Community Table’s Executive Chef Marcel Davidsen has crafted a transcendent winter menu that is an appropriately hearty take on the restaurant’s sustainably-driven roots. The menu has always borne a Nordic edge, and Davidsen often mines his Danish heritage heightening this influence. Unlikely yet harmonious pairings (white chocolate, sunchokes and oysters, anyone?) and distinct plating are also the restaurant's signatures.
"My Danish roots plays a strong role in the thought process of developing a new dish, sometimes it can be the Scandinavian simplicity in presentation other times it can be the flavor profile, or a childhood memory," said Davidsen.
Community Table's dishes and its atmosphere are the unique result of a team effort. "Everybody plays an important role in developing a dish, I encourage my cooks to test and research as much as possible. We have some really great talent which I'm forever thankful for," said Davidsen.
Tired of cooking? Looking for something less expensive than take-out from a restaurant? Then a new venture on Vitti Street in New Canaan, GOOD2GOURMET, may be an alternative. The brainchild of local resident and mother of four, Lisa Strupp, GOOD2GOURMET offers a variety of soups, salads, and entrées for families to enjoy. Teaming with business partner Kevin Schmudde, the two enlisted the culinary skills of Executive Chef Eric Ulbrich to create a menu that includes soups, salads, pastas, and entrées. Customers go to the website (they do not take telephone orders), place their order, choose a 1-hour delivery window (curbside pick-up at the store is also available) and the food will be on the front stoop as requested. Alternatively, customers can visit and purchase a selection of items at the store.
Marcell Davidsen will succeed Joel Viehland as Executive Chef of Community Table in Washington, CT beginning May 15. The restaurant shared the news of Davidsen's appointment in an announcement released this evening. A native of Denmark whose style is infused with Nordic infuences and exquisite plating, Davidsen was the restaurant's fomer sous chef under Viehland. Community Table's mission – celebrating modern cuisine informed by local farms and purveyors – will remain the overarching framework under Chef's Davidsen's leadership:
From Community Table:
Marcell Davidsen succeeds Joel Viehland as Executive Chef of Community Table After five remarkable years, and much national recognition including a nomination for best new restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation and best chef nominations by Food and Wine Magazine and James Beard, Joel Viehland passes the reins to his former Sous Chef Marcell Davidsen.
Chefs Tyler Anderson, Bill Taibe, and Joel Viehland were recently recognized by the James Beard Foundation as semifinalists in the 2015 Best Chef: Northeast category. On the occasion of their nomination, we asked each of them to answer a few questions, from the serious (key influences and mentors) to the hypothetical (a CTbites blank check to open a new restaurant).
Want to know where Chef Tyler Anderson's next restaurant could be, who Chef Viehland would love to cook for, and who is one of Chef Taibe's biggest influences (hint: he is a chef in one of his kitchens)?
Read on for this and more from three of Connecticut's best chefs.
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.
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 is nothing better than being able to select a gourmet recipe and have all the needed fresh ingredients arrive and ready to cook with just a few clicks.
Plated.com makes meal making fun, easy, and a delicious experience. It is a mash-up of an online grocery store and a private cooking lesson. Easy to follow recipes, with pictures are provided. This is a great activity for two or the entire family, helping to reconnect people while sharing great food. The average time to prepare one of the meals is 30-40 minutes.
“Each week, 7 chef-designed recipes are featured on the menu. The dishes include 4 healthy meat & fish options and 3 unique vegetarian dishes.” The produce is fresher than what is typically found at the grocery store and can be enjoyed all week long.
Costs are simple to understand, they are per plate. Trial offers are currently running so check it out and go cook something extraordinary!
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.
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.
Join Barcelona Wine Bar in Fairfield and CTbites on Tuesday on July 24 from 6 to 8 pm for a "Harvest Happy Hour" to welcome the new Farmigo CSA program to Connecticut. This casual and free event will take place in Barcelona's garden with a cooking demo by Chef Helton. Light bites made with ingredients from the Barcelona garden and local farms. Meet Farmigo representatives, local farmers and artisans partnering with the program.
