Filtering by Tag: Cooking,Noodles

Cook The Book: Tune In On CTBites Instagram Live July 1st with Chef Emily Mingrone of Tavern On State

Events Recipe Cooking Cookbooks Education Instagram Live Recipe Video

Stephanie Webster

Readers, Diners, New Quarantine Couch Potato-Turned-Chefs! Tune into our new IGTV Weekly Series COOK THE BOOK.

On Wednesday July 1st @8PM, join trained chef and beloved Connecticut Cookbook author, Anna Francese Gass (Heirloom Kitchen 2019) & Guest Chef Emily Mingrone from award winning Tavern On State, as they cook Emily’s recipe for Chicken & Dumplings from our recently released CTBites e-cookbook: Connecticut Chef Recipes for Restaurant Relief

Tune In on @CTBITES INSTAGRAM LIVE!!


Cook The Book: Recipe Demos On Instagram Live Every Wednesday with Cookbook Author Anna Gass

Features Events Cooking Cookbooks Education Recipe Recipe Video Celebrity Chef

Kristin L. Wolfe

Readers, Diners, New Quarantine Couch Potato-Turned-Chefs! Get Ready to tune into our new IGTV Weekly Series COOK THE BOOK.

Join trained chef and beloved Connecticut Cookbook author, Anna Francese Gass (Heirloom Kitchen 2019), as she makes her way one through some of the most delicious recipes in the recently released CTBites e-cookbook: Connecticut Chef Recipes for Restaurant Relief

Starting this Wednesday June 24th @8PM Gass + a weekly featured Guest Chef will bring the book alive and further whet your appetite and drive to get in the kitchen. This week

So, grab your aprons, your whisks, and the new e-cookbook (should we still plug here? for fun, great food, and to continue supporting our state’s wonderful restaurant industry.


Local Spotlight: Vita Cacciari of Vita Pasta Lab + Virtual Italian Cooking Classes

Features Interview Cooking Classes Pasta Italian Noodles

Andrew Dominick

If not for my friend Micaela, I might have never met Vita Cacciari. Micaela sent me a text one night after she attended a pasta making class at Wakeman Town Farm. She asked if I knew of any commercial kitchen spaces so the woman who teaches these classes could have more options in the area. Micaela’s text, in regard to “the woman,” were of high praise; amazing, hard worker, and nice person were all phrases she used to describe Vita. “She’s Italian” was another.

A slew of photos, video, and a website link followed. I browsed Vita’s site for her cooking class business, Vita Pasta Lab, and was instantly curious. I like to cook. I like to learn. I LOVE pasta. And Vita’s pasta looked stunningly beautiful.


20+ Virtual Experiences and Cooking Classes for CT Food and Drink Lovers

Features Cooking Cooking Classes Education Virtual Experiences Virtual Cooking Classes Homepage

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

If you’re missing in person cooking classes or simply want to spice up your usual repertoire, Connecticut caterers, chefs, restaurants, shops, and bartenders have the perfect solution: virtual classes! Want to bake a cake? Mix up a cocktail? Cook a savory meal? Get private instruction? Do it as a group? There are opportunities for all of it! Here is a guide to virtual experiences in Connecticut.


Chefs At Home: Ultimate Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie Recipe from Chef Anthony Rinaldi

Features Recipe Recipe Recipe Video Dessert Cooking cookie Kid Friendly kids activity Homepage

CTbites Team

Episode #2 of our new Chefs At Home series is here…and It’s a good one. Chef Anthony Rinaldi, formerly Exec Chef at Kawa Ni in Westport, currently the Chef for Greenwich Country Day School, has been having some fun in his kitchen with this recipe for the Ultimate Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie. This guy knows his way around a kitchen. Those kids at Greenwich Country Day are darn lucky….Enjoy!


