Filtering by Tag: Hartford,Delivery Service

Great BBQ Restaurants In CT: A Summer Wish List

Restaurant BBQ Ridgefield Redding Hartford Windsor Bridgeport Branford Comfort Food Homepage

CTbites Team

The summertime heat makes me crave a meaty backyard barbecue with crunchy roasted corn on the side and finished off with a sweet slice of juicy watermelon. But where can you get a meal like this if you don’t feel like cooking at home? Mix summertime with the great eats in Connecticut, and you get a barbecue wish list extraordinaire with several spots ranking high on CTbites’ favorites list and others that we really need to try.


Best Food Trucks in CT: New Haven, Hartford, Milford & Beyond (2017 Edition)

Restaurant Food Truck Catering New Haven Hartford Milford Bethel

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

We don't have to be behind the wheel for food trucks to drive us crazy!  Mobile eateries continue to take the state by storm, offering curbside versions of favorite restaurant dishes and original creations from talented chefs who would rather take their cuisine on the road.  We told you about food trucks worth the visit in Fairfield County.  Now, CTBites presents our annual list of outstanding food trucks (and carts!) in New Haven, Hartford and beyond.


Top Picks For Eating In With UberEATS

Restaurant Features Homepage To-Go Home Delivery Delivery Service New Haven Stamford

CTbites Team

The UberEATS app launched in Connecticut this past summer and it hasn’t taken us very long to get totally addicted to the on-demand food delivery platform. Ideal for next-level work lunches when it’s too hectic to leave the office, or dinner when the fridge is empty and you just can’t bring yourself to cook, UberEATS delivers from top restaurants across Fairfield, New Haven, and, as of last week, Hartford Counties. Here are some of our top picks across CT for great bites, delivered.


Pho 99: Magic Number for Pho in East Hartford and Wethersfield

Restaurant Asian East Hartford Hartford Noodles Vietnamese Wehtersfield Lunch Kid Friendly

Hope Simmons

My magic number for pho is 99. There are those who say 501 is better. I say, are you sure? Because, though I used to eat there back in the day, now my money's on Pho 99 all the way. Friendly service, clean, and more varieties of spring rolls than anywhere else I know. For me, it’s the pho gold standard. Not to mention, Chef Peter Nguyen is a sweetheart of a guy who takes pride in what they serve in his restaurants. The smiling man with the infectious laugh is the heart, soul, chef and secret recipe holder within the Pho 99 kitchen.

“The soup is a BIIIIIIIIIIIG secret! No one, family even--Mary’s (his business partner’s) husband don’t know! My wife don’t know! My cousins—don’t know! There’s a lot of businesses like us who come ask, what the heck are you doing? Unbelievable! What you put in there? I say, I do the same as you do!” Peter smiles, knowing full well what he does separates him from the pack and is absolutely not the same.

 


DiFiore Ravioli Shop: Three Generations of Italian Cooking, In Hartford & Rocky Hill

Ingredients Hartford Italian Pasta Rocky Hill Specialty Market

Hope Simmons

Most people look forward to taking it easy and traveling in their 60s. But at age 62, Andy and Louise DiFiore had a different retirement plan in mind. They opened DiFiore Ravioli Shop on Franklin Avenue, in Hartford’s Little Italy back in 1982.

Their son Don explains, “My parents were always the home gourmet types. Back in those days, they weren’t called foodies, but they had a lifelong love of food. My dad had been an executive in the office machine world almost his whole life in sales and marketing. And he was probably looking at this more as being a retirement thing for income. Just like a little boutique store. But they stayed with it. My dad would be in the store until he was in his late 80s. And my mom stayed in the store till she was 90. She’s 95 now.”

Then, about five years ago, Don’s father was in a nursing home and his mother was getting too old to run the store any longer. They were going to close it. Then Don’s eldest sister came back home from Chicago to help. “She threw the option at me—do you want to do something with it? Geez, I don’t know.”


King & I Thai Kitchen in Hartford and Manchester: A Family Affair

Restaurant Asian Hartford Hartford County Thai

Hope Simmons

Blink and you can easily miss the little white house as you drive down Park Street in Hartford’s Parkville section. So keep an eye out, because it’s home to a fine family business specializing in Thai and Lao dishes—generous portions, reasonably priced. And if you head east of the river, you’ll find the exact same menu and great food in Manchester.

