One year, hundreds of miles, close to thirty pounds of various cuts and blends of meat, thousands of fries…searching for the ten best hamburgers.
Nestled between Shad Roe, Bahn Mi, Shrimp & Grits, Nonni's Meatballs and Montauk Black Bass was “The Burger.” It was the equalizing dish amongst the best chefs in the area. As I tasted the creativity that each of the chefs placed into their version of this 100+ year old tradition, I was in awe. The combinations were brilliant, how the flavors balanced and complemented each other, the choices that they made to place their individual mark on this dish, each was unique.
Most of the meat was sourced locally, many from the same vendor with slight variations in blend and grind...some used a medium-grind while others requested a third, finer grind. Cheese and bacon played a major supporting roll, and the choices varied amongst the chefs.
With little fanfare, Mama’s Boy Southern Table and Refuge, the newest addition to the SONO food scene is slowly opening its doors. Based on traditional Southern hospitality and cuisine, the restaurant will deliver the comfort food of the south combined with a relaxed atmosphere. As the website states, “Mama’s Boy is putting the “South” in South Norwalk.”
The interior has been completely redesigned. Using woods and material from an old water tower from Florence, South Carolina, owners Greer Fredericks and Ami Dorel created a warm environment from top to bottom. The lighting is soft and inviting, the music gives a perfect background through various genres and the service is straight from Charleston, friendly and incredibly helpful. Upon entering you can choose a seat at the long bar or one of the tables along the wall with a long comfortable banquette. In the rear is a second dining area that is guarded by two windows that were reclaimed from Al Capone’s summer residence. This dining area features a traditional “mirror wall,” you have to see it to completely understand and appreciate.
Several weeks ago CTbites first announced the opening ofNola Oyster Bar in South Norwalk,described as a seafood restaurant with dishes from Maine to New Orleans. After my initial visit, it is apparent that much of the food is influenced by the great flavors and traditions of New Orleans, but the creative interpretations are singularly of Chef Dan Kardos.
Exposed brick walls, wood and tin columns, and wrought iron rails dominate the interior with white “antique” chandeliers hanging from the ceiling to create a very New Orleans visual. The front area includes a large, arced granite-topped bar that seats 10, plus a large reclaimed “Bankers’ Table” that seats an additional eight guests overlooking the floor to ceiling windows. The center section of the restaurant overlooks the kitchen, plus the rear room is available for regular dining or a private event.
Nola Oyster Bar is a place for fun, drinks and great food.
...is something wonderful to be seen. In between daily meals one and two is something very delightful for you. How Dr. Suess-y, eh? Wedged in-the-between is the one and only: Brunch. With a capital B, thank you very much. Brunch is divine. You can roll out of bed late and into a perfectly wonderful, relaxed meal that begs to be savored. It lingers beyond the lunch hour and helps you cruise effortlessly into dinner.
“There is no sincerer love than the love of food” says a quote that I stumbled upon recently. I think that is pretty darned accurate, especially when it comes to this meal. Here, for you, is a collection of some lovely spots to help you turn this noun into a verb...so go forth and brunch!
Did we miss one of your favorite Brunch spots? Let us know...
With very little fanfare, Nola Oyster Bar will open its doors this weekend in SONO in the space formerly occupied by Wasabi Chi on the corner of Main and Washington. As CTbites announced a few weeks ago the menu will primarily focus on seafood from Maine to New Orleans.
The previous open interior has been completely redesigned into three dining areas. The bar area features both a long bar with numerous stools for cocktails and dinner, while the two dining areas occupy the remaining space. The rear dining area is convertible for use as a private dining area.
Chef Dan Kardos is overseeing the kitchen and a sneak peak at his opening menu confirms the seafood focus with variety of options. Included are traditional raw bar selections of oysters and clams plus several crudos. “Small Plates” offer several varieties of cooked seafood including braised mussels, an oyster pan roast and several renditions of oysters. The entrées maintain the seafood focus with poached lobster, shrimp and grits, and other grilled and roasted seafood, but expands into a few non-seafood selections that include hanger steak, fried chicken, a combination bacon-cheeseburger. CTbites was told that the menu will expand rapidly over the first few weeks.
Stay tuned as CTbites revisits Nola Oyster Bar in a few weeks for an in depth review.
Word of mouth, and great word at that, brought me to The Spread, a spanking new dining hot spot in Sono. Two months young, the restaurant is the result a partnership of four guys, all with two decades-worth of bar and restaurant experience combined, plus one young and very talented chef, Arik Bensimon. Formerly the Executive Chef of Napa & Co., Chef Arik brings the food in this rustic yet hip joint to a level of excellence and seriousness not seen in Fairfield County in some time. The Spread’s menu is global in scope. It represents a range of cultures--Arik’s Moroccan background and French training, the partners' of Costa Rica, Italy, and France with a dash of New York and California in the mix. Indeed, the menu is all over the place, locally sourced and international, but somehow this eclectic mishmash works. Though dishes are simply titled on the menu, they are, in fact, complex and beautifully executed.
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.
