Filtering by Tag: Diner,Delivery Service

Chef Dan Kardos Returns @ Liberty Rock Tavern in Milford - Sneak Peek

Restaurant Milford Bar Delicious Dives Diner Comfort Food Lunch Kid Friendly

Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger

It has been several years since Chef Dan Kardos was creating his signature dishes in Fairfield County. He worked at many of the best restaurants and bars including Napa & Co., Bar Rosso, Harvest Supper, Le Farm and Local. His creativity and fearlessness in the kitchen was a hallmark of his cuisine. After several years working for Barteca in Atlanta, Virginia, DC and a year in a test kitchen, Kardos returned to his stomping grounds in Milford and with three other locals opened Liberty Rock Tavern last week in the building that formerly housed a neighborhood favorite King’s Court bar.

Sarah’s on Main in Portland CT: the “Cheers” of Breakfast

Restaurant Brunch Delicious Dives Diner Portland Breakfast Lunch

Hope Simmons

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.


Good2Gourmet - New Meal Delivery Service in New Canaan & Darien

Features Darien Delivery Service Home Delivery New Canaan

CTbites Team

Tired of cooking? Looking for something less expensive than take-out from a restaurant? Then a new venture on Vitti Street in New Canaan, GOOD2GOURMET, may be an alternative. The brainchild of local resident and mother of four, Lisa Strupp, GOOD2GOURMET offers a variety of soups, salads, and entrées for families to enjoy. Teaming with business partner Kevin Schmudde, the two enlisted the culinary skills of Executive Chef Eric Ulbrich to create a menu that includes soups, salads, pastas, and entrées. Customers go to the website (they do not take telephone orders), place their order, choose a 1-hour delivery window (curbside pick-up at the store is also available) and the food will be on the front stoop as requested. Alternatively, customers can visit and purchase a selection of items at the store.

The New Blondie Burger at Sycamore Drive In in Bethel

Restaurant Bethel Diner Comfort Food Kid Friendly Burgers

Amy Kundrat

Photo: Ryan Kundrat

Behind every great man is a great woman. And for Dagwood Bumstead, that woman is Blondie

Bethel's Sycamore Drive-in Restaurant, founded in 1948 and famous for its summer cruise nights, homemade root beer, and thin French-style burgers, has introduced the new Blondie burger, a fitting companion for their popular Dagwood burger. And I believe it's about time, the cartoon is named after the blonde bombshell matriarch, afterall. 


Plated.com: Mise en Place Delivered to Your Doorstep!

Features Catering Delivery Service Home Delivery

Natalie Levitt

There is nothing better than being able to select a gourmet recipe and have all the needed fresh ingredients arrive and ready to cook with just a few clicks. 

Plated.com makes meal making fun, easy, and a delicious experience. It is a mash-up of an online grocery store and a private cooking lesson. Easy to follow recipes, with pictures are provided. This is a great activity for two or the entire family, helping to reconnect people while sharing great food. The average time to prepare one of the meals is 30-40 minutes.

“Each week, 7 chef-designed recipes are featured on the menu. The dishes include 4 healthy meat & fish options and 3 unique vegetarian dishes.” The produce is fresher than what is typically found at the grocery store and can be enjoyed all week long.

Costs are simple to understand, they are per plate. Trial offers are currently running so check it out and go cook something extraordinary!

Go check out www.plated.com for more information. 


Mike’s Organic Delivery Brings Local, Organic Food to Your Door

Ingredients Delivery Service Farm to Table Local Farm Organic Special Dietary Needs

Deanna Foster

Mike Geller likes that he can tell his customers stories about how the food he delivers is grown and about the farmers who grow it.  Conversely, he states, “There are no stories to tell with big agricultural suppliers. No one wants to know about thousands of chickens crowded in a small space with no room to move and no access to the outdoors.” 

