New Canaan "Taste Tours" Dining Experience Start July 15th CTbites Team July 02, 2014 Join the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce as it partners with Taste Tours and CTbites to offer special culinary evenings at four of New Canaan’s favorite restaurants. These special evenings begin on Tuesday July 15th and continue for four weeks offering special menus each Tuesday and Wednesday with either a 6:30 or 7:30 start time. The first in the series of New Canaan Taste Tours will begin with three of Elm Street’s favorite restaurants; elm, Picador, and Chef Luis before finishing the evening at South End. Your special evening begins at elm Restaurant at either 6:30 or 7:30 and enjoy the creative cuisine of Chef Brian Lewis as he dazzles the guests with several selections that are “inspired by the seasons.” Stroll to Picador where Chef Corey Falcone serves Iberian-inspired appetizers before taking a leisurely walk to Chef Luis, where the ebullient Chef Luis Lopez tantalizes your palate with his Latin interpretation of traditional southern cuisine. The evening continues with a short walk to South End where Chef Nick Martschenko creates a delectable dessert plus house-made ice cream to enjoy with after-dinner drinks and coffee. Read More
Weekly Nibble: Upcoming Food News & Events Emma Jane-Doody Stetson July 02, 2014 Love chocolate? How about wine? If so, Sunset Meadow Vineyards has a treat for you! On Monday July 7, they’ll pair 5 of their estate wines with 5 delectable chocolates. 11am-5pm. Details here Sugar and Olives of Norwalk will teach you how to make “hors d’oeuvres in a pinch” on Wednesday July 9. From flatbread to quinoa galettes to beef sliders, you’ll learn how to make platters perfect for entertaining. Wine & Dine Wednesdays continue at Darien Social. Enjoy your Choice of Porterhouse, NY Strip or Filet… and 1/2 OFF on Select Bottles of Wine! The Darien Farmers Market continues from 11-4 on Wednesdays. Thursday July 10, Chef Brian Lewis brings the tables of elm to Millstone Farm. Millstone’s beautiful landscape will set the stage for a 4-course feast of seasonally-driven cuisine on Thursday nights throughout the summer. Each event will begin at 6 p.m. with small bites, lawn games, live music and farm tours for the entire family. Tickets are $35 per child and $135 per adult, BYOB, tax and gratuity included. Limited family-style seating. For more information, please visit the event page at www.elmrestaurant.com. Read More
My Signature Dish: Chef Tony Pham of Mecha Noodle Bar, Fairfield Talks Ramen Restaurant Asian Fairfield Japanese Kid Friendly Lou Gorfain July 01, 2014 MY SLURPY SIGNATURE DISH Ramen Shops in Japan are as plentiful as hamburger joints over here. Every street boasts a shop. Yet none are exactly alike, mainly because each is distinguished by the owner’s unique signature dish, his personal autograph. In that tradition, Tony Pham has created his own signature dish for Mecha Noodle Bar: a unique interpretation of traditional Miso Ramen. Here’s the story behind it. Tony likes to play with contrasts. And not just the culinary kind. Case in point. Before trying his signature dish, Miso Ramen, take a look overhead at his futuristic Mecha Noodle Bar. Dangling from the ceiling, an arsenal of over three hundred vertical 2x4’s seem to be aimed directly at every table in the room. Alien, threatening. By design. Now try Pham’s dramatic interpretation of a classical Ramen. No, don’t taste it, slurp it. Breath in its steamy aromatic bouquet. Savor the deep, contrasting flavors: mushrooms and miso redolent of the earth, noodles that invoke wheat fields, a succulent pork belly that also warms and welcomes, counterpointed by the lively spice and heat of scallion and chili oil. It’s Japanese comfort food,a perfect contrast after a playful scare. Read More
Local CT Resident, Emma Frisch is Next "Food Network Star!" Jessica Ryan July 01, 2014 Is there any coincidence that one of this season’s “Food Network Star” contestants grew up in a state known as the Nutmeg State? Emma Frisch is a 1st generation American who grew up in Wilton to an Italian mother and a British father. I had the privilege of talking with this bubbly, energetic and talented contestant last week. Her non-traditional, non-American upbringing would influence Emma both in and out of the kitchen. Her mother cooked everything from scratch and embraced home-grown when few in this country did. There were no processed or ‘kid-friendly’ foods in Emma’s childhood home, instead, esoteric items like tripe and sardine sandwiches were commonplace. Emma’s love of food and cooking was passed down from her mother who focused on making food the centerpiece of the home. Emma explains “There was once a great farming culture in Wilton as evidenced by all the stone walls. My mom had a way of finding the local gardeners and farm stands, and I was so embarrassed because other people’s parents didn’t do this!” Read More
