A Taste of Ridgefield will be held on Sunday, January 25, 2015 at Founders Hall, located in Ridgefield, CT. The 16th annual event will draw restaurants, caterers, and wine merchants from Ridgefield for two serving sessions 12:30 – 2:30 pm, and 4:00 – 6:00 pm. Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 at the door.
This event is hosted by The Rotary Club of Ridgefield and sponosred by Fairfield County Bank and Vazzana Management Consulting to benefit its schoarship fun and support a new fuel subsidy initiative to help needy families in Ridgefield.
Whenever the owner of a restaurant that serves great food announces a second location, I am excited to see where this second venture will lead. After hearing that Greer Fredericks, the co-owner of Mama’s Boy in SONO, was opening JAX around the corner on North Main, I couldn’t wait for my first visit. JAX opened a few weeks ago and currently serves a wide range of breakfast options, plus a tremendous selection of creative sandwiches at lunch. It is also placing the final touches to its soon to be released take-away dinners, and awaiting the delivery of its ice cream machine.
Located just south of the SONO theatre, the interior is completely redesigned, accented with a red painted art nouveau ceiling and lots of wood throughout…it is definitely the sister restaurant to Mama’s Boy.
Food Evolution, a gourmet plant-based café, has recently opened in Ridgefield's Marketplace located at Copps Hill Plaza, 109 Danbury Road, taking over the space formerly occupied by a vegan cafe.
The new owner of Food Evolution is Ridgefield resident Elizabeth Berney, a passionate vegan and elementary school teacher for the past 18 years. Berney and her omnivore husband purchased the restaurant from its original owner, a local real estate developer eager to sell the restaurant to owners dedicated to maintaining a plant-based menu.
Bailey’s Backyard opened in 1999, the brainchild of Chef Sal Bagliavio, who oversaw the kitchen for fourteen years. Wanting to spend more time with his family he hired Executive Chef Forrest Pasternack in early 2013 to develop a farm-to-table menu, focused on locally produced ingredients.
Born and raised in Western Connecticut, Chef Pasternack’s love of fresh ingredients developed at an early age. His childhood included picking vegetables, fishing the waters of Nantucket Sound, and digging clams in Chatham, Mass.: all to enjoy at family dinner. This passion was both enhanced and refined when he graduated with honors from the Culinary Institute of America. Post-graduation he sharpened his culinary skills at some of New York’s finest restaurants, including Zoe with Chef David Honeysett, the BLT Restaurant Group with Chef Laurent Tourendel, Eats on Lexington with Chef Jeremy Spector, Employee’s Only and The Brindle Room. His passion for the farm-to-table movement inspired his menus at The SOHO Grand Hotel in lower Manhattan and Terra Restaurant in Greenwich. Since joining Baily’s Backyard, he has dazzled guests with creative combinations and bold flavors.
In our second week featuring recipes from Fairfield County Chef's Table, we looked no further than Ridgefield to feature 109 Cheese & Wine's excellent grilled cheese sandwich with wild mushrooms. In addition to trying your hand at the recipe below, the shop also makes made-to-order grilled cheese sandwiches in their shop. 109 Cheese & Wine will be hosting a free event with Bernard's Restaurant and Southwest Café at 11 am on May 31 in their upstairs classroom, complete with food from all three restaurants, bubbly and beverages, as well as copies of Fairfield County Chef's Table. Stop by for a snack, and have the chefs and author sign your book!
109 Cheese & Wine 109 Danbury Road, Ridgefield, CT 06877 | (203) 438-5757 | 109cheeseandwine.com Owners: Monica and Todd Brown
The Battle of the Chefs returns to Ridgefield's Founders Hall on Sunday, June 1, 4 – 7 pm and you have the chance to be the lucky recipient of two stadium seat tickets to taste and experience an epic throwdown between Forrest Pasternack of Bailey’s Backyard in Ridgefield, Matt Storch of Match in Norwalk, and Jeff Taibe of The Whelk and LeFarm.
Here's what you need to do:
Comment on this post with your dream Battle of the Chef match-up, either fictional, celebrity or local, and we'll randomly select a winner by May 23!
After several years of immersing ourselves in the Fairfield County dining scene as partners and editors of CTbites, we had the opportunity to trade pixels for print. We are very excited to announce the launch of our book, Fairfield County Chef's Table, featuring over 50 restaurants and recipes, now available at your local book store and online.
The book, published by Globe Pequot Press, was written by Amy Kundrat (yours truly), the executive editor and partner at CTbites. The photography is by none other than CTbites founder and editor in chief Stephanie Webster. It is the culmination of the many years we have been writing about and photographing the Connecticut food scene. This two year project was a blast to work on, and we only wish we could have included 50 more of our favorite restaurants. For more information, please visit our website.
