Come On Down to Westport’s Oktoberfest Biergarten on the Green Oct.19th Restaurant Beer Dinner Events Holiday Oktoberfest Beer CTbites Team October 11, 2013 A chill in the air…days getting shorter…colorful leaves swirling….Welcome to October and the Westport Downtown Merchants Association’s 2nd annual Biergarten on the Green on Saturday October 19th 1:00-5:00 pm. Meet under the big tent on historic Veteran's Green right in downtown Westport, CT and sample some of the finest, award-winning local, national and international craft and micro brews. A mini tasting mug will be provided for samples from breweries such as Blue Point on Long Island, Goose Island from Chicago, East Coast Brewing from New Jersey, and Beaver Beer from right here in Westport. The Shock Top beer car will be back with the tap in the trunk and the Mohawk of wheat on the roof. New breweries are added every day. Seasonal food such as knockwurst, bratwurst, pulled pork and chili will be available for purchase. The food experts from CTBites will present chefs from Tavern on Main, and The Spread, demonstrating ways to pair the beverage of the day with delicious food; and the Zany Oompah Band will be back performing all the classics: waltzes, polkas and drinking songs for sing-a-long and dancing! Read More
Picador 2.0 Opens in New Canaan Restaurant Italian New Canaan Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger October 10, 2013 More culinary changes are occurring in New Canaan as Picador Restaurant on Elm Street was recently purchased by Ray Rivera, former Food and Beverage Manager at The Hyatt, and Leo Gaspar the owner of New Canaan’s Club Sandwich. Rivera and former owner Alan Basaran (owner of New Canaan’s Carpe Diem Restaurant) have known each other for years and a conversation eventually led to the Rivera and Gaspar purchasing the site. The pair immediately hired Chef Corey Falcone, who was previously the chef/owner of Bella Luna, one of Stamford’s favorite Italian restaurants. This partnership culminates years of discussions between Rivera and Chef Corey who wanted to work together in a small restaurant. Rivera summed up his four year search for the perfect venue and cuisine, “I’m thrilled about our restaurant being on Elm Street in New Canaan and presenting international fare plus steaks and chops. Corey is excited to use his talents to fuse Spanish and Italian flavors and he is a master of the grill.” Read More
Wine, Whiskey and Craft Beer Tasting @ Stew Leonard's Restaurant Cocktails Wine Tasting CTbites Team October 10, 2013 Join the wine specialists from Stew Leonard's Wines of Norwalk as we celebrate harvest season with an October Wine, Whiskey and Craft Beer Tasting! More than 50 wines and beers will be featured, as well as a special Compass Box blended whisky tasting, and a menu of seasonal fare freshly prepared by Stew Leonard’s culinary team. The event takes place on Thursday, October 24, 2013 from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. at Stew Leonard's food store, located at 100 Westport Avenue in Norwalk. Tickets are $40 per person and all proceeds will benefit The Norwalk Exchange Club, which will use the funds raised to benefit local community organizations in the City of Norwalk. Stew Leonard's Wine specialists have hand-picked a selection of more than 50 wines that complement the flavors of the fall harvest season. Read More
Blogger Lounge Video Highlights: 15 Chefs & Industry Pros Talk Shop @ The Greenwich Wine + Food Festival Interview Restaurant Celebrity Chef Chef Talk CTbites Team October 09, 2013 Hosting the CTbites Blogger Lounge at the Greenwich Wine+Food Festival has to be one of our fondest and possibly the most fun collaborations we've been a part of in our three years of eating, writing, photographing, interviewing, and convening chefs and restaurateurs for CTbites. There is so much to share, so much to cover, so as a bit of a teaser of that excellent day, here are some video snippets of the great action from Saturday's Blogger Lounge. We will be sharing full interviews, our own coverage, and our fellow blogger coverage over the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Read More
