Behind the Scenes at Chop Shop Cooking School (sponsored post) Recipe Cooking Classes Education kids cooking party CTbites Team November 16, 2016 About six years ago, I began teaching cooking classes out of my home in Westport. Long after culinary school, a couple of years catering at Abigail Kirsch and many years catering on my own, the classes became a perfect way for me to share my love of food and cooking. Initially it was mostly friends and acquaintances but word quickly spread and before I knew it I was booking 2-3 classes a week from people all over the tri-state area. Here is a behind the scenes look at Chop Shop Cooking. A cooking class usually starts with an email: “I’m interested in a cooking class in December… “ Sometimes they have already done some homework and looked at my demonstration class schedule and it’s very straightforward: “I have 2 people and want to sign up for the Holiday Bites class on Thursday the 8th.” Easy! Great! Done! But more often, people like to create their own, tailored experience. Read More
Going Up the Country to East Hampton’s Fat Orange Cat Brew Co. Hope Simmons November 13, 2016 A drive down a road off Route 16 winds through a residential neighborhood. Park on the road or in the nearby field and walk up the stone-paved hill to a country barn with goats and chickens in the backyard. It’s Saturday—a.k.a. Caturday—and you’ve arrived at Fat Orange Cat Brew Co., a small seasonal farm brewery and tasting room in East Hampton, Connecticut. Read More
Nibble: CT Food Events for Week of Nov 14 - 21 Events News Emma Jane-Doody Stetson November 10, 2016 Baldanza Café in New Canaan is pleased to offer a new “Americana Menu.” Diners can now enjoy a 3-course prix fixe meal- appetizer, entrée, and dessert- for just $28. Celebrate opening day of The Westport Farmers' "Winter" Market November 12th. Food trucks, live music, local Spiked Seltzer, micro-brews and more! Every Saturday @ 7 Sylvan Lane, Westport. Visit the market on Saturdays at Gilbertie’s Greenhouse 10am-2pm through March 11. Walrus + Carpenter will hold one of their popular BrewGrass + Pig Roast nights on Thursday November 17 starting at 7:30pm. Join them for a whole hog pig roast, craft beer, and live bluegrass! On Friday November 18, Founder’s Hall in Ridgefield will host a Beefsteak Community Feast with an all-you-can-eat meal catered by Sarah Bouissou (of Sarah's Wine Bar) and bottomless libations. The event serves as a fundraiser for Founder’s Hall. Tickets are $150 per person. Read More
Winfield Street Italian Deli in Norwalk (sponsored post) Deli Italian Norwalk Specialty Market Comfort Food Lunch CTbites Team November 10, 2016 I was pleasantly surprised when I saw CTbites’ review of my deli and wanted to express my thanks to them and give their readers an inside view of the deli and my desire to purchase it and transform it into my vision. In 2015, after years of working late nights at high end spots such as Lambs Club, J House, Barcelona Wine Bar and my own Bistro Seven, I decided I wanted a break from the tiring and often showy restaurant scene. I wanted to serve good food and have a real connection with my patrons, staff, vendors and neighbors, without all the drama in a fine dining restaurant. I wanted something simple where I could be really myself with customers and staff. I heard of Winfield Deli and how a great chef, Pietro Scotti, served amazing sandwiches for over 20 years in this tucked-in spot, and had a blast at it. I wanted that too. I was no fan of delis because they were often dirty with an over-crowded menu, but I thought I could make my own version of a deli and elevate the deli concept to something closer to the Salumerias of Italy. Without pretension, I took over the little spot and gave a small face lift, keeping historic signs and equipment intact. Read More