There are many choices closer to home when it comes to Thai, but when the craving hits, I make tracks for King & I. It’s changed management over time, but the food remains just as delicious as it ever was. In fact, it’s amazingly consistent. How is that even possible?

The secret to their success starts in a tiny kitchen with their cook. Behind the scenes, the same woman has been busy stirring up deliciousness for the past 10 years. When the previous owner sold the restaurant four and a half years ago, Hongkham Munesaleum was already part of the kitchen. But now, with her husband, Lam, washing dishes, and his daughter Lilly, serving the front of the house (literally!), it’s all in the family.


Giving Back: Fighting Hunger in Connecticut on #GivingTuesday and Beyond

Fundraiser Hartford Norwalk

Amy Kundrat

Photo c/o Community Plates

Giving Tuesday has become a global day dedicated to giving back. This year it takes place on Tuesday, December 1, neatly positioned after our national day of thanks and a weekend of retail mayhem.

If you’re planning on giving this holiday season around #GivingTuesday, why not consider supporting Connecticut-based charities that benefit the hungry? These charities are near and dear to our hearts at CTbites because while we celebrate food, we also understand that for too many, food insecurity is a major issue. And in our country, and certainly in Connecticut, that doesn’t feel right.

If you’re planning on giving back this holiday season, and especially on Tuesday, December 1, here are a few hunger-related charities making an impact across the state. We know there are many terrific agencies and non profits not listed below, please share additional organizations that we should highlight by adding them in the comments section:


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.

SAVOR Event Recap: A Celebration of Wine, Food & Spirits

Hartford

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

Savor, billed as a “celebration of Wine, Food, and Spirits,” made its grand debut on April 11 and 12 in Hartford, CT.  Event sponsors gave us a preview in March, and the actual festival was a resounding success.  Savor offered guests a weekend filled with memorable wine, food, and demonstrations.

Vicky Cirilli, event coordinator, promised wines focused on “quality not quantity.”  CT Distributors offered just that, bringing in some of their best bottles for guests to sample.  It seemed that the majority of the wines featured retailed for about $50 and were carefully chosen for the weekend.  As a result, Savor attracted wine savvy guests eager to learn, making the experience especially enjoyable.


The Best Tacos in Connecticut: Ultimate Guide

Restaurant Darien Fairfield Food Truck Hartford Norwalk Stamford Tacos Mexican New Haven Best of CT Kid Friendly

April Guilbault

There is truly a Mexican restaurant for everyone. There are the quiet ones that scream “authentic! authentic! authentic!” and then there are the more modern ones with the guac that is “hand-slapped” or “slapped to order.” Excuse me? Was it naww-ghty? Mex goes 50 Shades, I see. And if the recent lime shortage (I can’t think of lime-hijackings without giggling, sorry) has you in a tizzy and wondering just how the heck you and your margaritas are going to make it through the summer, just head to these places. Let them figure out the limes, you can figure out how many drinks and how much lime-infused guacamole to have.

Here's our list of the 16 Best Taco Restaurants & Trucks in Connecticut. Feel free to add your favorites to the list below. 


Ted Turner's "Ted’s Montana Grill" Opens in Hartford May 12th

Restaurant Hartford Lunch Kid Friendly Burgers

CTbites Team

Ted’s Montana Grill, the classic American grill co-founded by media entrepreneur, environmentalist and philanthropist Ted Turner and award-winning restaurateur George McKerrow Jr., announced that a new restaurant would be opening up on 35 Front Street in downtown Hartford on May 12th. The restaurant will be 4,600 square feet and will seat 160 guests.  This is the second Ted’s Montana Grill in Connecticut; the first location is in The Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk in South Windsor.

Ted’s Montana Grill serves time-honored favorites in a relaxed setting reminiscent of the 19th century American frontier. The design of the Hartford location is inspired by old western saloons, with all the romance and classic touches that make it feel luxurious, but in a casual, warm way. The décor will feature Mahogany paneling, pressed tin ceilings, brass fixtures and beautiful crown molding.

From traditional comfort food to unique signature dishes, all meals are made from scratch fresh daily - nothing frozen or microwaved. Chefs only use fresh Certified Angus Beef, National Bison Association-certified bison, all-natural chicken and premium seafood. Ted’s Montana Grill also believes in fresh, sustainable, organic and locally grown ingredients.


