Most of the time we bring you pieces on chefs but we’re trying something new that puts the focus on interesting food and beverage industry folks that ARE NOT chefs but have a tale to tell; think bartenders, independent bakers, farmers, maybe some brewers, or even that waiter everyone seems to know.
It’s only fitting to kick it off with Mike Geller, the owner of Mike’s Organic Delivery in Stamford. He’s not a chef, he has a story, and he’s really easy to have a conversation with. He’s one of the reasons why I thought of this series in the first place, so making him number one was a no-brainer.
If you’re unfamiliar with Mike’s Organic, it opened in 2009, strictly as a grocery delivery service. Now, celebrating its decade-old birthday, Geller expanded his business and opened his doors to the public with a mini market filled with carefully selected organic goods, fresh produce, and lots of local products. To boot, they host lots of special events and cooking classes with the likes of Geoff Lazlo, Ross Bread, and Nit Noi Provisions.
How it all started, though, is quite something. Cue the Q&A!
Every now and then Hoodoo Brown BBQ goes off their standard menu for special smoked meat theme days. Occasional Whole Hog Sundays, Prime Rib Thursdays (and French Dip Fridays if there are leftovers), and Taco Tuesdays are just some of the drool-inducing days the Hoodoo Crew has come up with over the years. From Taco Tuesday, though, something else was born…Tex-Mex Tuesday.
“We did Taco Tuesday for three months with one special taco on the menu to get our creativity flowing,” says Hoodoo general manager Chris Sexton. “It felt like an afterthought because people would get one or two tacos, and we’d maybe sell 10-15 the whole night, but we know that we do things better when we do them bigger.”
It’s a sweltering hot Sunday in July and a dozen of us are standing outside of Hoodoo Brown BBQ at quarter to eight in the morning. A father-daughter duo came in from the Upper East Side, one guy came from Queens, others made a 45-minute drive down from parts of the Hudson Valley or from various parts of Fairfield County, the rest sped over from up the street. At that time, Hoodoo Brown was still over three hours away from opening its doors to customers craving their Texas-inspired barbecue, so what the heck were we all doing there?
FreshDirect, the Northeast’s leading online fresh food grocer, announced that it will be extending its service further into Connecticut, and will now be delivering to Fairfield, Norwalk, Southport, and Westport, in addition to Greenwich and Stamford, starting Tuesday March 26th. Why is this exciting? For those not familiar with FreshDirect, they pioneered the short supply chain, so you can experience fresh food at its finest. Place an order online before 9pm, and you can have ALL of your groceries delivered to your house the following day. From responsibly sourced seafood to organic produce, their food comes to their campus straight from the source and is delivered to your door at peak freshness in just a few days. That's less handling by middlemen—and it puts more money in the bank for local farmers, skilled artisans, and responsible fishermen.
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.
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.
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.
Family owned and operated Stew Leonard’s today announced Stew’s Fresh Delivery Powered by Instacart, the technology-driven, nationwide on-demand grocery delivery service. Starting Wednesday, November 1, 2017, same-day grocery delivery service will be available to 365,000 households within a 20-30 minute drive of Stew Leonard’s farm fresh food stores in Norwalk, Danbury, and Newington, Conn. as well as in Yonkers, Farmingdale, and East Meadow, N.Y.
Customers who sign up for Stew’s Fresh Delivery by February 1, 2018 using code stewsexpress will have free delivery on orders over $35 for up to a year.
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.
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.
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.
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.
