In an unusual but convenient industrial park in Groton, just near the Groton Airport, Mystic Cheese Co. is opening a new location this month to serve homemade and artisanal cheeses to the after-work crowd and cheese connoisseurs alike. Upon stepping into the front doors at the new site of Mystic Cheese, visitors are welcomed into a cozy tasting room in which they can perch on barstool seating that offers glimpses into the impressively sized cheese maturation room.
The feeling that the owners, Brian Civitello and Jason Sobocinksi (former owner of the beloved Caseus Cheese), have tried to create with their events and cut to order cheese is relaxed, fun, and unpretentious. Mystic Cheese has definitely accomplished this with their communal tables, friendliness, and awesome narwhal logo. By doing this, their overall aim is to attract people to the world of artisanal cheeses by offering cheeses at multiple price points, cheese-centric food, and educational classes.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with this charming eatery in the heart of Ridgefield, Bailey’s Backyard first opened its doors nearly 20 years ago as a neighborhood coffee shop before transforming itself into a charming American restaurant with a simple concept; offer exceptional seasonal cuisine in a cozy, relaxed atmosphere. It would soon become a neighborhood hot spot, offering locals a new dining experience. Several years ago Bailey’s evolved once again and the restaurant is now a farm-to-table establishment with a mission to create a menu based on the freshest local sources. Today meat and produce are still gathered from nearby farms, both in New York and Connecticut, and Seafood is garnered from Connecticut, Massachusetts and the Chesapeake Bay.
I was recently invited to sample Bailey’s new Market Table Tasting Menu offered every Wednesday night. A new menu is introduced each week, giving diners the opportunity to try something new each time. The menu is Prix Fixe, $40 for four courses or $65 for the four courses and a wine pairing.
Some time several decades ago Milanno Ukehaxhaj left Kosovo at an opportune time on his way to America and making me a sandwich. That is skipping over a lot, but we'll get to the details in later paragraphs, and anyway it was a very good sandwich. This sandwich was not made when I visited the deli earlier this month with his wife and business partner Diana feeding me information as well as chicken parmigiana, it was made during my lunch break at a summer job I held in 2000, which is when I fell in love with Gaetano's.
Nearly 20 years ago, a neighborhood coffee shop was transformed into a charming New American restaurant. The concept was a simple one; a seasonal menu presented in a relaxed atmosphere; a concept that would grow with the town; and a restaurant where a chef’s creativity could shine. Owner Sal Bagliavio opened Bailey’s Backyard in October of 1999 and continues to make his culinary mark on the town of Ridgefield, CT.
Today, this seasoned restaurateur is joined by Executive Chef Zach Campion, a Johnson & Whales alumn with kitchen cred that includes; Local 121 in Providence, RI whose concept was tagged as “locally harvested food and drink”; the ground-breaking Metro Bis in Simsbury, CT under the direction of Chef Christopher Prosperi; and continued to hone his craft in the kitchen of ON20 restaurant, a Hartford, CT culinary institution.
Battle of the Chefs returns to Founders Hall on Sunday, June 3, 4 – 7 pm. In a culinary showdown similar to those featured on television shows such as Top Chef and Chopped, three seasoned chefs will match sharp knives and quick wits for the benefit of Founders Hall. Chefs Brian Bender (David’s Soundview Catering in Stamford, formerly of Cutting Board Café in Ridgefield), Zachariah Campion (Bailey’s Backyard, Ridgefield), and André Gainer (Luna Rossa, Ridgefield), will compete to create an entree from a basket of surprise ingredients, in just sixty minutes, in front of a live audience. A panel of food experts, including Brendan Walsh (Dean of Culinary Arts, the Culinary Institute of America) and Amy Kundrat (executive editor, CT Bites) will judge the chefs on their creativity, craftsmanship and culinary results as the crowd cheers the chefs on. Ken Tuccio, host of CTbites new Food & Drink podcast, will emcee the action.
