As food writers, photographers, and chefs, we have the pleasure of eating a lot of really great food. Fairfield County has experienced something of a restaurant explosion over the past year, as new chefs move in and move on, and menus expand. We've endeavored to expand our coverage beyond those borders, seeking to cover more of the state and sharing those experiences that are worth seeking out. Instead of coming up with a top ten list ourselves, we asked the CTbites extended family to share some of their most memorable meals and dining experiences this past year.
Post opening tweaks are commonplace during the first few months after a restaurant's opening. With Mecha’s minor changes completed, it now firmly fills the belly rumbling void of Southeast Asian Noodles and street food, popularizing Ramen, Pho and South East Asian comfort food.
Owner Tony Pham, who also owns Pho Vietnam in Danbury, saw an opportunity in Fairfield, to capture the hearts and hungry stomachs of the Fairfield U student bodies by opening a Ramen noodle bar. This small, but cozy, space is an architecturally clean, eye pleasing mix of Modern Asian décor...with a long community table in the center and block style tables around its perimeter. There is some additional seating circling the "bar" with colorful Asian ceramic stools adding some pop and a touch of elegance to this casual space. Pham is committed to keeping his two restaurants a "family affair," and you may be seated, served, or cooked for, by one of his family members!
When I first visited with Tony in September, Ramen noodles were the main attraction on his menu. Several months later, Mecha’s menu is now representative of Japan’s different regional nuances with the current soup bases including Shoyu, Miso and Chicken.
For decades, Colony Grill has offered pizza. Pizza (with a capital P) and only pizza. Delicious pizza, to be sure, with a unique thin crust and lots of available toppings (including the legendary hot oil). But with the exception of veg toppings -- fresh mushrooms, onions, black olives and peppers (stingers and cherry) -- there was no greenery to be found.
Veg-avores rejoice! Colony Grill is now offering a Salad Pizza. The signature Colony crust comes topped with fresh mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots tossed with a tangy balsamic vinaigrette. Clean and simple. As it says on the menu, No Cheese, No Sauce.
Yep, it’s healthy. Good for folks training for the 3rd Annual Colony Grill “Hot Oil” 5K on November 10. (Until then, $1 for each salad pizza sold will go to race proceeds, which benefit local police and fire department initiatives.) For those who like clean eating (and we definitely do), this salad pizza is a welcomed addition to the Colony menu board.
“It’s no sin to get sauce on your chin.” - Bishop Tutu
Last weekend I got a chance to make the short trek to Wilson’s Barbecue (1851 Post Rd Fairfield, CT ), to enjoy some incredible Pit BBQ. Wilson’s is owned by Ed Wilson, who has competed in and judged numerous BBQ competitions throughout his life. Ed is an extremely kind man, who goes out of his way to talk to everyone who enters his restaurant. He even happily agreed to sit down and talk to me after my fantastic meal, about what makes his food so good.
He couldn’t be nicer.
When we arrived at Wilson’s we were greeted by Mr. Wilson who said hello and wished us an excellent meal. As I entered the restaurant I noticed the comfy, road-house-esque atmosphere that was filled with memorabilia of his experiences as a chef and owner. When it was time to order, we got a lot!
The fact that the old Westport Library building — opposite what will soon be the former Klaff’s — now houses a Starbucks is seen by some longtime Westporters as a symbol of how the town changes.
Another symbol is on the way. Freshii — a strangely spelled “fast casual” restaurant offering salads, burritos, wraps, quinoa and rice bowls, yogurts, breakfast, soups, juices and smoothies, all made with high-quality, fresh ingredients — opens soon in the same former library building.
The address is both 1 Main Street, and 19 Post Road East. There will be entrances on the Post Road, and Parker Harding Plaza.
Plan B Burger Bar has some big news. They are coming to Fairfield this fall in the old Post Office at 1262 Boston Post Road.
Plan B is an upscale burger bar created by Hartford-based Locals 8 Restaurant Holdings with six (soon to be seven) locations throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts. This burger mecca features all-American craft beers, bourbon, and burgers made from beef that is ground in-house daily, always fresh, never frozen, and free of antibiotics and hormones. We like that!
