WIN FREE Tix to Beer Conn Festival and Tasting Extravaganza Dec. 10th Stephanie Webster November 29, 2016 WIN 2 FREE TIX to BEER CONN Festival, December 10th. To enter just tell us why you NEED to go in the comments section below. The biggest names in brewing will gather once again at the Webster BankArena on Saturday, December 10, 2016 for the 3rd annual BEER CONN festival. BEER CONN, a beer tasting extravaganza, will showcase more than 50 local, national, and international breweries and offer more than 100 beers for sampling. This fantastic thirst-quenching pay-one-price beer tasting event offers beer aficionados, beer lovers and the casual beer drinker the opportunity to speak to company representatives and the brewers responsible for creating some of the world's most popular and award-winning brews. 21+ only. Session 1: 12:30-4:00pm; Session 2: 5:30-9:00pm. www.Beer-Conn.com Read More
Neat & Festivities Now Hosting Custom “Pop Up Parties” at Neat in Westport (sponsored) Restaurant Catering Entertaining Holiday CTbites Team November 29, 2016 Neat, a favorite coffee café in Westport and Darien and Festivities, the award winning special event catering and event design company have joined together to offer “Pop Up Parties." With craft cocktails by Neat and foods by Festivities, party givers can select from several party ideas. From cocktail parties, interactive foods stations or plated dinners and with global traditions to home traditions, Festivities has created offerings that are delicious and fun! (two very important words). Read More
Top Dining Picks for Art Basel Miami via MIABites Restaurant Miami ellen bowen November 28, 2016 Art Basel Miami and Miami Art Week November 29- December 4th welcomes over 75,000 art enthusiasts from around the world for a week of huge tented shows like Untitled, PULSE, Art Miami and Spectrum, gallery and museum shows and private and intimate art shows at private homes. But, Miami also offers an amazing array of dining and late night options, some of which were highlighted in this past weekends, New York Times “36 Hours in Miami”( insert NYT link? ). If you are headed to Miami for Art Basel, here are MIAbites Top picks. Dinner reservations are necessary and should be made in advance if possible. Read More
Pacific Rim Cooking At Miro Kitchen in Fairfield: Menu & Chef Update Restaurant Chinese Fairfield Hawaiian Japanese Lunch James Gribbon November 27, 2016 Change is at hand at Fairfield's Miro Kitchen after the end of their collaboration with HAPA, but the new menu for this autumn and winter retains Miro's signature flavors. CTbites was recently invited to take a tour of the food style restaurateur Eugene Kabilnitsky and executive chef Howard McCall have dubbed "Pacific Rim," with ingredients influenced by Hawaii, China, Japan, and the Philippines. The eating area is a bright space, with white walls and darker seating on the right, and a full length bar running down the left. The bar has a respectable selection of craft beer on tap, in addition to wines selected specifically to match the flavors of the food. Cocktails likewise blend with the food, using ingredients like nigori in the Saketini, and Thai chili in the Thaigarita and the Tom Yum, which tasted like boozy lemon grass tea shot through with spiky kaffir lime. Read More
Nibble: CT Food Events for Week of Nov 28 to Dec 4th Emma Jane-Doody Stetson November 25, 2016 On Monday November 28 at 5pm, join MATCH restaurant as they "stock the pantries, the stockings, and your bellies in an "All I Want For ..." dinner event. The evening features Match mini plates and awesome drink specials. Bring canned foods for Community Plates and stocking stuffers for Toys for Tots and they will provide you with your first glass of holiday bubbly. Crush Bar and Wood-fired Pizza in Milford will host a Thimble Island Beer Dinner on Tuesday November 29. 30 people can enjoy a four course dinner paired with brews from Connecticut’s own Thimble Island. It costs $55 per person. These Guys Brewing in Norwich is also hosting a beer dinner on Tuesday November 29. They will pair 5 beers from Ommegang Brewery with 4 tasty courses. It costs $65, which includes tax and gratuity. New Canaan Wine Merchants invites you to a Two Roads Beer Tasting with the brewery’s own Jamie Proulx on Wednesday November 30 from 7-8:30pm. 10% of the evening’s sales go to benefit Animals in Distress. Culinary Works is pleased to offer Festive Holiday Fare Classes. Read More
Guy Fieri’s Foxwoods Kitchen + Bar at Foxwoods Opens Nov. 25th Restaurant American Celebrity Chef Foxwoods Opening Stephanie Webster November 22, 2016 Foxwoods® Resort Casino, Big Night Entertainment Group (BNEG) and Celebrity Chef Guy Fieri are excited to announce the opening of Guy Fieri’s Foxwoods Kitchen + Bar at Foxwoods Resort Casino on Friday, November 25 at 11:00 a.m. This fall, chef, restaurateur, author and host of Food Network’s top-rated show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, is bringing his love affair with food to BNEG’s impressive roster of award-winning dining and entertainment venues which include GEM Italian Kitchen, Nightclub & Lounge, Red Lantern Boston, Red Lantern Foxwoods, Scorpion Bar Patriot Place, Scorpion Bar Foxwoods, High Rollers Luxury Lanes & Lounge, Shrine, and Empire Asian Restaurant & Lounge. The new restaurant is located on the casino level of the Grand Pequot Tower. Read More
Zapata Mexican Restaurant Opens in South Norwalk (sponsored post) Restaurant CTbites Lunch Events Cocktails Norwalk SONO Bar Mexican Kid Friendly CTbites Team November 22, 2016 Located in the heart of historic South Norwalk, Zapata Mexican Restaurant crafts authentic Mexican cuisine in an area rich in history and vibrant in color, Zapata Mexican Restaurant proudly contributes to this energetic environment. This is our second location, the original is located in Palisades, NY where our family-owned and operated restaurant has thrived for over 20 years. Many of our customers come in and ask why SONO? The answer is simple, SONO lacked an authentic Mexican restaurant with fresh ingredients, amazing margaritas, and smiling faces. Freshness is what we believe in and what we thrive on. We personally choose all our produce, and all of our ingredients. We are in a society where fresh and healthy is key! To ensure the highest quality, we also cook all of our products with olive oil to keep it healthy and always tasting delicious. Read More
