Fairfield County has some great bars with good old fashioned bar food…wings, burgers, fries, onion rings, cheesesteaks, with a wide variety of beers. Recently, many have expanded the menu to include tacos, chili, ribs, chicken and other down and dirty delicacies. When I received an invitation to join a media event at Johnny Utah’s in SoNo I was curious, since this bar also features a mechanical bull (spoiler…not happenin’).
The 2016 Olympics may be over, but don't despair sports fans! Football season is starting! Get out your jerseys and prepare to cheer on your teams. Here are 20 Connecticut restaurants and bars with TVs and game day specials so you can enjoy all the showdowns.
Saturday’s events include the Grand Tasting Tent, hosting more than 150 food and beverage vendors. TheSaturday All-Day Pass, priced at $150 includes admission to the Grand Tasting Tent, cooking demonstrations, celebrity bookstore, Top Bartender Showdown, Burger Battle, Grill Master Tent, Taco Party and lawn seating to co-headliners Ziggy Marley and Old Crow Medicine Show.
CONTEST: Enter to win TWO free Saturday All-Day passes by commenting below why you want to go and who you will take as your guest.
Garelick & Herbs new dream home is ready for prime time. The purveyors of all things delicious is officially open at 3611 Post Road Southport.
50 food trucks are throwing down in Thomas’ Breakfast Battle, a competition to see who can make the best breakfast dish with Thomas’ English muffins and bagels. One of Connecticut’s own, The Whey Station, is participating. Fans of the truck can start voting online beginning September 12 at ThomasBreakfastBattle.com. Voting is open for one week before the list of contestants goes from 50 to 25.
Food Trucks in the Valley takes place in Shelton on Thursday September 15 from 4-8pm. The celebration includes over 25 food trucks, music, craft beer, a car show, kids’ activities, local celebrities, and more. Admission is free (though food and beverages will be purchased inside).
The 2nd Annual Jazz on the Rocks in Harbor Point comes to Stamford on Thursday September 15. In addition to the music, a general admission ticket includes a whiskey, wine, and craft beer tasting as well as samples from area restaurants. VIP packages are available too.
Taste of New Haven presents Apizza & Eatson Friday September 16. During the second annual New Haven Grand Prix, a national circuit bicycle race, College Street will boast dozens of food vendors, New Haven style pizza, beer, entertainment, and more. The fun takes place from 4-10pm.
Tropical Storm Hermine brought mid-70s temperatures, a few clouds, and soothing gusts of wind to Connecticut, that made for a picture perfect weekend at the Blues, Views, & BBQ Festival in Westport.
The 9th edition of this meat-and-music-centric fair featured grilled and smoked food from area restaurants and food trucks but the real action was at the CTbites Demo Tent where 5 chefs rocked it out and dished out crowd pleasing, meat-heavy samples.
This year’s lineup was kicked off by Pietro Scotti (Da Pietro’s) who made juicy milk-fed chicken marinated in a blend of citrus and “secret spices,” grilled with orange and lemon slices and fresh sprigs of rosemary. Then it got REALLY meat heavy when Matt Storch (Match, Nom-Eez) served a trio of Vietnamese grilled meats, followed by Jonathan Vaast (Walrus + Carpenter, Rothbard) with homemade curry bratwurst, and Carlos Baez (The Spread, El Segundo) who skewered tender pieces of ribeye, marinated in ginger and lemongrass, grilled mid-rare, and topped with a green chili sauce.
This exclusive release was just received by CTbites from Chris Gonzalez.
"HAPA Food Concepts, the Stamford-based hospitality company and force behind the wildly popular HAPA Food Truck, announces the end of its successful collaboration with Fairfield’s Miro Kitchen, which opened in early 2016.
With menu items such as Korean Short Rib Tacos and Gonzalez’s famous ube bread, chef and HAPA co-founder, Chris Gonzalez has cultivated a loyal following with his unique ability to fuse cultural flavors.
Gonzalez, his wife Nicole Samela-Gonzalez and partner George Calvar, are now turning their focus on the continued growth and expansion of the HAPA brand as they write the next chapter in HAPA’s culinary story.
Award wining chefs from every New England state and thousands of discernible foodies from all over descend on Westport CT on the first Sunday in October to determine who has the best chowder, soup & bisque in New England.
Chowdafest will be held on Sunday October 2, 2106 at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport CT from 11AM to 3PM. The event will feature 40 restaurants from all over New England and as far away at Seattle. The festival features four categories of competition: Classic New England Clam Chowder, Traditional Chowder exclusively for Rhode Island (clear broth) and Manhattan Clam Chowders (tomato based), Creative Chowders and Soup & Bisque. Attendees receive a spoon, ballot and pencil when they arrive. They enjoy unlimited sampling and rate each entry on a scale from 7 to 10.5 with half point intervals. Restaurants with the highest overall average in their respective categories will be declared New England champions.
