Get pumped West Hartford foodies. On Sept 21st, Pokéworks, the much beloved, healthy, fast-casual poke restaurant, will be opening its doors. The new spot is going into Corbin Collection (across from Westfarms mall) located at 1445 New Britain Avenue, and brings a fresh take on Hawaiian-inspired poke bowls and burritos with a convenient and customizable menu. (Check out our review for thePokéworks Westport location here.)
K Dong is beaming. Not because his newly minted MIKU Sushi Restaurant in Greenwich has just opened to strong word-of-mouth and packed houses. Nope, his delighted smile is the result of a diner’s one-word reaction to the Tuna Tartare:
“Ethereal.”
That diner is me and I am quite impressed… as well as surprised. In most restaurants, TT has become a boring culinary meme — over sauced, over spiced, and overworked. K Dong’s version is totally understated. Garnished with micro greens, the crimson slices crown a mound of vividly green avocado, which sits on a gossamer of Yuzu and a whisper of wasabi. Rather than overwhelming the delicate flesh, like so many tartares, the sauce and spice enhance the pristine flavor of the Bluefin. Yep, this dish is, indeed, “Ethereal.”
Those who loved a bowl or burrito packed with fresh meat, rice, and veggies were nothing short of devastated when Chipotle closed its Westport location this past winter. Thankfully, I can be the bearer of some good news for those who are still heartbroken. There’s a new place in town with plenty of fresh meat, rice, and veggies galore for any burrito or bowl you desire. And this time, there’s a Hawaiian twist to it.
Pokéworks, a Hawaiian restaurant whose business took the country by storm upon opening in 2015, recently made its debut in Westport’s Compo Acres Shopping Center. The original founders sought to bring a taste of Hawaii to the public through poké, which is the diced raw fish that is considered one of the main dishes of native Hawaiian cuisine. Committed to offering the freshest of seafood, Pokéworks also emphasizes their sustainable practices and efforts to preserve the world’s oceans in a time when many are not.
When Jeff Taibe opened Taproot in the second half of 2017, our Amy Kundrat summed up this Fairfield County gem beautifully. “Creative, seasonal, down-to-Earth, and hyper-local” (because damn near every ingredient comes from Connecticut farms) are all words she used. That summation is dead-on accurate.
And yeah, you should run there. I wish I listened to her closing sentence and didn’t wait so long for a stellar culinary experience. Bethel isn’t THAT far, and Taproot is worth the drive. When I did go, I deserved the ribbing. “Hey, man! It only took you a f*cking year to get here!” Taibe joked.
From the shareable, addictive apps, to carefully crafted cocktails, and braised pork cheeks that flaked apart with a slight twist of my fork, it was my favorite meal in Connecticut in 2018.
All of the above is a well-deserved shout-out, but I’m not giving you a Taproot update. I’m dishing on the restaurant’s one-Sunday-per-month mood swing called “Bushido.”
Bushido, as you can probably surmise, is a Japanese pop-up concept. The birth of Bushido is a story in itself.
Chef Brian Lewis’ latest restaurant offering Japanese inspired cuisine in the historic Vigilant Hose Company Firehouse at 6 Wilton Road in Westport, Connecticut, is launching weekday lunch service and to-go options on Wednesday, November 7.
Lunch will be available Wednesday – Friday from 11:30am-2:30pm and will feature a daily lunch-specific menu for this new service. Options will include Hand Rolls, Bento Boxes, Nigiri Sushi meals featuring 5x pieces of Nigiri Sushi, Sashimi meals featuring Chirashi Sushi, Sashimi Moriawase or Spicy Tuna Sashimi OKO poke, as well as favorites from the dinner menu.
Located in a 2-story townhouse on Downtown Stamford’s Restaurant Row, the brick façade of Kashi Sushi Bar and Japanese Restaurant gives way to a multi-sensory experience. Introduced to the city’s thriving restaurant scene in January of 2016, Kashi’s modern industrial design element combined with its innovative and artistic approach to sushi and Japanese food preparations quickly landed this exciting new restaurant on the radar of local food enthusiasts.
Last summer Prime opened its doors in Stamford’s Harbor Point area. The stunning restaurant boasts exquisite views of the Long Island Sound and the Rippowam River. Removable tempered glass walls offer guests unparalleled views, thus making it a perfect dining destination no matter the season and an absolute must during the summertime. Inside the restaurant, the space’s elegant yet relaxed interior offers a New England-inspired decor reminiscent of Cape Cod and the Massachusetts islands.
