Culinary Getaways at Saybrook Point Inn & Spa

Restaurant Cooking Classes Old Saybrook

Amy Kundrat January 09, 2015

Who wouldn't love a culinary-themed weekend getaway that is about an hour away (maybe two for those of you up in Litchfield County)?! The Saybrook Point Inn & Spa is kicking off a series of weekend getaways focusing on different cuisines from around the world centered on the Inn's restaurant, Fresh Salt, and led by its Executive Chef Leslie Tripp. Kicking off this series of three events is Italian Winter Holiday from January 30 to February 1, followed by a Taste of New England on February 20 - 22 and a Tour de France on March 6 - March 8.

Weekly Nibble: Iron Bartender, New Haven Food Tour, Live Music & More

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson January 09, 2015

Cask Republic Stamford has announced an Iron Bartender Competition! It all goes down Monday January 12. Watch some of CT’s best bartenders compete while enjoying drink specials and limited craft brews.

For a limited time, enjoy half-priced bottles of wine at Molto in Fairfield on Monday nights.

Half Full of Stamford has launched their “Inspirational Series.” Try the brews at Cost Less Wines & Liquors in Stamford on Wednesday January 14.

Taste of New Haven Tours start this week. The initial event is the “New Haven Symphony Tour” which takes you from popular restaurants to a concert. Visit The Wine Thief for a wine tasting before heading to Kelly's, Oaxaca, and The Mochi Store. The tour ends at Woolsey Hall in time for the show. Complimentary symphony tickets are provided for guests who do not have them. It takes place on January 15. 18 people can participate at a cost of $45 per person.

Finally! Valet parking @ Kawa Ni in Westport on Friday and Saturday nights.

Bar Sugo's “Serie Vino” Italian Wine Class & Food Pairing Series

Restaurant Wine Dinners

CTbites Team January 08, 2015

Journey through Italy with Bar Sugo's “Serie Vino” Italian Wine Class & Food Pairing Series. Discover the Different Regions of Italy with One Sip & One Bite at a Time

Spring break may still be months away, but you can jet set through Italy in the best way imaginable with a glass (or several) of wine, expertly prepped small plates and the rustic, warm environment of Bar Sugo as they present their “Serie Vino” wine and food tasting classes.

Each one hour class in the series (there are five in total) will focus on a particular Italian region, history behind the wines and the food that best accompanies them prepared by Chef Pat Pascarella.

Some Mighty Tasty Wings @ Archie Moore's in Fairfield

Restaurant Fairfield Pub Bar Comfort Food

Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger January 08, 2015

As my search for great burgers in CT continues, I always appreciate the opportunity to combine this pursuit with other culinary options. When I found myself in Fairfield, I decided to stop into Archie Moore’s Bar and Restaurant and sample its Bar Burger and while I was there, why not begin the meal with an order of wings, which are consistently voted some of the best in the state.

Victoria's Wood Fired Pizza Opens in Bethel via Newstimes.com

Restaurant Bethel Pizza

CTbites Team January 07, 2015

This just in from our friends at newstimes.com.

Several years ago Danbury resident Bruce Lyon decided to leave his career in commercial real estate to start his own mobile catering service that specialized in authentic Neapolitan pizza.

And after one of his most successful years in the business, Lyon has decided to move part of the operation -- Victoria's Wood Fired Pizza -- into brick and mortar, leasing a storefront on P.T. Barnum Square in Bethel that had been home to several different businesses over the past few years.

We've more than doubled our business in the past year alone," Lyon said. "And we've had a huge increase this year in weddings. The rustic, style wedding is really becoming popular, and it works perfectly with our business model."

Read the full article on newstimes.com

Win 2 Tickets to Big Brew New York Beer Festival + 10% Off For CTbites

James Gribbon January 07, 2015

Win Two Tickets to Big Brew New York Beer Festival, Or Get $10 Off Tickets With CTBites!

