The first annual New Haven Food Truck Festival will take place on Saturday, May 30, and Sunday, May 31, along the Long Wharf Waterfront. A celebration of New Haven street food, the family friendly event will include live music, children's activities local vendors, and rides provided by Marenna Amusements. Tickets are $5 per person (children age 17 and under are free).
Proceeds will fund a micro loans and other financial assistance to New Haven's emerging small business entrepreneurs.
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.
A new food truck is rolling into Fairfield County and this is some serious scoop!
How many times have you come up with a brilliant idea, only to dismiss it or put it on the back burner never to revisit it again? Most of us do this, but not so for Brooke and Jon Albers of Stratford. Like all great ideas, It all started out innocently enough - over coffee one morning, while sitting on the couch, half asleep still, watching the news, half paying attention to a story about stout beer and ice cream. At that moment a bell went off in Brooke’s head – She had a revelation. She wondered, what would happen if you took some ice cream and some booze and put them together? And so she set off to find out.
Brooke purchased a small ice cream machine and set it on her kitchen counter. Soon the machine would start cranking away, blending vanilla ice cream and whiskey. The result was Whiskey Bean, an instant success. The favors paired perfectly. And Tipsy Cones was born.
Parent Child Resource Center hosts "Food Trucks in the Valley" on September 18th, 4 - 8 pm (rain date the 23rd). Food Truck in the Valley is a FREE event with 15+ food trucks, wine and beer, ciders, live music, a car show, and childrens' activities such as face-painting, hula hooping, candy art and more.
Food Trucks in the Valley will be held at The Shelton Riverwalk and is the first event of its kind in the area. Proceeds support PCRC's programs that serve children and families, most of whom suffer from trauma, abuse and neglect
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:
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.
New Canaan Taste Tours begin Tuesday July 15th with three of Elm Street’s favorite restaurants; elm, Picador, and Chef Luis before finishing the evening at South End. These special will continue for four weeks offering special menus each Tuesday and Wednesday with either a 6:30 or 7:30 start time.
Dinosaur BBQ continues its Wednesday night “Rock n Roasts,” a party on the Dino Patio featuring a whole, smoked hog with a sound track of live rock'n'roll. This week, enjoy music by Jeff Tuohy.
NEW Lunch menus every week @ Match: Every two weeks Matt changes the menu into either one of his favorite restaurants or destinations to eat lunch. From Super Duper Weenie in Fairfield to his old high school job and hang out Tacos or what to an ode to the classic roadside clam/lobster shack. Next week...ASIAN! Every Wed, Thurs & Friday from 11:30 to 2ish @ Match.
Also on Tuesday the 15th, Barcelona Greenwich invites you to a night of “Summer Sangria, Cocktails & Light Bites.”
As the food truck craze expands throughout Fairfield County, new menus are continually being presented offering the customer even more choices. Over the last ten years we have witnessed the options expand to include Mexican, burgers, pizza, lobster rolls, crepes, grilled cheese and porchetta sandwiches. Another inventive variation is offered by Spud Stud, the brightly colored truck adorned with a smirking potato with its arm around the shoulder of a bikini-clad vixen.
The Spud Stud truck is one of three that are parked outside my office building each Wednesday, and it draws its loyal weekly devotees, plus many new and curious customers. Presented by husband and wife team Craig and Krista McCarthy, Spud Stud offers a variety of options, but their marquee product is the “Loaded Baked Potato” and enormous, split baked potato stuffed with one on fourteen toppings ranging from traditional toppings to eclectic combinations.
There is truly a Mexican restaurant for everyone. There are the quiet ones that scream “authentic! authentic! authentic!” and then there are the more modern ones with the guac that is “hand-slapped” or “slapped to order.” Excuse me? Was it naww-ghty? Mex goes 50 Shades, I see. And if the recent lime shortage (I can’t think of lime-hijackings without giggling, sorry) has you in a tizzy and wondering just how the heck you and your margaritas are going to make it through the summer, just head to these places. Let them figure out the limes, you can figure out how many drinks and how much lime-infused guacamole to have.
Here's our list of the 16 Best Taco Restaurants & Trucks in Connecticut. Feel free to add your favorites to the list below.
The food truck craze has officially invaded Fairfield County.
