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)
Lloyd Allen’s Double L Market in Westport is celebrating its 20th year. The market, now in its third location near Hillspoint Road, is the “original” farmstand. Described as “eclectic” it has weathered every storm and outlasted the competition thanks to a very dedicated group of followers. “When you’ve done this for as long as I have you get to know a lot of people and what they want. We want to be able to offer the best!” Allen told me.
“We were a farmstand and farmers market long before anyone else - before it became a thing. We were wild, and on the side of the road, in the open air and having lots of fun doing it.” Although Allen and his staff are no longer on the side of the road, and are now in an enclosed air-conditioned corner store, a little bit of that wildness still remains. “We are still having a great time,” he added. “You meet people who are passionate on both sides of the market - the growers are passionate about producing the best and our consumers are passionate to find and eat the best.”
Bold…intense…complex…flavors, these are the words that best describe the menu that Master Chef Prasad Chirnomula is serving at his latest restaurant, INDIA, in New Canaan. Chef Prasad is no stranger to New Canaan, or Connecticut. As the owner/chef of the highly successfully Thali restaurants, he announced several months ago that he was closing his flagship restaurant in New Canaan, desirous of opening a smaller, more intimate, restaurant in town. The interior of INDIA does just that, with a relaxed, sensual feel accentuated with flowing silk curtains engulfing many of the tables.
Chef Prasad invited CTbites to enjoy traditional cuisine from various regions of India, as well as sample many of his creative and inventive renditions from across southeast Asia and Africa. During the visit, this gregarious Master Chef joined us to explain the history, the composition, his vision for the dish as well as the numerous ingredients that were required to meet his high standards. His exuberance was evident in every description, and it translated into each of his creations. After close to twenty different dishes, my appreciation for his talent and the Indian heritage was significantly elevated, this was a culinary adventure. I was also pleasantly surprised when he told us that most are gluten-free, Indian recipes do not thicken sauces with gluten.
Recently some members of The CTBites team and I had the opportunity to revisit and sit together at Sugar and Olives in Norwalk to try out the new springtime menu. For those of you who have not yet visited (what are you waiting for?!) Sugar and Olives was established by Westport resident, Jennifer Balin, in 2008. Her goal was, and remains, to educate diners and cultivate the relationship between farms and families. She is committed to serving local food, and nearly all the items on the generous menu come from within the state, including milk, cheese, eggs, fruit, vegetables, beef, pork, poultry and fish, as well as wine, beer and spirits. This three star Certified Green Restaurant serves brunch five days a week and dinner three nights a week.
Many of the best restaurants are unassumingly tucked into the landscape without fanfare or grand decor. Such is Tawa, newly relocated in the Glenbrook section of Stamford, where the simple and modest decor takes a back seat to the food. Admittedly I am no expert on Indian Cuisine but have eaten it enough to formulate my own theories about which restaurants stand out from the crowd. Tawa is such a place.
Chef Kausik Roy describes his restaurant as one that that embraces tradition but appeals to a variety of tastes. His cooking is modern, yet classically timeless. "Tawa is a very different type of Indian restaurant, one that draws on a deep respect of food tradition and a love for breaking food rules that emerged in me when I was very young.”
The news that Chef Prasad Chirnomula was moving across Main Street to the building that formerly housed Boulevard 18 in New Canaan spread like wildfire throughout the culinary underground in Fairfield County. Locals who enjoyed his cuisine at Thali would once again enjoy the chef’s traditional and inventive Indian creations. What concept would the new restaurant entail? Would it duplicate the feel and cuisine of Thali.
In an exclusive interview with CTbites, the celebrity chef gave his insight into his vision of the new restaurant, INDIA, from the new concept for the cuisine and the vibe to the exciting collaboration on the cocktails with mixologist Jessica Spector. With an anticipated opening date in mid-April, the chef is already developing a different feel for INDIA.
When Chirnomula announced the closing of Thali, his landmark Connecticut restaurant, he was quick to mention that he was not leaving New Canaan, but was looking for a smaller, more intimate location. The neighboring space at 62 Main was a perfect location and he spoke with the owners of Boulevard 18, who wanted to concentrate on their sister restaurant, Strada 18 in South Norwalk…the timing was perfect. This free-standing building dates back almost 150 years and has housed several outstanding restaurants including L’Abbée and Aloi, prior to Boulevard 18.
When one restaurant door closes a new one opens. The institution that was Mario's closed last year, but this week I had the privilege of attending an intimate event celebrating the opening of Harvest Wine Bar & Restaurant, at their newest location on Railroad Avenue in Westport. This farm to fork eatery joins the popular Greenwich and New Haven locations as well as Cava, Scena and 55, and is the result of the collaborative endeavor of the Kluber, Nube and Vincente Siguenza sibling team, who have over the past 10 years combined their passion for wine, food and customer service to create some of the area’s finest dining establishments.