Half Full brewery in Stamford will host a Halloween party this Saturday, starting at 7p.m. For $50, you'll get open taps of Half Full Bright Ale, InaugerALE, IPA and Pumpkin Ale, Oktoberfest inspired food and Pumpkin Ale floats, via Station Eats, and a costume contest. Half Full recommends taking a cab to this one.
Feeling stressed about Election Day? Fairway Market in Stamford has a solution. Eat cupcakes.. Go Donkey or Elephant - for $1.49 each - celebrate or sob into your sweets.
The Spread opens TODAY in SoNo with Executive Chef Arik Bensimon. Don't miss out on this hipster scene and spectacular menu. More here.
Looking for a good brunch spot? Bar Sugo,Chef Pat Pascarella's new killer Italian venue in Norwalk, is serving a regional Italian brunch Saturday and Sunday with rotating menu items including: Crispy Pork Belly w/ Sunny Side Up Eggs, Sausage & Broccoli Rabe omelettes, pancakes, and all the usual suspects. View menu here.
“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.
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.
In a world all about “grab and go,” I was happy to stumble upon “Nothin' But” snack bars after a spinning class at Joy Ride in Westport recently. That same week, we spotted them at the Westport Farmers’ market and the Village Market in Wilton. Seems that the chewy little bars, packed with ‘nothin’ but’ organic oats, nuts, seeds and dried fruits and hand-mixed with organic cane sugar, olive oil and honey have found a cult following in Fairfield County. Not only are these the tastiest and most nutritionally dense snack bars we’ve tried (not too dry, not too sweet, loaded with fruits, nuts and all-natural ingredients), they’re also packaged in re-sealable Ziploc bags so that you can eat half in the morning and save the other half for a midday pick-me-up (if you have the willpower).
Spring Street, all of a block long, was once anchored by Bennet's Steak House and Andy Robustelli’s World Travel services. Both were venerable downtown institutions, but dowdy matrons against the vibrant young rialto of restaurants and bars around the corner on Bedford Street. In their place Spring Street this year welcomed Mary Schaffer's luxe Italian Bar Russoand Giovanni Gentile's sleek euro-style café, Volta.
Designed by Giovanni himself, Volta’s pop interior complements the hip crowd, who one recent night were dining on such kewl stuff as brie and bacon crepes, grilled vegetable tartines, duck confit salads, and creamy sweet potato vichyssoise. With an Amy Whitehouse track in the background, “My life a wreck you’re making,” a beguiling model delicately sampled a gelato stracciatella while her debonair date sipped Remy XO.
Upon our return to the United States this summer from living abroad for 13 years, with our most recent move from Hong Kong, my family and I were faced with a serious food challenge. We hadn’t had access to good pizza, bagels and deli for years, so the first few weeks after we moved back, we became “born again” NY carb fanatics, showing our faces at every bagel and pizza joint north of NYC. After a month or so, this eating frenzy thankfully began to wear off. One of the things we miss most about Hong Kong is going out for Dim Sum, or yum cha, as it’s also called in Cantonese. After a friend mentioned Aberdeen Seafood & Dim Dum in White Plains, I knew we had to go to bridge East meets West food chain.
The following is our first mother & daughter review. Jessica Ryan is in the 7th grade.
Rebecca: The other day my mother, brothers and I went to try Chip’s, a new restaurant on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield (where Blockbuster’s was) for lunch. The restaurant was busy, sunny and clean. As soon as we walked in a waiter brought us to a booth by the window. The restaurant is spacious with lots of tables in the middle and booths all along the sides. There were a couple of large TVs hanging from the ceiling and we could see the kitchen from where we were sitting.
Thanks to Bartaco, your brunch options just got a whole lot more interesting. Lazy weekends, newsprint-stained hands, Bloody Marys and now tacos are firmly in the domain of this weekend morning ritual.
The popular Port Chester taco joint owned by the Barcelona Group, has recently unleashed a brunch menu for Saturdays and Sundays that is a fitting extension of the brand’s signature breezy Mexican beach food. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this scene, think Mexican street food influenced by the tides (and an enviable location on the Byram River) with a backdrop fit for a Hampton's weekend of beach-going and people watching minus the traffic on the LIE.
Before I met my husband, I gave nary a thought to the most important meal of the day. I’d rather sleep. But since becoming enlightened to the art of eating this meal, weekend breakfasts have become sacrosanct to my family. One of our houses of worship is Nicholas Roberts Gourmet Bistro, located in an indistinct shopping center in Norwalk. The food snob in me has learned that you cannot judge a restaurant by its geography. Such is life in suburbia – some restaurants are in strip malls. They are not all as transporting as this one. Robert Troilo, owner and chef, was schooled at the French Culinary Institute in New York and it shows, both in his inspired cooking and its artful presentation. Equally impressive is that he seems to always be there, greeting customers warmly, cooking in the open kitchen, serving and waiting on tables.
Last summer, at a friend’s suggestion, I ventured to the strip mall at 75 Main Street for a Saturday night dinner (read our review). The food was so outstanding, we asked the requisite question of each distinctive restaurant in Fairfield County: “Are you opened for breakfast?”
