“Boy do I have a surprise for you!” my husband said. My daughter, Sophia, and I came down guessing at all the possibilities—a kitten? A box of donuts? Tickets to Hamilton? “Nope,” he said, holding out a small Styrofoam cup. “Even better.” Sophia and I looked at it a moment before realization dawned. “Dole Whip!?” we shrieked, before seizing the cup and gobbling it up between us.
For the uninitiated let me explain: Dole Whip is a frozen, airy pineapple confection that is something between a cloud of pure, chilly joy and a tropical party for the taste buds. We first had Dole Whip in Hawaii—the only place besides Disney Land where it is sold—until now.
Summer is on its way!! In just a few weeks, the kids will be out of school and looking for their next adventures. Why not a culinary endeavor? These Connecticut caterers and venues are offering up kids cooking camps and classes throughout the summer months. Check their web site for complete details.
AMG Catering and Events, Wilton: This summer, youngsters can sign up for the Kids CIT (Chef In Training) Camp at AMG Catering. There are four weeks to choose from, but book quickly because they are already selling out!
Bishops Orchards, Guilford: New this year, Bishops Orchards in Guilford has announced Summer Camp Programs for kids! The summer is broken down into four two day long sessions where kids can explore a different farm theme.
Wakeman Town Farm, Westport: In addition to learning about life on a farm, participants in the Junior Chef Summer Camp get to work alongside local chefs and counselors to pick the freshest ingredients around from the farm, see how organic fruits and veggies grow, and learn to cook and create fun fare, from pickles to smoothies to stir-fries, in our brand-new farm kitchen classroom! It's seed-to-plate culinary fun with a homegrown spin.
I'll admit, I'm late to the party on these 100% organic, all natural, crazy town delicious marshmallows. I stumbled upon SmashMallows at Balducci's today, but as it turns out, they have been written up by In Style, Cooking Light and even People Magazine, They are quite simply, the "Dom Perignon of marshmallows." Balducci's is currently carrying them in Mint Chocolate Chi, Toasted Coconut Pineapple, Strawberry & Cream, and Cinnamon Churo. However, if you look online, there are three additional flavors worth an order: Root Beer Float, Meyer Lemon Chia, and Espresso Bean.
A half-gallon glass jug of Stew’s Chocolate Bunny Milk will be available for $5.99 starting in early April at all five Stew Leonard’s locations. Stew Leonard’s signature farm fresh milk is mixed with creamy milk chocolate to create a sweet, irresistible chocolate milk that tastes just like a classic chocolate Easter bunny. Stew Leonard’s milk is delivered fresh to our stores from award-winning dairy farms in upstate NY and is free from artificial growth hormones (rBST) and antibiotics. The milk will only be available for a limited time.
Experience a New England tradition: turning sap into syrup! Ambler Farm will host two Maple Syrup Open Houses. The history and process of making syrup is fascinating. Kids and families will have an opportunity to tap a tree, take the maple syrup taste test, learn about Native American, colonial, and modern methods of making syrup and, of course, taste Ambler Farm’s very own maple syrup over vanilla ice cream. DATES: On Saturday, March 4th and again on Saturday, March 11th (both from 1-2pm).
Bottles of Ambler Farm Maple Syrup will be available for sale. This event is free and open to the public.
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)
Kids and Summer vacation: No homework! No school! No tests! The beach! Playing with friends! Sleeping in! More friends! Camp! Baseball games! Swimming! Fun! Fun! Fun!
Parents and Summer vacation: WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE KIDS?!
Rest easy. Chill. We have some ideas that you will benefit from in more ways than one. Day classes, culinary camps, learning about where food comes from and then what the heck to do with it-you’re little (or big) foodie will be in their element. With any luck, junior will be able to make *you* a back-to-school breakfast by the end of the Summer. Ohhhh, yeahhhhh.
Choose your week, choose your cuisine. Proceed to cook and eat your way around the world. Well, in an almost-Anthony-Bourdain kind of way. At AMG Catering in Wilton, traveling the world is the theme for the summer cooking sessions that will introduce your “Chefs in Training” (CITs for those in-the-know) to a wide array of dishes. These hands-on classes will have the CITs working in a professional kitchen and learning cooking skills that will have them creating “Street Food”, “Regional Dishes” from across the U. S, and a variety of “Small Plates”. The junior chefs (ages 10-15) will top it all off with a cooking competition on the last day. Watch out, Food Network. A word of note: these kitchens are not allergy-free kitchens. Everything and anything (nuts, shellfish, dairy) is cooked here. Cost is $475 per week, $900 for two weeks, or $1350 or three weeks.