To earn a chance to Win: Like us on FACEBOOK and POST A COMMENT BELOW ON WHY YOU SHOULD WIN!

The Big Brew New York beer festival will return to the Westchester County Center in White Plains on February 7th over 250 craft beers in one gigantic session, and we've got an inside line on your tickets.

CTBites readers can also save $10 on tickets by going to the BigBrewNY ticket page and entering promo code CTBITES. General admission tickets are $60 for unlimited beers, while VIP tickets will be $85 and add food provided by Mambo 64 of Tuckahoe, an extra hour of tasting starting at 4p.m. and access to an exclusive all-cask ale tasting area. All ticket prices will rise after January 23rd.

Bowls of Love Cookbook by Stamford Resident, Ali Rakowski: Paleo & Gluten Free

Cookbooks Special Dietary Needs healthy

CTbites Team January 07, 2015

One of the first Paleo soup cookbooks to hit the stands, Bowls of Love by Ali Rakowski is a seasonal soup cookbook with dozens of fresh, healthy recipes that are 100% Paleo, gluten-free and dairy-free.

Bowls of Love takes the concept of holistic health from the stove to your bowl, combining vegetables, locally sourced meat and homemade stock to create a plethora of soups that are both healthy and delicious. Based on the Paleo Diet, the recipes in this cookbook consist of lean meats, fruits, vegetables, healthy oils, nuts and seeds.

Unlike other Paleo cookbooks on the market, Bowls of Love has one main distinction – it focuses on the fact that every food we eat has a story. Each meal has a memory attached to it, and every plate and bowl holds those stories.

Cookbook Author Terry Walters at Stamford's Deane Inc on January 15

Restaurant Cookbooks Events Stamford

CTbites Team January 06, 2015

Deane Inc. & Elm Street Books are hosting an evening with bestselling cookbook author Terry Walters at the Stamford location of DEANE Inc. on January 15th, 2014 at 6pm. Terry Walters will be discussing and preparing recipes from her new book and copies will be available for purchase and signing.

Deane Inc is located at 1267 East Main Street in Stamford, CT. For more information or to RSVP, email staff@imagesanddetails.com or call 203.966.8203.

18 Places to Eat Healthy in 2015: Juice Bars, Restaurants, Organic Markets, Food Trucks & More!

Restaurant Juice Bar Juice Cleanse Organic Vegetarian healthy Vegan

April Guilbault January 04, 2015

After six weeks of overdoing the bubbly and those cheesy hors d’oeuvres (sooo good), ‘tis time to turn that calendar page and welcome all things cleaner and leaner. 2015 is here, with new delights to entice us and healthy flavors and dishes to keep our immune systems fueled, our skin glowing, and our bellies from bulging. This year, as you treat your body well, will cauliflower be the new kale? Will that little green nut, the pistachio, reign supreme with its antioxidants, vitamins and protein? There are so many ways to treat our bodies well and, luckily, we have found a great offering of area resources that will satisfy our tastebuds and help keep our bodies healthy. Happy New Year!

Here are 18 Places to Eat Healthy in Connecticut for 2015: Juice Bars, Restaurants, Organic Markets, Food Trucks & More!

Lunch @ The New Harvest Wine Bar in New Haven

Restaurant American Wine Bar New Haven Lunch

Amy Kundrat January 04, 2015

The New Haven outpost of Harvest Wine Bar is the fifth restaurant for siblings Kleber, Nube, and Vincente Siguenza, the the trio behind Cava in New Canaan, 55 Degrees in Fairfield, Scena in Darien, and sister restaurant Harvest Wine Bar in Greenwich. CTbites reviewed the Greenwich location almost a year ago, and many of the same culinary observations apply to this newly opened New Haven outpost on Chapel Street. I stopped in recently to experience the restaurant’s $19 two-course prix fixe lunch, perhaps one of the best downtown lunch options among New Haven’s fine dining restaurants.

