Holbrook Farm Hosts Farm Dinner with Chefs from Stanziato's, Mezon, and Mecha on September 14 in Bethel CTbites Team August 18, 2014 Holbrook Farm in Bethel is hosting a farm dinner on Sunday, September 14 with Chef Matt Stanczak of Stanziato's Pizza, Chef Morgan Vondle of Mezon Tapas Bar and Chef Tony Pham of Pho Vietnam and Mecha Noodle Bar. Tickets are $110 per person. Proceeds from the dinner will benefit Circle Camps for Grieving Children, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides a free one-week summer camp for girls ages 9-16 who have experienced the death of a parent. To learn more about Circle's mission, please visit CircleCamps.org. From Holbrook: An evening of amazing food, wine & beer and good will at the 2014 Farm Dinner in the Field! Hosted at Holbrook Farm in Bethel, the evening will celebrate the harvest with a collaboration between top Connecticut Chefs... The evening begins at 4:30 pm with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres as guests mingle and tour the farm at their leisure. Dinner will be served family style with wine and local beer beginning at 5:30pm at candle-lit tables under a beautiful sailcloth tent. For more information and to purchase online, visit Holbrook Farm Dinner. Read More
Washington Prime Opens in Sono: Bustling Bar & Creative Food Restaurant American Norwalk SONO Steakhouse Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger August 17, 2014 Washington Prime recently opened at the entrance to the SONO “Ironworks” on the corner of Washington and North Water Streets and is already garnering positive feedback and enormous crowds each night. CTbites offered a sneak peek a couple of weeks ago and recently re-visited this high energy and bustling establishment on two separate occasions to sample the food. Self-described as an Eating + Drinking Well, Washington Prime reflects the collective vision of locals and co-owners Rob Moss and Marco Siguenza. Moss, a native of New Canaan, is no stranger to opening high energy restaurants in Fairfield County, overseeing many over the last ten years. Siguenza is the epitome of the American dream, starting as a busboy at Match Restaurant and now 16 years later one of the owners of Washington Prime, a neighboring restaurant. The kitchen is overseen by Executive Chef Jared Falco, classically trained at the French Culinary Institute. Before moving to Fairfield County, Chef Falco honed his culinary skills at Daniel and WD-50 in NYC. The trio are now working closely to present a vibrant bar scene with delicious interpretations of tradition cuisine. Read More
Weekly Nibble: Upcoming Food News & Events for Week of August 18-25th Emma Jane-Doody Stetson August 15, 2014 Stamford Summer Restaurant Week comes back from August 18 – September 1, 2014. The two week event includes over 30 Downtown Stamford restaurants and will feature an array of lunch & dinner prix fixe menus. This time around, each participating restaurant will create a Signature Summer Cocktail. New Canaan Taste Tours take place Tuesday and Wednesdays each week at 6:30 pm. Enjoy four of the top restaurants in New Canaan for $65 pp. Each Tour is limited to 12 attendees to insure both superior quality in food and service. Advance purchase required. The Ginger Man in Norwalk presents a summer happy hour Monday-Friday from 3-7 pm. Try oysters and clams for $1, flatbreads for $6, craft beers for $4, and more. Tuesday, August 19 Barcelona Greenwich encourages you to cook using “The Tomato Vine.” Chef Michael will teach you how to prepare recipes that hinge on the tomato. 7pm, $30 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations: 203.983.6400. Wednesday August 20, journey to Half Full Brewery in Stamford for “Rare Beer Night,” a monthly event. Try test batches of beer, partake in food pairings, and learn more about the process. The event is sit down, but casual. Limited to 40 people. Read More
Stamford Summer Restaurant Weeks Return: August 18 – September 1, 2014 Restaurant Week CTbites Team August 15, 2014 Yep...that's right. 2 glorious weeks of summer dining. This summer over 30 Downtown Stamford restaurants are serving up special lunch & dinner prix fixe menus in several different price options. The prices for lunch range from $10.14, $12.14 or $20.14 and dinner ranges from $15.14, $20.14 or $30.14. New this year: each participating restaurant will be mixing up its very own Signature Summer Cocktails to be featured during Restaurant Weeks. View the list of participating restaurants below: Read More
Cucumber Carpaccio Recipe via Barcelona Restaurant Ingredients Features Farmers Market Recipe CTbites Team August 14, 2014 Kokkeler hails from Austin, where he spent the last several years as executive chef as some of that city’s most well known restaurants including Uchi, Congress and the W Hotel in Austin. CUCUMBER CARPACCIO (serves five people) Read More
