanghai Bistro.
If you’re in South Norwalk and want a simple, easy place to go before a movie or out with the kids – try Shanghai Asian Bistro. They recently opened a second location at 124 Washington St., with their first one in Westport at 1715 Post Rd East. Owner, John Jiang, had been carefully looking for a second location for years, and has seen such a huge change in the traffic and excitement in downtown Norwalk, and finally felt that “now was the right time.”
While the menu has the Chinese classics like shrimp with duck sauce and General Tsao’s chicken, the restaurant also offers an array of other Asian inspired dishes and many ways to customize your order according to your tastes and dietary preferences. Jiang explains his menu as “all-Asian, not just Chinese, a sampling of the flavors of China, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan.”
With a stellar location in Westport on the Saugatuck, and a Taiwanese chef, trained in Japanese cuisine with more than 20 years in the restaurant business, Westporters have something to be hopeful about in a new local take out and delivery place.
Bistro 88, a family run restaurant, is dishing up food from several Asian destinations including China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and even Indonesia, in the form of traditional Sambal. Lucky for us that points of political contention hasn’t gotten in the way of allowing us to choose freely from this flowing menu of Asian delights. Looming largely as a take out and delivery business, this tiny joint also has limited seating with service for those who prefer to eat there. Plus, the menu is so extensive (reading like a Bible for Asian food), there is surely something for everyone.
Lovers of Bánh mì, the Vietnamese sandwich, were crestfallen when Pacific Foods(1561 Black Rock Turnpike, Fairfield (203) 220-9450) closed just a few months after opening. I’m thrilled to report it’s back, under the same management. Good news is that this hole-in-the-wall storefront now has three tables for eating in.
As CT Bites previously reported, the menu offers summer rolls, pho and bubble tea, and there’s a small grocery section. But here’s what you have to order: the bánh mì. It could be described as a Vietnamese sub. Like a sub, the classic version combines cold cuts and crisp vegetables. But this light, well-proportioned sandwich is not an over-stuffed meat- feast, and each component reveals the way that the French colonization of Vietnam melded the flavors and cooking techniques of the two cultures.
Every once in a while something new comes to town that we just have to explore! This time, it’s Pacific Food on the Black Rock Turnpike that adds a little bit of Asian flavor to the shopping options in Fairfield. We visited Pacific Food recently to see what kind of eclectic goodies we could fill our shopping carts with. After all, it’s about time we started using our wok pans for something worth wok-ing!
Pacific Food is a unique Asian market open almost three months in a small shopping center just as Blackrock Turnpike splits into Tunxis Hill. The small footprint of the grocer packs a punch – offeringcounter-style favorites such as Vietnamese sandwiches, Japanese-style smoothiesin a rainbow of flavors and a decided-upon favorite, traditional Chinese Bubble Tea.
Ready for a little PIK me up? Head over to PHO GARDEN at 1620 Post Road in Westport for some authentic Vietnamese delights! This brand new Asian dining offering, (formerly Zole'), has simple decor and an unimpressive neon sign outside the door, but don't let this turn you off. PHO GARDEN'S authentic menu is a welcome addition to the Westport restaurant scene. Plus, with Pho Mekong closing its doors across the street, PHO GARDEN is definitely worth checking out!
In Fairfield County, Vietnamese cuisine is not as plentiful as other asian cuisines, so you really have to dig deep, and go where the Pho is...wherever it is. I recently received a tip from a CT Bites reader that good Pho was to be had in Bridgeport at a small mom & pop restaurant called Pho Saigon. We rallied our enthusiastic tasters and headed out to Iranistan Street in Bridgeport, an area that is definitely "off the beaten path", but you do what you've gotta do for good food. You won't find this place in Zagats.
We entered what seemed to be the living room of a small corner house, furnished with gum-ball machines, plastic floral table cloths, and big pots of luke warm tea on the tables. Clearly, dining here was about the food, not the decor. We were greeted warmly, although not in English (which is generally a good sign that the food will be authentic), and escorted to a clean table piled high with squeeze bottles of fiery sauces and jars of fish paste. Lucky for us, the menu had translations, so we ordered half of the 21 item menu (as most dishes were under $7) and waited for the food to arrive.
UPDATE: Pho Mekong has closed. Shake Shack coming soon!
There are certain meals you just can't cook at home...especially as a white woman. We have tried in our local gourmet club to master the art of Asian cooking, but after a full day's search for the 30 obscure ingredients required for a basic dish like Pad Thai, we decided our next craving for coconut and curry would be better satisfied with take-out. We had heard rumors of a local favorite, Pho Mekong, on the Westport/Southport border. Needing a quick pre-movie bite last week, we headed over to find out if the food held up to the buzz....
