When temperatures plummet, it’s the perfect time to warm up with a piping hot cup of joe! These shops, restaurants, and markets serve up some of Connecticut’s best java, from espresso to cups to iced options. Be sure to check out the pastries and other eats, too!
The humidity is making your hair look like Rosanna Rosannadanna’s. You are sweating just…standing…still. What can help ease the ills of this sweltering weather? Gelato. The cool will survive! Cups and cones of creamy cold, Italian, La-Dolce-Vita-I’m-on-a-Vespa gelato. Luckily, scattered across our fair state, a wide variety of gelato can be found and now you have a reason to smile about this crazy heat and humidity. Scoops, scoops away! Brava!
For the past few years, CTBites’ annual Top Ten Burgers has crowned the best premium hamburgers in Southwest Connecticut. Featuring the usual suspects, the rankings didn't vary much each summer. (In fact, our 2018 roundup would have welcomed only one new candidate, the robust Tavern Burger just introduced at GreyBarns.) By focusing on those elite burgers, had our list become elitist?
This year we decided to widen the lens to include both Fairfield and New Haven Counties and shift the focus to the casual, every-day burgers that we usually crave: a really succulent beef patty adorned with our favorite fixings at a reasonable price. Convenience ups the appeal.
Ironically, two candidates from last year’s gilded list qualified by value and ambience as casual, neighborhood hamburgers. Four of the entries are indigenous to the state, including one that is steamed not fired. Surprisingly, half of the patties are not even served in conventional, soft buns.
We paid close attention to bread/beef ratios. A limp bun immediately disqualified any contender.
Most prices hover around 10 dollars, one as cheap as 5.25, but none more costly than 15.
Herewith, the best of our local, “grab-able” burgers.
Summer is here and nothing embodies summer in New England like the lobster roll! Whether you prefer yours hot or cold, with or without butter, classic or with a twist, Connecticut restaurants and seafood shacks are featuring them on their menus. Here is a list of 34+ places where you can get some lobstahhhh!!
Lobstercraft, Fairfield: LobsterCraft opened its retail doors a few months ago in Fairfield. Parked next to the shop is their truck, and a tented, casual seating area, reminiscent of those great roadside eateries along the coast of Maine.
Lenny and Joe’s Fish Tale, Westbrook: Lenny and Joe's serves buttered lobster in a grilled split top hotdog bun and with one side of your choosing, like onion rings.
Knot Norms, Norwalk: n addition to the classic lobster roll, Knot Norms in Norwalk has rolls of all varieties! Join them for a Fried Chicken Roll, Roasted Oysters and a Crab Salad Roll, and more.
Liv’s Shack, Old Saybrook: Liv’s Shack, located directly on the waterfront at the mouth of the Connecticut River, celebrates Summer in New England with hot buttered lobster rolls, fish tacos, hand-ground hamburgers and more.
Summah. Lobstah. Chowdah. Did you notice that all of these “words” end in “ah”? Ahhhh, guess there is a reason. Summer, with it’s blazing sunshine and easy and delicious seasonal eats, is perfectly ahhh-inducing. One of great things about this time of year is the fresh seafood. Does anything really compare to a New England clambake with all the trimmings? Fresh, sweet lobster, briny clams, crunchy fresh corn, succulent mussels, creamy red potatoes…wait! Don’t forget the buttah. There’s that “ah” again. We hope you have many of these enjoyable shared meals with friends and family in the beautiful, warm months ahead. Here’s a list to help you on your way…
Recently, we told you about over 50 food trucks traveling the streets of Fairfield County. Mobile eats are taking over the state though, with trucks and carts serving New Haven, Hartford, and beyond! Here are over 80 trucks serving everything from Mexican to Vietnamese to BBQ!
Skyscraper Sandwiches, Glastonbury: Skyscraper Sandwich Truck serves massive sandwiches stacked high like skyscrapers! It's no wonder they earned top honors from the CTNOW Best of Hartford Readers Poll in 2018.
Mamoun’s Falafel Cart, New Haven:Mamoun's Falafel got its start in Greenwich Village in New York City. Now, its cart serves Middletown and the surrounding areas. Find their latest stops on their facebook page.
Mercado, Glastonbury: A Span-ish inspired truck featuring local ingredients and full service catering, Mercado is owned by Roy and Heather, a husband a wife team, who set out to make their hobby a reality.
Ricky D’s Rib Shack, New Haven: Ribs! Pulled pork! Brisket! Ricky D's will bring their smoker and BBQ on the road and roll up to your next event.
Tacos Los Michoacanos, New Haven: Tacos Los Michoacanos is a fleet of Food Trucks that are based out of New Haven offering Mexican fare.
Thai Taste, New Haven: Thai Taste Food Truck opened in January 2018! Find them on York Street in New Haven.
Pork Friends and Company, Meriden: Pork Friends and Company is Latin fusion at its tastiest! Their background is Spanish, but they draw influence from around the globe.
Cado’s Egg Truck, Trumbull: Cados egg truck serves up a unique spin on breakfast in Trumbull.
CTbites had the pleasure of advising the editors of USA Today's "10 Best," in the category of CT's iconic steamed cheeseburgers. Vote for your favorite here.