Several years ago CTbites visited Basso Café Restauranton New Canaan Avenue in Norwalk and was very impressed with many of the dishes created by Owner / Chef Renato Donzelli. Since that time Chef Renato has maintained his vision of creating a wine bar to complement the food, and that is now a reality as Basso Café Restaurant is now Basso Café Restaurant Wine Bar.
The interior has been updated with large, vibrant paintings along one wall, smaller modern pieces along the other wall overseeing the 60 seat dining area. The lighting is soft and inviting and acoustical tiles have been installed to reduce the noise level. After the recent receipt of a full liquor license, guests can now benefit from Chef Renato’s pairing of wines to balance the vibrant flavors of his cuisine and the rear of the restaurant now showcases the bar area with a selection of personally selected spirits, including organic vodkas.
Marcia Selden Catering & Event Planning, a top caterer in Stamford, CT, loves kids and enjoys teaching them all about food. They host cooking parties for kids and adults in their commercial kitchen space and they know a thing or two about cooking and partying at the same time. Kids cooking parties have become a super popular birthday party theme, and it’s easy to see why. Children love to be part of the action especially when they get to ‘help out’ in the kitchen. Food is one of life’s pleasures, and preparing it is tons of fun too. Here are some of their top tips for having a fun, interactive party for kids between 6-12 that won’t leave your kitchen looking like a war-zone.
Aux Delices' 2015 Winter/Spring Kids & Adult Cooking Class Schedule has just been announced. Aux Délices offers cooking classes for adults and children at their professional catering kitchen in Stamford. Classes are generally held on Wednesday evenings for adults and Sunday afternoons for children. Classes are hands-on for children and both participation and demonstration for adults.
Their focus is to teach easy, interesting and seasonal food preparation, utilizing a variety of cooking techniques. The chef instructors are from Aux Délices, as well as from well-known restaurants in Fairfield County and New York City. Lynn Manheim, the Cooking School Director does an incredible job engaging and challenging both children and adults, while teaching students the basics of cooking along the way.
View the complete schedule below...For more information, click here.
The Venezuelan-inspired Jojoto Restaurant + Bar is opening in Branford this August. Owner Victor Figueroa and Neil Fuentes, our favorite Singing Chef, have teamed up for a restaurant that is "high-energy, Latin infused with authentic Venezuelan dishes."
Jojoto will open in a 40-seat intimate dining room that was previously occupied by Augie's Restaurant. The menu will feature rustic and traditional recipes that take inspiration from the land as well as the nearby shoreline, and include:
Costillas de Res of sofrito and cabernet braised short ribs with polenta, gremolata and truffle essence; Venezuelan BBQ with beef tenderloin, chicken, pork, choice of chorizo or blood sausage, yuca, guasacaca and crema fresca; Hamburguesa Venezolana piled high with lettuce, tomato, ham, queso, avocado, bacon, crushed potato chips, slaw, ketchup, mustard, garlic sauce, topped with a duck egg and served with truffle fries; Pabellon Criollo with rice, black beans, shredded beef and sweet plantains; and Gallinita Rellena, deboned, crispy skin Cornish hen stuffed with leeks and sweet plantain with an orange, lemon grass and honey reduction. Seasonal paella preparations and market fresh fish dishes change daily.
CTbites is pleased to introduce you to our summer intern, Hannah Bukzin. Hannah is a 14 yr old Staples high school student with a passion for cooking. Hannah has her own blog "Small Chef in a Big World," and is a contestant in the 2014 Chopped Teen Tournament on The Food Network. Please welcome Hannah to CTbites and watch her episode on July 29th!
Sixteen talented teenagers bring their extreme energy and ambition to the Chopped kitchen, with Chopped Teen Tournament premiering Tuesday, July 15th at 10pm ET/PT on Food Network. In this special, five-part stunt, sixteen culinary whiz kids are aiming for perfect appetizers, entrées, and desserts, as they navigate through three rounds. The teen cooks are given ingredients that could stump even top professionals, with a rotating panel of the Chopped judges, including Amanda Freitag, Alex Guarnaschelli, Marc Murphy, Chris Santos, Geoffrey Zakarian and special guest judge Alex Stupak determining who gets chopped each round.
Watch Hannah's episode: Premiering Tuesday, July 29th at 10pm ET/PT
If you thought arepa's were our of your reach in your own kitchen, think again. This week we are bringing you a recipe from one of the our reader favorite spots—Valencia Luncheria in Norwalk, featured in Fairfield County Chef's Table—featuring one of their most popular dishes, the Carlo Arepa.