Allie j Gamble, founder and CEO of Locals 8 Restaurant Group explains, “We don’t think of our restaurants as a chain, there is just a lot of us. Each Plan B location is unique. We build relationships with local farms because the food is always fresher. For example, in Milford, we work with Robert Treat Farm, Bishops Acres, Holcomb and Jones Farms. In Springfield, we draw from incredible local brewers like the Mayflower Brewing Company. We’ll do the same thing at Plan B Fairfield. We’re excited to partner up with growers in the community and offer specialty items that our other locations won’t feature. It's part of our dream of growing big while remaining small.”
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.
The Pop Shop Market is popping up in Fairfield this weekend! The first of 4 yearly Pop Shop Markets will be making its debut at the Fairfield Theatre Company’s warehouse and parking lot on Saturday, June 1st. People of all ages are invited out to experience the European-style open-air market. Kelly Scinto, Andrea Espach and Ashley Kane, founders and curators of the Pop Shop Market wanted to create a unique experience unlike any other pop up shop. “We wanted to plan a fun day; one that would bring shopping, food, drinking and music together,” says Scinto.
The Pop Shop Market will feature a variety vendors from all over the area, showcasing items such artwork, jewelry, and repurposed furniture by local artists, designers and merchants. All this shopping will surely leave you hungry! Or perhaps it is the all the incredible local food that will draw you out this Saturday. The Pop Shop Market has recruited some of Connecticut’s most popular food trucks! Grab a lobster roll from LobsterCraft, a meatball grinder from theLocal Meatball, some California-style fish tacos from Taco Pacifico, fries from Fryborg, and top it all off with some soft-served ice cream from Cowabunga Food Truck.
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.
There is a new food truck on the block in Fairfield (well, not so much food truck as in food car – Smart Car to be exact). The Local Meatball is rolling into town and making its debut this Saturday, April 6th,dishing out meatballs on the Town Green in Fairfield, made with local, organic ingredients. Meatballs, a comfort food of many, no longer need to be served over spaghetti to complete a meal. The Local Meatball is proving these balls stand great on their own!
Wanting to share his passion for meatballs with the town, chef and Fairfield resident Michael DiStassio started The Local Meatball. “Meatballs are such a simple idea, but they resonate with so many people,” says DiStassio. The Local Meatball was revealed online on March 9th, National Meatball Day and “People have been so responsive to the idea,” added DiStassio.
Working from his grandmother’s recipe, DiStassio has tweaked it slightly to come up with a variety of 5 different kinds of balls that will rotate weekly.
...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...
When Harry’s Liquor Store and the Fairfield Cheese Shop decided to tear down the wall they shared between them, customers could wander back and forth, tasting wine and snacking on crackers and cheese. It was the perfect symbiosis of oenophiles and cheesemongers. It couldn’t get any better. But yeah. It could. And it did.
Brothers David and Andrew Tavolacci, who sold fresh pasta and sauces at their little and much- loved store in Georgetown, made a smart decision to move to Fairfield and share the parking lot with Harry’s. Now we can shop for the trifecta of food – wine, cheese, and pasta – without re-parking the car.
Tutto’s is where you go to purchase fresh pasta and home-made sauces, Wave Hill Bread, pesto, soups, and a variety of specialty foods.
Attention Pinkberry fans: This frozen yogurt mecca has a new location in Westport, and it is officially open for business. Head on over to 111 Post Road East in Downtown Westport for your next fro-yo fix.
Pasta Bolognese..a dish so embedded in the DNA of Italian culture that the Italian Academy of Cuisine registered a recipe for "classic Bolognese ragù" with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce. The recorded recipe calls for beef from the plate section, unsmoked pancetta, carrot, celery, onions, tomato purée, meat broth, dry wine, milk, salt and pepper, plus a small amount of cream as an option to finish the sauce. There are numerous variations and nuances in the design, flavor, ingredients and most importantly the partner on the plate, the pasta, traditionally a taggliatelle.
What started as a simple idea within CTbites to find and recommend a few good Pasta Bolognese dishes in Fairfield County took a life of its own as more suggestions led to more great sauces, which led to, well more great sauces. Over the last several weeks, the two of us have enjoyed some great Pasta Bolognese preparations (and several that were not so good) to give our readers a list of recommended restaurants that serve delicious versions of this traditional Italian fare. It is not all encompassing, is listed alphabetically and we look to our readers to offer other suggestions of restaurants that serve their favorite Pasta Bolognese to be included in next year's search.
