In 2004, Bob LeRose, a CT native whose wife, Kelley has Kansas City roots, decided that Connecticut was ready for the smoky, saucy, ribs, pulled pork and burnt ends he was missing from his father-in-law’s hometown, and opened Bobby Q’s Bodacious BBQ just off Main Street in Westport. Bobby Q’s quickly became known as a local watering hole for families, couples and friends, all seeking award-winning BBQ, creative house drinks and the best live music in Fairfield County.
But in March of 2016, sadly Bobby Q’s closed but Bob LeRose teased us with news of a planned new spot to enjoy his BBQ recipes and creative cocktails. And SOMETHING new.
The wait is over, as last month, Bobby Q’s Cue & Co. opened in the spanking new Waypointe complex on Merwin Street and a block over from the new Barcelona and Colony Pizza.
Barbeque took a circuitous route to land in Connecticut. The root word, possiblybarbacoa, is reportedly Carib indian for cooking food on a raised grate over a fire. This, then, is Barbeque: the verb. You may hear people using the word this way as we approach the Fourth of July: "hot dogs, hamburgers, we're having a barbeque." Historically correct or not, I am not down with the verb: "barbeque" is a noun. It is meat - deeply, carefully smoked - and the goal is a harmonic balance of aroma and flavor, the joining together of fire and food.
The path to opening the new H'Cue Texas BBQ in Derby has as many twists, turns, stops and starts as the route to its spiritual home in Lockhart, Texas.
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.
While the rest of us were hibernating this winter, Justin Kingsley, Pit Master at The Stand in Branford, was up daily at the crack of dawn, cleaning and firing up the restaurant’s duel smokers in the pitch black. “Anyone can BBQ in September,” he quips as he opens one of the smokers to reveal shelves of pork shoulder and chicken slow-cooking for that night’s dinner. They look like perfection – rubbed with love and house-made spice blends he’s developed through trial and error with co-owner Eamon Roche. Justin tells me, to get the best flavors, they “draw inspiration from everywhere, see what works, and then make it our own.”
This spring downtown Westport will see the opening of M.EAT Organic Beef and Provisions, an old school meat market with new school fundamentals. Founded by Beto Esteves and Rodrigo Echeverrigaray, the business partners saw the need for a boutique organic meat shop.
I sat down with the two in their Southport offices, eager to learn more about this concept. “There is no one in the US market involved with both the importing and the retailing organic meat, explained Beto. Generally, it’s a process that involves many, the importers, distributors and suppliers. So by the time the organic product hits the shelf the prices are astronomical. We have the unique ability to source meat from Uruguay, Australia and New Zealand, directly from the producers. We decided that we wanted to be able to offer these products in the States. The partners decided to take this concept one step further and have a dedicated retail space specifically designed around these organic meats, a unique concept here in the states. The first of these locations is scheduled to open in Westport at the beginning of June.
Custom Meats, a 100% locally-sourced, traditional whole-animal butchery, is slated to open this spring at 1903 Post Road in Fairfield.
This next-door neighbor to Isabelle et Vincent French Bakery plans to serve non-GMO, nitrate-free, fresh meats raised on organic principles.
Sourcing beef, pork, lamb, and poultry from small farms in Connecticut and New York, everything will be cut and prepared in house, including dry-aged beef, sausages, and various prepared foods. Farm-fresh local eggs, raw milk, and seasonal vegetables will also be offered.
This Saturday will be the last day of service at Fleishers Craft Kitchen, the restaurant adjacent to the beloved Saugatuck butcher shop. In 2013, co-founders Ryan Fibiger and Paul Nessel opened the restaurant to further the company's commitment to nose-to-tail eating. Every dish featured cuts of meat from the butcher counter famed for its quality, ethics and transparency. Fibiger, who recently left his position as CEO but continues to advise on long term vision and growth, says, “The restaurant and staff have been integral to teaching people how to prepare Meat Raised Right. But, we've always been a butcher shop first, and we think it's time to get back to our roots and refocus on providing a truly remarkable customer experience.”
South Avenue Butcher offers an assortment of burgers that are ready to be brought home and prepared in the manner of one’s choosing. Current burger selections include lamb with rosemary and garlic, lamb with shawarma spices, and dry-aged beef. To showcase the patties, South Avenue Butcher is teaming up with local chefs and food personalities. They will put their own culinary twist on the burgers, describing the perfect cooking method, bun, and accompaniments for the meat.