Weekly Nibble: Vegetarian Wednesdays, Healthy Cooking Classes, Whole Foods Events & More

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson January 04, 2015

Good news. Walrus & Carpenter in Bridgeport is now open 7 days a week! Enjoy their infamous fried chicken, smoked meat and burgers, 365 days a year.

Vegetarian Wednesdays are back at The Schoolhouse at Cannondale January 7th - March. Check out the first menu here.

This year’s edition of WestportREADS centers on Dubliners by James Joyce. CTBites will hold a dinner series in conjunction with the event. “Dine Around Town: Dublin” kicks off with Terrain on Tuesday January 6 at 7pm.

Sugar & Olives “Vegetarian or Bust” cooking class Wednesday January 7th, 7-9pm. They’ll teach you how to make hearty vegetarian meals like quinoa paella and farro and risotto. $80 per person.

Friday January 9, Half Full Brewery in Stamford invites you to one of their famous open houses! For just $15, enjoy open taps while playing corn hole and life-sized Jenga. Feel free to bring your own food!

"Veggie Wednesdays" Are Back @ The Schoolhouse at Cannondale in Wilton

Restaurant Vegetarian Wilton

CTbites Team January 02, 2015

After the holidays it's time to get off to a great start in 2015 at the Schoolhouse at Cannondale Restaurant in Wilton, CT. Based on customer requests, they will again be offering Vegetarian Wednesdays. These meatless dinners will be offered each Wednesday begining JANUARY 7 and extend through MARCH! The 4 course prix fixed menu will be provided at a very reasonable price of $40. excluding tax & gratuity.

Menu for January 7th can be seen below....

Top 10 Wines of 2014 from Barcelona Wine & Spirits Director, Gretchen Thomas

This Week In Wine Wine Chat

Gretchen Thomas December 31, 2014

It’s been an intense year of traveling (I visited Spain five times!), tasting, and learning. And with our various locations in other Eastern US cities, I’ve been given the chance to taste limited wines that are exclusively available in their respective states, which, if anything, has reminded me that understanding wine is a giant task for those who don’t work in this field. After spending so many years devoted to tasting and learning about wines, I can still be surprised, impressed, and sometimes completely blown away. There are always new (to me) grapes varieties, regions, farming and vinifying techniques, and I’m sure next year won’t disappoint me with a chance to discover something else unknown and worth it. Since I am closing up my 2014 tasting journals and looking forward to a new year of “explore-a-tasting,” I am sharing the 10 most striking wines I tasted for the first time in 2014.

Connecticut Magazine's "Experts' Picks" & Readers' Choice Dining Awards

Restaurant Awards Best of CT

CTbites Team December 27, 2014

Get ready to bite into the restaurants judged the best of the best in Connecticut by the "experts" from Connecticut Magazine, who range from veteran restaurant critics and food writers to contemporary bloggers who track the trends—and hottest, newest places—along with cookbook authors and even a former restaurant owner. And to make sure the state's hottest food destination (Fairfield County, of course) was well represented, our friends at Connecticut Magazine reached out to CTbites for key input.

Altogether, with some food savvy Connecticut Magazine editors sprinkled in, it's a group for which dining is a passion—and dining at the best places is an art that takes constantly having a collective finger on the pulse of the Connecticut dining scene.

Taken together, Connecticut Magazine's Readers' Choice Dining Awards and its Experts' Picks feature make for a beautiful January magazine, as they also provide a comprehensive view of the state's tastiest places to eat well.

Click, enjoy and let us know if Connecticut Magazine got it right:

CTbites Staff & Chef Picks for TOP EATS OF 2014

Restaurant Bridgeport Danbury Fairfield Food Truck Norwalk Stamford Washington Westport New Canaan New Haven Best of CT

CTbites Team December 25, 2014

In terms of eating, the CTbites team of writers, photographers, and chef friends have managed to sample and savor more than most. 2014 has been a stellar year for restaurant openings as Fairfield County and the surrounding areas continue to draw great culinary talent. 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.

