Steamed clams, sweet mussels swimming in flavorful broth, freshly harvested sugar corn, creamy red potatoes, maybe a tangy fruit pie to top it all off and certainly lots and lots of warm, creamery butter. Add to all of these delights, the perfect setting, some decorations and maybe some help along the way serving it up and what do you have? The perfect summer gathering and we at CTBites certainly love those. That said, we have compiled this list of restaurants, shacks, and caterers for all of your seaworthy hankerings. Grab some friends, break out the bibs and the crackers, and drawwwww that butter, baby! Get ready to enjoy summer, New England style~
I had it all planned. My good friend, Jane Green, called and asked me and our team at Festivities to design and prepare a family style “Farm Dinner” celebrating the launch of her new book “The Sunshine Sisters.” As the name indicates, the book’s heroines are three sisters…one of them “Lizzie,” a chef.
This recipe for Mini Crab Cakes comes just in time for Memorial Day entertaining. Thank you Marcia Selden Catering! We don't know about you, but we like a crab cakes loaded with fresh crab meat and not a lot of extra filler. This one fits the bill. Enjoy these are your next party...or just dinner for two.
If you’ve been to New Haven lately, you might have seen a strange vehicle on her streets.
It looks like a bar on wheels, complete with barstools and a countertop, and even a bartender, Another strange thing about it is that it’s a human-powered contraption, pedal-powered by the the cool people sitting at the bar.
It’s called the Elm City Party Bike, and now it’s coming to Milford.
Mayor Benjamin Blake on Tuesday announced a new partnership with the Elm City Party Bike, New England’s “first and foremost pedaled sightseeing bike.”
The Elm City Party Bike offers groups of 8-15 the ability to visit restaurants while viewing architecture, historical sites, the coast and more. Each seat on the party bike has a set of pedals, and while a trained Elm City driver steers the bike.
Marcia Selden has created a great variation on the classic ‘mai tai’ cocktail. It’s perfect for spring and the bruléed top gives it a unique flavor profile. If you are sadly lacking a sterno brulée gun, and can't borrow one from your neighbor, feel free to drink this one straight up without the flourish.
The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford hosts A Taste of History 2017 on Monday April 3 at 5pm. The evening begins with a premier reception at 5pm and culminates with a food tasting, a cocktail tasting, music, a tour, and art inspired activities.
Fermented beverages are prevalent, but what about fermented foods? Learn about them and their health benefits at the Barrel Room in North Canton, CT on Monday April 3. The class will cover foods like water kefir, milk kefir and kimchi.
Connecticut Hops For Hope returns for its second benefit, Beers For Brittany, on Sunday, April 23rd. The event will be held at the brand new Counter Weight Brewing in Hamden, and 100% of ticket sales, in person donations, and on site raffle ticket sales will benefit Brittany Vellucci, a young woman fighting through brain cancer. Tickets go on sale tonight at 7p.m. RIGHT HERE.
On Monday March 20, Mikro Beer Bar in Hamden invites you to a Kent Falls Brewing Beer Dinner. Chef Mike Fox will create a four course dinner to complement craft brews. The event is limited to 50 people, so get your tickets soon.
Which is better: beer or wine? The question is difficult and divisive… but Fairfield Greenwich Cheese Company will help you decide! Beer and wine will go head-to-head alongside a cheese plate to see which makes for the best pairing. Join them at the Greenwich location on March 21 from 7-9pm and the Fairfield location on March 23 from 7-9pm. It costs $50 per person.
Neat, a favorite coffee café in Westport and Darien and Festivities, the award winning special event catering and event design company have joined together to offer “Pop Up Parties."
With craft cocktails by Neat and foods by Festivities, party givers can select from several party ideas. From cocktail parties, interactive foods stations or plated dinners and with global traditions to home traditions, Festivities has created offerings that are delicious and fun! (two very important words).