I first became familiar Chef Judith Roll at Tabouli Grill when it was in Southport, and was saddened by its closing. I recently learned that she had launched a second and altogether different food concept, Judy’s Bar + Kitchen that can best be described as down-home, comfort with a twist of Southernese.
Located on High Ridge Road in a neighborhood that is both retail and residential, Judy is perfectly poised to keep locals (and non-locals) well-fed with her wide array of creative from-scratch cooking. When I arrived, I was thrilled to find plenty of parking, a big bonus for me.
Darien native and chef Peter Crawford is the culinary braun behind lower Fairfield County's newest destination butchery, The Darien Butcher Shop. The shop focuses on high quality meat and gourmet specialty products, as well as events and catering, not to mention hot pressed sandwiches if you're looking for a new lunch option.
We had a chance to chat with Peter, and wanted to know what this carnivore cooks for himself, his preferred cut of meat, and his most memorable meal.
New Canaan, Connecticut is excited to welcome an old fashioned butcher shop to its already impressive culinary offering. South Avenue Butcher is the creation of businessmen, long-term friends and Darien residents Dermot Flynn, Alan Griffin and James Farrell. The friends grew up in southern Ireland where rural towns would have a butcher shop and locals would go in for special cuts of meat and advice. The concept, which was inspired by a nostalgic chat at the bar, is a direct nod to their farming heritage and reinforces that consumers care about their meat source. They strongly advocate the community and have plans to support local town events.
The proper old-style butcher specializes in home-made sausages and burgers - they will even make some to a specific family recipe. Heading up the operation is Head Butcher, Michiel Hutten who hails from the Netherlands. He worked at Darien Butcher Shop, and has over 30-years of butchery experience. Inside the store he will serve prime cuts and order in specific meats. The meats are sourced from animals that are free to roam and will be organic wherever possible.
World-class BBQ returns to CT with the homecoming of renowned pitmaster Nestor Laracuente, who is overseeing the kitchen at Mason Dixon Smokehouse in Stamford. When I heard that Nestor was teaming up with Mason Dixon, I was ecstatic, the mounds of his perfectly prepared meats that I raved about at Hoodoo Brown were indelible etched in my memory. Would Mason Dixon fill the void that I have felt for months? Bottom line…yes, the food is spectacular.
Laracuente is a soft-spoken lover of meats and Southern rock who spent years perfecting his craft. After leaving CT last year, he returned to Brooklyn where he spent time with his buddy at Beast of Bourbon in Bed-Stuy. His time was spent experimenting with new rubs, new dishes, waiting for the right opportunity for his return to Connecticut. His newest venture, of which he is part-owner, opened a few weeks ago and it is slowly expanding the menu.
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.
More barbecue is a good thing, and if you're not on board with this basic fact, then you can just get out of my face. It was with this cardinal rule of life firmly in mind that I hit the road in search of a new truck on the Connecticut food scene - a truck selling barbecue and barbecue accoutrements. The fact that this particular Friday found the DrewbaQ food truck at Veracious Brewing Company in Monroe was a purely unrelated coincidence, to be sure. It would be a grave disservice to you, our beloved CTBites readership, if I did not take full advantage of this entirely unforeseen circumstance so, in humble service to your unending curiosity re: all things food and beverage, I had several beers with my BBQ. So that I might report on pairings, you see.
Beginning her journey as a chef in Switzerland, Ki Delicia’s owner Fernanda Ferreira had the drive and determination to turn her dreams into a reality by coming to America with nothing but a suitcase and two sets of clothes. Fast forward to 2016, and her customer base has grown exponentially with people traveling from all parts of Connecticut just to get a taste of her incredible edibles. Upon visiting this hidden gem, I witnessed customers lining up around the block in their cars just to get their breakfast essentials. As a family run business both her son and her daughter, Clara Gaspar, help out with the intention of helping Ki Delicia thrive. “I think it’s still a hidden gem to many,” says Clara Gaspar daughter of owner Fernanda Ferrara.
When walking into Ki Delicia Bakery and Deli, you are drawn in by the welcoming aroma of Brazilian delights. Travel a few steps more into the building and it feels like home. Almost immediately, I was greeted by Ferreira and her staff who welcomed me into the establishment with a warm and welcoming presence like a mother who invites guests into her humble abode.