Until last year there were less than a handful of colorful food trucks gracing the streets and parking lots of Fairfield County. Last year, the circular driveway outside the Beer Garden at Harbor Point became their go-to location, the choices expanded and lines confirmed that people finally accepted the fact that great food can be both prepared and served from a rolling kitchen. Traditionally limited to a griddle or grill in food preparation, I was intrigued to learn that one housed a rotisserie and excited when I discovered that they served porchetta, one of my favorites.
Enter VanChetta Rolling Rotisserie...
I checked their Facebook page for their location. Was there fire behind all of this rotisserie smoke? As I approached the brightly colored truck with its bold “VanChetta” adorning the sides and “?YRGNUH” emblazoned on the front, I had a good feeling. The line was several deep and others were already enjoying a variety of Chef/Owner Andy Dolan’s creations at surrounding picnic tables.
LobsterCraft, in collaboration with Imian Hospitality, announces the first brick-and-mortar location of the popular gourmet food truck of the same name. LobsterCraft Darien developed out of a relationship formed last summer at Imian’s wildly successful pop-up, The Beer Garden at Harbor Point.
The LobsterCraft food truck spent many bustling nights at The Beer Garden, cultivating a loyal following of lobster lovers who track the truck using the full range of social media outlets. LobsterCraft, founded in 2012 by Norwalk-based lobsterman and Coast Guard Captain, Michael Harden, and chef-partner, Trond Fletcher, takes the traditional Connecticut Style lobster roll to the “next level.” The duo’s commitment to perfecting Connecticut’s official state sandwich has earned LobsterCraft a number of awards and accolades, including best food truck and best lobster roll in the state.
LobsterCraft rolls are simple, yet elegant combinations of fresh, hot-buttered lobster meat mixed with a pinch of a proprietary 12-ingredient seasoning blend
Thanks to Hey Stamford! for this update on the Stamford food truck schedule:
That's right, you heard that right! You can now enjoy lunch from some of the hottest food trucks in our area every Tuesday-Thursday(11am - 3pm) in Veteran's Park (Atlantic and Main) this Summer! There is a great line up of food trucks for your summer lunch:
We just had a moment with a new food truck that has rolled into Fairfield County, Bounty Food Truck featuring "Gourmet Burgers & More." With two CIA trained chefs manning the grill, this "farm to mobile" kitchen has some serious legs...and some really tasty burgers. We sampled the "Bordelaise Burger" with caramelized onions, gruyere cheese, malbec butter and arugula. We asked for pink in the middle, and perfectly pink it was served. The burger was thick and juicy, caramelized onions deeply flavorful, with gruyere blanketing the beef, all softy nestled under a perfect brioche bun. We'd go back.
Other selections today were a "Simple Burger" with lettuce, farm tomato and onion, as well as the " Bounty" with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle and "Bounty Spread." Intriguing...
All of their ground beef is 100% grass fed, hormone and antibiotic free and straight from Saugatuck Craft Butchery in Westport. Their produce and eggs are sourced from Holbrook Farm in Bethel as well as Gilbertie's Farm in Easton. The gorgeous brioche bun is made by Wave Hill Breads in Norwalk, CT.
The Green Grunion food truck is the brainchild of Paul Mannion, a Bethel native whose three year foray in San Diego served as inspiration for Danbury's San Diego-style burrito business on wheels. A restaurant industry veteran (you may remember his friendly face from behind the bar at Bethel’s La Zingara), Paul launched the business nearly a year ago in Danbury inspired by the burritos he came to know and love during his time in San Diego.
I finally tracked down the Green Grunion after many positive reader recommendations, and a fuzzy memory of Paul telling me his grandiose plans from behind the Zingara bar last year. But first, a quick burrito primer for the uninitiated East Coast-dwellers (read: you, me, and everyone we know, Connecticut).
Look up burrito in the dictionary and you'll likely conjure an image of the tightly-packed Mission style behemoths found in San Francisco's Mission District and interpreted loosely at a Chipotle near you.
Have you heard the buzz? If you haven’t and you live in the Westport and Fairfield areas you’ll not only hear it but you’ll see it any day now! The Buzz is The Buzz Truck, the brainchild of Jessica and Alex Grutkowski. Sleek, hip and sharp, this handsomely renovated school bus will have tired moms and dads cheering with delight. But it’s not just for parents - this little black bus has something for everyone.