Fork It Over Recap: Bill Taibe Transforms "El Whelk" for WFM Fundrasier Stephanie Webster October 09, 2013 CLICK ON IMAGE ABOVE TO LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY As the 3rd Fork It Over fundraising event for The Westport Farmers’ Market approached this past Sunday night, one could only wonder...what next? Market Director, Lori Cochran, and her team of chefs had served up 1) an old fashioned outdoor clam bake and 2) a 198 pound Pig, but what for round 3, and who would be the mystery chef? The early Sunday morning email revealed a promising location (The Whelk), but more seafood? Not so much. The Mexican straw hats and pinatas gave it away. We were crossing the border. The Whelk had been transformed into El Whelk and we were all in for a night of tacos, tequila, and tripe soup. [VIEW IMAGE GALLERY HERE] Read More
Lolita Cocina to Reinvent Itself As Rouge Brasserie & Oyster Bar in Byram Greenwich CTbites Team October 08, 2013 This just in from CB5 Restaruant Group... In true cb5 fashion, the global restaurant development group that’s been creating cutting edge, high concept places for eating and drinking and whatever, is making a bold move over the next few weeks. Their goth-meets-Mex restaurant Lolita, located in the Byram neighborhood of Greenwich, CT, will undergo a transcontinental transformation, morphing into a French Brasserie. But, not just any brasserie. The new spot will be named ROUGE Brasserie & Oyster Bar and will be a throwback to cb5’s original claim to bistro fame dating back to 2003. Read More
Recap: Community Plates Food for All 2013 Fundraiser = Foodie Heaven Emma Jane-Doody Stetson October 08, 2013 I was officially stumped. After driving up and down Fairfield Avenue, all I saw were seemingly abandoned industrial buildings and parking lots. Where on earth was the Community Plates fundraiser? “It’s wayyy in the back,” a friend texted me from inside the event. We turned the car around and headed to the parking lot we had first pulled up to. We slowly began following it back toward the water. After about a tenth of a mile, we could just make out the figure of a man motioning us into a parking space. Still skeptical, we climbed out of the car. We spied a couple in fancy attire and followed them to a long, dimly lit building. Once inside, the space was anything but. Colorful art adorned chic white walls. Music pulsed as blue lights dimly illuminated a sprawling room. People in chic clothing mingled in small groups, cocktails in hand. We’d found it. Read More
Oak & Almond High West Whiskey Dinner Oct 9th CTbites Team October 07, 2013 OAK+ ALMOND in association with CASTLE WINE & SPIRITS OF WESTPORT Welcome Troy Karnes Passionate Whiskey Missionary for a HIGH WEST DISTILLERY DINNER $75. The dinner will take place on Wednesday October 9th @ 6:30. VIEW THE COMPLETE MENU BELOW. Call 203.846.4600 to make a reservation. Read More
Connecticut Cheese Festival: Curd Is The Word October 13th CTbites Team October 07, 2013 “Curd is the word on October 13th,” says Brian Civitello, founder of Mystic Cheese Company and event co-host. On Sunday, October 13, the Coventry Regional Farmers’ Market is sponsoring a three-hour Cheese Festival to coincide with its weekly market, held 11am to 2pm, at the Nathan Hale Homestead, 2299 South Street in Coventry, Connecticut. You can find the schedule of events below... For more information, visit http://ctcheese.com/ Read More
Pizza Luca: Neopolitana Pizza Truck Debuts at Beer Garden @ Harbor Point in Stamford Restaurant Catering Entertaining Food Truck Pizza Stamford Kid Friendly Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger October 06, 2013 How cool is it to walk up to a 1952 Chevy Pick-Up truck and order a perfectly prepared Napoletana pizza, with great ingredients imported from Italy, prepared by a classical trained Italian chef, and baked in under two minutes in a blazing hot, wood-fired oven. Pizza Luca, the brain child of Chef Dean Medico, creates pizza masterpieces that are steeped in the tradition of Italy, using only the best ingredients from Italy to create three distinctly southern Italian pizza delicacies, the Marinara, the Margherita, and the sauce-less Bianca. Read More