"Food Trucks In The Park" @ Veteran's Park in Stamford Food Truck Stamford CTbites Team August 13, 2014 Stamford has some good times cooking at Veteran's Park at 140 Atlantic Street. Celebrate summer with "Trucks in the Park's" rotating schedule of local food trucks and enjoy your lunch with live music from 11-2pm. Here's the complete schedule of trucks in the rotation 11:00am - 3:00pm Monday through Friday: Monday's: Bounty & Bodega Taco Bar Tuesday's: Bounty, The Poutine King, Valencia Luncheria Wednesday's: Melt Mobile, Firehouse Grill & Lobstercraft Thursday's: Have a Ball, Firehouse Grill, Valencia Luncheria Friday's: Melt Mobile, Bodega Taco Bar, Maddy's Food Truck Read More
22 Food Trucks To Try In Fairfield County, CT: A Mobile Roundup Food Truck Emma Doody and Jeff "Jfood" Schlesinger August 12, 2014 Food trucks are more than a trend… they’re a bona fide craze! They’re rolling into New Haven, Stamford, Norwalk, and many other Connecticut cities to give all the food-driven customers a chance to sample some of the best “street food” around. We compiled a guide to some of the best trucks that Fairfield County has to offer. Since these foodie favorites are mobile, their destinations can be uncertain. Be sure to visit their websites and social media pages to find out where they’ll be next. Bodega Taco Bar Food Truck Bounty Food Truck Buzz Truck The Cheese Truck Christophe's Crepes Cowabunga El Charrito Taco Truck Read More
Women's Tennis and CT Food Trucks Collide at New Haven's Connecticut Open Tennis Tournament Features Restaurant New Haven Amy Kundrat August 11, 2014 What does world class women's tennis have in common with some of Connecticut's most beloved food trucks? This year Valencia's arepas and Orangeside's square doughnuts happily collide with professional tennis at the Connecticut Open, the Women's Tennis Association tennis tournament held each August at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale in New Haven from August 15 - 23, 2015. Tennis fans can rejoice as some of Connecticut's most beloved food trucks will be represented within the revamped food court featuring local businesses including the Valencia Luncheria truck, Caseus's Cheese Truck, La Petite France, Tony’s Orangeside Donuts, Spuds Your Way, and The Lobster Shack. The tournament has also installed the new Baseline Tap House, a beer garden presented by Goose Island Beer Company, which will feature a selection of craft beers from Connecticut and beyond including Stoney Creek IPA & Amber Ale, Thomas Hooker Blonde, Spiked Seltzer, Bluepoint Bluberry, and Grey Sail Flagship Ale. Read More
Kawa Ni: An Exclusive First Look at Bill Taibe’s Izakaya-inspired Restaurant in Westport Restaurant Asian Chinese Cocktails Japanese Westport Comfort Food Amy Kundrat and Stephanie Webster August 10, 2014 CTbites was invited for an exclusive first look inside Chef Bill Taibe’s new restaurant, Kawa Ni, in Westport’s Bridge Square this week. Kawa Ni means “on the river,” an apt name for a restaurant in Saugatuck whose cuisine and service will take its cues from the informal Izakaya joints found in the Japanese cities of Kyoto and Osaka. Is it an american restaurant with japanese aspirations? Or is it a japanese restaurant with american inspirations? Both, says Taibe, who distills his love of post war japanese culture and a farm house style approach to japanese food within the walls of the intimate Kawa Ni. Equal parts food and drink, with a capital F-U-N atmosphere, the 40-seat Izakaya-inspired restaurant will get the party started by the end of the month. Read More
Scallop Crudo Recipe from Chef Arik Bensimon Features Chef Talk Seafood Recipe CTbites Team August 08, 2014 Chef Arik Bensimon of Le Farm wil be the guest chef at The Westport Farmers' Market on August 14th. Chef Arik will be be demo-ing and serving up his Scallop Crudo with Buttermilk, Yuzu, Beets, Cucumber & Peanuts. Scallop Crudo recipe can be found below. Chef Bensimon began his career at the age of 11 in his family’s restaurant in NYC. After culinary school he worked at renown restaurants such as Le Cirque, Picholine and La Panetiere. In 2009 Arik came to Connecticut as the executive chef of Napa & Co., then opened The Spread in Sono, and in 2013, he joined the team of LeFarm as Chef de Cuisine. Read More
Explore Local CT Farms on the 6th Annual Easton Farm Tour CT Farms Local Farm kids activity Kid Friendly CTbites Team August 08, 2014 Citizens For Easton (CFE) is pleased to announce the 6th annual Easton Farm Tour. This celebration of Easton, a local farming community within Fairfield County CT, is a self-guided tour of Easton farms couple with an old fashioned community fun day. Easton Farm Tour 2014 will be held August 16 from 10am to 3pm. This event begins at the Easton Firehouse Green, One Center Road, Easton, CT 06612. At this location, visitors will receive a copy of the road map, passes to events and incentives offered by farmers and community organizations at the different locations throughout day. During the homegrown event enjoy the many farming delights that Easton has to offer while you and your family learn where your food comes from. Enjoy food tastings, educational 18th and 19th century farm house living and cooking demonstrations, old-time fun and games, pony rides, hay ride, a petting zoo, greenhouse tours, fruits and vegetables from the farm and pick your own. Read More