Cooking Classes with Indian Master Chef Prasad Chirnomula, The Scholar of Spice

Features Indian Cooking Cooking Classes New Canaan New Haven

Kristin L. Wolfe

In addition to blazing trails with restaurants (Thali, INDIA, Indian Kitchen) Chef Prasad has begun to make his fans swoon on a more intimate level with a regular cooking school series. What a special treat. I recently went to one of his Sunday classes and came away with a whole new passion for Indian cuisine. And believe me, I’ve already been a giant fan for years. (Jackson Diner, Queens anyone? I lived in Jackson Heights for ten years).


Terrain Cafe & Amis Trattoria Teach Seasonal & Sustainable Cooking Class Series

Features Ingredients Cooking Cooking Classes Education

Stephanie Webster

Join the culinary professionals that lead the kitchens of Westport restaurants Terrain Cafe and Amis at Stamford Museum & Nature Center as they show you the joys of sourcing and cooking with the best in seasonal and sustainable ingredients. From salads and appetizers to entrees, pastas and desserts, this six-part series (January 27 through March 9.) takes you through the methodology of creating show-stopping dishes as you also learn how to source the best ingredients right in your own backyard.


Tiger Belly Noodle Bar in Granby: Slow-Cooked Ramen Perfection (via CT Magazine)

Restaurant Granby Ramen Asian Japanese Noodles Comfort Food

Connecticut Magazine

The first sip of steaming broth at Tiger Belly Noodle Bar in Granby tells me all I need to know.

The tonkotsu (pork bone) broth is so dense and savory that it seems like it could cure a cold. Although my ramen bowl arrives a few minutes after I order it, the process of its creation clearly began much earlier. It’s easy to tell this soup was slow-cooked. The broth cooks for 20 to 25 hours, I’ll later learn.

“We slow-stew it overnight and then we blast it with high heat the next day when we come into work,” chef and owner Ki’yen Yeung says. “We get it down to the point where the bones melt into the broth.


Candied Kabocha Squash Recipe: Chef Emily Mingrone of Tavern on State

Features Recipe Recipe Holiday Thanksgiving Cooking Entertaining

CTbites Team

For the next two weeks CTbites will be featuring a series of Thanksgiving recipes from local CT chefs. Some of these recipes will be family favorites, or dishes the chefs cook in their own homes. Others will grace the holiday menus found at your local restaurant. One thing is certain. They will all be delicious and worthy of a seat at YOUR table. Our second in this series comes from Chef Emily Mingrone of Tavern On State. Enjoy her recipe for Candied Kabocha Squash.


Yom Kippur Savory Mushroom Cheese Kugel Recipe

Features Recipe Holiday Recipe Noodles

Liz Rueven

Yom Kippur*, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, is a day of fasting and praying. When the longest day of the year ends (at least for those who haven’t eaten for 25 hours) family and friends gather around a casual buffet that often includes a sweet noodle kugel. Sure, there are bagels and cheeses, cucumber salads and fresh fruit. But it’s the kugel everyone goes for first.


Mecha Noodle Bar Opens In Stamford!

Restaurant Noodles Asian Vietnamese Japanese Ramen Pho Stamford Openings Lunch Homepage

Andrew Dominick

Stamford, you’re about to be on the receiving end of a whole lot of noods. Get your mind out of the gutter, we’re talking about the piping hot, comforting bowls of ramen and pho by Mecha Noodle Bar, opening at the start of September on Bedford Street.

There’s no exact date as of yet, according to the team at Mecha, but they’re advising eager broth sippers to stay tuned to Facebook and Instagram for soft opening and grand opening announcements. 

Much like their other locations in Fairfield, South Norwalk, and New Haven, Stamford’s version of Tony Pham’s popular noodle shop will feature all the Mecha staples; KFC bao, a half dozen pho options, red oil dumplings, kim chi fried rice, and all the porky tonkatsu and spicy miso ramen you can handle. 

But wait! There’s more! Mecha Stamford will have a few differences from its other locations, starting with the bar. The massive U-shaped bar was made to be a focal point of the dining room because of Stamford’s bar culture, so you can pull up, have a drink (or three) from beverage director Jonathan Rodriguez’s craft cocktail program, a few bites, and call it a night if that’s what you desire. Additionally, there’s some outdoor street level seating for when the weather obeys. 