Friday Froth: Cali Connection James Gribbon October 04, 2013 A lot of the best product comes from California. Sticky buds are packed into trucks out west and travel thousands of miles to the voracious markets here on the east coast. I, for one, don't think there's anything wrong with that at all; hardly anyone can grow nuggets like this out here, and it's not hurting anyone. Fresh, stinky, green hops are for the people, baby.I'm pretty sure I prefer the climate in the northeast to the damp northwest, but I envy the edible biodiversity they have out there. The American craft beer movement, and certainly the all-conquering American style of west coast IPA, largely got its start out west because of local access to the variously piney, citrusy, and just outright dank hops which grew wild in the mountainsides and dripping Alpine valleys of the Cascade and Olympic ranges. This week we're going to go deep on a few beers which have done some traveling to land in the Constitution State. Read More
The Winners of The Marcia Selden Ultimate Dinner Party Contest Are... CTbites Team October 04, 2013 It's time to announce the winners of Marcia Selden Ultimate Dinner Party Contest. These 3 women need to don their aprons and get ready to throw down with the help of some of the finest caterers on the East Coast. Here are the winning submissions and email addresses. Look for your name below! Our third winner is a Freshman at Staples High School in Westport. We wish them all good luck on October 16th! krystle920@yahoo.com "My ultimate dinner party was held in Palawan, an island in the Philippines that was voted world's best island by Travel and Leisure magazine this year. From our resort in El Nido, we took a private boat to a secluded island surrounded by turquoise waters framed by the setting sun. Even from afar, we saw the blazing torches, beckoning us to come closer and seek sanctuary. We were to dine under the stars!" eppdarien@aol.com I always host for all holiday celebrations. I am from a family of 8, everyone is married and there are 23 grandchildren on my side of the family alone! I love hosting and would not have it any other way! I make many of the dishes that my parents used to serve when they were alive and hosted the family celebrations. However, my dream dinner party would be to host my family and not have to get stuck in the kitchen cooking. hbukzin@aol.com author of http://smallchefbigworld.blogspot.com "My ultimate dinner party is definitely going to have to include some lamb. Marinated in garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh thyme, rosemary and oregano. Then throw it on the grille for 7 minutes and get really nice grille marks and a medium rare center. So yummy and juicy." Read More
5 Reasons Why Wolf Convection Ovens Will Change Your Kitchen (sponsored post) Features Kitchen Gear CTbites Team October 04, 2013 Every day when customers come into Clarke - New England's Official Sub-Zero & Wolf Showroom and Test Kitchen - in South Norwalk, we get questions like these about Wolf's Convection Ovens: "Why is convection cooking better?" "How does convection cooking work?" "Is convection cooking faster?" "Why is convection baking energy efficient?" So here are five reasons why using a Wolf Convection Oven will change your kitchen in a dramatic way and save you time and energy. Read More
Greenwich Wine + Food Festival Tix Winners Have Been Announced Stephanie Webster October 04, 2013 The 10 lucky winners of The CTbites Greenwich Wine + Food Festival Giveaway have been selected and contacted. Congrats to those who have received free tickets to the festival as well as credentials for access to the CTbites Blogger Lounge. We look forward to seeing you there. For those who did not win this round, we've got plenty more Giveaways coming up. Stay tuned! Read More
Millwright's & Community Table Host Restaurant Swap CTbites Team October 03, 2013 Chef Joel Viehland of Washington, CT's Community Table & Chef Tyler Anderson of Millwright's in Simsbury will be teaming up and trading kitchens over the next two months. Chef Joel Viehland will be presenting his wildly local cuisine at Millwright's on Oct. 15 @ 6 p.m. Likewise, Millwright's will be hosting a dinner at Community Table in the same style on Nov. 11th. Both events will include 6 courses and a selection of wines to accompany. These are two of the most talemted chefs working in CT and these dinners should be outstanding. Call to reserve your seat. $90 plus tax & gratuity. Read More
Nicholas Roberts Gourmet Bistro Closes Its Doors Stephanie Webster October 02, 2013 It is with a heavy heart that we report this bit of foodie news. Chef Rob Troilo, owner of Nicholas Roberts Gourmet Bistro in Norwalk has closed his doors as of yesterday. Known for a killer breakfast and casual tasty dining, Nicholas Roberts will be missed. Chef Troilo has been researching other possible spaces for his restaurants and catering business for several years now, as the current location has been challenging (and "lacking in proper heat and AC" says Troilo). The current lease on his Norwalk space was up for renewal and he has decided to pass. Chef Troilo says "I have several other opportunities in the works." He will let us know when there is something definite, but Troilo assures us he will be back soon. Read More