CT Restaurants Serving Thanksgiving Dinner: 2016 Edition Restaurant Holiday Thanksgiving Emma Jane-Doody Stetson November 09, 2016 Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and many of Connecticut’s best restaurants have Thanksgiving specials worth gobbling up! From prix fixe menus to extensive buffets to family style to take-out, there are options for everyone. So don’t cry fowl– make your reservations today! Space is limited and seats fill up quickly. The National, Greenwich: The National in Greenwich will serve up Thanksgiving classics with family style sides and desserts on Thanksgiving Day. It costs $85 per adult and $35 for children under 12. For those looking to go out on Thanksgiving Eve, The National will stay open late with a live DJ and late night snack menu in the bar. Millwright’s, Simsbury: Millwrights in Simsbury will serve a prix fixe Thanksgiving menu from 11:30am-6pm. Adults are $59 while children 11 and under are $29. Rive Bistro, Westport: Their Thanksgiving menu has choices like Mousse de Foie Gras, a Turkey Plate, and Bistro Steak Frites. Find them in Westport. Cafe on the Green, Danbury: They will offer a four course Thanksgiving meal with dishes like Roasted Rack of Lamb and Pan Seared Red Snapper. Madison Beach Hotel, Madison: You are invited to their Thanksgiving Buffet, which includes an omelet station, carving station, hot buffet station, cheese array, dessert assortment, and more. Reservations are required and seatings are available from 11am-3pm. Read More
2016 Local and Heritage Turkey Guide via Fairfield Green Food Guide Ingredients Recipe Holiday CTbites Team November 09, 2016 Are you looking to celebrate Thanksgiving with a locally grown, Heritage breed or Broad-Breasted white turkey? Supplies are limited, so order your turkey as soon as possible following the instructions given by each farmer or retailer. It feels good to support our farmers this time of year, give thanks for those who feed us, and opt out of buying an industrial turkey, which doesn’t taste like much anyway. View the complete list of local CT Heritage breed or Broad-Breasted white turkey here. Read More
The Granola Bar: Healthy Eats & Coffee In Greenwich Restaurant Brunch Coffee Greenwich healthy Tea And Coffee Breakfast Lunch April Guilbault November 06, 2016 As more and more souls climb aboard the health(ier) train, the opportunities to eat well while eating out are becoming more frequent and less far between. Thankfully, the days of eating out with kids only to have them relegated to greasy, questionable servings of chicken nuggets, trans-fat laden fries, and white bread-grilled cheese or wondering how to stomach another blah serving of pasta primavera if you are vegetarian are fast departing. Enter, The Granola Bar, aka TGB. Having established a loyal and vibrant following in Westport over the past 3 years, the duo of Julie Mountain and Dana Noorily decided to branch out to Greenwich just four short months ago. Judging from the speed at which the dining area filled up on the day I visited, the enthusiasm is running at full-speed boogie. From making their own granola a few years ago to now running two thriving restaurants, its been a wild ride but not so wild that they have forgotten where the brakes are located; TGB only serves breakfast and lunch, along with copious amounts of snacks. No dinner. That is precisely so that these two women can make it home to their own families for dinner. Hello, balance. It’s nice to see you again. Read More
Friday Froth: Stone Brewing's Enjoy After 10.31.16 Comes Of Age Ingredients Beer CT Beer Friday Froth James Gribbon November 04, 2016 Fresh beer isn't always the best beer. As arguments for freshness go, you could make one for juicy, resinous IPAs, and you certainly don't want to drink any hot can of Busch Light which rolls out from underneath a car seat, but as the American craft beer industry matures, it's beginning to make beers meant to do the same. Stone, the Escondido, California brewer of undeniable arrogance, will shy away from claims of being the first to put "born on" dates on their bottles and cans, but they were the first to use "Enjoy By" as the actual name of a beer. The Enjoy By series of IPAs (followed by a date on each) was to be taken so seriously Stone would come and retrieve any unsold beers from retailers. This is why it was so interesting when Stone Enjoy After 10.31.16 hit shelves - in 2015. This week I opened the bottle I bought over a year ago. Here's what happened. Read More