Tickets have gone on sale for the Dinners At The Farm 2016 season!
At Dinners At The Farm, each evening begins at 6:00pm, dinner served at 7:00pm. Tickets are per person and are $125 (Wednesdays, Thursdays & Sundays), $150 (Fridays and Saturdays).Upon arrival, guests are greeted with an orchard fruit cocktail and passed hors d’oeuvre and then proceed onto a lively tour of the farm with our warm and engaging farm hosts. Following the tour, guests are seated beneath a tent at long candle-lit tables with white porcelain settings where they will savor course after course of freshly cooked food with ingredients just picked from the fields outside the tent. Guests will break bread and raise a glass with the farmers, fishermen, and others who make up Connecticut’s vibrant agricultural community.
Our 2016 season marks 10 years of hosting our celebrated open-air dinners in the fields of Connecticut farms for delightful and delicious evenings of locally grown food, wine, and conviviality. Dates and additional information here.
Chef Brian Lewis, one of Connecticut’s most influential chefs and celebrated for being on the cutting edge of the state’s dining scene, opened his new restaurant, The Cottage, this past weekend. It is Chef Lewis’ second Fairfield County restaurant, redesigning the space that formerly housed Le Farm into a charming 44-seat establishment in the heart of town. Known for his thoughtful and innovative dishes that garnered him accolades from The New York Times, Esquire and Connecticut Magazine, The Cottage features his highly revered seasonal American cuisine in a warm and relaxing environment.
The Cottage reflects Chef Lewis’ vision and represents his desire to produce a premier neighborhood destination serving the finest, locally sourced cuisine. The menu will be updated weekly paying homage to local farmers and artisans in the region that share Lewis’s commitment to exceptionally sourced and quality seasonal ingredients. “My wife, Dana, and I have fallen in love with Westport over the years, spending so much of our free time here with our boys, Jude and Jax. The food scene here, the community of chefs, and farmer’s market have always been a big part of my day to day life.”
Chef Luke Venner has been at the helm of elm Restaurant for several months and was invited to participate at the Greenwich Wine and Food Festival as one of the Innovative Chefs. The two small bites that he prepared at the festival were delicious. In hopes that these were reflective of his newly revised menu, CTbites returned to the restaurant to sample other dishes on his recently introduced Autumn menu. The appetizers and entrées that we enjoyed highlighted the inherent flavors of the ingredients utilizing Chef Luke’s balanced vision and delicate touch.
We shared three dishes from the “smaller” section of the menu.
The dream began in a sandbox…..where five year old Geoff Lazlo planted his first garden.
Since then, he has tended, harvested, and cooked with the likes of Alice Waters at Chez Panisse, Michael Anthony at Gramercy Tavern, Dan Barber at Stone Barns, and Bill Taibe at The Whelk.
“What a pedigree!” we said to Lazlo, now the Managing Partner and Executive Chef of the newly opened Mill Street Table and Bar in Greenwich. “Your takeaway?”
"That a seasonal cook has to react like a top athlete," he told us. “Fresh ingredients are in constant motion. Early asparagus is very different than late asparagus, so you're always adjusting to a fast, ever changing game."
Geoff's garden isn't Madison Square, but his own herb and vegetable plots at Greenwich Community Gardens, and, of course, Back 40 Farm. That’s the family acreage in Washington Depot run by his partners at Mill Street, Bill and Leslie King, who head up the organic-centric Back 40 Group.
What Lazlo doesn't pick from there, he sources locally: whether it be oysters farmed off the Greenwich shore, milk, cream and butter churned atArethusa Dairy Farm in Litchfield, even Byram River Rum, distilled down the road in Post Chester. Mill Street represents the fulfilment of Geoff’s dream to establish his own place, an “American Restaurant,” celebrating family, community and local bounty.
With August in full swing, farmers across Connecticut are preparing for one of the most important times of year; harvest season. On September 13th, 2015 Connecticut Farmland Trust will be celebrating the bounty of the harvest at The Hickories farm in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Please join other local food enthusiasts from 3:00 to 7:00 PM for a locally grown dinner prepared by Chef Tim LaBant of The Schoolhouse at Cannondale. Chef LaBant will be preparing hors d’oeuvres, a family style dinner, and dessert from farms across the state featuring produce from The Hickories farm and Sport Hill Farm, meat from Stuart Family Farm, ice cream from the Farmer’s Cow, and cheese from Beltane Farm and Cato Corner Farm. (Ticket info here)
Wine and local beer will also be served at the event, however, attendees are also encouraged to bring their favorite beverages. Bluegrass music will be provided by Dick Neal and Friends.