The idea was conceived about a year ago when Jessica Grutkowski wondered why there wasn’t an ice cream truck for grownups. Only her ice cream truck wasn’t going to sell ice cream, it was going to sell coffee. “I was waiting on line for my coffee,” she told me, “and there was this person in front of me placing this ridiculously long order. I knew I was going to be late in picking my kids up from school.” Her eyes kept darting to the clock as she debated whether to ditch the line or not. And that was when the idea of the coffee truck came to her. “I knew right away that it would be called the Buzz Truck.”
Bodega Taco Bar continues to make its mark on Fairfield County with the addition of the Bodega Food Truck hittin’ the road this month. The rolling vibrant green mobile might as well be named the party bus as it already being booked for private parties, school functions and outdoor events – and the paint’s not even dry yet! Fans of Bodega’s innovative and edgy, while authentic and fresh cuisine, will now have the opportunity to follow their favorite cuisine to a street corner near them or grab a taco while partaking in a local event. This taqueria on wheels will also be the centerpiece of Bodega’s thriving catering business.
The team has created a catering menu that straddles the line between “fine” and “fiery” with ease. From a Burrito Bar and Taco Party, to passed hors d’oeuvres of Tuna Tataki and Smoked Chicken Albondigas, party goers are assured to have a unique experience. Bowls of hand slapped guacamole, pico de gallo, and cucumber mango salsa with fresh corn tortilla chips are a true crowd pleaser, as are roasted veggies with poblano agave yogurt dip and ceviche bowls with vibrant citrus shrimp and scallops. That deli sandwich platter at the office lunch meeting is transformed with hearty “tortas” such as; Argentinian grilled hangar steak with chipotle aioli, greens and queso fresco; Grilled Chicken with black beans, goat cheese and pickled onions; Grilled Portabella with truffle red pepper aioli and crispy kale; and the Baja Fish Wrap with mango cucumber salsa.
The Scene – Sitting at a red light at the intersection of Cross Street (Route 1) and Main Street (Route 123) in Norwalk. One of my favorite lunch spots, Nicholas Roberts sits vacant over my left shoulder. On the northeast corner a converted Meineke Shop with a hand-made sign indicating it was now a CT Inspection site (I thought we did away with those). But there was something calling me into the lot, a brightly painted food truck…and a good number of customers eating and ordering at its side window.
The Decision- Sometimes you just gotta go with your gut and give into temptation. So I pulled in, approached the truck and looked at the menu…Tacos, Quesadillas, Burritos and Tortas. I looked at all of the plates that the others were enjoying and they were overwhelmingly tacos, and it appeared that four occupied each plate. Go with the flow... so I ordered beef, pork, tongue and head, all for $7. Included in the price were a small container of green sauce, a few lime wedges and a whole Jalapeño pepper.
The Cannoli Truck from Meriano's Bake Shoppe Cuisine: Italian Bakery, Food Truck Price: $3 per Cannoli The Highlights: Traditional, Oreo, seasonal flavors Online: CannoliTruck.com | MerianosBakeShoppe.com
The first time I heard the phrase "Cannoli Truck" I was convinced it was a New Haven urban legend. The city has trucks and carts filled with almost any cuisine you can imagine, but a truck filled with Italian pastries? This seemed too good to be true. Lucky for New Haven, the truck exists, and its pink and leopard-trimmed reality is far superior to any Italian pastry-filled mirage you can conjure.
I discovered the truck early this summer, first as a hot tip from a New Haven friend excited to have a new truck to add to the city’s burgeoning food truck and cart scene. And then as luck would have it, the truck frequently parks in the neighborhood near my New Haven office, so I’m lucky to “stumble” into it, in all its 7 cannoli-flavor glory.
How cool is it to walk up to a 1952 Chevy Pick-Up truck and order a perfectly prepared Napoletana pizza, with great ingredients imported from Italy, prepared by a classical trained Italian chef, and baked in under two minutes in a blazing hot, wood-fired oven. Pizza Luca, the brain child of Chef Dean Medico, creates pizza masterpieces that are steeped in the tradition of Italy, using only the best ingredients from Italy to create three distinctly southern Italian pizza delicacies, the Marinara, the Margherita, and the sauce-less Bianca.