Aside from all that, there’s a little something “EXTRA” at this Mecha…

“There’s a section on the menu we’re referring to as the ‘Baller Menu,’” says Kaylyn Crawford, Mecha’s COO. “We’ll have stuff like a large pho for two with a steak, and large format cocktails like a punch bowl. We want to take it over the top for the demographic in Stamford.”


Guide To Adult Cooking Classes in Connecticut: 2019 Edition

Features Cooking Cooking Classes Education Best of CT

April Guilbault

You’ve arranged to keep the kids busy all summer long with camps and lessons, sleepovers and maybe a bit of volunteer work here and there, but what about some fun for YOU? Those kids shouldn’t get all the fun. And because we are, eh-hem, adults, learning a few new things alongside that good time is always a welcome bonus. Cooking classes are a unique way to have a memorable evening. You can go solo, with a friend or a group. Choose the flavors or the skills you are interesting in knowing more about. Then walk away with a full belly, new information and probably a few laughs under your chef’s apron. What the heck are you waiting for? Remember too, these are great gift ideas as well. Friend with a birthday during the summer? Treat them! It’s like dinner out but so much better. Pencil in some time for yourself this summer and treat yourself..like a kid. 

Here is our Guide To Adult Cooking Classes in Connecticut.


MECHA Noodle Bar Opening in Stamford via Hey Stamford!

Restaurant Openings Stamford Japanese Vietnamese Noodles

Hey Stamford!

Driving down Bedford Street recently, you may have noticed some activity taking place in a storefront along the east side of the street. It’s good news for all, because a popular local restaurant is getting ready to open their doors!  

With locations in South Norwalk, Fairfield, and New Haven, Mecha Noodle Bar has dropped a flag in Stamford Downtown!

Known as a noodle lover’s paradise, Mecha serves up Asian comfort dishes, and is widely known for their Vietnamese Pho & Japanese Ramen.  Among other things, they also do riffs on Southeast Asia street foods. The menu is replete with steamed baos, egg rolls, dumplings, spare ribs, and wings.  But do not call them a “fusion” or a sushi restaurant, as they state on their website, they are: American-Vietnamese-Japanese-Thai-Chinese-Korean-New England-Momofuku-Totto-and-Ippudo-inspired.

Read more on Hey Stamford!


Guide To Kids Cooking Camps & Classes in Connecticut for 2019

Features Cooking Cooking Classes kids cooking party Kids kids activity Summer Camp

April Guilbault

Hot summer days and you don’t feel like cooking. The stove, oven, even the grill…it’s all so hot. But hold on a minute there, maybe *you* don’t have to! With a little foresight (read: now), your kids can learn to cook this summer, get inspired and whoa-oh, looks who’s not in the kitchen anymore?! Beyond your parental joy, though, kids will enjoy learning cooking skills, whipping up some pretty cool menus from around the globe and even having a cooking competition or two just to test their mettle. Just be sure to sign up your aspiring chefs soon, these classes and camps fill up quicker than hot grease will jump out of a pan!


Conspiracy Cocktail Bar in Middletown Gets a Sustainable Ramen Menu via CT Magazine

Restaurant Ramen Asian Middletown Noodles Cocktails Bar

Connecticut Magazine

Exciting Ramen news from Connecticut Magazine

The tables and chairs were not designed with eating in mind and, through no fault of its own, Conspiracyis located more than an hour away from my house. Even so, I can’t wait to go back.

The reason?

One word: Ramen.

OK, three words: Ramen, cocktails and atmosphere.

Let’s start with the atmosphere. Conspiracy is undeniably cool. Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack cool. Accessible by an easy-to-miss doorway on Middletown’s Main Street, the second-floor space has the feeling of a secret club straight out of a film noir. Lounge chairs snake around an L-shaped room with painted-white brick walls. Edison bulbs hang from lofty ceilings, casting their warm light over a showstopping square bar. Behind the bar, bartenders twirl, mix and shake various liquids as they prepare alcoholic elixirs, often from historic recipes.


