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.
Mama's Boy in Sono is celebrating the Derby in fine style with "Derby Days" April 27-May 3. Greer and her teamhave a full week of great events planned for your dining and partying pleasure. The week kicks off a Low Country Crab Boil on April 28th, followed by "Fillies & Lillies," (girls night on steroids), May 1 and culminates with their big Derby Day event on May 2nd. Read the full details below. Call Mama's Boy to make your reservations (203) 956-7171.
Whenever the owner of a restaurant that serves great food announces a second location, I am excited to see where this second venture will lead. After hearing that Greer Fredericks, the co-owner of Mama’s Boy in SONO, was opening JAX around the corner on North Main, I couldn’t wait for my first visit. JAX opened a few weeks ago and currently serves a wide range of breakfast options, plus a tremendous selection of creative sandwiches at lunch. It is also placing the final touches to its soon to be released take-away dinners, and awaiting the delivery of its ice cream machine.
Located just south of the SONO theatre, the interior is completely redesigned, accented with a red painted art nouveau ceiling and lots of wood throughout…it is definitely the sister restaurant to Mama’s Boy.
Fresh Nation, the online marketplace for farmers markets, and Westport Farmers’ Market announced they have formed a strategic partnership to provide online shopping and home delivery. Fresh Nation will operate an online storefront for the Market, providing local consumers with the ability to place an online order from many of their favorite Market vendors and receive same day home delivery from a Fresh Nation personal shopper.
Fresh Nation delivers fresh food direct from farmers markets to consumers, by bringing local farmers markets together into a convenient online shopping destination, enabling farmers and food makers at the markets to reach new customers who do not normally make it to the market. The company employs trained food shoppers to go the markets and personally fill customers’ online orders. After receiving orders from Fairfield County residents for Thursday delivery, Fresh Nation fills these orders at the Westport Farmers’ Market and drives them directly to customers’ homes.
“We are committed to bringing the freshest and best foods from the Westport Farmers’ Market to all members of our community,” said Lori Cochran
The Farmer’s Cow announces its 2014 Farm Tour schedule and invites visitors to come out to the country and meet the farmer’s that bring you real local Connecticut milk and dairy products.
Locally sourced food is one of the hottest trends in the 2014 culinary forecast according to a recent survey by the National Restaurant Association. But what is local? The Farmer’s Cow milk comes from the contented cows of six real local Connecticut family-owned dairy farms, not from six other states. “Real local” means our farm fresh products get to you faster and that means greater nutritional value and a smaller carbon footprint.
“If you can visit the farm, then you know it’s real local,” said Robin Chesmer, Managing Member of The Farmer’s Cow.
"We invite families to see first-hand what life is like on a working dairy farm and learn about how we are working to save Connecticut farmland and sustain farming as a way of life.”
The 2014 Farm Tour schedule includes events in every season – winter, spring, summer and fall. Each tour is unique and celebrates a different aspect of what it means to be “real local.” Visitors can meet the cows and calves, learn about dairy farming and sample The Farmer’s Cow milk, ice cream and beverages. Hosted by The Farmer’s Cow farm families, all events are free and fun for all ages.
In case of inclement weather, please check The Farmer’s Cow Event and Facebook pages for updates.
All events are free and no reservations are required.
Wakeman is offering not one - but TWO - CSAs to provide you with fresh-picked produce all season long.
One is from Sport Hill Farm in Easton, the other is from Stone Gardens Farm in Ridgefield. Both are for pickup at Wakeman Town Farm
Choose your day!
Organic Sport Hill Farm CSA is accepting applications through 3/31. Order now and receive weekly produce delivery every Friday at Wakeman Town Farm! To order, click here:
A Note from Organic Farmer Patti Popp, of Sport Hill Farm in Easton:
We have extended the 2014 CSA deadline until 3/31/14 for pick up at Wakeman Town Farm Sustainability Center on Friday afternoons 1-7 or at Black Rock Farmers Market Saturdays 9-1. Our CSA program runs twenty weeks. Usually begins the first week of June through mid-October. We are mainly a vegetable production farm, we grow watermelon and cantaloupes. Cooking is a must. Please e-mail me for an application if this seems like a good fit for you and your family.Farmgal596@gmail.com
"My Signature Dish" is a new CTbites column featuring a rotating cast of chefs, and the dishes that define their cooking style, or simply make them happy to fire up the oven.
We looked forward to learning about what Scott Ostrander had chosen as his signature dish at Mama’s Boy in SoNo, a Connecticut restaurant featuring Southern cooking and cuisine. But he was reluctant to tell us much about it. “We’re dealing with some major issues,” he confided. “Trying to dodge disaster.”
Issues. Disasters. Great. The stuff of a good story. We urged him on. But Chef Ostrander demurred. “I just can’t get into it right now,” he apologized.
The next time we met, the chef was all smiles. Problems solved. Scott shared the back story, one that reveals how a gifted chef deals with and solves both business and culinary challenges.