Dining al fresco at Prime is an experience to remember. Their newly redesigned Cabana Bar is destined to be the “it” place to be this summer. In addition to the many events that will be held there this summer, the Cabana can be reserved for private functions, accommodating parties up to 50. The space itself has been updated with a custom bar from the Vermont islands of white solid core and backlit translucent white face panels integrate the bar with the rest of the décor - soft grays and blues.
If you’ve got your finger on the pulse of the Fairfield County food scene, there’s a good chance you’re jonesing to eat at OKO, set to open on April 19 in Downtown Westport. OKO is brought to you by Chef Brian Lewis—fresh off a James Beard semifinalist nomination—a name Westporters are familiar with from his over two-year-old flagship restaurant, and critically acclaimed, The Cottage. At OKO, Lewis is changing things up, as he plans to showcase his passion for Japanese ingredients and cooking techniques.
It’s all about the broth, North Shutsharawan told me when I met him at Nit Noi Provision’s pop-up location at Bar Bucha in Westport last week. Inspired by the Thai street food scene and the healthy foods available for lunch, North had the idea to replicate his grandmother’s recipe with the hopes of selling it both in Connecticut and in Colorado. Nit Noi which literally means “a little bit” is based on a simple soup he ate as a child purchased from vendors at the market called Guay Tiew Kwa Gay. At the market each vendor had his own specialty dish, just one, North explained to me.
I heard it through the grapevine their ramen was simply divine, so off I went to check it out. Then, I sampled their sushi, and an ongoing dilemma emerged—what to eat today? Must I choose? Ideally, you’ll want to go with someone who loves both, so you can share and have the best of everything, all in one artfully presented meal. You’ll find it all under one roof at Takumi Sushi, Ramen & Lounge on Route 1 in Branford.
Shoreline locals talked up Hanami for years, so if you remember that spot, it’s now Takumi. And it’s fabulous. I’ve been making the trip to the shore just about every week to get my fix since December. A simple, contemporary space where you can take a break from the hustle and bustle and focus on dining deliciously.
The passage of time is strange. The distant past and the very recent can bend back on each other and almost touch, and what was once long ago can feel as real now as the blossoming of first love, as the comforting aroma of mom’s home cooking… Lately when I’m in the mood to go back up the river of time to that place in Southeast Asia that destiny would see us go just once, I visit Thai Kit on the Post Road in Fairfield. It's a brand new Thai restaurant with a couple of advantages over some other places I have tried. If you find yourself in the neighborhood, or if you live in the neighborhood, just past the McDonalds at the circle in Fairfield heading toward Black Rock on the left-hand side, Thai Kit is a delicious destination well worth exploring.
If you’re in the mood for simple, kid-friendly, tasty Thai, then hop in your tuk tuk and head over to WHOOPI for authentic, Thai cuisine on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield. Owners Tom and Helen Chaimahavong opened their latest haunt (named for their son whose nickname is Whoopi) mid 2015 and are the former owners of THAISAB in New Haven. Natives of Bangkok, Tom and Helen have mastered the ins and outs of their native cuisine while keeping dishes simple and novice-friendly. WHOOPI is not fancy Thai, and it’s not for the super adventurous; it is simply yummy Thai fare that is great for lunch with the kids, a laid back dinner with friends or a great take-out/delivery option. The space is small but cozy and we enjoyed our meal! Here is how it went down…
CT Magazine waxed poetic about this dish from Ki Asian Bistro & Sushi in Danbury. We hear this isn't the only item on this menu that is worth the trip. Here's what writer Erik Ofgang had to say...
Get ready for an explosion of flavor. The TNT Lover roll is made with chopped bluefin toro (the fatty belly meat of tuna), caviar, tempura flakes, scallion and asparagus topped with raw tuna and served with truffle soy sauce. The result is a sushi roll that can redefine your perception of what a sushi roll can be. At least that’s what it did for me. The raw tuna provides a burst of fresh-as-the-sea notes, cut and enhanced by the crunch of the tempura flakes and the rich truffle soy sauce, creating a taste simultaneously sushi and non-sushi.
The bistro was opened in 2012 by Chef Benny Chow, a veteran of Nobu restaurant in New York, who trained under Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. I discovered the restaurant earlier this year and have been hooked ever since.
This is probably as close to “Dinner at The White House” as I will ever get. On this, the week before the ELECTION, I headed up to Miya’s for their New Haven Restaurant Week 2016 White House Champions of Change dinner.