Mike started Mike’s Organic Delivery in June 2010 with a mission to reconnect people in Fairfield and Westchester Counties to where, how, and when their food is grown. After careful research, he selected 12 farms from the Hudson River Valley, Westchester County and Western Connecticut to become the suppliers for his nascent farm to home delivery service.  The farms all use practices many of us look for when supermarket label gazing: organic, sustainable, free range, pesticide-free, no added hormones, no steroids, and no antibiotics.  While we may find some of these methods on supermarket labels, Mike guarantees that his produce is picked no more than 36 and usually less than 24 hours before it reaches your door.  That is not likely the case with the produce we cart home from the grocery store.


Seasons Eats: Stamford's Hidden Gem in Plain Sight

Restaurant Deli Delicious Dives Diner Stamford Lunch Kid Friendly

Lou Gorfain

What to call it?

By all outward appearances, Seasons Eats looks like your typical lunch takeout storefront. Looking through the window, you witness chaotic swarms of downtown types picking up a salad or sandwich to take back to their desks. But peer a little closer and discover a culinary gem that defies categorization.   

"We're not a deli. We're not a sandwich shop," says Phil Costas, a New York Times Three Star chef, who with his wife Liz, runs the place. “Maybe we're a cafe. I don’t know. We keep evolving.”

That’s why the Costas have just changed the name from Katie’s Gourmet to Seasons Eats. What started as a gourmet specialty shop 16 years ago, an offshoot  of their highly successful American restaurant Kathleen’s, has become a… I don’t know, maybe the best word for it is indeed  “Eats.” In this tiny 1300 square foot storefront, Phil and his five elves serve nearly 1400 delightfully inventive breakfasts, lunches and dinners a week.


Join Barcelona & CTbites for a Harvest Happy Hour to Launch Farmigo Program CT

Ingredients Delivery Service Farm to Table Local Farm

CTbites Team

Join Barcelona Wine Bar in Fairfield and CTbites on Tuesday on July 24 from 6 to 8 pm for a "Harvest Happy Hour" to welcome the new Farmigo CSA program to Connecticut. This casual and free event will take place in Barcelona's garden with a cooking demo by Chef Helton. Light bites made with ingredients from the Barcelona garden and local farms. Meet Farmigo representatives, local farmers and artisans partnering with the program.


Gold Coast Gourmet: Freezer...Meet Mark

Ingredients Delivery Service Home Delivery

Sarah Green

Freezer, meet Mark. 

Mark Seigel, owner and purveyor of GOLD COAST GOURMET for the past 22 years, will be your freezer's best friend - reliable and ALWAYS there when you need him. I was lucky enough to be referred to Mark by a Westport friend (he only works by referrals, no door-to-door harassment) and just in the nick of time. With Memorial Day weekend and the warm summer months approaching, there is enormous potential for a lot of home entertaining with many  "Mom, I also brought the rest of the team home for dinner " possibilities.  If you are like me, this can cause some major anxiety. This year, no problemo. Gold Coast Gourmet provides home delivery of prime meats, gourmet seafood and much, much more. The great thing about this service is that you are purchasing items by the "box" meaning that most things come in individually wrapped, perfectly manageable, flash-frozen portions.


Bistro 88 Asian Cuisine Opens in Westport w/ Delivery & Variety

Restaurant Asian Delivery Service Japanese Vietnamese korean

Nancy Kleeger

With a stellar location in Westport on the Saugatuck, and a Taiwanese chef, trained in Japanese cuisine with more than 20 years in the restaurant business, Westporters have something to be hopeful about in a new local take out and delivery place. 

Bistro 88, a family run restaurant, is dishing up food from several Asian destinations including China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and even Indonesia, in the form of traditional Sambal.  Lucky for us that points of political contention hasn’t gotten in the way of allowing us to choose freely from this flowing menu of Asian delights. Looming largely as a take out and delivery business, this tiny joint also has limited seating with service for those who prefer to eat there. Plus, the menu is so extensive (reading like a Bible for Asian food),  there is surely something for everyone.


Fine Dining in Disguise at Oceanview Café in Norwalk

Restaurant Delicious Dives Diner French Norwalk

Andrew Dominick

Oceanview Café is your typical diner. They serve breakfast and lunch with the common bacon, eggs, home fries and toast, and burgers, you get the idea. It is not a big place, with 8-10 tables, tops. Decorations of marine life and fish nets echo the area of its location but postcards from France that peer at you through the glass on the tables offer a subtle hint to what Chef Jean Paul Pauillac is all about. French cuisine.