Here are our favorite meals and restaurants of 2014.

WestportREADS The Dubliners: Dine Around Town Dublin-Style in January

ellen bowen December 24, 2014

WestportREADS, sponsored annually by the Westport Library since 2001, is once again underway, this time with some of the best fiction ever written in the English language—Dubliners by James Joyce. Help celebrate the 100th anniversary of this classic book in January, which is full of exciting and thought-provoking programs related to the book, Dubliners by James Joyce. WestportREADS is funded by Jerry A. Tishman.

In conjunction with this event, CTbites is co-hosting a curated dinner series, “Dine Around Town: Dublin,” offering the opportunity to dine and sample many traditional and delicious Irish inspired dishes; Irish Beef Stew , Guinness Glazed Short Ribs, Filet Mignon Shepard’s Pie, Wild salmon Marinated in Irish Whiskey, in a private setting with local chefs and in their local restaurants.

Holiday Flip Cocktail Recipe via Sean Nye of Match in SoNo

Features Cocktails Recipe

Stephanie Webster December 23, 2014

Looking for the perfect Holiday Cocktail recipe for your festivities? Sean Nye has mixed up a little something special for CTbites, from his new post, behind the bar of Match in South Norwalk.

Sean hails most recently from Walrus & Carpenter, as well as Bodega and South End in New Canaan. Jusy sayin...the man knows how to make a drink.

Enjoy this truly delicious recipe for the "Holiday Flip" made with Applejack Brandy, cardamaro and nutmeg. And if you're simply too tired from opening presents, just go order one at Match.

Holiday Flip Cocktail Recipe

VESPA Opens in Downtown Westport with Italian Inspired Fare

Restaurant Italian Westport

Sarah Green December 21, 2014

Here's the buzz- VESPA (Italian for WASP) has arrived in Westport, so get ready for the sting. Perfectly situated on the corner of Post Road and the Saugatuck River, the brand spankin-new haunt from Westporter Bobby Werhane and his partner Kevin Lalumiere of Experience Hospitality Group shares its patio space with Bar Taco and nuzzles up snugly to the water's edge. VESPA is the group's second local restaurant (NEAT opened recently, right across the lot) and it's poised for success.

We were invited to a "friends and family" soft opening where we enjoyed a large cross section of the very approachable and creative Italian inspired menu, prepared by Werhane's allstar kitchen team. Executive Chefs, Brian Reilly (Greenhouse Tavern and Noodle Cat) and Craig Wallen (Spasso and sous chef at Gramercy Tavern) work alongside Pasta Chef, Laura Bonechi (Jean-George's The Inn at Pound Ridge), and, by the way...her hand-rolled pasta is seriously crave-worthy.

Weekly Nibble: Bodega Happy Hour, Braising Class, X-Mas Dinners, Two Roads Brewing & More

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson December 19, 2014

Bodega Taco Bar has just launched Happy Hour at both locations, and it's a party. $3-$6 Bar Bites including: Pork Belly Pinxto, Cocktail Egg with Gaucamole and bacon, and Tostones w/ Achote roasted pork plus well priced beer and cocktails. Monday 4-11, Tues-Fri 4-6 pm.

Perfect your braising skills just in time for Christmas with a Winter Braises cooking class at Barcelona West Hartford on Tuesday December 23 at 7pm. It is $29 per person plus tax & gratuity. To make a reservation, please call 860.218.2100.

On Tuesday, December 30 from 11am-1pm, Stew Leonard’s of Newington will have a kids cooking class. The menu is luau inspired: sweet and sour meatballs, pineapple salsa, hawaiian spam sliders and tropical cupcakes. There will even be hula dancing. It costs $25 per child.

Also on Tuesday, join Half Full Brewery for a holiday tasting and growler fill from 5pm-12am.