Romanacci Cafe in Norwalk: A Slice of Roma with a Casual Flair Restaurant Italian Norwalk Pizza Lunch Kid Friendly Dessert ellen bowen June 29, 2014 It is a unique place that can transform itself from a casual, family friendly lunch and dinner spot to a young and hip late night stop after a dinner of popcorn at the movies. Romanacci Cafe (which translates as “From Rome”) on the Norwalk-Westport border is such a place, offering Artisan pizzas, salads, Focaccia paninis, crepes and freshly made Italian pastries. Tucked into a strip center on the Post Road, Romanacci is the handiwork of two brothers, Graziano and Maurizio Ricci. Both hail from Rome, where they attended culinary school and worked alongside their parents as well as in other family-run restaurants. Graziano migrated to the US almost 18 years ago and eventually oversaw the kitchen in New Haven’s Hot Tomatoes. He subsequently convinced his younger brother, Maurizio, to join him as its maître d’, and they finally chased their dream of owning a restaurant. When the owner of Norwalk’s Osteria Romana decided to sell his business, the brothers decided to purchase the restaurant with the intention of bringing a younger attitude and clientele to complement Graziano’s fresh pastas, breads, and sauces. Osteria Romana continues to thrive with a loyal and regular crowd, outdoor seating and a cozy bar area. Read More
Chef Elizabeth Falkner Dazzles Napa's Guests with Grilled Pizza Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger June 28, 2014
Valencia Luncheria's Carlo Arepa Recipe c/o Fairfield County Chef's Table Features Norwalk Venezuelan Amy Kundrat and Stephanie Webster June 27, 2014 If you thought arepa's were our of your reach in your own kitchen, think again. This week we are bringing you a recipe from one of the our reader favorite spots—Valencia Luncheria in Norwalk, featured in Fairfield County Chef's Table—featuring one of their most popular dishes, the Carlo Arepa. Valencia Luncheria164 Main Street, Norwalk, CT 06851 | (203) 846-8009 | valencialuncheria.com Carlo Arepa (serves 4) For the chicken filling: 1 (31/2-pound) whole chicken 1 large white onion, julienned 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1 poblano pepper, julienned Read More
Weekly Nibble: Upcoming Food News & Events Emma Jane-Doody Stetson June 27, 2014 Cask Republic presents a 5-course New England Brewing Company Beer Dinner on Monday June 30! Dishes like oysters 2 ways, grilled black bass, and peking quail will be paired with delicious brews… including the famous Gandhi-Bot! Tickets are $75/person (tax and gratuity included) and it starts at 7:00PM. More details and the menu here. Dessert lovers take note: Sugar and Olives of Norwalk will offer “Sweet and Lovely: A Crash Course in Dessert” on Wednesday July 2. They’ll teach you everything you’ve always wanted to know about chocolate, butter and heavy cream. Make three fabulous desserts—warm and gooey chocolate cake, sweet honey panna cotta, and a gâteau de crêpes. $80pp, 7-9pm. The World Cup has arrived at City Limits, which has locations in White Plains and Stamford. Guests can enjoy a special globally inspired menu of small bites in the bar and lounge area from 4 p.m. to close every day until Sunday, July 13, 2014. The Darien Farmers Market takes place every Wednesday from 11-3. FJord Fish Market in New Canaan has put together a special "Waveny Summer Concert Picnic Dinner" available every Wednesday this summer through Aug. 27th. Read More
CTbites Launches New Website to Focus on the Miami Food Scene Stephanie Webster June 26, 2014 CTbites is very pleased to announce the expansion of its food community to Miami with the launch of MIAbites.com. The new site will be under the direction of managing director and editor, Ellen Bowen, who as a partner in CTbites launched the successful CTbites Invites program, offering “curated culinary experiences” exclusively to CTbites readers and subscribers. MIAbites will follow the CTbites lead and share the best culinary experiences through restaurant profiles, chef Q & A’s, and unique culinary events paired with topnotch writing and photography. “MIAbites will offer a local community voice to the fast growing Miami food scene,” said Ms. Bowen. “We hope to provide interesting chef profiles, reviews, news, and interviews with respect for the industry and with a balanced point of view and look forward to building it into the go-to resource for all things food in Miami,” she added. Read More