And this is only part 1…there were too many for just one list of recommendations, so stay tuned for part 2 in the near future.
The first thing I noticed when I walked into Eren’s Grill was the neatness and precision of the refrigerator case. Platters of perfectly aligned kebabs await the grill. Bowls of bright-red-hued eggplant-tomato salad and pale, fluffy humus. Glistening rows of dark-green stuffed grape leaves. Then Eren, a young man wearing chef’s white’s embellished with the Turkish flag, stepped out from the open kitchen and proudly started telling me about his fresh and homemade food.
Fairfield’s new and only Turkish restaurant is a small joint in a strip mall. With just a few tables, it does a lot of take-out and catering. Whether eat-in or take-out, it’s a welcome addition to the Tunxis Hill section of Fairfield, a neighborhood that could use more good food. And the food here is good: fresh and full of flavor. Ottoman cuisine has a long and noble history, and Eren – who was head chef of the Athens’ Tike, an international group of Turkish restaurants in places like London, Cyprus and Kiev -- for 8 years -- is proud to put his signature on it. “I want to play a little,” he says.
"Good food. Good prices. People will come." That was the recipe for success my Russian Grandfather formulated when he opened his world-famous Indianapolis delicatessen a century ago.
Biagio “Gino” Riccio must have channeled Grandpa. His jam-packed Quattro Pazzi restaurants in Stamford and Fairfield are testimony to what happens when you serve delicious fare at fair prices. People flock … making QP one of the most popular Italian restaurants in Connecticut. (In fact, over 5000 CTBites readers voted Quattro Pazzi as the best Italian in Fairfield Country.)
Popular cookbook author and baking expert Abby Dodge will be at Fairfield University Book Store to sign copies of her latest cookbook, Mini Treats & Hand-held Sweets. The event will be held on November 11 from 12 noon to 2 pm and will be at the Fairfield University Bookstore located at 1499 Post Road in Fairfield, CT. [Google Map]
You won't believe what's in our PANTRY! Located at 1580 Post Road in Fairfield, Ct, The Pantry is much more than a food shop - it is Mecca for foodies as well as a one-stop-shop for busy consumers. Established in 2003 through the collaborative effort of chefs & food lovers, The Pantry has blossomed into a bustling marketplace stocked with an array of products and services for today's savvy clientele. What have they got? Top quality butchered meats & seafood (delivered daily from various New York markets), award winning desserts and pastries (the bakery has received "Best Desserts in Fairfield County" from Fairfield Weekly for 9 consecutive years), restaurant quality prepared foods & catering services, a full deli and salad bar, groceries, produce and floral & customized gift baskets. Whether you are looking for a freshly tossed salad, pan seared salmon with citrus, basil & olive oil or a chocolate chip cookie - The Pantry is the place to shop. This Pantry is stocked!!
Years ago, around the time The Brady Bunch was infiltrating almost every T.V. set in America, it was unlikely that your mom would have picked up dinner in lieu of cooking a homemade meal. While it’s true that familiar words in your household at the time may have included Wendy’s, Burger King and Arby’s, you weren’t pulling up to the drive-in window to order healthy, gourmet food. At home it may have been a casserole or a roast while mom always remained neatly coifed, and eating meals at the table as a family were normal.
Fast - forward 40 years and life is a lot different. In our fast paced world today we often find ourselves in a pinch, pressed for enough time to prepare a well-balanced meal for our disappearing family dinners due to time constraints. Enter Cinch, Fairfield’s newest “Gourmet Food Market.” A market where you shop for high quality meals that you just heat and serve in your own home. “Eat your heart out Carol Brady, let me tell you a little bit about the life of a 21st century family on the go.”
On October 14th-20th, Fairfield will launch its first ever town organized Fairfield Restaurant Week.
The Fairfield restaurant community is coming together to create during the week of October 14 with a new twist on restaurant week – not only do they have fantastic restaurants with excellent specials for this week, but local venues are also participating with activities and things to do all in Fairfield.
Over thirty restaurants from around Fairfield CT will participate in this week-long special event that will feature prix fixe lunch and dinner menu prices. Restaurants will feature $10 and $15 lunches and $20 and $30 dinners or other discounts on their already existing menus.
Passport Promotion:
As a special promotion, the Town has created a passport book that will be available at participating restaurants during Restaurant Week while supplies last.