His new signature dish at Mama’s Boy is Crisp Pork Shank, an osso bucca-like braised pork shank with a dramatic Southern twist. Traditionally, slowly simmered meat is tender, juicy, and deeply flavored. But its soft texture is monochromatic. For his shank, Scott wanted contrapuntal textures. Soft. And Crunchy.
“It’s no sin to get sauce on your chin.” - Bishop Tutu
Last weekend I got a chance to make the short trek to Wilson’s Barbecue (1851 Post Rd Fairfield, CT ), to enjoy some incredible Pit BBQ. Wilson’s is owned by Ed Wilson, who has competed in and judged numerous BBQ competitions throughout his life. Ed is an extremely kind man, who goes out of his way to talk to everyone who enters his restaurant. He even happily agreed to sit down and talk to me after my fantastic meal, about what makes his food so good.
He couldn’t be nicer.
When we arrived at Wilson’s we were greeted by Mr. Wilson who said hello and wished us an excellent meal. As I entered the restaurant I noticed the comfy, road-house-esque atmosphere that was filled with memorabilia of his experiences as a chef and owner. When it was time to order, we got a lot!
CTbites re-visited NOLA Oyster Bar a few months after its opening to enjoy some of the newest additions to the menu. Chef Dan Kardos is clearly in charge of the kitchen and his culinary talent is evident as he creates some of the most delicious cuisine in Fairfield County.
The Seafood Tower, a dedication to cold shellfish (plus tuna), was the first course served to our table. The generous portions included Cherrystone clams, snow crab legs, Copps Island oysters, shrimp, and charred Hamachi crudo. A house made mignonette sauce accompanied the oysters. All of the items on the Tower were delightful. The crudo was marinated in white and dark balsamic vinegar plus a combination of lime and tangerine juices; it was tantalizing. The crab legs and shrimp were sweet with just a touch of seasoning to emphasize the natural flavors. The Copps Island oysters were a little bitter with very little salinity, but the addition of the mignonette sauce drastically changed the flavor profile from bitter to delicious.
Chef Arik Bensimon of le Farm embraces the summer growing season with this simple recipe inspired by a recent trip to the local farmers' market. Thinly shaved vegetables with varying weights and texture are drizzled with a light take on a classic Caesar dressing. (You'll want to save this recipe for use year round.) Chef Bensimon has left off the quantities on the main ingredients as there are no wrong answers here, and he recommends any raw vegetable that is to your liking as the summer harvest rotates through. Enjoy this wonderful Summer Market Salad Recipe from le Farm.
Visit Mama’s Boy Southern Table and Refuge in SONO and experience some good old-fashioned southern hospitality and cuisine. The newest addition to SONO offers a Georgian-Carolina cuisine with the flavors and ingredients not seen on other Fairfield County menus; not spicy Cajun or Creole but grits, okra, shrimp, catfish, with a little fried chicken thrown in.
Fairfield County native and owner Greer Fredericks, and her business partner Ami Dorel, bring a southern feel to the décor, and flavors to the menu, from Greer’s years in the South. Overseeing the kitchen is Chef Scott Ostrander who recently relocated from Jacksonville, Florida. His previous restaurant, ‘Town, won the Robert W. Tolf Award for Best New Restaurant from Florida Trend magazine and voted one of Jacksonville Magazine’s Northeast Florida’s Top 25 restaurants. After graduating from the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, Ostrander worked in restaurants from DC to Florida and brings authentic southern cuisine to the Mama’s Boy menu. Ostrander is currently sourcing many of his ingredients from South Carolina while simultaneously building a stable of local farms, vendors and merchants.
The Westport Farmers' Market will be opening for the season in just one week, beginning on Thursday, May 23rd. This weekly summer market runs every Thursday, from 10 am to 2 pm at Imperial Avenue Commuter Lot in Westport.
If you haven't yet made it to this Market, you'll want to mark your calendar. This all-organic market will be announcing the final vendors next week and will be selecting a rotating group of featured artists, vendors, guest chefs and non-profits to join the Market each week.
So who's at The Westport Farmers' Market this year??... (this is the fun part) See below for a complete list of vendors:
With little fanfare, Mama’s Boy Southern Table and Refuge, the newest addition to the SONO food scene is slowly opening its doors. Based on traditional Southern hospitality and cuisine, the restaurant will deliver the comfort food of the south combined with a relaxed atmosphere. As the website states, “Mama’s Boy is putting the “South” in South Norwalk.”
The interior has been completely redesigned. Using woods and material from an old water tower from Florence, South Carolina, owners Greer Fredericks and Ami Dorel created a warm environment from top to bottom. The lighting is soft and inviting, the music gives a perfect background through various genres and the service is straight from Charleston, friendly and incredibly helpful. Upon entering you can choose a seat at the long bar or one of the tables along the wall with a long comfortable banquette. In the rear is a second dining area that is guarded by two windows that were reclaimed from Al Capone’s summer residence. This dining area features a traditional “mirror wall,” you have to see it to completely understand and appreciate.