Espresso Neat to Open 2nd Location in Westport: Coffee by Day, Craft Cocktails by Night Restaurant Cocktails Coffee Westport Bar Breakfast CTbites Team June 25, 2014 Coffee and cocktail drinkers unite at the latest hotspot in Westport, C.T. From the owner of Espresso NEAT in Darien comes NEAT, the collaborative concept experience where coffee enthusiasts can enjoy Connecticut’s finest during the day and cocktail drinkers can wind down at night. NEAT will be located at 6 Wilton Road in Westport as part of the National Hall re-development. The bar is expected to be open in early August from 7:00 a.m. -12:00 a.m. Customers will receive the exceptional, distinctive coffees and popular offerings that they have come to expect from Espresso NEAT by day, as well as innovative breakfast and lunch offerings prepared in-house. By night, patrons will be able to enjoy well-tailored cocktails. Both coffee and cocktails will be crafted in the constant pursuit of excellence with regard to ingredients and skillful preparation. The NEAT bar will have an innovative spirits program including artisanal beer featuring seasonal craft beers and carefully selected wines that allow patrons to “take a trip around the world” in order to expand their palate. A selection of simple and locally cultivated house crafted bar snacks will also be available with new takes on traditional bar food. There will be live music from local artists with a strong focus on Jazz, Bluegrass and Folk. Read More
Azuca and Gastro Bar Open Tonight in Stamford Restaurant Stamford Bar CTbites Team June 25, 2014 The Grand Opening and celebration of the two newest additions to downtown Stamford occurs tonight as Azuca and Gastro Bar open their doors to the public at 5:30 pm with a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony Mayor David Martin. The brainchildren of Mario Lopez, a co-owner of Wilton's Bianco Rosso, his wife Cristina Ramirez and several brothers, the side-by-side restaurants, Azuca and Gastro Bar are located at 78 West Park Place. The celebration begins at 5:30 pm; reservations for the Grand Opening are not necessary and admission is free. The four Lopez brothers relocated to Connecticut from Ecuador two decades ago and worked their way up the ranks in the restaurant trade, most recently managing the sleek, Italian-style Bianco Rosso, which opened in 2012 and received a "Very Good" rating from the New York Times. Read More
Chef Brian Lewis Brings elm restaurant to Millstone Farm Restaurant Farm Dinner Farm to Table Local Farm CTbites Team June 25, 2014 This summer, Chef Brian Lewis brings the tables of elm restaurant to Millstone Farm to share the flavors of the season with a new series of farm dinners under the stars. Millstone’s beautiful landscape will set the stage for a 4-course feast of seasonally-driven cuisine. Each event will begin at 6 p.m. with small bites, lawn games, live music and farm tours for the entire family. See dates below: Tickets are $35 per child and $135 per adult, BYOB, tax and gratuity included. Limited family-style seating. Reserve at info@elmrestaurant.com or call 203.920.4994. Reservations will be accepted one month prior to each event. For more information, please visit the event page at www.elmrestaurant.com. Read More
Old School Pizzeria in Fairfield c/o The Lunch Break Chronicles Restaurant Fairfield Pizza CTbites Team June 25, 2014 Photo: Keith Whamond Hearst Newspaper's Lunch Break Chronicles is where we often go to find hidden gems in Fairfield County. Brett Mickelson recently visited the latest pizza parlor with a familiar chef—Derek Furino, formerly of Behind the Net in Darien and John Dough's Pizza Bar in Norwalk has moved on to become a partner in Old School Pizzeria in Fairfield. Here's the report from Brett: Read More
And The Winner of the Match Cocktail Naming Contest Is.... CTbites Team June 24, 2014 Chef Matt Storch and Mixologist, Adam Patrick, have made a decision regarding the summer cocktail that over 150 CTbites readers attempted to name. There were some solid choices out there from people all over CT, but we are pleased to announce that... The winner of the Match Cocktail Naming Contest is Frank Doherty with his winning name "Da Plane, Da Plane." Get the reference? A huge thank you to all those who participated, and we will be back soon with another Cocktail Naming Contest later this summer. Read More
Ridgefield High School Student Christopher DiFabio Spins Pizza Pies for a Cause Kids Bites Restaurant CTbites Team June 24, 2014 Ridgefield High School Junior Christopher DiFabio will take over the pizza kitchen at ReNapoli in Old Greenwich on June 28 at 3 pm for an hour-long pizza-making competition to raise money for the charity Full Courts Peace. DiFabio will will race the clock, making as many pizzas as possible within the hour. He is asking for sponsors to pledge a dollar for each pizza produced. If the name sounds familiar, it should. Christopher is the son of six-time world pizza champion Bruno DiFabio, owner of 10 pizzerias around the country including ReNapoli and Pinocchio pizzerias in Wilton and New Canaan. Proceeds from the fundraiser will support the building of a basketball court in Havana, which he plans to visit in the fall. He is asking for sponsors to pledge a dollar for each pizza produced. Connecticut residents interested in supporting the cause can contact christopherdifabio@aol.com or Bruno@pizzascience.com, or drop by ReNapoli to submit a pledge. All pledgers are invited to attend a pizza party reception at 7pm, where Christopher and Bruno DiFabio’s award-winning pizzas will be served. Read More