Friday June 6 is National Donut Day! Yes, it's an actual holiday... it started in 1938 and has been celebrated on the first Friday in June ever since. Back then, making doughnuts proved a complicated ordeal, with people resorting to wine bottles as rolling pins and metal tins as cutting edges. Today, however, several CT restaurants have made doughnuts an art form.
As a Stamford resident, I constantly heard people talk about the legendary donuts at the Lakeside Diner. Their rounds are neither ornate nor revolutionary. Instead, the old-fashioned donuts taste just like something Grandma would have pulled out of the oven. The classic cake recipe has a dusting of granulated sugar that pleases children and adults alike.
On the other side of the spectrum, Orangeside of New Haven eschews tradition and bakes up SQUARE donuts. It started out as an exercise in frugality; traditional round cutters proved expensive and the square shaped reduced the amount of scrap dough. However, the original design became an instant hit, even recognized by Saveur Magazine as one of the top 50 donuts in the United States.
Is May about the newly arriving crocuses (crocii?)? Or about the greening of our lawns after the longest winter ever? Nah. Let’s get down to business-it’s about finding camps for your kiddos before the summer hits and all of those spots are filled! The emails have begun flying and the scramble is beginning. What’s new? What’s fun? How about forgoing the traditional Camp Gitchigoomee canoes and bonfires and, instead, fan the flames of summer creativity in some area kitchens with cooking camps for kids!
Here is a list of 8 Kids Cooking Classes & Summer Camps for 2014:
Designed to educate children about healthy eating while getting them to try something new,a Pop Up Park will be created (off Elm Street) on Saturday May 17th between 9:30 – 11:30am. Kids can register for a fun food trail, and be entered into a drawing to win a special prize.
New Canaan residents Silvia Baldini, Founder / Chef Strawberry & Sage and Rachel Lampen RLPR Ltd, have volunteered their time to be the 2014 Food Revolution Ambassadors as one of four towns participating across Connecticut, as New Canaan joins Branford, Meriden, and Middletown.
When you enter Basso Café you feel transported to a warmer climate with the vibrant colors and art of the Mediterranean. The green walls are adorned with large colorful paintings depicting various culinary delights and the dark wood tables are inviting and offer a calming respite from the hustle and bustle of the day. At the helm of the Basso Café is Owner / Chef Renato Donzelli, who is proud that his dream still thrives after opening at the worst possible time at the beginning of the financial crisis in September 2007. A loyal following and favorable word of mouth allowed him to weather the crisis, and his strong menu has given him continued success.
Born in Venezuela and raised in Naples, Italy, Chef Renato’s cuisine focuses primarily on Mediterranean flavors with a Venezuelan influence.
We recently reported on Valencia Luncheria's highly anticipated expansion plan which has this Fairfield County arepa haven moving down the street to a significantly larger location at 164 Main Street in Norwalk. Regulars wondered if the new place would retain the just stepped off the Venezuelan beachside charm of Valencia 1.0, a tiny spot whose uniquely delicious menu has won over locals as well as Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Loyal patrons need not fear. Owner, Michael Young, recently toured CTbites around the new Valencia Luncheria, and all of the rustic and reclaimed touches, bright colors, and the signature wall of plantains, are still in the house. There are, however, some significant upgrades about which you'll want to know. Here's the rundown on what to look for in the new Valencia Luncheria, currently scheduled to open by the end of May.
“Valencia Luncheria customers will never have to wait in line again” says Michael Young, owner of the Norwalk eatery that has achieved cult-like status in the minds and stomachs of Fairfield County diners. After 6 years of arepa driven success, Valencia is growing up and getting bigger...much bigger in fact. Michael Young tells CTbites that Norwalk's Valencia Luncheria will be moving to a new location, possibly as soon on April 1st (no joke) just 600 feet down the street. While the menu and look and feel will not change, the address will. Put it in your nav systems; 164 Main Street will be the new home to Chef Young’s authentic Venezuelan beach food.
I’m told “Masas” means dough in Spanish. For very little “dough” you can consume A LOT of dough at Masas Arepera, a new, family-run spot in a tiny strip mall on Westport Ave in Norwalk.
(Bring some dough, though, because it’s cash only.)
Place your order at the counter. Menu items are listed on the wall and for those of us who don’t speak Spanish there is a yellow take-out menu with helpful English descriptions. (The Venezuelan family and staff are friendly but not much English is spoken.) Note also that all items may not be available at all times. (One member of our group had been told on an earlier visit that chicken wasn’t available that day.) So be prepared to go with the flow. We’re very glad we did.