While hamburger origin stories are numerous, one of the most enduring (and recognized by the Library of Congress) is that it was first cooked up by Louis’ Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut. No matter where it was invented, it didn’t take long for burgers to start featuring cheese–a trend that became popular during the 1920s and 30s. Connecticut’s modern-day burger joints range from seasonal stands to gourmet affairs serving up just about every type of cheeseburger you can imagine. One notable offering you’re not likely to find outside the state is the steamed cheeseburger (or steamer), served almost exclusively in Central Connecticut. So who makes the best cheeseburger in the state? Vote for your favorite once per day until voting ends on Tuesday, June 26 at noon ET. Read the official Readers' Choice rules here.
On Thursday, June 14th, Chef Geoff Lazlo of Geoff Lazlo Food, in Greenwich, CT will be cooking at the prestigious James Beard House in NYC. The evening's menu will feature Connecticut farms, and is aptly titled "Connecticut Farm Feast." Check out the menu below. and reserve your seat here.
Connecticut Magazine’s Best Chef of 2018 Geoff Lazlo earned his fine dining chops with stints at Gramercy Tavern, Chez Panisse, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and the Mill Street Restaurant Group before venturing out to create his own company. Sample the cream of Connecticut’s farm-to-table crop with a sumptuous, organic spring harvest, fresh picked from his lovingly tended plots at Greenwich Community Gardens.
They say life is a highway… and it’s a good thing too because more food trucks are hitting the streets than ever before! Connecticut is home to a bevy of mobile eats serving everything from crepes to tacos to meatballs to grilled cheese. Here are over 50 food trucks based in the Fairfield County area. Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we cover even more in New Haven, Hartford, and Beyond!
Is your favorite Fairfield County food truck not on our list? Let us know.
Milkraft Milktruck, Fairfield: Milkcraft has a Milktruck! They are available for private events and have had as many as 500 customers waiting in line when the truck hits the road.
MamaKitchen, Stamford: MamaKitchen just opened in Stamford on Richmond hill in front of Jackie Robinson Field. It serves up authentic Dominican fare and is the first Chimi truck in the area.
Seaside Sliders, Norwalk: Seaside Sliders by Mr. Frosty's is exactly what the name implies- hand-crafted sliders!
Daniels Food Truck, Stamford: Daniel's Food Truck in Stamford is Guatemalan American fare on-the-go. They have everything from breakfast to burgers to "shukos" to tacos.
Jefes Tacos n Grill, Stamford: Jefe's Tacos n Grill makes authentic Mexican food with fresh ingredients and seasoned spicy marinated meats cooked on a flat top grill. They also salads and burgers.
Fairfield County is full of trailblazing women, particularly in the culinary world. Which is why, with 2018 being proclaimed the Year of the Woman, we felt compelled to honor the pioneers among us.
Our new series, “It’s A Woman’s World’ is devoted to Fairfield County female influencers who’ve forged their own paths, often in food-related fields long dominated by men.
Whether farming the land, bringing healthy food to the masses, feeding an entrepreneurial spirit or injecting feminism with food, these groundbreaking ladies have set a new definition of women’s work, creating new paths and setting examples for those who follow.
How'd they do it? Read on. This week, our focus turns to Marcia Selden, Owner of Marcia Selden Catering & Event Planning. Have a suggestion on someone you’d like to see featured? Email steph@ctbites.com.
Temperatures are finally rising and all the snow is- dare I say- gone, so it’s time to get your sunglasses and head out for some outdoor dining! Connecticut restaurants are opening their patios and decks for the season. Whether you want a waterside view, a rooftop rave, or to get cozy by a firepit, there’s an alfresco experience waiting for you. Here are over 107 places to eat outside in Connecticut this summer.
The White Horse, Litchfield: The White Horse Country Pub & Restaurant has both a deck and a patio so you can enjoy brunch, lunch, or dinner along the river.
Grano Arso, Chester: Grano Arso has 12 seats outside where guests can order from the full menu.
The Whelk, Westport: Overlooking the quaint Saugatuck River, The Whelk brings sustainable, local seafood and ingredients to the lips of its diners.
The Place, Guilford: The Place in Guilford, is about as outdoors as you can get without going camping. Tree stumps are your chairs, outdoor fires cook your meal and the menu hangs outside over it all.
The Beer Garden at Shippan Landing, Stamford: The Beer Garden at Shippan Landing in Stamford is now open for the season. Families and pets are welcome!
Swyft, Kent: Swyft in Kent can seat 25 guests on the patio and they also have a few tables on the porch.
The Tavern at Gray Barns, Norwalk: The Tavern at GrayBarns sits in the space that once housed Silvermine Tavern. It has all been redone and reopen. Take it all in on their patio.
Mill Street Bar & Table, Greenwich: Mill Street Bar + Table in Greenwich has a tavern atmosphere that’s elegant yet warm and homey. Cozy up on their patio on a starry night at this neighborhood favorite alongside the Byram River.
What do you get when you mix cooking traditions of both the Italian and French? The best of both worlds at ROÌA Restaurant in New Haven. It’s a culinary combo that doesn’t require you to renew your passport.