Weekly Nibble: Upcoming Food News & Events, Aug 10-15th Emma Jane-Doody Stetson August 07, 2014 On Tuesday August 12, explore “The Tomato Vine” with Barcelona New Haven. Do you have an abundance of tomatoes from your garden? If you love tomatoes and want to expand your recipe repertoire then join Chef Frank while he demonstrates how to prepare a few delicious and easy recipes using tomato as the main ingredient. $25pp. Latin inspired Tierra in Westport is now open for brunch Saturday and Sundays 10:30 - 2:30. Call for reservations. 203.557.4850 Join Jones Family Vineyard for a French Country Picnic on Wednesday August 13 from 6:30-8:30. Start with a walk down to the vineyards to examine the different grape varieties we grow. Following the vineyard walk, enjoy our picnic meal at our Pine Barn. For more information, visit the event website: jonesfamilyfarms.com/events/winery. $65pp. Tour Long Island Wine Country with the Greenwich Wine Society on Thursday August 14, 2014 from 9:00 AM - 6:30 PM. The North Fork vineyard tour will go to three of the best wineries on Long Island: Paumanok, Pellegrini and Lenz. Read More
116 Crown 7th Anniversary Party Features Restaurant Cocktails New Haven Amy Kundrat August 06, 2014 116 Crown in New Haven will celebrate its 7th anniversay on August 16 with a garden party, dinner, and (naturally) some of the best cocktails in Connecticut. Admission will be $60 per person. Reservations are recommended as space will be limited, call 203.777.3116 or email 116Crown@gmail.com. From 116 Crown: On August 16, we're going to celebrate our 7th Summer years, with our third annual anniversary party. The night prior we're firing-up the slow cookers, and at 6pm on Saturday we're going to mix-up the punchbowls and light fires and we ask that you join us to celebrate the last 7 years and look forward to the future. Admission to the garden will be $60 and we will keep the drinks flowing and the food cooking until 10 pm and you're welcome to all you can enjoy. Think of it as a family reunion without the awkwardness and embarrassing photo albums. The Menu Read More
LobsterCraft Opens in Darien - A First Day Look Restaurant Darien Lobster Rowayton Seafood Comfort Food Lunch Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger August 05, 2014 LobsterCraft opened its first storefront location today at the entrance to Rowayton on Tokeneke Road, serving the same menu that many of our readers enjoy from its trucks. Read More
Celebrate National Oyster Day! Talking Mollusks w/ Chef Lazlo of The Whelk Ingredients Restaurant Chef Talk Seafood ellen bowen August 05, 2014 FACT: The President of the United States, the Senate, and some state legislatures, governors and mayors have the authority to declare a commemorative event or day by proclamation. Petitions are introduced by constituents or trade associations to honor industries, events, professions, hobbies...AND FOOD! After the observance day is authorized, it is the petitioner's responsibility to promote to the public. CTbites was not the petitioner, but is excited to promote National Oyster Day on Tuesday, August 5th...a day eagerly awaited by mollusk lovers throughout CT. Today, iced cold oysters are the perfect summer food...high in protein and low in calories. There are over 150 varieties of oysters, but only five species, each traditionally named after the body of water or bay where they are grown. Varieties are known by a myriad of names such as Wellfleets, Blue Points, Kumamoto and Kuushi. The flavor varies by the conditions or Terroir they are grown in; rocky soil, tidal or brackish water, etc. with the Northeast areas of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine providing some of the most delicious and accessible oysters. CTbites sat with Chef Geoff Lazlo of The Whelk on a sunny summer afternoon to sample some of these delicious delicacies while receiving an education about choosing and enjoying oysters. Lesson #1: tasting oysters is akin to sampling wine. Connoisseurs discuss the salinity and complexity of each oyster, the finish, the hints of melon or cucumber, and of course the juice, aptly named the “liquor.” Read More
Taqueria Las Salsa Truck: Simple Tacos in Norwalk Restaurant Norwalk Tacos Mexican Lunch Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger August 03, 2014 What’s that brightly colored truck parked at the Auto-Zone in Norwalk serving? As you drive west/south on Route 1 in Norwalk and approach the Avalon apartments on the corner of Belden Ave, take a look to the right into the parking lot of the Auto-Zone. Several days a week, the site will include a colorfully decorated food truck with “Taqueria” emblazoned over the front windshield and a collage of articles, food photos and menus…all to tempt hungry customers into ordering one of numerous tacos, burritos and plates of Mexican inspired cuisine. That truck is Taqueria Las Salsa. Read More