Farmington, Connecticut; the land of colonial homes and rolling hills, horse farms, schools once attended by former First Ladies and now, home of Dom's Coffee, rated byArchitectural Digest as The Most Beautiful Cafe in Connecticut.
Remember when the word coffeehouse conjured visions of overstuffed, cast-off furniture populated by long-lounging “alternative” coffee-sippers? All that was missing was your local version of Phoebe Buffay crooning about her Smelly Cat. Gone are those days. A new, craft-caffeinated, curated, uplifting day has dawned in the land of this coffeehouse and many others.
Up until recently, prime rib had all but vanished from restaurants. It remained on menus at less-than-trendy eateries or it was offered at others as a one-day-per-week special, but it never quite reached levels of steak extinction. If you’ve glanced at dinner menus lately—yes, even at hotspot restaurants—there’s a chance you’ve noticed that this beefy blue-plate special has reemerged!
If you’re a prime rib superfan, or if you salivate at the thought of a hearty slice of standing rib roast, Hoodoo Brown BBQ should be on your “Thursday Night Plans” list. Being a BBQ joint, they’re doing what you might imagine they’re doing with prime rib…they’re smoking whole 14 lb. roasts and serving them up until it’s all gone.
Fairfield & Greenwich Cheese Company have introduced a subscription cheese box service that curates small batch, artisan and traditional cheeses and delivers them, freshly cut, to the doorsteps of food lovers across the nation.
Cheesemonger Box will curate a selection of small batch and traditional American and European cheeses for monthly home delivery, launched this winter as the first cheese subscription service of its kind.
Founders Laura Downey and Chris Palumbo, co-founders and owners of Connecticut cheese shops Fairfield & Greenwich Cheese Company, are launching the service with the goal of “spreading the cheese love across the country” and empowering customers to “become the expert” on artisan cheese.
Elk, beef, duck, bison, lamb and turkey are just some of the proteins used in burgers at Bareburger. The microchain makes sure their burgers are more than just meat-based, and keep vegetarians and vegans in mind with offerings that already include the Farmstead, made from sweet potatoes and wild rice, and the Guadalupe, a black bean and roasted corn burger. Recently, Bareburger has slowly started to roll out another all-natural vegan burger that supposedly tastes close to, or like beef.
Created by Impossible Foods and CEO/founder/scientist Pat Brown, and appropriately named The Impossible Burger, this meatless option is solely made from plants. It’s made up of wheat and potato proteins for a familiar beef burger-like texture, vitamins, amino acids, sugars, and uses konjac (from Japanese yams) and xanthan (made by fermentation) as binders for the patty. It also uses a molecule called heme, which carries oxygen in our blood. Heme is in every living thing, plants included, and makes our blood red. Since red meat contains large amounts of heme, The Impossible Burger uses heme made from fermentation, and gives it a meatier taste than most vegan or veggie burgers on the market. It uses two fats, coconut oil and soybeans to give it that much needed sizzle effect when it hits the grill.
A trip to Ridgefield, Connecticut would not be complete without a visit to the quintessential ice cream parlor and candy mecca that is Deborah Ann’s Sweet Shoppe. Offerings span from homemade chocolates, fudge, and ice cream. There is even an entire room devoted to nostalgic candies and gummy treats. I am always looking for fun and interesting food experiences and packaging. During one of my recent visits to the shop/food safari, I noticed a wall of cotton candy made by Chocolate Storybook. The brand’s assortment offers upwards of 50 flavors including sweet and savory delights like Bacon, BBQ sauce, Atomic Fire, Pancake and Syrup, Frosted Donut, PBJ, seasonal desserts and fruits, merlot, and even a gender reveal option. The most unusual flavor however was Trump hair! The jury is still out on that one. You can add these to the list of memorable hybrid sweet treats trending these days.