25 CT Restaurants & Venues for Holiday Parties Restaurant Catering Entertaining Holiday Emma Jane-Doody Stetson November 04, 2016 Halloween has come and gone and November is officially here! As you admire your bounties of candy, indulge in all things pumpkin, and embrace fall’s chilly temperatures, don’t forget to consider your holiday parties! Connecticut has a number of restaurants and venues that are sure to make your special occasions memorable. From private dining rooms to ballrooms to event planning teams, these 25 places will help you get your party on! South End, New Canaan: South End in New Canaan has a private dining room that can seat up to 20 guests. La Zingara, Bethel: La Zingara and its upstairs ECCO Rooftop both accommodate private parties. They have done everything from pig roasts to wine dinners. Union League Cafe, New Haven: Union League Cafe in New Haven has a number of event spaces. Whether its corporate of personal, their team is ready to assist you. The Loading Dock, Stamford: Industrial meets chic at The Loading Dock in Stamford. With a number of spaces, it's a great place to plan your next event. Read More
Dinner At Miya's: Sustainable Sushi + More in New Haven Restaurant Asian Japanese Seafood New Haven Sushi ellen bowen November 03, 2016 This is probably as close to “Dinner at The White House” as I will ever get. On this, the week before the ELECTION, I headed up to Miya’s for their New Haven Restaurant Week 2016 White House Champions of Change dinner. Miya’s is a well-known sushi spot a few blocks west of downtown New Haven that has been serving creative and sustainable seafood, foraged ingredients, and plant-based dishes for over 30 years. James Beard nominated innovative chef/owner Bun Lai, has been creating and cooking alongside his mother for much of the 30 years Miya’s has been open. (See Foraging with Chef Bun on CTbites) New Havens Restaurant Week, which runs from 10/30- 11/4 gave Bun the opportunity to offer the menu he and his mother created for President and Mrs. Obama at last months White House Champions of Change Dinner. He was one of only twelve Sustainable Seafood honorees and the only chef awarded this respected award. While this menu is only available for a limited time, many of these dishes are available on Miya's regular menu. Read More
Nibble: CT Food Events For Week of Nov 6-13 Events Emma Jane-Doody Stetson November 02, 2016 Olea will host a Georges Laval Champagne Dinner on Monday November 7. Chef Manuel Romero will prepare a special menu to complement four premium champagnes. It costs $195 per person, inclusive. Greenwich will have its 3rd Annual Restaurant Week from November 11-20. Festivities begin on Thursday November 10 with an opening night party at J House. Then visit participating restaurants like Aux Delices, The National, Tarry Lodge, and Back 40 for prix fixe menus and specials. The Perrot Memorial Library hosts Kate Perla, author of Tasting Rome: Fresh Flavors and Forgotten Recipes from an Ancient City, on Wednesday November 9 at 7:30pm. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, and Bon Appétit. Her latest work is part cookbook part travel memoir. On Thursday November 10, Basso Café in Norwalk invites you to an Italian wine dinner. Chef Renato Donzelli will prepare five courses to complement wines selected by Wine importer and Wine & Spirit Trust graduate Larry Smith. It costs $85 per person, plus tax and gratuity. On November 10, Chef Matt Storch and CTBites’ own Stephanie Webster will give Y’s Men of Westport/Weston the inside scoop on the Fairfield County dining scene. Read More
Two Roads To Build Second Brewing Facility & Tasting Room Ingredients Restaurant Beer CT Beer Stratford James Gribbon November 01, 2016 Two Roads Brewing of Stratford has announced their plans to add a 25,000 square foot expansion to their brewery specifically to create sour and barrel-aged beers. Situated on 2.5 acres of newly acquired land adjoining the existing brewery's hop yard and music venue, the brewhouse will have a 120-person capacity tasting room overlooking both the brewing operations, and a wetlands preserve. Sour beers such as Framboise Noir Black Raspberry Lambic, Urban Funk Wild Ale made with yeast from Superstorm Sandy, and Worker’s Stomp White Wine Barrel-Aged Saison will see increased production, along with Hexotic Tropical Lambic, which won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado this October. Hexotic spends 28 months in oak, and was fermented with "Brett C" (brettanomyces clausenii). Six different types of fruit were added during fermentation, including orange, passion fruit, mangosteen, soursop (aka gaunabana), guava, and mango. Read More
