The Black Rock Farmer’s Market (BRFM) is back and better than ever! Now in its second season, the market will be held every Saturday from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm on the field next to St. Ann Church on 481 Brewster Street. The mission of BRFM is to serve as a community gathering place where local and organic farmers, producers and artisans can offer fresh agricultural and related locally sourced products to the Black Rock community and surrounding area. With a strong focus on sustainability, BRFM educates people on the importance of good health and creates business opportunities for local vendors.
This year will host a variety of local vendors including Sport Hill Farm of Easton, Aradia Farm of Southbury, K is for Cookies of Black Rock, Jane’s Good Food of Westport and more. There are many new and exciting experiences for market attendees, including more local farms, food demos and educational programs. The last Saturday of every month, visitors can shop for unique and creative items in the Artisan Market.
New this year there will also be a lecture series beginning on June 27th featuring Michel Nischan, CEO, President and Co-Founder of Wholesome Wave in Bridgeport. Nischan was recently named Humanitarian of the Year by the James Beard Foundation.
Imian Partners will open The Beer Garden at Shippan Landing for its second season on May 21st. Imian first introduced the pop-up beer garden concept two summers ago with The Beer Garden at Harbor Point and is credited for invigorating the social scene in Stamford’s South End. The Shippan spot has a significantly more relaxed vibe than that of Harbor Point, but has all the charm and beauty of the perfect summer hangout.
With unobstructed waterfront views, (and the best seat in town to watch the sunset all summer long), The Beer Garden at Shippan Landing will showcase and rotate its carefully curated list of local craft beers on draft and in cans offering a variety of options. Look for favorites such as Half Full, Broad Brook, Captain Lawrence and more. We also hear that The Beer Garden will be partnering with Half Full to create a signature beer just for the garden. Pretty cool.
An impressive rotating lineup of the area’s best food trucks will also be part of the nightly festivities at the Beer Garden. Stay tuned for details on some of your favorite mobile eats.
The family-friendly environment will include outdoor games such as life-size jenga, corn hole, can jam and beer pong.Entertainment will include live music and special themed-events throughout the summer beginning on Sunday May 24th with a Memorial Day party.
Ben McCrea is a gentle-giant of a man, but don't let his warm, friendly facade fool you. Underneath that kind-hearted shell is a mean, Auss-een, grilling machine.
In the WAY back of the lot on Fairfield Ave in Bridgeport that Walrus + Carpenter calls home, is the perch where Ben keeps watch. His job... smoking all types of meat to perfection. But what makes the man that makes the meat?
Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Ben gained his skills from watching his grandfather grill on the "barbie," but becoming a grill master wasn't his first passion. Ben came to the States as a boxer and did very well in that 'arena.' However, boxing is a short career and Ben knew something more awaited. What he didn't know was that it would be a smoker with a 500 gallon propane tank, commissioned by Walrus co-owner Joe Farrell (along with Adam Roytman.)
In the dessert world, pie trumps all. It's all American, even if it isn't apple, and when done right, it's just plain delicious. Walrus + Carpenter in Bridgeport recently launched a new dessert menu that features...you guessed it, pie. In fact, the menu is ALL pie, 6 different tantalizing options including: Bourbon-Chocolate Pecan Pie, Chess Pie, Key Lime and their signature "Walrus Pie," featuring a bacon-chocolate chip cookie crust, bacon crumble, bacon candy & peanut butter ice cream (Get in the car...there's still time).
In keeping with Walrus' attention to detail, this master of all things smoked meat have put a little extra love into each and every pie. The creative cookie based pie shells, the flakiness of the Apple Pie's cheddar crust, and the gently torched meringue are just a few noteworthy elements. Plus, Walrus + Carpenter is now open 7 days a week, so you can enjoy this 6 pie menu 24/7. View the full Pie Menu Photo Gallery below:
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.
The Black Rock Farmers' Market is throwing a party to celebrate the closing of the market for the 2014 season. Go shop the market on October 25th from 9-1pm, and then stay for an afternoon of celebration at their Harvest Hootenanny featuring local food, local breweries, and live music, from 1-5pm. Musical guest will be Black Rock's own Oh, Cassius!
A good friend told me that the WC Burger served at Walrus + Carpenter in Bridgeport near the Fairfield border was the best burger in the area. Those are strong words from someone I trust so I drove one evening and grabbed an outside table.
The menu is divided into several categories and each reads like a who’s who of comfort food. I was pleasantly impressed when I saw that the chef gave top billing in the Large Plates section to “WC Burger + Fries - Smoked mayo, bacon, bourbon onions, cheddar.” It was a simple decision and I ordered the burger medium-rare.
