Tucked in the rear of a charming passageway on Elm Street in New Canaan is Baldanza Natural Market Cafe. With a large and diverse organic menu, and a blackboard filled with the names of local purveyors, this small restaurant is fast becoming a local favorite. Owners Sandy and Angela Baldanza opened the café last year serving lunches and an occasional ‘pop up dinner’. Baldanza recently expanded the hours to include regular dinner service and partnered with Chef Kender Urena, who many will remember as the Chef /Owner of Bistro Bonne Nuit. Urena was awarded a Grand Diploma in Culinary Art with outstanding honors from the French Culinary Institute in NYC and was one of Bon Appétit Magazine Top 100 Chefs in America in 2007.
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!
Community Table, the Washington, CT restaurant that should be on every serious gourmand’s bucket list, debuted a stunning new dining room and bar this week, kicking off its high summer season with its signature rustic modern style.
The four-year old restaurant continues to set itself apart by a seasonally-driven New Nordic-inspired menu. Its talented team, led by James Beard-nominated Executive Chef Joel Viehland, has helped to establish Community Table as one of the region’s best restaurants.
The new dining room and bar, designed by architect Peter Talblot working closely with owner Peggy Anderson on the design vision,
There's a new chef in the kitchen at Sugar & Olives in Norwalk. You may recognize the name from his years cooking over at Dressing Room in Westport. It's Chef Jon Vaast, and Jennifer Balin, owner of Sugar & Olives, explains her new hire as "An Organic collaboration between two like minded people." Johnny and Balin have been strong advocates for the local and sustainable food movement, and simply put, want to create a menu with delicious food sourced from within an arms reach of the shop. Every ingredient at Sugar & Olives is seasonal, and comes from a farm near the restaurant. Balin says "whenever possible, she selects ingredients that are also Organic."
With Chef Vaast at the helm, Sugar & Olives is excited to announce that in addition to their daily weekday service, and one of the best brunches in Fairfield County,they have begun dinner service Thursday through Saturday.
You just did it all this holiday season. And by that, I mean...cookies became a food group. Mixing, stirring and shopping had you working your “muscles” (how to polish something, right?). Real exercise resided in the back seat, crammed in between boxes and bags and wrapping paper. Your sanity was also wedged in there, too, now that you think about it. Thank goodness that a new year is upon us because you weren’t quite sure you could take another week, chaotic and fun as it may have been. And yes, there was much good in the holiday season...but it’s all....tiring. So now, after the decadence and gluttony, let’s reset. Recharge. And for the love of Pete, put down that cookie.
Here we offer, as your first gift of the New Year, some great resources, including juice cleanses, yoga joints and healthy eats, to get your body and mind back on track and ready for action in 2014!
Green & Tonic Opens Second Location In Greenwich with foods that find their power in both taste and healing.
As a California native who has spent the last 17 years living in Connecticut, I know health food in its many forms. I also know junk food disguised as health food. I’ve eaten my share of overpriced twigs and sprouts on tiny plates, overcooked veggies flavored with too much salt and oil, “natural” juices loaded with sugar and calories, and ingredients I couldn’t pronounce. In other words, you can’t fool me, baby. Butwhen I walked into Green & Tonic after it opened its second location in Greenwich, my doubts quickly vanished. This place walks the walk on healthy food. Oh, and it tastes good too.
Co-owner Jeffrey Pandolfino, a Johnson & Wales graduate with vast experience in the restaurant business, who ran his own operation for many years and also spent time at Pret A Manger, was motivated to serve healthy, organic food for another reason – he knew the healing power of food.
Mike Geller likes that he can tell his customers stories about how the food he delivers is grown and about the farmers who grow it. Conversely, he states, “There are no stories to tell with big agricultural suppliers. No one wants to know about thousands of chickens crowded in a small space with no room to move and no access to the outdoors.”
Mike started Mike’s Organic Delivery in June 2010 with a mission to reconnect people in Fairfield and Westchester Counties to where, how, and when their food is grown. After careful research, he selected 12 farms from the Hudson River Valley, Westchester County and Western Connecticut to become the suppliers for his nascent farm to home delivery service. The farms all use practices many of us look for when supermarket label gazing: organic, sustainable, free range, pesticide-free, no added hormones, no steroids, and no antibiotics. While we may find some of these methods on supermarket labels, Mike guarantees that his produce is picked no more than 36 and usually less than 24 hours before it reaches your door. That is not likely the case with the produce we cart home from the grocery store.