The Westport Winter Farmers’ Market Opens Nov. 12th At Gilbertie’s Ingredients Restaurant Farmers Market Specialty Market Westport CTbites Team November 01, 2016 Folks in Fairfield County have no need to put away their farmers’ market bags or head to the grocery store just yet. For while the temperatures might be dipping and leaves dropping, farm-fresh food is still in abundance. The Westport Winter Farmers’ Market will return for its 6th season to Gilbertie’s greenhouses at 7 Sylvan Lane beginning Saturday, November 12th and continuing through March 11th from 10 to 2. Read More
An Interview w/ Chef Zac Young, PieCaken Creator + more! Ingredients Recipe Chef Talk Dessert Emma Jane-Doody Stetson November 01, 2016 Last Thanksgiving, the PieCaken took the world by storm! A sweet tooth’s twist on the “turducken,” the all-in-one dessert includes Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pie, and Apple Upside Down Cake layered together with cinnamon buttercream. Kelly Ripa loved it so much that she featured it several times on her show. CNN and The New York Times quickly followed suit. This year, the PieCaken is upping the ante with nationwide shipping! https://www.foodydirect.com/restaurants/the-piecaken-shop/dishes CTBites had the opportunity to sit down with the mastermind behind the PieCaken, Chef Zac Young. Creative and outgoing, it’s fitting that he came up with such a whimsical idea. Young appeared on Top Chef Just Desserts, was named a “Top Ten Pastry Chef in America,” and currently serves as Pastry Director of Craveable Hospitality Group. Here are excerpts from our conversation. Read More
DrewbaQ Food Truck: BBQ Sandwiches "Smokin' the Streets of CT" Restaurant BBQ Food Truck Monroe Comfort Food James Gribbon October 30, 2016 More barbecue is a good thing, and if you're not on board with this basic fact, then you can just get out of my face. It was with this cardinal rule of life firmly in mind that I hit the road in search of a new truck on the Connecticut food scene - a truck selling barbecue and barbecue accoutrements. The fact that this particular Friday found the DrewbaQ food truck at Veracious Brewing Company in Monroe was a purely unrelated coincidence, to be sure. It would be a grave disservice to you, our beloved CTBites readership, if I did not take full advantage of this entirely unforeseen circumstance so, in humble service to your unending curiosity re: all things food and beverage, I had several beers with my BBQ. So that I might report on pairings, you see. Read More
Fortina Hosts Holiday Themed Miracle Pop-Up Bars in Stamford & Armonk Restaurant Pop-Up Dinner Bar Stephanie Webster October 30, 2016 Does anyone remember the epically successful and brilliantly over the top kitschy Miracle Bar pop-up from last holiday season? If you do, you'll be excited to hear that Miracle Bar is coming to Fortina, Thanksgiving eve through New Years 2016. "Miracle Bar will literally vomit Christmas and Hanukah," says Fortina's John Nealon. This holiday pop-up will take over the mezzanine in Fortina Stamford as well as a patio tent in Armonk. Guest mixologists, custom holiday glassware, tons of tinsel, menorahs and cocktails with names like “ The Reindeer’s Revolt,” will created a uniquely fun drinking experience. Pair this with Fortina pizza and you've got yourself a party. Artist, Raffa Dowling, who created last year's aesthetic is back for 2016, and will be in charge of crafting the pop-ups's rather unique design. Also John McNulty, who brought Miracle to CT (originally a NYC concept) is now playing for team Fortina and will be in on the fun. We will bring you more as Fortina gets closer to opening their holiday "Miracles." Read More