When Sal and Forrest invite you to a summer tasting menu, you say yes first and ask questions later. That would be Sal Bagliavio, owner of Bailey’s Backyard in Ridgefield, and Forrest Pasternack, the restaurant’s executive chef. The two have been the creative force behind the restaurant’s New American menu since its reinvention just two years ago.
The story of Bailey’s actually goes back to 1999 when Sal, a chef himself, renovated the then coffee shop into a beloved Ridgefield restaurant that he ran for over a decade. Eager for a new chapter but happy to remain in Ridgefield, he reimagined it as a New American restaurant driven by seasonal ingredients and local purveyors in 2013. Over the past two years, Bailey’s has solidified its place in the Fairfield County dining scene thanks to the adventurous culinary spirit of Chef Pasternack and the dedication of Bagliavio.
The Back 40 Farm Group will open Back 40 Kitchen this July on Greenwich Avenue, amodern take on organic farmhouse cuisine. Back 40 Kitchen will be a haven for those seeking healthy, organic food without sacrificing sophistication. The restaurant will source the majority of its produce from Back 40 Farm, an 85-acre family-owned organically managed farm in Washington, CT, as well as other regional organic and sustainable farms and purveyors.
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.
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.
Mark your calendars. On Wednesday, March 20th, the first day of spring, tickets will go on sale for the 2015 season of Outstanding In The Field.Buy tickets here and do it fast! These go quickly.
CT will host 3 events this year. The Hickories will host Chef Jennifer Balin of Sugar & Olives on Sept. 8th as well as Chefs Holly Michaud & Scott Ostrander of Mama’s Boy on Sept. 9th. Day 3 will be at Waldingfield Farm with Jason Sobocinski of Casseus Fromagerie & Bistro.
"Outstanding in the Field is a roving culinary adventure– literally a restaurant without walls." Their mission is to re-connect diners to the land and the origins of their food, and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it. The other meaning of Outstanding in the Field is outstanding as in the best.
Tikkaway has opened a second location at 2 Howe Street in New Haven, in addition to their original location at 135 Orange Street, serving the same fast casual and healthy Indian menu. This article was originally posted on September 1, 2013. Enjoy!
There is a movement underway in New Haven that may change the way Americans view Indian food. Often the domain of full-service restaurants, Indian cuisine has yet to enter the category of ‘fast casual.’ This scarcity is what some would call an opportunity.
Tikkaway Grill is the brainchild of businessman Gopinath (Gopi) Nair, a chef with the rare combination of a culinary degree and an MBA. Gopi may be a familiar face to Indian food lovers in Fairfield County as a former managing partner of Coromandel, spending much of his time in its South Norwalk location. His passion for Indian cuisine, combined with an unfailing dedication to customer service, has inspired Tikkaway’s central tenants--a fresh, healthy, and informal take on Indian food. A pared down menu, casual setting and approachable price point, seeks to demystify while at the same time celebrating, the south asian spice-loving cuisine for the masses.
Seven is Breno Donatti’s lucky number. His restaurant, “ Bistro 7” is located on Highway 7 in Wilton. “Seven is God's favorite number,” he told us, “And I also got the inspiration for Bistro 7 in the 7th district of Paris in a place called ‘Cafe Central.’”
Well, hopefully we won’t jinx anything by dubbing his re-programed farm–to-fork café in Wilton as “Bistro 7.1.”
With a new chef, sous chef, general manager, and a reimagined food and beverage menu, Donatti has updated his operating system, and from what we tasted at a recent Grand Reopening, the app is not just new, but vastly improved: less complicated and well-priced.
We began with a Roasted Root Veggie Bisque, blended with slow cooked carrots, butternut squash, parsnips, sweet potato, root spices, and garnished with a bacon chip. Breno claims it’s even better than his award winning Butternut Squash Bisque and we don’t disagree.
In a recent interview with Yale's Environment 360, Dan Barber dsicussed the failure of the farm-to-table movement to support sustainable agriculture on a large scale. He tasked "the table that must support the farm, not the other way around." For the full interview and to listen to the podcast, visit Environment 360.
But I went to Klaas’s farm [in upstate New York] to learn this recipe of wheat and I was standing in the middle of a field and all of a sudden discovered that he was growing very little wheat, and that instead he was growing a whole suite of lowly grains like millet and buckwheat and barley, and leguminous crops like Austrian winter peas and kidney beans. He was growing a lot of cover crops like vetch and clover.
Tickets have gone on sale for the Dinners At The Farm 2016 season!
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. 