Now, as an adult, card-carrying carnivore, I’m still leery of burger extenders, be they crumbs, flour, veggies or any other manner of filler. So when asked to review Bareburger’s Porchetta Burger, half ground pork and half wild mushrooms, I approached the assignment with some hesitation. Fifty percent filler? No beef? No red-pink medium rare interior when I cut into the patty? No juices oozing at first bite? Likely no deal.
At the Harbor Point location, I asked the kitchen to cut the Porchetta sandwich in half, so I could check the interior before biting in. To my surprise, the patty looked remarkably like a medium rare beef-burger. Traditionally the pork is wrapped about other savories, but in this version, the pork (wild boar sourced from Fossil Farms in Boonton, New Jersey) is ground in-house, then mixed with chopped wild mushrooms and seasonings (fennel, garlic, and rosemary).
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.
The Village Tavern in Ridgefield is just as you expect a New England tavern to be. Exposed brick and dark wood furnishings greet you upon arrival. Handsome forest green paneling and plaid fabrics offer a feeling of comfort and familiarity. On the far wall, local Connecticut artist Sharon Leichsenring dazzles with a larger than life wall mural representing “abbondanza," paying homage to Brunetti's Market, a Ridgefield staple, and the former occupant of the space. The Village Tavern fills a void in the area’s already rich culinary landscape. Their elevated comfort food ranges from simple to sophisticated. Chef Minin will tell you that he creates “American food that has been kissed by an Italian.”
“What’s the secret ingredient?”, you ask. Well, it’s…Air.
The winter-that-wasn’t (save for one last see-I-told-you-so storm) is now officially behind us and folks everywhere are throwing open the windows and enjoying the sight of lush green grass and a continual parade of Spring flowers. Out come the patio chairs! Behold the grill! Phew, we have missed you. Let’s all enjoy this week of Connecticut Spring before it leaps to 90 degrees, shall we?
In the event that you have neither of these aforementioned outdoor items, you can hightail it to any one of these delightful establishments to dine alfresco. Doesn’t a little fresh air always put a pep in your step? And, in this case, a little sunshine on your biscuits. Head outdoors to dine and enjoy!
If we missed an outdoor venue that you frequent, please share your find below.
Unless you’re a resident of Ridgefield you might not be familiar with TerraSole, a small Italian eatery in the heart of Ridgefield. But I feel it is my job to extol the virtues of this sleepy little gem that has been part of the town’s landscape since 2007, and is poised to enter its second decade with quiet confidence. I was invited to join a group of writers and editors to visit TerraSole and nearly declined. Am I ever glad I went!
When the weather is nice, diners can now sit outside in the newly completed terrace. The pale blue interior is simple yet charming. It is the food that takes center stage and rightly steals the show. While locals are avid fans, non-locals should take note. This charming yet understated destination is well worth the drive.
Owner Pietro Polini, who hails from Puglia and moved to the states in 1999, infuses the region’s flavors into his dishes.
On Sunday, June 5, from 4-7 pm, three chefs will match sharp knives and quick wits in an exciting culinary showdown to benefit Founders Hall in Ridgefield, CT. Chefs Beck Bolender (One Twenty One, North Salem), Frank Bonnaudet (Sucré Salé, Ridgefield), and Jehan S.de Noüe (formerly Chez Noüe, Ridgefield, now JSN Catering and Albano Appliance, Pound Ridge) will open a basket of surprise ingredients in front of an audience of over 200 and, in just 60 short minutes, compete to create the winning entrée.
A panel of food experts, including John Barricelli of SoNo Baking Company, master chef Ron DeSantis, director of culinary excellence at Yale University, and Brendan Walsh, dean of culinary arts at the Culinary Institute of America, will judge the chefs on their creativity, craftsmanship and culinary results. Amy Kundrat, executive editor of the award-winning regional food blog CTbites will once again referee this showdown.
Anna Bendiksen is new to the CTbites team. Anna is a former scholar of Russian literature, and a food blogger over at threecoursesonaweeknight.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter @anna_bendiksen.
When Domenico “Dom” Liuzzi talks about artisanal cheesemaking, his eyes light up.