Nibble: CT Food Events & Happenings for Week of Oct. 30 - Nov. 6 Restaurant Recipe Events Emma Jane-Doody Stetson October 28, 2016 EMBODY Fitness Gourmet is now open at the new Heritage Square complex on Forest Street in New Canaan! Embody offers a fitness inspired menu, a 14-foot community table, and easy plug-in and charging stations for guests. This is Embody's third location in Fairfield County, CT. You can also visit them in Darien and Westport. New Haven Restaurant Week lasts until November 4. Popular restaurants like 116 Crown, Miya’s Sushi, Shell & Bones and Olea are participating. On Thursday November 3, Fjord Fish Market, Greenwich Cheese, and Fleishers, will host the 2nd annual "Monger Mingle.” This year, guests can get in the holiday spirit by sampling holiday-inspired food from all three. It will take place THE HUB (160 E Putnam Avenue) from 7-9. On Sunday, November 6 from 11am-1pm, blogger, photographer, chef, and author Gina Homolka will sign her newest cookbook and #1 New York Times Bestseller, Skinnytaste Fast and Slow: Knockout Quick-Fix and Slow-Cooker Recipes, at Stew Leonard’s in Norwalk. Read More
Our First Visit To Donut Crazy New Haven: Open on York Street Today! Restaurant Doughnuts New Haven Breakfast Kid Friendly Amy Kundrat October 27, 2016 If it weren’t for the large neon “Let’s Eat Donuts” sign greeting you as you enter Donut Crazy’s newest location in New Haven, you might think you stumbled into a Yale library. Walls bathed in a Yale blue lacquered paint, a seating area with cozy leather chairs and a couch, and soaring ceilings make the 1450 square foot space seem more spacious and studious than it is. Just beyond this warm welcome is a hub of retail activity and a dining area of small tables, and a well-lit wall of Donut Crazy doughnuts in all their colorful and sugary glory. “I wanted to give the space a library meets bar feel, not treat it like a typical commercial space, and the blue is a nod to Yale,” explained Donut Crazy owner Jason Wojnarowski. For those uninitiated into Donut Crazy’s world of over-the-top sugary doughnut confections, this location feels like a giant step forward both in selection and ambiance. All of their baked goods are made in-house in a Donut Crazy Kitchen by an overnight team of bakers. In New Haven, Donut Crazy will offer its typical selection of “Dailies” and “Crazies.” Read More
The National & Geoffrey Zakarian’s First Year in Greenwich + New Prix Fixe Lunch Restaurant American Celebrity Chef Greenwich Lunch Lou Gorfain October 27, 2016 With its new, 3 course prix fixe lunch, The National offers a commodity not always found along “The Ave” in Greenwich: a real bargain. CTBites was recently invited to sample the new lunch menu, and we’ll fill you in on that delicious deal in a moment. But first, we wondered how the restaurant has evolved since it opened a year ago. So we asked owner and celebrity chef, Geoffrey Zakarian. "We are never on auto pilot," the restaurateur told us. "And we always listen to the needs and wants of the customers. One change that people are loving is that we put French Fries on the menu. We started with homemade chips, but the fries are a huge hit. Sometimes, it is just those small things that people embrace." Read More
Eggz Food Truck: Farm Fresh Food on Wheels Restaurant Bethel Food Truck Breakfast Lunch Kid Friendly Amy Kundrat October 26, 2016 Matt Stanczak, the former owner and mastermind behind Danbury's popular Stanziato’s, has just launched the mobile farm fresh kitchen Eggz. Open for business Monday through Saturday at Holbrook Farm, and beginning in November at the Westport Farmers' Market, Eggz will focus on egg sandwiches and other delicious farm fresh offerings with an emphasis on vegetables. At launch, Eggz has 5 breakfast sandwich on rotation, based on classic offerings with a creative Matt Stanczak twist. The "Crack is Wack" (pictured below) is a combination of soft scrambled eggs, goat cheese, bacon, fig spread, and arugula on toasted brioche. A "Sausage, Egg, and Cheeze" is layers of housemade chicken chorizo, ever easy eggs, Vermont cheddar, and awesome sauce on a toasted brioche. Other playfully named sandwiches such as the "I'll Have What She's Having" and "Bodega Sandwich" feature prosciutto, scrambled or over easy eggs, and layers of Stanzack's fresh homemade ingredients. Read More