The burger was served on a metal tray accompanied by fries and small mound of pickle slices. There was a crisp char on the exterior and the texture of the interior was soft. I sampled the meat; it was rich in flavor, reminiscent of grass fed, the medium grind was still loose and it was moist without being overly juicy. It was an excellent patty. The first topping I tasted was the Bourbon onions.
Word’s out. There’s a new Thai place in Bridgeport worth traveling for. Ruuthai is a little family-run restaurant making authentic Thai dishes. Even better, Ruuthai offers dishes rarely seen in these parts, like mussel pancakes, boat noodles and steamed red curry fish custard. And then there are the desserts. Thai desserts are decidedly weird to Americans. Pork in a dessert? What?! Yes, and it’s good.
Ruuthai has been open almost five months. It’s in a residential neighborhood off North Avenue. The storefront is cheerfully decorated with orange and lime accents, and pink and purple swirly, girly flower stencils. The effect is simple and charming. They’ve added a few more tables recently (they’re getting busier), and they do a lot of take-out, but I believe in eating food when it’s at its best – moments after Def Ruangsikul, head chef, has prepared it.
If you sit down to eat you will probably meet Chef Ruangsikul’s daughter Dif. Dif McGeough is the manager and waitress. She was born in Thailand and raised in the United States, and she’s a knowledgeable and gently humorous guide.
Over the course of several visits, here’s what we’ve tried:
The smell of grilling meat perfumes the air on Frank Street in Bridgeport. What’s going on here? This drab residential neighborhood is crowded with cars. And what’s that funky-looking vividly green-and-yellow building? The sidewalk’s striped green and yellow too, the colors of the Brazilian flag. This is Pantanal, a Brazilian buffet and churrascaria. We’re going in.
It’s Thursday at lunchtime and the place is crowded. We grab plates and try to take in all that’s offered at the cold and hot buffet. We’re overwhelmed, and we’re in the way. Everyone else knows what they want. We’re gawking, and we know we could easily overload our plates with the choice of salads, fruits, hearts of palm, collards, white rice, Spanish rice, mac ‘n cheese, black beans, pinto beans, fried sweet plantain, fried chicken, fried fish and stews. Customers are digging in to those stews. The chicken and okra stew looks intriguing, but I need to exert restraint. I need to focus. I chose an orange-colored stew of smoked pork ribs and white beans. Excellent choice, smoky and deeply flavorful.
As food writers, photographers, and chefs, we have the pleasure of eating a lot of really great food. Fairfield County has experienced something of a restaurant explosion over the past year, as new chefs move in and move on, and menus expand. We've endeavored to expand our coverage beyond those borders, seeking to cover more of the state and sharing those experiences that are worth seeking out. 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.
Certainly, the food scene in Bridgeport is getting "curiouser and curiouser." And that's a very good thing. No need for a trip down the rabbit hole, however, to experience the marvelous and weirdly wonderful creations at the new Walrus and Carpenter at 2895 Fairfield Ave.The concept (brain child of proprietor Joe Farrell) is this - a slow cook BBQ house that offers haute cuisine sides and a first class beer menu where everything (except for the tequila and the pit master) is made in America.
Usually, American BBQ restaurants offer excellent meats but boring, less than note-worthy accompaniments. Here, the offerings are mostly Texas style -where the meat is slow cooked and fall-off-the-bone tender -and the main courses are paired with elegant slaws, exquisite collards and house made pickle platters. Food is plated, not just put on the plate, and that adds to the special experience. And to elevate your dining further, a fabulous selection of Craft beers by the glass or by the growler. (Some choices include Green Flash Imperial IPA and Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace.) The kitchen is led by Executive Chef Paul DiMaria formerly of Community Table in Washington, CT and the food is first class yet at the same time finger-licking delicious. Simply put - it works.
“You know how to eat that?” asked the kindly woman as she set a steaming bowl of soup before me at Pho Mai. Did I know how to eat pho? To handle the chopsticks and spoon? To lift the long noodles from the big bowl of broth without slapping myself in the face with a wet noodle? I’ve learned over the years. But Vietnamese food can be perplexing to the uninitiated. It’s hands-on.
Pho Mai makes the best Vietnamese food I’ve found in Fairfield County. It’s been open for about a year, and it’s worth a jaunt to Wood Avenue in Bridgeport (across from the Wood’s End Deli) to enjoy the fresh, herb-filled, sweet, sour, and fermented flavors of Vietnamese food.
Pho Mai’s red awnings strike a cheerful air on a bleak corner. Inside, the place is spic and span clean, with freshly painted yellow walls. Big orange fish swim back and forth in an aquarium that bubbles soothingly. The restaurant has been near empty every time I’ve been, and that’s a shame because the food here is seriously good, and it’s a great place for a weekend lunch with a group of friends.