A special thank you to all the chefs, restaurant owners, farmers, friends, CTbites contributors, and CTbites readers who shared their time, expertise, and support. We hope you enjoy the book, experiment with the recipes from some of our favorite restaurants, and share it with your friends and family!
Sarah Bouisseau of Bernard's & Sarah's Wine Bar in Ridgefield, and Monica Brown of 109 Cheese & Wine have been the closest of friends for over a decade, beginning when they discovered they shared the same birthday. Over the years, the oenophiles and food lovers have hosted an evening including some of their favorite foods and wines for their customers, and it has evolved into a beloved annual event.
This special dinner and wine tasting happens only once a year, on Friday, January 24 (tonight!) at 7 pm at Bernard's in Ridgefield. The price is $90 per person plus tax and gratuity, call 203 438 8282 for reservations.
Connecticut's first Bareburger, the micro chain restaurant known for organic ingredients, grass-fed humanely-raised protein, and sustainable practices, opened this week in Ridgefield. CTbites tagged along on a Friends and Family earlier this week with fellow Ridgefielders and had the chance to meet its trio of partners, Bareburger’s chef, and taste a couple of their burgers (elk and wild boar, to be exact).
"My Signature Dish" is a new CTbites column featuring a rotating cast of chefs, and the dishes that define their cooking style, or simply make them happy to fire up the oven.
We looked forward to learning about what Scott Ostrander had chosen as his signature dish at Mama’s Boy in SoNo, a Connecticut restaurant featuring Southern cooking and cuisine. But he was reluctant to tell us much about it. “We’re dealing with some major issues,” he confided. “Trying to dodge disaster.”
Issues. Disasters. Great. The stuff of a good story. We urged him on. But Chef Ostrander demurred. “I just can’t get into it right now,” he apologized.
The next time we met, the chef was all smiles. Problems solved. Scott shared the back story, one that reveals how a gifted chef deals with and solves both business and culinary challenges.
His new signature dish at Mama’s Boy is Crisp Pork Shank, an osso bucca-like braised pork shank with a dramatic Southern twist. Traditionally, slowly simmered meat is tender, juicy, and deeply flavored. But its soft texture is monochromatic. For his shank, Scott wanted contrapuntal textures. Soft. And Crunchy.
Tremendous construction activity is happening at 38 Danbury Road in Ridgefield as the micro-chain Bareburger is slated to open in mid-November, bringing a wide variety of meats, toppings and, for those looking for a little less in the calorie-count, salads. In 2009 after receiving rave reviews preparing hamburgers in the kitchen of Sputnik, an underground music haunt in Brooklyn, Euripides Pelekanos founded Bareburger in an Astoria, Queens’ storefront. After bringing his winning formula to thirteen additional NYC locations, Bareburger is now expanding into Connecticut with its first Nutmeg State location in Ridgefield with a second slated for opening in Stamford in mid-2014.
In an exclusive interview with CTbites, Pelekanos explained his philosophy and vision as Bareburger expands from its single Astoria location into a regional micro-chain.
“I want all of my products to be organic or as close to organic as possible. From the meat to the toppings to the salads, I want natural or organic; that is my personal preference; that is what I eat.” With organic producers Albert’s Organic, Blackwing Quality Meats and Rick’s Picks already in the food chain, Pelekanos is now interested in developing relationships with local farms. The Bareburger brand represents products that are “free of hormones, pesticides and other unsavory elements.”
“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!
CTbites re-visited NOLA Oyster Bar a few months after its opening to enjoy some of the newest additions to the menu. Chef Dan Kardos is clearly in charge of the kitchen and his culinary talent is evident as he creates some of the most delicious cuisine in Fairfield County.
The Seafood Tower, a dedication to cold shellfish (plus tuna), was the first course served to our table. The generous portions included Cherrystone clams, snow crab legs, Copps Island oysters, shrimp, and charred Hamachi crudo. A house made mignonette sauce accompanied the oysters. All of the items on the Tower were delightful. The crudo was marinated in white and dark balsamic vinegar plus a combination of lime and tangerine juices; it was tantalizing. The crab legs and shrimp were sweet with just a touch of seasoning to emphasize the natural flavors. The Copps Island oysters were a little bitter with very little salinity, but the addition of the mignonette sauce drastically changed the flavor profile from bitter to delicious.