10 Questions for Jeffrey Lizotte of Hartford's ON20

Restaurant Hartford Chef Talk

Amy Kundrat

Chef Jeffrey Lizotte is the executive chef of Hartford's acclaimed ON20 restaurant and Connecticut’s only nominee for FOOD & WINE’s annual People’s Best New Chef award [you can vote online through March 31 at 5 pm].

A Connecticut native, Lizotte has been executive chef of ON20 since 2012. A graduate of Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, Jeffrey has worked under chefs David Bouley and Eric Ripert, and completed stages in France at the acclaimed La Tupina in Bordeaux, and the two Michelin-starred La Bastide St. Antoine in Grasse, France. In 2009, Lizotte returned to the nutmeg state as Chef de Cuisine at ON20, becoming executive chef in 2012. The same year, he earned a silver medal at the Bocuse D’Or USA and was awarded Valhrona Best Pastry while representing the U.S in the international culinary competition Trophee Passion.

A talented Connecticut chef, CTbites invited Lizotte to participate in our '10 Questions' column to understand what makes him tick as a chef both inside and outside of the kitchen.  

If you had unexpected guests arriving at your home for dinner in 1 hour, what would you whip up? 

Pasta Carbonara – everyone likes a good pasta dish. It is simple and one of my favorites.

What is the last dish you cooked for yourself? 

 


À Vert French Brasserie in West Hartford: Just Like Paris

Restaurant French Hartford West Hartford Lunch

CTbites Team

Photo courtesy of Julie BidwellFull disclosure: I’m crazy about Paris. For many years, when David and I went to Europe we stopped off to visit his college roommate who lived in an elegant apartment near the Eiffel Tower. The 7th Arrondissement has no shortage of fine restaurants and bistros de luxe, but more often than not we would have an apéritif in the apartment before heading off to a lively brasserie or bistro populaire in the Latin Quarter.

I still love French bistros and keep my eye out for new ones in Connecticut. Some are French in name only, but the minute I entered À Vert, a new brasserie in West Hartford, I was in Paris. The zinc bar, the wine list chalked on the mirror. The pressed-tin ceiling, the white tile and exposed-brick walls—authentic, romantic and real, including the warmth and friendliness that define bistro dining in the City of Light.

It’s all good, but food beautiful food is the overriding reason to dine at À Vert. How could it not be? It’s owned by two chefs who in recent years have been making the Connecticut foodie world sit up and take notice: David Borselle at Bar Bouchée in Madison and Dorjan Puka at Treva around the corner in West Hartford.

Read the full article on ConnecticutMag.com. 


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. 


ON20 in Hartford: Lofty Views, Gorgeous Food, Top Chef, New Prix Fixe Lunch Menu

Restaurant Hartford

Douglas P Clement

The season we’ve just entered, that glowing, golden transition from high summer to early autumn, with cooler temperatures and the first blush of fall foliage, is the year’s best backdrop for fine dining. This menu of gorgeously-presented, heavenly-tasting farm-to-table cuisine will continue indefinitely—just like the unparalleled views of the cityscape and the Connecticut River Valley that guests enjoy at the restaurant, named for its location on the 20th floor of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Company - and here’s the season’s best invitation: ON20 in Hartford, a nonpareil Connecticut restaurant with a very talented young chef, is launching a new $30 prix fixe lunch menu that highlights locally-grown ingredients.

Close your eyes and order anything on the menus created by Executive Chef Jeffrey Lizotte, who, barely into his 30s, has worked with David Bouley, at Le Bernardin and at the two-star Michelin Restaurant, La Bastide St. Antoine in France. He’ll send out plates that are works of art, and bites that will leave you trying to put words to the rhapsody of flavor epiphanies with each forkful.

(ON20 is open Monday through Friday for lunch, Thursday and Friday for dinner, and hosts happy hours Wednesday through Friday.)

Read the full story on
Connecticut Magazine's Web site. 


Yelp Prohibition Party on April 30 @ Hartford's Russian Lady

Restaurant Events Hartford

Amy Kundrat

Yelp will be hosting a roaring good time at their Prohibition Party at The Russian Lady in Hartford on April 30 at 7:30 pm. Complimentary bites, prohibition-era hooch, jazz, burlesque, vintage swing dancing are planned (fedoras are optional).  This party is FREE to attend with a $10 SUGGESTED DONATION to Hartford Preservation Alliance, Yelp's nonprofit partner.

For more information and to RSVP, visit: http://www.yelp.com/events/hartford-yelps-prohibition-party

Participating restaurants serving food, include:


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.


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.