Stamford's beloved Mexican restaurant Casa Villa opens a new location in Bridgeport TODAY. The menu will be very similar to that at their East Main Street location, including their signature al pastor tacos and tamales. Congratulations to owner Alvino Villa and his team! Hacienda Villa is located at 2810 Fairfield Ave, Bridgeport CT.
Bridgeport’s Restaurant and Entertainment Week Returns May 14-20
Experience Bridgeport’s growing and thriving restaurant and entertainment scene from Monday, May 14 to Sunday, May 20, 2012 during What's Cooking in Bridgeport. Two of CTbites' favorites, Bereket and MELT Market & Cafe are on board this year, so check them out.
Restaurants participating in What’s Cooking in Bridgeportrestaurant and entertainment week will be offering patrons a new fixed price menu.
These restaurants include: AmiciMiei Cafe, Bereket, Epernay Bistro, The Field, Barnum Publick House, Taco Loco,Fortuna's Italian Deli, MELT Market & Cafe, Miss Thelma's, Park City Grill, Toni's Tuscan Table @ Dish, and Too Boots Pizza.
Add this to the CTBites’ mantra - Sharing seven different and unique pizzas is a great way to spend an evening.
Several of us performed the enviable task of judging six of the great pizza combinations that readers submitted to determine which would be included on the menu of Pizzeria Rosso’s new location in Greenwich and the combination that will earn the title of “CTBites 2012 Pie Combo.” And true to the mission of CTBites of guiding our readers to delicious food, all of them were so fantastic that Owner / Chef Pat Pascarella agreed that ALL OF THEM will be included on the Greenwich menu.
So congratulations to each of these winning combinations:
Pizzeria Rosso is opening up not one, but two new locations in Connecticut in addition to their original Norwalk take-out outpost which has been open just under a year. [Read: Pizzeria Rosso Opens in Norwalk, June 2012]
Pasquale (Pat) Pascarella is the chef and founder of the successful yet still young pizzeria. His second Pizzeria Rosso is set to open at 960 Main Street in Bridgeport in just about three weeks. The new Bridgeport location will be open seven days a week and boasts forty seats with two four-pie Baker's pride ovens. The menu will be largely the same, but more of a focus on pizza and less pasta and will be BYOB with the possibility of a future liquor license. With Webster Arena just up the street and the Barnum Publick House opening across the street, Pizzeria Rosso will be open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday night.
A third location will open in Greenwich, giving Pizzeria Rosso the run of Fairfield County.
Do you feel the need, the need for cheese? Introducing MELT Market and Cafe, the spectacularly gooey love child of former Westport-based Mirabelle Cheese Shop owners Andrea and Damon Itin. MELT, located in the up and coming section of Bridgeport at the corner of Lafayette Circle and Fairfield Ave is sleek and spacious with high tops as well as regular tables for seating and warm inviting color tones. The 2,200 square foot space seats plenty but if tables were pushed aside, this could be a fantastic place for a private function. But enough about things spatial, on to the celestial - this is a cheese lovers' nirvana -
What's for sale ? MELT is the purveyor of European as well as local cheeses
The biggest barbecue fast food chain in the country is coming to Connecticut in the North End of Bridgeport. Dickey's Barbecue Pit will have its soft opening Sunday and its grand opening Dec. 8.
Cohen is a Dallas native, and often ate at Dickey's growing up. The first Dickey's Barbecue opened in Texas in 1941. The original location is still open for business, and Dickey's Barbecue is still owned and operated by the Dickey Family, according to the company website. The company began franchising in 1994.
Customers can expect to get their food in three minutes or less, Cohen said, but the meat is smoked for hours. The brisket, for example, is smoked for 14 hours before it hits a plate. "We have fall-off-the-bone ribs," Cohen said. "Most restaurants use a thermometer to test if the ribs are done. We test our ribs by picking them up and if they don't break in the middle, we know they're not ready to serve."
At Pizzeria Rosso, it’s a family affair. As chef and partner of Norwalk’s newest take-out pizzeria, Pasquale Pascarella is the driving force behind this old world meets new world approach to pizza. His cousin handles the dough, his mother arrives each morning at 7 a.m. to make the sauce, and Dad shuttles the pies from oven to destinations in Norwalk and just beyond.
A veteran chef of Stamford’s Old Saltwater Grille where he remains a partner, Pasquale decided that a take-out pizza business would help him shift his focus and gain control back to what he loves about cooking, both Italian-inspired dishes and traditional Neapolitan pies (he cites San Francisco’s A16 as inspiration) would be a great muse for this transition.