Barcelona Fairfield Welcomes New Executive Chef Ian Kokkeler Restaurant Chef Talk Amy Kundrat and Stephanie Webster August 03, 2014 Barcelona in Fairfield has welcomed new executive chef Ian Kokkeler, with previous chef Helton DaSilva relocating south to man the restaurant groups second busiest restaurant in Atlanta. Kokkeler hails from Austin, where he spent the last several years as executive chef as some of that city’s most well known restaurants including Uchi, Congress and the W Hotel in Austin He spent 7 years at Uchi, a Japanese restaurant, where plating and precision called upon his talents as an artist. "I am artistic, and here at Barcelona we are rustic. I hope to blend these two with my plating style. As an artist, I like to paint and sculpt, and that translates well to cooking," said Kokkeler during our visit to Barcelona during his first full week on the job. Read More
Friday Froth: Madness In Every Direction CT Beer Beer Friday Froth James Gribbon August 01, 2014 I enjoy large scale beer events, music festivals, and Halloween for most of the same reasons. They include many of my favorite things in the same place, and all offer an equal possibility of seeing a bear in a hockey sweater dancing with Deadpool. A certain degree of madness (encouraged, tolerated or otherwise) is the ichor which circulates and gives these events life. Sound becomes emotion, quirks become costumes - the variegated states of being human, all our inner worlds, come crashing together and go supernova. Yes, I like that. So I tend to seek out the far out. Danes seem to have a bit of a knack for madness, whether in front of the camera like Mads Mikkelen, behind it like Lars von Trier, or creating the liquor of its inspiration, like Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø of Evil Twin. The brand staggers its production around the world, even brewing some of its beers in Connecticut, but it all comes back to Jeppe, the Danish Willy Wonka: creations like Femme Fatale, an IPA brewed with Yuzu fruit and enough brettanomyces yeast to make the hop aroma fight it out with the smell of wet horse. Read More
Weekly Nibble: Upcoming Food News & Events Emma Jane-Doody Stetson August 01, 2014 On Monday August 4, Eli Cannons of Middletown will hold its 5th annual beer fest to benefit the Middlesex YMCA and YMCA Camp Ingersoll. Food will be provided by 4 great local food trucks. Lucky Taco, The Whey Station, Fryborg, and of course NoRA Cupcake Company. 5-9pm, rain or shine. $20pp. The Ginger Man in South Norwalk will be hosting their 2nd Annual Home Brew Competition on Tuesday, August 5. Judging starts at 3pm, the party starts at 5pm! Tuesday August 5, celebrate the winners of Moffly Media’s Best of Greenwich awards. Winners will be feted at the Delamar Greenwich Harbor. L’escale Restaurant will help host the event. Starting at $55. 7pm. The Darien Farmers Market runs on Wednesdays from 11-3. Sugar & Olives hosts a “Summer Soup Focus Group” on Wednesday, August 6th from 7-9pm. Whip up four delectable treats: Heirloom tomato gaspacho, a summer pistou, corn chowder, and a pea soup. Starting at $80. Every Wednesday, they also host “Wednesday Weekday Nooners” from 12pm-2pm Watch a three recipe demo and enjoy a three-course lunch (cocktails too). Starting at $40. Read More
Burger Alert: The Spread "Cheeseburger"- Best Bar Burger in FFD CTY? Restaurant Chef Talk Norwalk Comfort Food Burgers Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger July 31, 2014 Executive Chef Carlos Baez assumed the helm of The Spread in SONO a year ago and the menu now completely reflects his vision of flavor and textural combinations. After a movie we decided to enjoy some of his light bites, and when they asked if I would like to try his new burger combination, I quickly agreed. Chef Baez's "CHEESEBURGER" starts his fantastic combination with a large patty of grass-fed Kobe beef. He melts a few slices of a mild white Cheddar cheese over the patty and then tops the cheese-covered patty with house-made pickled jalapeño peppers, a few slices of crispy bacon, a little shreaded lettuce, a swath of spicy mayo, all encased in a sesame seed bun. The meat was loosely compressed to maintain its medium grind, and the cheese was a delightfully smooth addition. These two ingredients, alone, would have created a fantastic cheeseburger, but Chef Baez elevated the flavors and achieved a perfect balance of salty-spicy-sour with the pickled jalapeño peppers complemented by the bacon. The addition of the spicy mayo was a great finish. The bun was mild in flavor and did not fight with any of the other flavors. This was one great burger. Read More