Miya’s is a well-known sushi spot a few blocks west of downtown New Haven that has been serving creative and sustainable seafood, foraged ingredients, and plant-based dishes for over 30 years. James Beard nominated innovative chef/owner Bun Lai, has been creating and cooking alongside his mother for much of the 30 years Miya’s has been open. (See Foraging with Chef Bun on CTbites)
New Havens Restaurant Week, which runs from 10/30- 11/4 gave Bun the opportunity to offer the menu he and his mother created for President and Mrs. Obama at last months White House Champions of Change Dinner. He was one of only twelve Sustainable Seafood honorees and the only chef awarded this respected award. While this menu is only available for a limited time, many of these dishes are available on Miya's regular menu.
To Forage: The word forage means to use wander or search for food or provisions.
So when I was invited to James Beard nominated and passionate foraging chef, Bun Lai’s farm in upstate Connecticut for lunch, I half expected we would forage for much of our meal.
When I saw on Instagram that Bun and his friend, Greg Grinberg from Actual Food had been diving the prior day for clams for lunch, I knew I was in for a treat.
Chef Bun Lai is a passionate advocate for sustainable farming and eating and sources much of the food he serves at his New Haven sushi restaurant, Miya’s, from his own gardens, from the wooded forest around his 10 acre farm in Woodbridge, CT and from Long Island Sound. His popular restaurant has been a New Haven destination for over 35 years, originally opened by his mother, who is still involved today.
To visit with Bun is a lesson in locally sourced produce, with no pesticides or flavor or color enhancements. He and Greg described foraging as, “the most natural way of eating… the “gathering” part of the hunter/gatherer”.
“That’s it,” I overheard a man say with a smile, holding his takeout order as he joked about having come in four days in a row. The word is out downtown...Pho 170, M’town’s newest/latest, is busy. The service is friendly and attentive, showing this new kid on the block is already in the groove, cranking out fresh and delicious dishes—both Vietnamese and Thai.
It’s not been quite three weeks since Viengthong Charonesuk opened the doors to her newest restaurant. And, unlike so many other spots when they first get started, everything’s well under control. Even on a night when they were one person short on the waitstaff, they pulled everything off without a hitch. Vieng hails most recently from Bann Thai in Cheshire, and she’s run restaurants in other locations across the state as well. Little things, like making sure you have extra plates when you share a dish, aren’t overlooked. And it’s always a nice touch when your water glass is refilled before you even need to ask.
Blink and you can easily miss the little white house as you drive down Park Street in Hartford’s Parkville section. So keep an eye out, because it’s home to a fine family business specializing in Thai and Lao dishes—generous portions, reasonably priced. And if you head east of the river, you’ll find the exact same menu and great food in Manchester.
There are many choices closer to home when it comes to Thai, but when the craving hits, I make tracks for King & I. It’s changed management over time, but the food remains just as delicious as it ever was. In fact, it’s amazingly consistent. How is that even possible?
The secret to their success starts in a tiny kitchen with their cook. Behind the scenes, the same woman has been busy stirring up deliciousness for the past 10 years. When the previous owner sold the restaurant four and a half years ago, Hongkham Munesaleum was already part of the kitchen. But now, with her husband, Lam, washing dishes, and his daughter Lilly, serving the front of the house (literally!), it’s all in the family.
Three-month-old Anaya Sushi, the Japanese restaurant located on Chapel Street in New Haven, recently introduced a $21 all-you-can-eat menu option. Pictured above is the Yale-themed "Handsome Dan" roll.
Yale Daily News reported the restaurant will also extend its hours and menu with a "late night ramen house" option:
Seeing the restaurant’s popularity, Kaoroptham said she also plans to open a late night ramen house in Anaya’s space when the sushi restaurant closes for the night. The proposed ramen restaurant would be open from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, according to the owner.
The best places, I believe, are the more unassuming places. The little treasures that are off the beaten path, hidden away where you least expect. The best food is the food that is what it is – unpretentious, fresh and bursting with flavor. And that’s the best way to describe this new unassuming little Japanese restaurant in Stamford, Soosh.
It was a social media friend of mine, Pierre-Christian D. Frye, owner of PCDF Architecture in Greenwich, who first told me about Soosh. Perhaps he was a bit biased as he was hired as the restaurant’s architect. He explained how he turned what was basically an old storage space into a stylish Japanese eatery.
“For the new Soosh restaurant I worked closely with the owner to bring the vision to life of a truly modern, timeless dining experience. I accentuated the compact space with unique lighting and a rich mix of textures, tiles, wood and metal.