Shares in Sport Hill Farm's Organic Summer CSA Now Available ORGANIC SUMMER CSA are Now Available at Wakeman Town Farm!
Interested in getting farm fresh produce while supporting our local farming community?
This is your chance to share in the local harvest from the verdant Easton fields of our favorite farm gal, Patti Popp. Many of you know already know and love Patti and her delicious, local organic produce from her stall at the Westport Farmers' Market. This is your chance to become a member in her organic, summer CSA program without having to drive up to Easton to retrieve your weekly goodies! Pick up your fresh-picked produce every Friday at Westport's Wakeman Town Farm. Register to Reserve Your Share! Deadline to register is March 31.
Zinc has been a fixture on the New Haven green since 1999, well before farm-to-table restaurants became the sought-after reservation. Even then, Chef Denise Appel was designing plates that changed with the season, and "continued to do so even when people in town wondered if she'd ever make her mind up on a menu," laughs co-owner Donna Curran, who has worked alongside Chef Appel for more than two decades.
Named for the traditional zinc bars in European bistros, Zinc has successfully become a well-known neighborhood gathering place over the past dozen years. Warm and welcoming for its minimalist design, the restaurant is long and narrow, as expected in an urban setting. Yet with a profound cherry bar, generous seating and plenty of quiet nooks, you know you’ll gladly stay a while.
The 7th season of Dinners at the Farm has just been announced...just in time for holiday shopping. Every summer Dinners at the Farm brings their celebrated benefit dinner series to local Connecticut farms by hosting amazing multi-course feasts of just from the earth food, cooked fresh that day. They'll be dicing, chopping, sautéing and plating delicious locally grown food in the fields of host farms including Barberry HIll Farm, Scott's Farm & Greenhouses and White Gate Farm for 12 glorious summer nights in 2013.
And, as with every year, these dinners are benefits. Dinners at the Farm will be donating $20,000 towards the critical work of our beneficiaries CitySeed, CT Farm Land Trust, Working Lands Alliance,Region 4 Schools and NEW this year, The New Connecticut Farmer Alliance, a group of emerging farmers working to grow and sustain new farms in Connecticut ensuring a viable agricultural future. Visit their schedules and tickets page for more details and to purchase tickets.
Winter is drawing near, and many of us will eat the last of our local, farm-fresh veggies alongside our Thanksgiving turkey. Luckily, with Winter Sun Farms & Wakeman Town Farm in Westport, you get to keep eating Hudson Valley vegetables and berries all winter. You don't want to miss your first pickup. If you haven't signed up yet, now is the time! (Here is more info on CSA's and how they work.)
The season kicks off in December, when your share is projected to include: Sweet Corn, Butternut Squash Puree, Green Beans, Peppers, Tomato, Blueberries and Pea Shoots. New this year, our tomato puree comes in a shelf-stable jar. Sign up at www.wintersunfarms.com and check Westport, CT as your pickup point.
WinterSunFarms Winter CSA Pickup at Wakeman Town Farm
White Gate Farm in East Lyme, CT, a favorite eastern Connecticut farm stand and Dinners on the Farm venue, is unveiling their new commercial "Farm Kitchen" and a series of cooking classes featuring talented Connecticut chefs.
The series will officially kick off this Friday at White Gate Farm for what they are calling a "Grand Unveiling" on August 24 at 7 pm ($10 per person). The evening will feature a preview of the hands-on kitchen and farm-fresh hors d'oeuvres, wine and chef's presentations. They will also unveil the full season of classes, dates and participating chefs this evening.
Tina Rupp is a professional food photographer who works with Food & Wine Magazine and Weight Watchers and also photographs many cookbooks and national print ads. She is inspired by the changing colors and textures of seasonal ingredients both as a foil for her her camera, as well as inspiration for her baking endeavors in her Old Saybrook home. She shoots with Canon and Hassleblad cameras
Blueberries. You can get them practically year round in any grocery store in the country. We all know that they are often mealy and tasteless. Yet we still buy them, perhaps for their antioxidant power.
But blueberry season is a whole different world. Outside of strawberries, blueberries are the fruit I look forward to the most in summer. The sweet yet tart delicious little nugget of flavor is such an amazing berry to eat straight off the bush, in a pie or cake or crumble, or right out of the freezer and into Sunday morning pancakes.
Hunter will be dishing out a seasonal favorite, tomato gazpacho, made with tomatoes from Riverbank Farm and served with a dollop of cucumber sorbet. In addition to this summer staple, Hunter will be making a fun twist on a classic, with Kings Kitchen Grilled Cheese Panini Fries. Made with Wave Hill Ciabatta, these fries are just as addicting as they sound, delicious, gooey, strips of grilled cheese heaven, cut to resemble a French fry!
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.