Tickets are now on sale for festival events! The Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival, one of the East Coast’s most sophisticated and anticipated events, returns for its 11th year from September 22 – 25, 2016. Signature events include the Bordeaux Dinner on Thursday evening, the Wine & Rosecliff Gala on Friday evening, Grand Tastings on Saturday and Sunday, the Vintner Dinner on Saturday evening, Newport After Dark on Saturday evening, Jazz Brunch on Sunday and Seminars in The Breakers Stable and Carriage House throughout the weekend. Tickets are now on sale at www.NewportMansionsWineAndFood.org.
Join CT Bites and Chef Bill Taibe for a inspiring evening of seasonal food and conversation at Millstone Farm, the area's leader in sustainable agriculture. You'll be inspired by the best chefs in our community while you enjoy a one time only menu to support a cause close to their hearts - fighting food waste and feeding food insecure people of Fairfield County. Tickets can be purchased here.
Participating Chefs: Anthony Kostelis, The Whelk| Bill Taibe, The Whelk & Kawa Ni | Carlos Baez, The Spread | Dan Sabia, Lake Kitchawan | Geoff Lazlo, Mill Street Bar & Table | Jim Eckler, Lake Kitchawan | Mogan Anthony, Village Social & Locali
On the corner Main and Commerce in Portland is a cozy place that’s the “Cheers” of breakfast, Sarah's On Main—“where everybody knows your name and you’re always glad you came.” If you’re from either side of the river, don’t be surprised if you bump into old friends—or make new ones. I do both each time I go. Whether you find a spot at the counter or grab a table, there’s fresh and local deliciousness with a spin of creativity, courtesy of Sarah Weeden.
What began as a quest for waffles grew into a steady habit of breakfast—and occasional lunch—at my newest home away from home.
Day one, I realized I’d stumbled into a little gem when I tried the BLT Bennie. Served on toasted brioche, it’s sheer perfection of a Benedict, drizzled with Hollandaise. The hash of the day was summer squash and zucchini, which I requested instead of home fries. Thumbs up all the way around.
Newly opened Aspetuck Brew Lab in Bridgeport will host a Stoked Flame Fest from 2pm til close in their parking lot on Saturday September 10.
Friday September 9 marks the Grand Opening of The Halal Guys in New Haven. Starting at 11am, 5 grand prize winners can wine free food for one month, the first 1000 guests will receive free swag, and everyone can celebrate the debut of the New Haven location. Find them at 906 Chapel Street.
Every Tuesday night, join Walrus + Carpenter for a Compin’ + Stompin’ Jazz Jam Session. The evening features featuring Ian Tait, Scott Packham and Ted Morcaldi playing a mix of swing, modern and fusion.
Nothing says autumn more than the fragrance of dessert baking in the oven. And this autumn-lover can think of no better dessert to usher in cooler temperatures than Silvia Baldini’s Upside-Down Pear and Ginger Cake. This year, Westport Farmers’ Market goers are in for a special treat – Fort Hill Farm has fresh ginger!
Fort Hill Farm of New Milford, is a 20-acre farm operating on land leased from The Nature Conservancy/Sunny Valley Preserve. Paul Bucciaglia and Rebecca Batchie operate Fort Hill Farm, which has been certified organic by Baystate Organic Certifiers since 2003 and adheres to the NOFA Farmers’ Pledge manifesto.
Recently the CTbites team previewed the menu at El Segundo in South Norwalk, the newest restaurant from the talented partners who created The Spread just up the block. The concept: Eat the Street. Intersect some of the world’s tastiest street food at the corner of Washington and North Water in SONO.
What began as a tasting quickly turned into a party ... a coming out party for Carlos Baez, Executive Chef of The Spread, one of the region’s most versatile, yet unheralded, chefs.
The menu flaunts Baez’ extraordinary range -- a gastronomic tour de force featuring over 3 dozen dishes curated from the boulevards and back allies of 27 countries on all seven continents, including barren Antarctica. (More about that selection later)
Last Friday, around the time the afternoon crowd was clicking on last week's column, I was overflowing with the desire to get out of town. A neighbor of mine, a semi-recent immigrant from eastern Europe, was heading home. In the years of our acquaintance I'd only known him to go two places: his day job as a carpenter, and his back yard. His whole idea of Connecticut, his entire concept of the U.S., for all I know, would be worksites, the highway, and a quarter acre of manicured grass. He was utterly unconcerned, but I was tragedy stricken - and determined to get out and do... something.