Bailey’s Backyard Cuisine: New American, Farm-to-table Price: Snacks & Sides $4 to $6 | Greens $10 to $17 | Mains $15 - $29 Our Highlights: Bibb Salad, Pan seared halibut with shitake mushroom arancini, micro basil and black truffle; egg papardelle with roasted lamb ragout Online: Official Website | Facebook
A thirteen year veteran of the Ridgefield dining scene, Bailey's Backyardowner Sal Bagliavio recently re-opened the beloved restaurant with a farm-to-table mission, a completely renovated space and a new and talented team in the kitchen led by Executive Chef Forrest Pasternack. Why the shift? "It was time for a change," said Sal Bagliavio. "Anyone can go out to eat, anywhere these days, I want to offer our guest a true dining experience based on organic, local ingredients."
The spring menu at the soft opening gave a promising peek at the seasonal creativity to come. Snacks and sides top the menu, offering a variety of small plates such as mable bacon pecans, local grits and roasted brussel sprouts. “Greens” and “Starts” are the showcase for local produce, such as the Connecticut Kale salad and a Bibb Salad. The latter was the highlight of my meal, a medley of textures, temperatures and flavors. Bibb lettuce, local blue cheese, bacon lardon, and parsley are the foundation for a crispy poached egg, an elegant take of a Scotch egg that is poached to perfection.
Visit Mama’s Boy Southern Table and Refuge in SONO and experience some good old-fashioned southern hospitality and cuisine. The newest addition to SONO offers a Georgian-Carolina cuisine with the flavors and ingredients not seen on other Fairfield County menus; not spicy Cajun or Creole but grits, okra, shrimp, catfish, with a little fried chicken thrown in.
Fairfield County native and owner Greer Fredericks, and her business partner Ami Dorel, bring a southern feel to the décor, and flavors to the menu, from Greer’s years in the South. Overseeing the kitchen is Chef Scott Ostrander who recently relocated from Jacksonville, Florida. His previous restaurant, ‘Town, won the Robert W. Tolf Award for Best New Restaurant from Florida Trend magazine and voted one of Jacksonville Magazine’s Northeast Florida’s Top 25 restaurants. After graduating from the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, Ostrander worked in restaurants from DC to Florida and brings authentic southern cuisine to the Mama’s Boy menu. Ostrander is currently sourcing many of his ingredients from South Carolina while simultaneously building a stable of local farms, vendors and merchants.
Ridgefield's best source for artisinal cheese and wine, 109 Cheese & Wine has recently expanded its footprint and education offerings. The shop, located at Ridgefield's Marketplace, has posted an impressive and fun line-up of events throughout the summer. Advance reservations are recommended as class size is limited, call 203-438-5757.
Exploration into Italy: Cheese and Wine
Friday, May 17 @ 7pm, $55 Explore a great evening of Italian Cheese and Wine, their relationship and how to pair them. Class will start with some wonderful small bites and a glass of Prosecco, then continue with a tasting and comparison of 5 cheeses and wines. Something sweet will end this evening.
Sarah Wine Bar & 109 Cheese and Wine Dinner Sunday
May 19 2013 at 5:30 pm Special Guest Henryk Teraszkiewicz, Director of the Woodcock Nature Center Menu
With little fanfare, Mama’s Boy Southern Table and Refuge, the newest addition to the SONO food scene is slowly opening its doors. Based on traditional Southern hospitality and cuisine, the restaurant will deliver the comfort food of the south combined with a relaxed atmosphere. As the website states, “Mama’s Boy is putting the “South” in South Norwalk.”
The interior has been completely redesigned. Using woods and material from an old water tower from Florence, South Carolina, owners Greer Fredericks and Ami Dorel created a warm environment from top to bottom. The lighting is soft and inviting, the music gives a perfect background through various genres and the service is straight from Charleston, friendly and incredibly helpful. Upon entering you can choose a seat at the long bar or one of the tables along the wall with a long comfortable banquette. In the rear is a second dining area that is guarded by two windows that were reclaimed from Al Capone’s summer residence. This dining area features a traditional “mirror wall,” you have to see it to completely understand and appreciate.
Wilton residents, rejoice! Little Pub's second location is now open at 26 Danbury Road in Wilton. They will offer the same fare, and thanks to a much larger kitchen, will also be offering some new items. Check it out and please let us know what you think!
For the latest on their menu and what's on tap, check out littlepub.com and stay tuned to their Facebook page.
...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...
A Taste of Ridgefield will be held on Sunday, January 25, 2015 at Founders Hall, located in Ridgefield, CT. The 16th annual event will draw restaurants, caterers, and wine merchants from Ridgefield for two serving sessions 12:30 – 2:30 pm, and 4:00 – 6:00 pm. Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 at the door.