Rooftop Fireworks Party hosted by The Spread SoNo July 3rd CTbites Team June 23, 2014 Avoid the traffic and the crowds and help celebrate Independence Day on THURSDAY JULY 3rd* from 6:30-10 pm on the rooftop in SoNo hosted by the boys of The Spread. For $65 pp, you get FREE parking, passed appetizers, full dinner, sangria, Thimble Island Beer and American Harvest Vodka drinks, and admission to the best fireworks in CT, viewed from the roof of the N Water St Parking structure across from Maritime Aquarium! View the complete menu below:Supported by the The Norwalk Parking Authority, and presented by Spread Out Catering, The Spread Executive Chef Carlos Baez will create a special menu just for this event, and there will even be an after party just down the street at The Spread with live music.Grab some friends and party till you are red, white and blue in the face! There is even discounted pricing available for groups of 6 or of 10. Group of 6 gets over 10% off, and groups of 10 over 15% off! Read More
Connecticut's Best Dairy Farm Ice Cream: 2014 Edition Ingredients Restaurant Road Trip ice cream Best of CT Kid Friendly Dessert Lou Gorfain June 22, 2014 With summer finally here, we have updated and expanded our annual roundup of the best dairy farm ice cream in Connecticut. You can’t get closer to farm fresh ice cream than tasting it at farm. Not only do you see the cows, you whiff them, and that aroma is part of the authenticity of the experience, if not the charm. Sure, these farms aren’t close by. But WTD. They’re “Worth The Drive” And worth the lick: usually the freshest, creamiest, and most flavorful retail ice cream available in Connecticut. While Chocolate and Vanilla remain cash cows, dairy farms also offer a greater array of flavors than you’ll find at parlors or in the supermarket freezer case. In fact, farmers have begun to rival restaurant chefs for sheer inventiveness and culinary dairying-doo. So, for your and your family’s guilty or innocent pleasures, we submit our favorite cow-to-cone ice creams … Read More
Secrets of a Supermarket: The Science of Selling Ingredients Features Specialty Market Lou Gorfain June 20, 2014 There exists an arcane branch of psychology dubbed “Supermarket Science." To uncover the secrets of how and why we buy our groceries, researchers treat a supermarket floor as a behavioral lab. They track such factors as our route through the store, our eyeball movement in the aisles, even our conversation at the checkout counter. As a result, nothing in a supermarket is there by happenstance. So how much does a supermarket play the customer? Encourage you to buy more? To find out, we asked Robert Reinisch the manger of Stamford's Fairway market to candidly talk about his store’s selling strategies. We chose Fairway not only to take advantage of Reinisch's openness and passion to do well by his customers, but also because it’s a food-centric supermarket. No banks, no pharmacy, no kitchenware, not even a loyalty card (another window on your personal buying habits.) We asked Robert about the first axiom of Supermarket Science: “The more time spent in the store, the more money spent in a store.” "Absolutely we want the customer to spend as much time as possible here," Reinisch allowed. "Our average shopping trip lasts about an hour." Wow, that's 50% longer than the national average of 40 minutes. What’s Fairway’s secret? Appealing to a customer’s basic emotions. Read More
The Weekly Nibble: Upcoming Food News & Events Emma Jane-Doody Stetson June 19, 2014 Walrus & Carpenter in Bridgeport is celebrating 1 year with a Pig Roast on June 26th. No reservations. Just swing by. Olio of Stamford debuted an all new dinner menu. They serve dinner Tuesday - Thursday from 5:30-10:00 and Friday - Saturday til 11pm. They are also now open for lunch Wednesday-Saturday. Monday June 23, Craft 260 of Fairfield presents its third beer dinner with New England Brewing Co. Tickets are available for sale for $85. Tax and gratuity are included. Harry's of Fairfield presents “Lesser Known Grapes - Great Flavors” on Wednesday June 25 from 7-9pm. Doug Rankin, owner of Missing Link Wine Company, will introduce you to a number of new and unique grapes and wine flavors. $35 one session. Visit the Darien Farmers Market on Wednesdays from 11-4pm. This summer, enjoy happy hours at Thali in New Haven on Wednesdays from 5-7 pm. Read More