Mark Seigel, owner and purveyor of GOLD COAST GOURMET for the past 22 years, will be your freezer's best friend - reliable and ALWAYS there when you need him. I was lucky enough to be referred to Mark by a Westport friend (he only works by referrals, no door-to-door harassment) and just in the nick of time. With Memorial Day weekend and the warm summer months approaching, there is enormous potential for a lot of home entertaining with many "Mom, I also brought the rest of the team home for dinner " possibilities. If you are like me, this can cause some major anxiety. This year, no problemo. Gold Coast Gourmet provides home delivery of prime meats, gourmet seafood and much, much more. The great thing about this service is that you are purchasing items by the "box" meaning that most things come in individually wrapped, perfectly manageable, flash-frozen portions.
With a stellar location in Westport on the Saugatuck, and a Taiwanese chef, trained in Japanese cuisine with more than 20 years in the restaurant business, Westporters have something to be hopeful about in a new local take out and delivery place.
Bistro 88, a family run restaurant, is dishing up food from several Asian destinations including China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and even Indonesia, in the form of traditional Sambal. Lucky for us that points of political contention hasn’t gotten in the way of allowing us to choose freely from this flowing menu of Asian delights. Looming largely as a take out and delivery business, this tiny joint also has limited seating with service for those who prefer to eat there. Plus, the menu is so extensive (reading like a Bible for Asian food), there is surely something for everyone.
How many nights have you sat at home wishing that dinner would magically appear on your doorstep? Well, maybe that's just me, but in Fairfield County the delivery options are generally limited to pizza and a few Chinese joints. Enter GoWaiter, a national franchised restaurant delivery service, who will for $3.99 pick up and deliver lunch and dinner from over 40 local restaurants. Check out the list of participating restaurants below (including Da Pietro's, Layla's Falafel, & Tabouli Grill):
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.
Ed Hartz is a milkman with a mission. He wants to “revolutionize the food distribution system” by taking us back to the days when milkmen delivered local dairy products to our doors. Even if you don’t remember pulling glass milk bottles from a galvanized container stationed by the back porch door, it’s likely you can picture the image. Ed’s goal is to turn that image into reality and revive the tradition of the milkman in Fairfield County. With a truck painted like a Holstein, he has aptly named his new business The Milkman Company, and he is working to spread the word that the Milkman is back and better than ever with deliveries of milk (including raw milk), eggs, cheese, yogurt, meats and other farm fresh products.
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).
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a means for consumers to buy a share in a farm's seasonal production directly from the farmer. Consumers benefit from buying local, farm fresh, high quality produce at an attractive price and farmers benefit from pre-selling the harvest. It’s a clear win-win. CSA members typically pick up their weekly shares at the farm or a location in their community, but a new CSA option is delivered to your door! Community pick up locations generally involve a small volunteer commitment, perhaps two hours per season, during which the site is readied and broken down for weekly share distribution. CSA membership is not for everyone because in such a partnership arrangement, the consumer shares both the bounty of the farm's harvest and some of the risks inherent in farming.
We have lost so much farmland in Connecticut that less than one percent of our residents earn a living by farming. Eat well, support your local farmer and do your bit to preserve farmland by buying a CSA share in one of our precious organic or IPM (Integrated Pest Management)farms.
Back in January I announced that it was CSA registration month and shared that two organic farms were expanding and had opened their lists to new CSA families: Sport Hill Farm in Easton and The Hickories in Ridgefield. The CSAs from these two farms quickly sold out. The good news is that there are still a few CSAs open for new subscribers, but you should act quickly if you want to secure a share.
Until a few months ago, Stamford was a two falafel town, Myrna’s Authentic and Layla’s Falafel. That’s why I was thrilled this fall when I began to hear rumblings of a new contender for the Stamford, Connecticut Middle Eastern heavyweight title. Tabouli Grill had entered the ring -- with gloves on.
“Oh, you’ve got to try it,” cooed one of my Stamford girls. “It’s so fresh,” declared another, “I’m there once a week” and the holy grail of suburban dining, they deliver too!
Community Table’s Executive Chef Marcel Davidsen has crafted a transcendent winter menu that is an appropriately hearty take on the restaurant’s sustainably-driven roots. The menu has always borne a Nordic edge, and Davidsen often mines his Danish heritage heightening this influence. Unlikely yet harmonious pairings (white chocolate, sunchokes and oysters, anyone?) and distinct plating are also the restaurant's signatures. 