Who's Coming To The Blogger Lounge @ Greenwich Wine & Food Festival CTbites Team October 02, 2013 The big day is soon upon us, and readers and fellow bloggers have been asking us who is appearing in the CTbites Blogger Lounge @ The Greenwich Wine & Food Festival on Saturday, October 5th. Below you will find the list of bloggers and the amazing Guest Chefs who will be sitting down and speaking with CTbites and the blogging community ALL DAY LONG! If you are a CTbites reader, and did not win one of the 10 Free Tickets we gave away, feel free to swing by the Blogger Lounge. We will try to get you in based on space. Bloggers OmnomCT, Food Dudes, Fairfieldista, The-e-List, Small Bites (Westchester), Bon Vivant, Tina Rupp Photography, CheapEats (NYC), Dee Cuisine, Hamlet Hub, Mister Belly, New Haven Living, Burgers & Brews Food Reviews, CT Girl About Town, For Love of Carrots, Home Place Blog, Flora's Table / Clicks & Corks, Pappa Don't Preach, Fairfield Countess, NYCFoodiefinder, Gina Zammit, Fork n Plate (NYC), Red Wine Please, Sprinkles & Booze, Sweet Jenny's, Fine Cooking Magazine. CTbites Blogger Lounge Chef Talk Schedule Chef Geoff Lazlo --The Whelk 12:00 PM Chef Michael Lucente -- Barcelona Restaurant 12:30 PM Chef Prasad Chirnomula -- Thali 1:00 PM Chef Rui Correia -- Douro 1:30 PM Chef Arik Bensimon -- le Farm 2:00 PM Chef Michael Psilakis -- MP Taverna 2:30 PM Adam Patrick--Mixologist --Walrus & Carpenter 3:00 PM Chef Cliff Crooks -- BLT Steak 3:30 PM Gretchen Thomas -- Wine & Spirits Director--Barcelona/ Bartaco 4:00 PM Laurie Forster -- The Wine Coach & Stand Up Sommelier 4:30 PM Read More
Nominate Your Favorite Local CT Green Restaurant for Nature’s Plate Award CTbites Team October 02, 2013 It's down to the Final Voting for CT's Nature's Plate Award. It's time to pick your favorite and get voting! The finalists for Connecticut, in alphabetical order, are: G-Zen Restaurant, Branford leFarm, Westport SeaGrass Grill, Branford Six Main, Chester ZINC, New Haven The Nature Conservancy is asking foodies in Connecticut, and across the country to nominate their favorite green restaurants for Nature’s Plate, a second annual people’s choice contest to find each area’s top green restaurant. Whether you're a vegan, vegetarian, or a meat-eater, it's a good bet the healthiest and tastiest food on your table came from nature. To vote, visit: www.nature.org/naturesplateCT. Read More
Fork It Over Recap: Westport Farmers' Market Goes Full PIG Stephanie Webster October 01, 2013 It was all about Pig at the 2nd of four “Fork it Over” fundraising dinner to benefit the Westport Farmers’ Market last Sunday night. The event was hosted at the Cannon Grange, an appropriate fit for an event that champions local producers given the Grange's deep roots in Wilton's agricultural history. The surprise Chef team was none other than Chef Johnny Vaast of The Dressing Room and Tim LaBant of The Schoolhouse at Cannondale. Food Advocate and Chef Michel Nischan was also on hand throughout the evening, but his culinary skills took a back seat to his musical talents. Read More
Yale's Foodtober Events Celebrate & Examine Our Food Culture Road Trip Restaurant Events NYC New Haven Amy Kundrat October 01, 2013 This October, the Yale Alumni Association of New York is co-sponsoring Foodtober, a month of food-related events and activities in NYC in association with numerous shared interest groups, alumni organizations, and community partners. These events are open to the public. Touching on food culture, creation, politics, business, media, history and science, Foodtober uses food as a common thread to explore and share the great diversity of our community. These events, from small restaurant dinners in the outer boroughs, to an International Food Fight at the Yale Club of New York hosted by Jacques Pépin, will raise funds to support the Yale Sustainable Food Project and Just Food. For more information or to register for an event, visit: http://yaany.org/foodtober/ and/or purchase tickets on EventBrite. Read More