Judith Roll, creator of the popular Tabouli Mediterranean Grill in Stamford, felt that the dining neighborhood north of Bullshead was underserved. “The area needed something a little hip,” she told CTBites recently. “So I thought, take a chance, and try Barbecue.”
As if by wizardry, wisps of sweet hickory smoke were soon wafting over High Ridge Road, not far from the Merritt, as Judy’s Bar + Kitchen opened its doors to a diverse (and hungry) local crowd.
Even though she bills her dinner dishes as “Low Country,” Judith made no pilgrimage to Memphis and Carolina to study the nuances of time, temperature, cuts and woods. Rather she stayed in the neighborhood and developed her menu out of a culinary sensibility honed at CIA and the kitchens of gifted chefs like Wolfgang Puck.
“Simple and fresh are my style,” she says. “Good meat, cooked low and slow, what more do you need to know?”
Photo courtesy of CTNOWBrace yourself for a grillin’ and chillin’ good time at Sun BBQFest. On June 11th & 12th, sink your teeth into the best barbeque around with festivities featuring celebrity BBQ Chef — Myron Mixon, live music, beer trailers, barbeque showdowns, local vendors, food trucks and so much more!
Tickets are $5.00 per day and go on sale Friday, April 1st through the Mohegan Sun Box Office. Kids 6 and under get in free. The weekend of the event, tickets for entry are available at the gate along with food and drink tickets.
Eat, Drink, Compete
Get in on all the BBQ action and decide who reigns supreme during the People’s Choice Contest all weekend long. Purchase $2.00 samples from 20 participating Kansas City BBQ Society teams and cast your vote for the ultimate best at Sun BBQFest. Competition remains fierce on Saturday with a Rib Contest fromNoon to 2:30pm followed by a Wing Challenge from 6:00pm to 8:30pm. For $5.00, each contest offers a sampling of 5 wings or 5 ribs for you to judge! A portion of the proceeds benefits the Sun BBQFest official charity, Operation BBQ Relief.
They say “birds of a feather flock together.” Chef Tyler Anderson of Millwright's in Simsbury and Jamie McDonald of Bear’s Smokehouse are proving that isn’t always the case. In August, the two will come together to open The Cook and The Bear in West Hartford’s Blue Back Square. The restaurant will make for an interesting meeting of the minds; Millwright’s is known for its farm-to-table cuisine while Bear’s Smokehouse serves classic finger-lickin’ Kansas City-style barbeque.
“It’s a fun concept,” says AJ Aurrichio, Millwrights’ Operations Manager. “We’re taking traditional barbeque and putting a chef’s perspective on it.”
They first started testing the idea of a merger in August 2015. Every Monday night, they offered pop-up dinners with dishes representative of what the new restaurant could entail. Diners were very receptive and they moved forward.
“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!” laughs Aurrichio.
Anderson and McDonald gave guests a sneak peek of the new concept at Savor’s Grand Tasting event, which took place in Hartford on April 7 and 8. They presented a “Smoked Pork Kimchi Pancake with Gochujang BBQ.” It was the perfect fusion of both elements- BBQ reimagined with gourmet view. The softer, starchier pancake balanced out the strong spice from the pork. Meanwhile, green onion on top added crunch.
CTBites will keep you updated as details unfold! In the meantime, enjoy Millwright’s and Bear’s Smokehouse!
Top Chefs from all around Fairfield County gathered at the CTbites Chef Demo Tent to delight guests at the Blues, Views & BBQ Festival this past weekend in Westport. They grilled, demoed recipes, and served up some great eats to thousands of eager fans. Was it fun? Heck yeah. The chefs you see above hail from: Match, Walrus + Carpenter, The Spread, Fleishers Craft Butchery, Bobby Q’s, Vespa, Can Tiin & NEAT, as well as Da Pietro's. They made brisket, pork buns, sliders, pork belly, and every other cut of every meat imaginable. Good times were had by all. Check out the pics!
The 8th annual Blues, Views & BBQ Festival presented by the Westport Downtown Merchants Association will be held in Westport CT on September 5 & 6 at the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts and the grounds of the Westport Library.
CTbites will once again play host to the areas top chefs as they grill up and demo some of their favorite dishes and offer up samples for attendees of the festival. Come on down and meet this incredibly talented group of local chefs.