“Quality is what sets us apart from Stop and Shop,” he said in a recent conversation at Liuzzi’s Gourmet Market---not that anyone could mistake his store, which carries over 200 cheeses, for anything other than the Greater New Haven landmark it is.
The cascades of Italian speech in the air, the display cases featuring Liuzzi’s own house-made cheeses, the scent of cured hams and sausages hanging overhead, the attentive staff darting about---all combine to make Liuzzi’s a prime destination for foodies from Connecticut and beyond.
The cheeses for which the store is best known---the result of the family’s cheesemaking heritage stretching over a century---are itsburrata (favored by Mario Batali), a caciocavallo(“cheese on horseback,” so named because it is strung in rope to drip dry),and two kinds of ricotta (whipped and large-curd).
Yet the cheese offerings at Liuzzi’s, located in North Haven, don’t stop with these house-made specialties. You’ll also find imported Grana Padano (a cheese similar to Parmesan that is favored by Italian children and a standby in Lidia Bastianich’s new cookbook Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine); Moliterno, a raw sheep’s-milk cheese exquisitely scented with black truffle paste; the best of American artisanal cheeses such as Humboldt Fog; and many more.
On Saturday October 17 take a drive to Litchfield County to enjoy the fall foliage and enjoy the richness of the local, handcrafted fare offered by the Farmstead Festival at Percy Thomson Meadows Farm, 78 Thomson Road in Bethlehem. The festival, organized by Artisan Made Northeast and Percy Thomson Meadows Farm, begins at 11 a.m. and runs through 5 p.m. and features handcrafted cheeses, wine, meats, condiments, chocolates, baked goods, produce, an educational pig roast and entertainment.
As an added incentive, Sister Noella Marcellino, “The Cheese Nun,” will make an appearance at the festival and participate in a question and answer session in the education tent. She is internationally recognized as one of the foremost experts in the art of natural-milk cheese making. She received her PhD in microbiology from the University of Connecticut, and was awarded a Fullbright grant to study cheese making in France. Her focus was the Auvergne, in central France, and the study of fungal populations in the many cheese caves of the region. For her work, she received the prestigious French Spirit Food Award.
The heck with “Veni, vidi, vici,” my return visit to Hoodoo Brown BBQ in Ridgefield was more we came, we saw, we ordered and man we tried. And when I say we tried…we tried EVERY meat on the menu and we tried to eat every ounce of meat on numerous trays. If this was a gunfight with Hoodoo Brown in the 1870s we would be full of holes, he won.
Armed with a reservation for the “BBQ Room,” twelve of us ventured to Hoodoo Brown. As our group congregated, I placed the initial appetizer order plus a round of beers, sodas and lemonades. To warm up our appetites, this initial order included two large BBQ Nachos (one with chopped brisket and the other with pulled pork), a dozen Bourbon Teriyaki Wings and a couple of Strawberry and Arugula salads. As we waited, super Pitmaster Nestor Laracuente wandered into the room to offer his humble thanks to all of us for coming and wished us a great meal. He was heading back to Queens for the evening before beginning the return voyage the following morning at 4AM.
When Sal and Forrest invite you to a summer tasting menu, you say yes first and ask questions later. That would be Sal Bagliavio, owner of Bailey’s Backyard in Ridgefield, and Forrest Pasternack, the restaurant’s executive chef. The two have been the creative force behind the restaurant’s New American menu since its reinvention just two years ago.
The story of Bailey’s actually goes back to 1999 when Sal, a chef himself, renovated the then coffee shop into a beloved Ridgefield restaurant that he ran for over a decade. Eager for a new chapter but happy to remain in Ridgefield, he reimagined it as a New American restaurant driven by seasonal ingredients and local purveyors in 2013. Over the past two years, Bailey’s has solidified its place in the Fairfield County dining scene thanks to the adventurous culinary spirit of Chef Pasternack and the dedication of Bagliavio.