Soul Tasty Opens in Stamford: Southern Food from the Soul to the Table Restaurant BBQ Delicious Dives Southern Stamford To-Go Comfort Food Lunch Kid Friendly Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger November 20, 2016 Fairfield County offers some of the best food in the country, from trucks to fine dining, and when a restaurant serves food from the soul, it is special, it is uplifting, it makes you overjoyed. Every now and then I visit a new place that fits all these categories. Stephanie Webster, my CTbites partner, and I were looking for a new place for a lunch meeting and we chose Soul Tasty...we wanted to see what the buzz was about. It is located on Main Street in Stamford at the end of a dead end that doubles as the entrance to a pedestrian bridge and parking is incredibly difficult, have patience, it is worth it. Soul Tasty is the brain-child and dream of Chef Jean Gabriel, Jr. When you walk in, you can feel the love. The walls are brightly painted, a little graffiti on the rear counter pronouncing FEED YOUR SOUL and a colorful menu above the hot trays holding the products of the chef’s homage to the Southern recipes of his grandmother. Read More
Chef Susanne Berne's Ginger Cake with Poached Pears, Dark Rum Zabaglione and Cinnamon Whipped Cream Recipe Features Recipe Homepage Dessert CTbites Team November 20, 2016 In our ongoing hunt for the perfect Thanksgiving dessert, we sought out Chef Susanne Berne, who is, quite simply, one of the finest pastry chefs around. When she is not imagining treats for Match Restaurant, she is developing new ideas for Donut Crazy's doughnut lineup. She has shared her recipe for Ginger Cake with Poached Pears, Dark Rum Zabaglione and Cinnamon Whipped Cream. Enjoy! Read More
14 Places For Great Holiday Pies in CT 2016 Restaurant Recipe Top 10 Eats Best of CT Dessert April Guilbault November 19, 2016 Holiday season is heeeere, with its feasts and parties, and let’s be honest, you can’t really have too much pie, now can you? Note: with the brief exception of a kooky aunt who, after a post-Thanksgiving bout on the tread mill, did wearily proclaim “Too....Much....Pie!” but that’s another story for another time. So where to go for the best pies with the flakiest crusts, sweetest streusel toppings and the most flavorful fillings? We’ll be happy to tell you. Get those dessert plates ready and, um...you might want to loosen that belt. Here are 14 places to buy great holiday pies in CT. Read More
Nibble: CT Food Events for Week of Nov 21st - Nov 28th Restaurant News Emma Jane-Doody Stetson November 18, 2016 This Thanksgiving consider GIVING to a hungry neighbor who can't feed themselves. DONATE to CT Food Bank or Community Plates. After 20 Years The Loft in South Norwalk will announce it’s final Last Call on Saturday night November 26th after a closing party celebration. Fleisher's still has turkeys available to order for your Thanksgiving table! On Tuesday November 22, learn how to put a Spanish twist on traditional Thanksgiving dishes at Barcelona West Hartford. The class runs from 7-9pm and costs $29, plus tax and gratuity. Try Happy Hour at Harlan Social! Monday-Thursday from 4:30-6:30pm, enjoy $5 craft beers and $6 wines by the glass. This offer is at the bar side only. Read More
The Brunch Box Food Truck: Get Your Breakfast & Lunch on In Stamford Restaurant Brunch Food Truck Stamford Breakfast Lunch Kid Friendly Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger November 18, 2016 The Brunch Box opened several months ago, delivering numerous breakfast and lunch sandwiches at locations around Stamford, with occasional visits to surrounding areas and private parties. Jimmy Marcella, a Stamford native developed the concept of The Brunch Box after a lifetime of preparation; as far back as he could remember he wanted to own a restaurant. As a teen Jimmy worked at a local Italian deli in Westchester, scrubbing dishes, mopping floors, stocking soda, eventually prepping, making chicken cutlets and chopping parsley by the case. He saved his money for his self-education, Omakase at 16, elegant dining at 18. He subsequently worked at the Hudson Hotel in Manhattan, toured with his manager and eventually returned to Stamford; he was now ready to fulfill his dream. Jimmy decided to start with a food truck, where he could experience that personal one-to-one interaction with each customer. He thought that “Brunch” was the differentiator from the other food trucks in the area and The Brunch Box was born. Read More
“The Super Vegan”-- Two Boots Pizza from NYC brings its Unique Pies to Stamford Restaurant Pizza Stamford Vegetarian Comfort Food Kid Friendly Lou Gorfain November 17, 2016 As a card-carrying carnivore, I entered Two Boots with some misgivings. This quirky, new pizzeria in Stamford’s Harbor Point was celebrating World Vegan Month, prompting manager Roberta Petit to invite CTbites over for a tasting of The Super Vegan, a totally plant-based "pizzaextravaganza.” Nothing on the pie comes from a creature. ‘Za without juicy sausage? Or gooey cheese? C’mon, this is Connecticut. "We’re talking salad on a crust," I mumbled to myself as I sat down with Roberta. My immediate resolution: to earn a positive review, the pizza would have to be "great" in its own right, not a pie that was good – as it were -- for a vegan pizza. No handicaps. No excuses. Nothing less than a party in my mouth. Read More
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