Fortina Pizza Debuts "Fortina At Home" Meal Kits!

Features To-Go Meal Kit Cooking Recipe Italian

Andrew Dominick

If you follow Fortina Pizza or chef/owner Christian Petroni on Instagram, chances are you thought about hitting that “skip a shipment” in your Blue Apron settings for something a little more local and a lot more restaurant quality. 

Petroni’s wood-fired restaurants known for their Neapolitan pizza, pasta dishes, and tasty Bronx Italian grub just got in the meal kit game in the middle of February when they launched Fortina At Home.


Ren Dumpling & Noodle House: Soup Dumplings & More in Wilton

Restaurant Norwalk Chinese Noodles Kid Friendly Delicious Dives Take Out Lunch Homepage

Nancy Kleeger

If you already have a bevy of Chinese menus with sauce stains in your house that no longer excite you, Ren Dumpling & Noodle House in Norwalk may just become your new “go to.”  Tucked in the corner of a vast shopping plaza in Wilton, Ren Dumpling & Noodle House seems to be far from overlooked.  This cozy and clean joint was bustling with hungry customers dining in and picking up takeaway.  

Full disclosure: I lived in Hong Kong for five years, therefore, with five years experience consuming copious amounts of dumplings under my belt, my curiosity was piqued although my expectations may have been skewed.  Ren isn’t all about the dumplings, however. In fact, the rest of the menu showcases an impressive amount of options you would see on most Chinese menus, with the addition of the odd Thai or Vietnamese dish or two, which seems to be standard these days.  


Il Pastaficio, Handmade Pasta, Opens in Cos Cob

Restaurant Pasta Noodles To-Go Take Out Italian Cos Cob Greenwich Openings Homepage

Jessica Ryan

It’s a known fact that Italians love their pasta. It’s also a known fact that they eat it regularly and yet it seems to be something we have become fearful of. As I sit down to write this I remember a popular commercial from my youth. In the North End of Boston, a dark haired Italian woman leans out of her window and beckons her son to come home. “Anthony!” she shouted, and he came running home – but only on Wednesdays, for Wednesday was Prince Spaghetti Day!  Today fad diets implore us to eat gluten-free, dairy-free, grain-free, carb-free, fat-free, etc. Enter Il Pastaficio, handmade pasta, in Cos Cob. Within weeks of opening locals have been rethinking and enjoying this Italian favorite. The reason is simple – as simple as their ingredients.

Il Pastaficio is unique in its offering of pastas made from natural and antique grains that are rich on minerals, salts and vitamins. This pasta, as a result, is lighter, easier to digest and has a lower glycemic level than the glutinous versions we’ve come to know. Their pastas are made from organic legume flours (such as chickpea) rich in protein and completely additive-free. As a result, Pastaficio pastas are easier to digest.


Banh Meee Brings Vietnamese Delights to Hartford’s Flourishing Capitol Avenue

Restaurant Asian To-Go Take Out Hartford Vietnamese Noodles

Connecticut Magazine

Author Michael Lee-Murphy from Connecticut Magazine shares a great Vietnamese find in Hartford, Banh Meee. 

Dung “G” Tran says, “Three years ago, I didn’t know how to cook.” Really? His menu at the new Banh Meee Vietnamese restaurant on Capitol Avenue in Hartford sure doesn’t taste like it.

Tran says he taught himself how to cook by watching YouTube tutorials and adding his own modern spin on traditional Vietnamese cooking. After operating for a few months as a food truck, Tran moved into the space made available by GoldBurgers’ closing of its Hartford location late last year.

Born to Vietnamese parents in San Bernardino, California, Tran says his parents sent him and his siblings to New England as youngsters to, as he puts it, avoid the gang violence of the area. Tran worked in insurance in Windsor for several years before launching himself into the food business.