Every Friday and Saturday night, from 5:30-9:00 p.m.,Pauillac, who once worked at Maxim’s in France (as did Wolfgang Puck) and La Grenouille, turns his modest diner into a French culinary experience. After his friends pleaded with him to cook up some French classics, the idea caught on and the semi-secret menu began. And what’s even better than this "underground restaurant", are the prices, the ability to BYOB, and more importantly, the food.


Go Waiter Restaurant Delivery Service Opens in FC

Features Delivery Service Home Delivery

Stephanie Webster

How many nights have you sat at home wishing that dinner would magically appear on your doorstep? Well, maybe that's just me, but in Fairfield County the delivery options are generally limited to pizza and a few Chinese joints. Enter GoWaiter, a national franchised restaurant delivery service, who will for $3.99 pick up and deliver lunch and dinner from over 40 local restaurants. Check out the list of participating restaurants below (including Da Pietro's, Layla's Falafel, & Tabouli Grill): 


Pizzeria Rosso in Norwalk

Features Restaurant Bridgeport Delivery Service Norwalk Pizza

Amy Kundrat

At Pizzeria Rosso, it’s a family affair. As chef and partner of Norwalk’s newest take-out pizzeria, Pasquale Pascarella is the driving force behind this old world meets new world approach to pizza. His cousin handles the dough, his mother arrives each morning at 7 a.m. to make the sauce, and Dad shuttles the pies from oven to destinations in Norwalk and just beyond.
  
A veteran chef of Stamford’s Old Saltwater Grille where he remains a partner, Pasquale decided that a take-out pizza business would help him shift his focus and gain control back to what he loves about cooking, both Italian-inspired dishes and traditional Neapolitan pies (he cites San Francisco’s A16 as inspiration) would be a great muse for this transition.

It's All Good At Lakeside Diner in Stamford

Restaurant Delicious Dives Diner Stamford Breakfast Lunch Kid Friendly

Sarah Green

How many CTbites contributors does it take to order chicken salad, a breakfast burrito, a Grecian omelet, a reuben sandwich, grilled blueberry muffins, pancakes, apple pie, coffee milkshakes and the worlds' BEST homemade donuts to top it all off? Apparently only 3. But the full bellies and groans were all worth it due to the great food and fantastic retro atmosphere at the LAKESIDE DINER in Stamford. Located at the bottom of the ramp of exit 34 off the Merritt, this joint offers the quintessential diner experience. So much so, it has been used as a location in several films including "College Road Trip." It isn't large and it isn't fancy. This is authentic diner fare done right. Mel, I would kiss these grits anytime. 


The Milkman Co. Brings Dairy to Your Doorstep

Ingredients Delivery Service Home Delivery Local Farm

Deanna Foster

Ed Hartz is a milkman with a mission.  He wants to “revolutionize the food distribution system” by taking us back to the days when milkmen delivered local dairy products to our doors. Even if you don’t remember pulling glass milk bottles from a galvanized container stationed by the back porch door, it’s likely you can picture the image.  Ed’s goal is to turn that image into reality and revive the tradition of the milkman in Fairfield County. With a truck painted like a Holstein, he has aptly named his new business The Milkman Company, and he is working to spread the word that the Milkman is back and better than ever with deliveries of milk (including raw milk), eggs, cheese, yogurt, meats and other farm fresh products. 


Graze Home Delivery: Fresh Food is a Click Away

Ingredients Features Delivery Service Local Artisan Local Farm Organic

Stephanie Webster

I’m not much for New Year's Resolutions, but I do know that by making small changes, we can impact our health, the planet and the way we raise our kids. Something as small as where you buy your food can be one of those changes, so I was eager to check out Graze, a local farm-to-fridge online grocery delivery service “on a mission to bring fresh, wholesome and sustainably produced foods directly from small local family farms in Vermont to your front door.” Graze sells pasture-raised beef, just-picked local organic produce in season, award-winning artisanal cheeses and even home-cooked meals.  