Finally, A healthy nutty snack that is doesn’t taste overpoweringly of high fructose corn syrup! I’m talking about the new 8 To The Bar snack bar that a pair of Connecticut cousins have recently brought to Fairfield county markets.
Made of a medley of eight different organic nuts, oats, dried fruit, honey and coconut, the bar has a great taste and texture. I particularly love the sour cherries that give the snack a tanginess, which, married with the sesame and coconut and the crunchiness of the nuts, translates to a taste that is deliciously more-ish.
The bar hits the mark for post exercise recharging. I tried my first bar after a five-mile run and found it both satisfying and energizing (not to mention delicious) – a fact that local fitness studios have cottoned on to. The bars are now available at Joyride, Kaia Yoga and the Saugatuck Rowing Club in Westport.
This article first ran onSunday Diners, a kid's guide to the best diners and breakfast joints in Fairfield County, Connecticut and beyond. Written by 4th Grader Alex (with a bit of help from his dad).
Usually, at this time of the year, many people make resolutions to eat healthier or not eat junk food all of the time. One of the ways that you can do this is by eating more organic foods which are healthier for you. Today, we went to Greenleaf Organic Bakery and Café, in Wilton, where everything is organic, fresh and TASTY!
The first thing I noticed when I walked in were the displays of amazing pastries, croissants, cupcakes, tarts and the BIGGEST chocolate chip cookies I have ever seen. The second thing you notice, is how good it smells! The walls are decorated with photos of food and fruit, and it is a good place for kids and adults too.
I looked at the menu before we left the house and already knew what I wanted — The Fruit Explosion - Fresh organic cream, layered with organic strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, yogurt, granola, all topped off with chocolate hazelnut spread. It was beyond good and… healthy at the same time. It was also BIG! Do you know what else was BIG? The Organic Hot Chocolate – which is made with real melted organic chocolate and whipped cream – it was GIANT! Bigger than our cereal bowls at home – now that’s BIG!
The first thing I noticed when I walked into Eren’s Grill was the neatness and precision of the refrigerator case. Platters of perfectly aligned kebabs await the grill. Bowls of bright-red-hued eggplant-tomato salad and pale, fluffy humus. Glistening rows of dark-green stuffed grape leaves. Then Eren, a young man wearing chef’s white’s embellished with the Turkish flag, stepped out from the open kitchen and proudly started telling me about his fresh and homemade food.
Fairfield’s new and only Turkish restaurant is a small joint in a strip mall. With just a few tables, it does a lot of take-out and catering. Whether eat-in or take-out, it’s a welcome addition to the Tunxis Hill section of Fairfield, a neighborhood that could use more good food. And the food here is good: fresh and full of flavor. Ottoman cuisine has a long and noble history, and Eren – who was head chef of the Athens’ Tike, an international group of Turkish restaurants in places like London, Cyprus and Kiev -- for 8 years -- is proud to put his signature on it. “I want to play a little,” he says.
Farfalle, Fettuccine, Orecchiette, Penne, Fusilli, Orzo…..the list goes on, and my heart beats a little faster each time I hear one of these magical words. That’s what pasta is really, a little bit of magic. It has the power to transport you to your first bite of mac and cheese in your Grandma’s kitchen, to Sunday night baked spaghetti, to home. Although I am not Italian, pasta has always been a part of my life and my weakness. This long-lasting relationship began when I was in a high chair, with bowties and butter and has since spiraled to squid ink fettuccine topped with sautéed scallops served in a warm Gorgonzola cream sauce as a college student today. In between, there has been shrimp alfredo, orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sweet sausage, vegetable lasagna, and the classic Bolognese. As I grow, so does this list.
The weekend morning meal. This sacred cow for many, consists of copious amounts of coffee, newsprint (for you digital hold-outs), and a healthy combination of carbs and protein. In addition to providing fuel for the errand-filled, kid-chaffeuring day ahead, brunch can also be one of the most frequently debated destinations of your weekend.
Since they began serving brunch just a month ago, Sugar & Olives in Norwalk has easily moved to the top of my brunch list. House-made ingredients, a green certification and a happy space make Sugar & Olivesthe type of place you can drop-in with your friends, a gaggle of kids or simply fly solo and enjoy this most important of weekend meals.
Last Thursday marked the opening weekend of Dinners at the Farm's 2011 season. This year, Jonothan Rapp of River Tavern Restaurant and his team of top notch chefs will park their big red truck at two farms; Barberry Hill Farm in Madison, CT and White Gate Farm in Old Lyme. Dinners at the Farm started in 2007, long before "farm to table" fare became mainstream, and they continue to delight guests with exceptional menus, farm tours, and insight into the life of a farmer in CT. View the Photo Gallery here.