Halloween has come and gone and November is officially here! As you admire your bounties of candy, indulge in all things pumpkin, and embrace fall’s chilly temperatures, don’t forget to consider your holiday parties! Connecticut has a number of restaurants and venues that are sure to make your special occasions memorable. From private dining rooms to ballrooms to event planning teams, these 25 places will help you get your party on!
South End, New Canaan: South End in New Canaan has a private dining room that can seat up to 20 guests.
La Zingara, Bethel: La Zingara and its upstairs ECCO Rooftop both accommodate private parties. They have done everything from pig roasts to wine dinners.
Union League Cafe, New Haven: Union League Cafe in New Haven has a number of event spaces. Whether its corporate of personal, their team is ready to assist you.
The Loading Dock, Stamford: Industrial meets chic at The Loading Dock in Stamford. With a number of spaces, it's a great place to plan your next event.
There's a new pizza "truck" in town, one with built-in street creds. Brick + Wood Pizza in Fairfield has set its pizza making in motion with a mobile wood-fired pizza oven, custom designed by acclaimed fourth generation pizza artisans, Acunto Forni, and imported from Naples, Italy.
The mobile Acunto pizza ovenmirrors the wood-burning one in-house, ensuring the same tasty pizza is available no matter where it is prepared. The oven reaches over 1,000 degrees in temperature in a short period of time with an overhead flame cooking the pizzas in 90 seconds or less. The surface is made of volcanic brick, which is more porous and prevents the crust from burning.
Community Table & Kent Falls Brewing Co. are teaming up for a special evening of food and beer on July 26. Executive Chef Marcell Davidsen has collaborated with Barry and Derek at Kent Falls Brewing Co. on a summer-inspired menu fit for Connecticut locavore beer lovers.
"We are very excited to host this event, and share some great beers and great food. And there might be a few surprises too," said Marcell Davidsen.
We have a sneak peek of the menu, which at last count is 7 courses and 6 beers, and as many reasons to get excited for this evening at Community Table. Tickets are $75 per person. Reservations are available on OpenTable.com.
July 26 Menu
Sourdough Bread Toasted hay butter
Smoked Trout & Squash Blossom Hazelnut crème
Beer: Lade Øl 4.8 % Abv.
A farmhouse ale brewed with smoked hay. This beer takes on delicate notes of sweet grass, vanilla and spice notes from the hay complementing our house yeast culture.
Flowers are popping up everywhere this spring, even in our beer. Tomorrow, May 7th, will see a special bottle release at Two Roads Brewing Co. in Stratford, featuring their newest creation, Roads Garden. The spring Nor'yeaster event will also include limited supplies of Framboise Noir, a black raspberry lambic, and Road 2 Rouen, the brewery's "wild, Franco-Belgian IPA," based on Road 2 Ruin DIPA.
A sold-out, ticketed preview event was held this past Monday, when the brewery's tasting room is regularly closed, and CTBites was able to taste several of Two Roads' smaller production run beers, paired with "re-imagined junk food," via event partner Marcia Selden catering.
Fairfield County residents know that the area rocks… and it also “rolls”! Fairfield County hosts a number of outstanding food trucks that serve an array of cuisines. Meatballs, crepes, tacos, potatoes, Carribean… It’s all available right on the city streets or even in your backyard!
Here are 20 delicious food trucks you can visit or hire for your next event.
Hapa: Based in Stamford, Hapa serves three types of tacos: Korean short rib, Philippine chicken adobo and Nonny’s sweet peppers, burgers, both beef and Ahi, plus bowls of poke and chicken adobo.
The Poutine King: The Poutine King prides itself on being "the first food truck in the north east United States" to offer Poutine, a Canadian dish. Those wanting a classic version can order the traditional poutine. More adventurous eaters can enjoy the Sweet Potato Poutine or the Poutine Burger.