Located in the former Taft Hotel that dates back to 1912, ROÌA Restaurant and Cafe has historical charm. Step inside and you’ll see what we mean with its two-floor open design with ornate ceilings and impressive columns. The building is truly an architect’s dream. But you don’t have to be a designer to appreciate all that ROÌA has to offer. You just have to be hungry.
Robert Atkinson is impatient with Mother Nature. The 12 vegetable beds beneath the patio of the Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant in Fairfield are awaiting the seeds for their sixth year of providing homegrown ingredients to the Fairfield restaurant’s kitchen, but the New England weather has not been cooperating.
This will be the sixth year of Barcelona’s vegetable garden, which offers patrons the opportunity to select ingredients for preparation by the restaurant’s kitchen staff. “I always like to tell people it’s better than farm-to-table,” continued Atkinson. “It is garden-to-table, and there is no transportation because the farmers aren’t even driving it over.”
I submit that raw milk might just be the most real of all foods.
Start with the fact that milk is the only food created specifically to feed something. (Honey doesn’t count, as the pollen honey is made from has its own agenda.) Synonymous with nourishment, raw milk is the first food most human beings—all mammals—ingest. And raw milk, for it to be free of any off flavors and to be safe to drink, requires painstaking care to produce. Every little step in the process matters.
The subtle and intricate flavors in raw milk, the very opposite of the one-note flavor of pasteurized milk or, worse, the waxy cardboard taste vacuum of skim, come from the undenatured biocomplexity in unpasteurized milk. When I read chemists-for-hire claiming, on behalf of big commercial dairy, that there isn't that much nutritional difference between pasteurized and raw, I choose to trust my palate. Well, my palate and the biochemists who say that the difference is real and considerable.
Chef Tim LaBant and The Schoolhouse At Cannondale have released the schedule for the 2018 season’s Farm to Fork dinners. Tickets go on sale May 1st...and they go fast! Check out the schedule below.
Four locally sourced courses served family style under the stars (weather permitting). Beginning at 6 pm, Cocktail hour (drinks included), Farm Tour and Dinner (BYOB) by Wilton's own, Chef Tim LaBant of The Schoolhouse at Cannondale. Location: Millstone Farm, Wilton, CT.
Dinner is BYOB starting at around 7 pm and is four courses, family style.
There is nothing quite like a fluffy, American-style pancake topped with butter and drizzled with real maple syrup. These breakfast-focused and all-day eateries offer both classic flavors and tasty twists on pancakes perfect for a filling meal to start the day. The CTBites staff have weighed in and we’ve stacked together our favorite pancakes throughout the state of Connecticut.
If you have a favorite pancake spot that is not on our list tell us all about it below.
Fairfield County is full of trailblazing women, particularly in the culinary world. Which is why, with 2018 being proclaimed the Year of the Woman, we felt compelled to honor the pioneers among us.
Our new series, “It’s A Woman’s World’ is devoted to Fairfield County female influencers who’ve forged their own paths, often in food-related fields long dominated by men.
Whether farming the land, bringing healthy food to the masses, feeding an entrepreneurial spirit or injecting feminism with food, these groundbreaking ladies have set a new definition of women’s work, creating new paths and setting examples for those who follow.
How'd they do it? Read on. This week, we feature Greer Fredericks, Owner of Peaches in Norwalk. Stay tuned to see who’s next. And feel free to send suggestions for your candidates to steph@ctbites.com.
The hospitality industry has always been cut-throat, especially for women, and more specifically for those behind the kitchen burners. Now that the gender conversation has exploded via the #MeToo movement, and with 2018 being proclaimed "The Year of the Woman," we at CT Bites choose to celebrate the influential and aspirational women among us.
With March 8 marking International Women’s Day, this seemed like the perfect time to announce our new series "It's A Women's World" featuring Connecticut female influencers who’ve blazed their own paths, often in food-related fields long dominated by men.
Whether farming the land, bringing healthy food to the masses, starting a public relations, gourmet foods or catering business or injecting feminism with food, these groundbreaking broads have set a new definition of women’s work, forging new paths and setting examples for those who follow.
This week we’re starting at the top—with Top Chef Silvia Baldini of New Canaan’s Strawberry and Sage, the first female chef in Fairfield County to win “Chopped.”
This just in from Community Table Restaurant & Bar in Washington CT...
Friends,
We are excited to announce that Community Table Restaurant and Bar will be reopening this spring. We don’t have an exact date yet but, we are hoping to open our doors before Memorial Day and work out any ‘kinks’ before the busy season kicks in.
We have spent the past months contemplating what direction Ct should go in next. We turned to Adam Riess, a Washington native and restaurant consultant, to help us define our goals and offer us options. Though many interesting ideas were discussed, hearing from so many of you who simply wanted Ct to come back the way it was, eventually swayed us to move in that direction.
When temperatures plummet, it can be hard to find motivation to go outside and brave the arctic blast. Fortunately, restaurants across the state offer big warm fireplaces so that you can feast in front of a toasty fire. Here are over 25 cozy fireside dining venues in Connecticut.