"Dinners at the Farm is a series of benefit dinners celebrating Connecticut's local farms, food and community as a way to generate awareness of the importance and vitality of our local farming community and the delicious, wholesome and abundant food it provides us. Recreating a sense of connection to farming, cooking and eating is what Dinners at the Farm is all about." --Dinners at the Farm
A portion of every dinner goes to the non-for-profit community benefiting organizations such as Connecticut Farmland Trust, Slow Food Connecticut, CitySeed, Shoreline Soup Kitchen and Pantries, and Working Lands Alliance.
Last spring we told you about Bereket, an tiny authentic Turkish eatery tucked behind a gas station in Bridgeport. This fortuitous find primarily offered takeout, but if you were lucky enough to get one of the 3 small tables, you were served food worthy of an Ottoman emperor. While we loved hiding out behind the Citgo station, we were pleased to hear that owner Selahattin Cinar had moved his very reasonably priced menu and talented cooks to a much larger space in Blackrock (the old Helados Vazquez). With an upgraded interior worthy of the excellent fare, Selahattin can now focus on the customer experience...and a more gracious host you've never seen. Warm up your car for a quick departure to Bridgeport.
Pizza is easy to love. Who doesn’t relish gooey mounds of cheese over even the most basic sauces and crusts? But for diners concerned with their health, it is no secret that most pizza is loaded with fat and sodium. For those with gluten allergies or intolerance, pizza parlor pizza is off limits.
SAVOR PIZZA in Norwalk is a dream come true for pizza lovers with gluten sensitivities and diners who are mindful of eating lower fat, less salt and organic ingredients. For those with gluten intolerance, it may become your go-to spot for take out pizza, the meal you thought you would never be able to eat again.
I’m not much for New Year's Resolutions, but I do know that by making small changes, we can impact our health, the planet and the way we raise our kids. Something as small as where you buy your food can be one of those changes, so I was eager to check out Graze, a local farm-to-fridge online grocery delivery service “on a mission to bring fresh, wholesome and sustainably produced foods directly from small local family farms in Vermont to your front door.” Graze sells pasture-raised beef, just-picked local organic produce in season, award-winning artisanal cheeses and even home-cooked meals.
After a long weekend, capped off by a nasty blizzard, my supplies of fresh milk, eggs, fresh cider, meat and other staples have dwindled down to nil, and our fridge is pitifully bare. Normally, at this juncture, I’m faced with the quandary: Do I bundle up, shovel out and brave the unplowed back roads so that I can then fight the crowds at Whole Foods or Stew’s? Not anymore, thanks to Graze (grazedelivered.com).
Yoga devotees and newcomers alike celebrated when KaiaYoga, a complete wellness center, opened in Westport in June of this year. An offer to explore the new center with a deal called “30 days for $30”, enticed 2500 new students of all ages to take classes and explore this new studio. With 10,000 square feet and two thoughtfully designed levels, this location offers a large selection of yoga classes and wellness services for all members of the community. Now members and non-members alike can rejoice again. Husband and wife duo Stan Woodman and Gina Norman have finally opened KaiaCafe, an organic juice bar that offers a carefully edited selection of salads and wraps, in addition to freshly squeezed juices, boosts, smoothies and remedies. Over 20 organic teas are offered by the cup or pot, as are coffee, espresso and capuccino with any kind of milk you can imagine.
Sustainable, seasonal, local, organic, and green might be popular phrases these days among the media and the masses, but to those who truly care about where their food comes from, whether they contain pesticides and want to support their communities, these are very powerful words indeed. By buying locally, seasonally and organically, the consumer never has to worry about food recalls. More importantly, the consumers know not only where their food comes from, but get to know their farmers by name. These are the people who also truly care about the future of their children and of children for generations to come… These are the people who truly care about preserving the world around them.
Patti Popp of Sport Hill Farm is just this type of person.
Tucked in the rear of a charming passageway on Elm Street in New Canaan is Baldanza Natural Market Cafe. With a large and diverse organic menu, and a blackboard filled with the names of local purveyors, this small restaurant is fast becoming a local favorite. Owners Sandy and Angela Baldanza opened the café last year serving lunches and an occasional ‘pop up dinner’. Baldanza recently expanded the hours to include regular dinner service and partnered with Chef Kender Urena, who many will remember as the Chef /Owner of Bistro Bonne Nuit. Urena was awarded a Grand Diploma in Culinary Art with outstanding honors from the French Culinary Institute in NYC and was one of Bon Appétit Magazine Top 100 Chefs in America in 2007.