Skinny Pines: The Skinny Pines pizza truck sells wood fired pizzas. It makes use of local ingredients by sourcing its toppings from area farms. The menu changes with the season, but past pizzas have been topped with fresh sun gold tomatoes, zucchini, scapes, garlic, and eggplant, to name a few.
Taco Loco Party Truck: Taco Loco is recognized as the first Mexican food truck in CT! The restaurant is based in Bridgeport.
Tuscan Kale Caesar Slaw with Garlic Bread Croutons & Parmesan Frico
Eating clean, healthy and minimally processed foods are better for you and for our environment. You’ll eat fewer chemicals and there will be less fuel used to transport packaged foods. This yummy slaw makes it easy (and delicious) to eat your greens for Earth Day and every day!
This March only marks a year since Kent Falls Brewing Company released their first beer, and somehow it doesn't feel too early to call them "renowned." The Litchfield County operation has already become one of Connecticut's most productive, releasing 37 different beers and variants in their first ten months. That level of output is preposterous, and all the more remarkable not just due to the high volume of recipes, but for their excellence. Small wonder then, that Little Pub in Ridgefieldchose to host the Kent Falls crew for a rare beer pairing dinner event early this February.
This week will be an all Connecticut-brewed, and intensely hopped version of Friday Froth. We start by wishing happy birthday to one of our state's early modern craft brewing pioneers, Olde Burnside Brewing Company, which turned 15 years old this month. Olde Burnside was initially highly visible due to selling their Ten Penny Scottish Ale in 64oz. growlers at retail in area liquor stores, which was 1) a great deal, 2) useful for refilling with anything you chose, and 3) garnered a $1.50 reimbursement when returned, if you weren't so inclined. This came in handy during the years when Connecticut had around five breweries, instead of our current 30ish, and growler filling stations were rare as sober nights at Owl Farm.
Holiday season is heeeere, with its feasts and parties, and let’s be honest, you can’t really have too much pie, now can you? Note: with the brief exception of a kooky aunt who, after a post-Thanksgiving bout on the tread mill, did wearily proclaim “Too....Much....Pie!” but that’s another story for another time. So where to go for the best pies with the flakiest crusts, sweetest streusel toppings and the most flavorful fillings? We’ll be happy to tell you. Get those dessert plates ready and, um...you might want to loosen that belt.
Here are 14 places to buy great holiday pies in CT.
Holiday party for 4…10…50…100? It all takes effort to entertain well and create a memorable and delicious event for your guests. So, as we embark on another lively holiday season, get a little help. Ok, a lot of help (you’ll be sooo much happier for it!). Have that party catered! Lucky for you, we have assembled a delightful list of area caterers and restaurants that will, literally, bring something amazing to the table. So make the call, invite the guests, and enjoy your holiday season’s get-togethers right along with everyone else. It is our gift to you.
We bring you our Holiday Catering Guide: 14 Fairfield County Caterers Who Do It All!
The holidays are right around the corner, and you know what that means…. parties, parties and more parties! Whether you’re hosting or bringing, we’ve got you covered with this season’s most delicious hors d’oeuvre recipes, including: Polenta Bites with Mushroom Duxelle; Chevre & Fig Jam Tartlettes; Gruyere & Red Pepper Jelly Tartlettes & Poached Shrimp with Assorted Dipping Sauces. Your guests will think you hired a caterer!
Sheila Barton is a local caterer with a flair for food styling. After watching her work her magic at several parties, we asked her for a few tips on creating your own "Classic Cocktail Bar." Here are her tips...
I thought it would benefit many to talk about how to set up the perfect holiday cocktail bar. Not only are the essentials so very important, but so are Style, Texture and Taste. I am always about creating an experience..starting with your eyes and ending with taste. Even if you can only afford to serve one great wine and one great beer, you can still do it with style. If you can throw in a classic craft cocktail or two, more the merrier!
So to first create Style, it is important to create a feeling of glamour and fun. You do this with visual appeal using different heights and Texture.