In our recent roundup of supermarket ice cream, we found ourselves invoking adjectives like "Sinful," "Addictive," "Decadent.." etc. ... as if confessing to indulging in craven pleasures by the pint-full.
But then, who gives a lick? Especially when an Ice Cream Shoppe offers even greater temptations than any Stop and Shop. Simply put, the ice cream hand churned on site is usually fresher, creamier, denser, richer and, yes, far more seductive than its commercial cousins. In addition, these family owned shops serve a wider spectrum of original flavors, most sourced locally, than you’ll find on the freezer aisle.
Plus, is there any place in Connecticut more kid friendly than a scoop shop -- especially for the child inside you?
So, for you and your family’s summer pleasures, be they guilty or innocent, CTBites has chosen the best local ice cream emporia.
This article was originally published in The Hour. We wanted to share the good news...
For the second consecutive summer, the Norwalk Seaport Association has rolled out its popular Maritime Cruise and Cuisine Fridays. With the components of a relaxing summer vacation, the mini-getaway is designed to showcase the beauty of the scenery in Norwalk's backyard.
The Maritime Cruise and Cuisine Friday, which runs from June 28 through August 30, includes a Norwalk Harbor sunset cruise with the Norwalk Seaport Association leaving from Sheffield Island Dock. Guests then walk one block to Mama's Boy Restaurant, for a three-course meal.
"The cruise was very popular last year. It's very relaxing," said Norwalk Seaport Association president Irene Dixon. "What could be better than sitting on a boat, enjoying the scenery, and inhaling the beautiful ocean air after a long work week?"
Visit Mama’s Boy Southern Table and Refuge in SONO and experience some good old-fashioned southern hospitality and cuisine. The newest addition to SONO offers a Georgian-Carolina cuisine with the flavors and ingredients not seen on other Fairfield County menus; not spicy Cajun or Creole but grits, okra, shrimp, catfish, with a little fried chicken thrown in.
Fairfield County native and owner Greer Fredericks, and her business partner Ami Dorel, bring a southern feel to the décor, and flavors to the menu, from Greer’s years in the South. Overseeing the kitchen is Chef Scott Ostrander who recently relocated from Jacksonville, Florida. His previous restaurant, ‘Town, won the Robert W. Tolf Award for Best New Restaurant from Florida Trend magazine and voted one of Jacksonville Magazine’s Northeast Florida’s Top 25 restaurants. After graduating from the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, Ostrander worked in restaurants from DC to Florida and brings authentic southern cuisine to the Mama’s Boy menu. Ostrander is currently sourcing many of his ingredients from South Carolina while simultaneously building a stable of local farms, vendors and merchants.
Ramen noodles are having "their moment," and restaurateur Tony Pham, owner of Pho Vietnam in Danbury has just opened a new venture in Fairfield that will have fans of Asian food slurping without pause. Welcome to MECHA.
Pham, a Vietnamese American who opened Pho Vietnam at the tender age of 21, again uses his raw talent drawing from his years of experience traveling around the world and working in numerous kitchens. His newest baby, Mecha, located on Post Road in Fairfield is a hip, cozy joint that serves up Ramenas well as Asian street food. Consulting with a master Ramen chef,Tony Pham is placing all bets on this age old Japanese noodle..and we hear Pho is on the way. For a new restaurant aiming directly at the college crowd around Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, it's a perfect match.
Read our interview with Tony Pham below to find out more about Tony's family, the history of Ramen, the meaning of "MECHA," and what inspires Tony Pham.
There is nothing I love more than a good "grass roots" story - and this particular story involves a love affair with a sweet confectionary that has stood the ultimate test of time. It is the result of one local Milford woman's passion for creating great ice cream and an idea to lower ice cream's sugar content. I'm sure this ice cream innovator's tale, will soon become a part of "sweet" history, right there alongside the revered Mrs. Fields.
I think it is safe to say that most Americans could conjure up iconic visions of having ice cream on a hot summer's day at the beach.. at the ballpark.. at family picnics and at birthday celebrations. Ice cream is inherently part of the American Way of life - be it chocolate, vanilla, mint-chocolate chip or strawberry, be it from a store, an ice-cream cart or the beloved Good Humor man and his captivating bells. Iskream, the brainchild and collaboration of Susan Patrick and Biagio Barrone, was born out of Susan's very own creamery in Milford.She owns the storefront Walnut Beach Creamery which has been churning out amazing, inventive flavors to locals since 2007.
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.
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.
“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.
“Old McDonald” plays loudly over the sound system as two 19-year-old Westport boys, Jon Camche and Rick Snyder, cruise the streets of Fairfield County in their bright yellow vehicle. Occasionally the lyrics to “Happy Birthday” ring through the air, other times “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” repeats. With over 50 different children’s songs on their playlist, these two college boys take their business seriously.
The 1964 Chevrolet milk truck has been transformed to deliver a different sort of dairy product – ice cream! Camche and Snyder, owners of Everybody Scream Ice Cream, are continuing to put smiles and melted sweets on locals’ faces for the second summer in a row.
Summer favorite offerings include a few familiar faces: Chipwhich, SpongeBob Squarepants Popsicle, Screwball, Choco Taco, Firecracker, and the Strawberry Shortcake bar.
The first thing I thought of when I heard “Gelatissimo” was that with a name like this, the place must be authentic. I was not disappointed in learning more about this delightful spot in downtown New Canaan when I met with its owners Andrea and Nuccia.
In Italian, Gelatissimo means very gelato; the supprelative “issimo” is used to exalt a description from standard to the very most, this is something I love about the Italian language, that things can be highlighted, made bigger, tastier or more beautiful - or just the opposite- by adding this sort of supprelative. “Issimo” is reserved for the very most and who doesn’t want more gelato!?
Here, Nuccia and Andrea have done the very best in gelato; their cheery interior is consistently buzzing with happy customers-several appear to be regulars while others are venturing in for the first, but not last time.
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.
On any given evening, cars line the street, a herd of cows gently moo, and families stand in line to enjoy a 150+ year old farms’ ice cream confections at Ferris Acres Creamery in Newtown. If the Creamery were a character in a movie, it would be straight out of central casting. I can almost hear the talent scout now.
“Yeah, we're looking for a quaint dairy farm nestled in a bucolic town on a quiet country road. A friendly herd of cows would be great, yeah.... and let’s toss in some green rolling hills and make sure there are plenty of smiling families standing by.”
Ferris Acres Creamery has been attracting such smiling families and ice cream-avores who are attracted to the farm's location and the playful variety of over 30 flavors, many of them locally inspired including Cow Trax (peanut butter ice cream with caramel swirls and mini chocolate chips) Route 302 Moo (chocolate ice cream with swirls of fudge and chocolate chips), the M.J Rell (mint chocolate chip with green sprinkles) Stony Path (their version of rocky road) and my personal favorite Elvis’ Dream (vanilla ice cream with chunks of bananas, peanut butter swirls and chocolate chips).