After a long weekend, capped off by a nasty blizzard, my supplies of fresh milk, eggs, fresh cider, meat and other staples have dwindled down to nil, and our fridge is pitifully bare. Normally, at this juncture, I’m faced with the quandary: Do I bundle up, shovel out and brave the unplowed back roads so that I can then fight the crowds at Whole Foods or Stew’s? Not anymore, thanks to Graze (grazedelivered.com).


A Guide to Fairfield County 2010 CSAs

Ingredients Features Delivery Service Local Farm Organic healthy Farm Fresh

CTbites Team

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a means for consumers to buy a share in a farm's seasonal production directly from the farmer. Consumers benefit from buying local, farm fresh, high quality produce at an attractive price and farmers benefit from pre-selling the harvest. It’s a clear win-win. CSA members typically pick up their weekly shares at the farm or a location in their community, but a new CSA option is delivered to your door! Community pick up locations generally involve a small volunteer commitment, perhaps two hours per season, during which the site is readied and broken down for weekly share distribution. CSA membership is not for everyone because in such a partnership arrangement, the consumer shares both the bounty of the farm's harvest and some of the risks inherent in farming.

We have lost so much farmland in Connecticut that less than one percent of our residents earn a living by farming. Eat well, support your local farmer and do your bit to preserve farmland by buying a CSA share in one of our precious organic or IPM (Integrated Pest Management) farms.

Back in January I announced that it was CSA registration month and shared that two organic farms were expanding and had opened their lists to new CSA families: Sport Hill Farm in Easton and The Hickories in Ridgefield. The CSAs from these two farms quickly sold out. The good news is that there are still a few CSAs open for new subscribers, but you should act quickly if you want to secure a share.


Tabouli Grill: Stamford's New Mediterranean Contender

Restaurant Delivery Service Mediterranean Middle Eastern Stamford Lunch

Marcy Shinbaum

Until a few months ago, Stamford was a two falafel town, Myrna’s Authentic and Layla’s Falafel. That’s why I was thrilled this fall when I began to hear rumblings of a new contender for the Stamford, Connecticut Middle Eastern heavyweight title.  Tabouli Grill had entered the ring -- with gloves on. 

“Oh, you’ve got to try it,” cooed one of my Stamford girls.  “It’s so fresh,” declared another, “I’m there once a week” and the holy grail of suburban dining, they deliver too!  


A Festival of Flavor @ Little Thai Kitchen

Restaurant Darien Delivery Service Greenwich Stamford Thai Lunch

Stephanie Webster

It was a Saturday night and I was tired of the standard nouveau American fare. I was in the mood for the spicy sweet flavors of Thai cooking, but where to go in Fairfield County? A friend whose taste buds I trust told me her go-to spot was Little Thai Kitchen or LTK, with Greenwich, Darien, and NYC locations. We opted for Darien, (right across from the train station) and our party of four headed out in the pouring rain to seek out dinner. 

Walking into LTK is sort of like walking into a West Elm catalogue. It is modern and sleek with splashes of bright color giving it a nice clean design. The two dining spaces to either side of the front door are small, as a good chunk of their business is take-out, but we found that with the lights dimmed it was surprisingly cozy and well appointed. We took a seat next to the large corner window and discreetly checked out the food on the other guests' tables. It looked good. It smelled good. We quietly prayed to whatever God worked for each of us that we had found some decent Thai food in this town.


From the Farm to Your Door: CTFFE Delivers

Ingredients Delivery Service Organic Farm Fresh

Deanna Foster

What would you say if you could support Connecticut farmers and small business entrepreneurs, reduce your carbon footprint and enjoy a wide variety of locally grown, farm fresh food with just a few clicks of your mouse? “Bring it on!” comes to mind.  

Which is just what I did when I heard about CT Farm Fresh Express.  This wonderful service recently arrived in Fairfield County, bringing Connecticut grown produce, meat, dairy, baked goods and other products right to your front door. 

Now, you can leave the shopping and the driving to Deb Marsden, who began her service, CTFFE, in February ’08