Just like in a movie script, that's when the phone rang.
"Sorry this is last minute, man," the caps lock Wisconsin accent told me who it was immediately. "But I need a trip to the casino. I got the room paid for, you just bring your liver."
I didn't really have the money to play with, it was Friday rush hour on I-95, and I try to avoid casinos in general.
"Sure. Let me pack." Let's see what happens, I thought. I am a leaf on the wind.
Although the end results were largely indistinguishable, the casino was marginally more entertaining than feeding those same $20 bills to sea gulls. I was neither keen to go back the next day, nor on the prospect of a two hour, day-wasting drive home. It was my turn to provide the inspiration:
If there’s one thing that the Greeks are known for, it’s warm hospitality. The ancients, believing that the gods walked among us, saw this as a practical matter; the lowliest beggar could be Zeus or Athena in disguise, and so was given a lavish welcome.
For Greek-Americans today, faith and tradition still make hospitality a priority. Just ask the members of St. Barbara’s Greek Orthodox Church in Orange, CT, as they prepare to welcome guests to their 36th annual “Odyssey” festival this Labor Day weekend.
The Odyssey Festival takes place at St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, 480 Racebrook Road, Orange, CT, 06477. Hours are 12 noon to 10 PM on Friday through Sunday, September 2nd through 4th, and 12 noon to 7 PM on Monday, September 5th, 2016.
Spiga Wine Bar opened quietly in New Canaan a few weeks ago, offering a menu that combines old world Italian red sauce cuisine with modern interpretations of classic dishes. As reported in the CTbites Sneak Peek, the new owners redesigned the interior to offer a family focus for early guests followed by a hip environment as the evening progresses. During its opening weekend, my wife and I visited after a movie and then again with friends for a late lunch. On both occasions we were all impressed with the cuisine, but were a little taken aback by the noise. CTbites was subsequently invited by the owners to visit one afternoon to sample additional items, discuss the changes envisioned to the menu and how the owners are addressing the desire of guests to enjoy conversation with friends and family.
In Thai, “nit noi” is defined as small or tiny. But there is nothing small about the flavor of Nit Noi Provision’s food. Founded by Jill and North Shutsharawan, Nit Noi Provisions of Westport delivers enormous flavor in every dish and seasoning crafted by this relative newcomer on the food scene. From Thai noodle soups, to broths and condiments, Nit Noi uses fresh, local, and sustainably sourced ingredients that explode with exotic yet accessible flavor. A weekly vendor at the Westport Farmers’ Market, Nit Noi proffered samples of its popular KMG dish at a recent happy hour at Patagonia. They share their recipe below.
Join CTbites, Moffly Media’s AtHome Magazine, and realtors Judy Michaelis & David Vynerib of CCO Habitats for Fairfield County's first ever, “KITCHENCRAWL,” a culinary tourto benefit Community Plates.
Here's how the Kitchen Crawl works... Guests will purchase a $45 ticket and proceed to 4 different Westport houses, where chefs from The Spread, The Pearl at Longshore, Nom Eez, Rothbard's & Vespa will be cooking just for you. Cooking demos and specially prepared bites will be enjoyed alongside wine and beer provided by Stew's Wines...all in spectacular designer kitchens.
Stamford Summer Restaurant week returns! Through September 4, select restaurants will offer special prix fixe lunches and dinners, starting at $10.16 and $15.16 respectively. Participants include popular eateries like Cask Republic, EOS, The Fez, and many many more! For menus, prices, and details, visit:
PARTY LIKE THE SUMMER’S NOT OVER!!!! Match Restaurant is switching up its regular menu for one night only and teaming up with Norm & Jimmy Bloom from Copps Island Oysters & Lobsters to bring you seafood fresh seafood from Long Island Sound! Special drinks alongside a full beer and cocktail menu. Monday August 29. See the menu here.
Fleishers Craft Butchery in Westport will have another installation of Beef Butchery 101 on Tuesday August 30 at 7pm. The night covers Craft Butchery philosophies on sourcing and sustainability, butchering knife skills, basic animal anatomy, demonstrations by a Craft Butchery master butcher, and tasting of samples.
Get your tickets now for ascreening of“At The Fork” on September 8 at 7:30. Filmmaker John Papola, and his wife Lisa provide unbiased look at how farm animals are raised for our consumption.
Fairfield County has some great bars with good old fashioned bar food…wings, burgers, fries, onion rings, cheesesteaks, with a wide variety of beers. Recently, many have expanded the menu to include tacos, chili, ribs, chicken and other down and dirty delicacies. When I received an invitation to join a media event at Johnny Utah’s in SoNo I was curious, since this bar also features a mechanical bull (spoiler…not happenin’).
