At a hillside shopping center overlooking nothing more fashionable than the far ridge line of the Housatonic River and Sikorsky’s helicopter factory steams a great bowl of pho. It’s a standard bo vien with beef meatballs, ordered lightly rich with small convex globules of transparent oil magnifying both light and flavor in the broth. I’ve recently dosed a bite with a slice of positively infernal green pepper. A less varied quarantine diet has apparently softened my usually spice-calloused tongue. My eyes are watering, and my nose is running. I’m in heaven.
Dan Kardos has been busy. At a time when the restaurant industry is trying its best to survive, pivoting and adapting to the current situation are key. Kardos is doing just that.
While running Oar & Oak as a takeout model, then to its dine-in reopening with restrictions, he spent most of his summer slinging fried chicken sandwiches, lobster rolls, and burgers on a food truck extension of his restaurant.
Kardos didn’t stop there. In late May, he purchased a trailer to sell homemade soft serve cones, creative sundaes, and adults-only dairy desserts complete with nips of booze.
And now, Kardos has expanded his footprint in town with Oar & Oak Birdhouse, a grab and go Oar & Oak offshoot where fried chicken rules the roost.
Global pandemic aside, Kardos said he’s had the idea for this for a while to fill a need in Stratford for quality fast casual food.
“We wanted this place for a year because it’s more centralized (on Main Street),” he says. “Even though Oar & Oak is in town, people see it as being far away, and this gives them a chance to try us out. And it allows me to focus on creating more refined food there, more craveable takeout stuff here.”
Last week we took a beautiful scenic drive to Essex Connecticut to check out Carlson’s Landing. With stunning views of the Connecticut River, and located next to a bustling shipyard, the restaurant offers a perfect mix of stunning views, safely distanced seating, an elegant interior and delicious food and drink.
The restaurant is spearheaded by seasoned restaurateur Robert Rabine, founder of Cafe Routier in Westbrook, who’s also a former food and beverage writer with over 300 published recipes and reviews. Executive Chef JP Dillon (formerly of Trumbull Kitchen in Hartford, Birch Hill Tavern and The Beamhouse in Glastonbury, and Hidden Still Restaurant & Moonshine Bar in Ellington) recently joined forces with Rabine.
"Piri piri" just means "pepper" in the related languages of sub-Saharan Africa, and you may have had piri piri sauce from a bottle, or used the specific variety under its English name, Bird's Eye Peppers, but the Portuguese found it in Mozambique. The flavor-cultural export found its way into the culinary world of Portugal and took hold the way curries have permeated the U.K. The Vilarinho family of restaurateurs from Porto Cancais outside Lisbon saw an opportunity here, and opened their first Chicken Piri Piri in America about ten years ago. Their newest location is a little storefront by Paradise Green in Stratford. CTBites recently stopped by for lunch, and here's what we found at Chicken Piri Piri Portuguese BBQ.
The owners of the Little Pub have announced they will open their next venture at the location of the former Marnick's on the Stratford seawall. Little Pub will also take over the attached seaside residence, which is being extensively redone, and renamed the Surfside Hotel. Expect the new pub to open on the beach this month, with the hotel opening shortly thereafter. Read on to see what Little Pub owner Doug Grabe had to tell CTBites...
After a two-and-a-half-month hiatus, SoNo Seaport Seafood is open once again, serving up the ocean’s bounty with a few exciting changes.
In mid-April, the 35-year-old South Norwalk mainstay announced they would shut down shop while the restaurant, outdoor bar, and patio all underwent renovations. To oversee it all, SoNo Seaport’s owners, the Bloom Family, brought in a legit Fairfield County chef to consult on the project.
That’s where Matt Storch enters the fray. But make no mistake, the chef/owner of Match and Match Burger Lobster wasn’t merely brought in to make decisions on what furniture to buy and what color paint should go on the walls. One of Storch’s focal points at SoNo Seaport was to give an outdated menu a much-needed refresh.
Spring is always a welcome thing, but as part of the CTBites team it also means that a trip to Prime Stamford is in order to check out their spring offerings and we are always eager to see what magic Chef Julio Geno has up his sleeve. As we waited to get a sampling of the Easter Menu we sipped some of the restaurant’s most popular choices, the Babylon Express, made from Crop cucumber vodka, St. Germaine, lime and pineapple juices, the Pineapple Mojito and the Passion Cosmo, made from passion vodka, passion fruit purée, triple sec and lime and cranberry juices.
A few years after opening Liberty Rock Tavern in the Devon section of Milford, Chef Dan Kardos now has his sequel. A stone’s throw from Sikorsky—and 10 minutes from Liberty Rock—is Kardos’ new concept, Oar & Oak. For Stratford residents, there’s that “Oh, yeah…” moment, but if you’re not from around there, the restaurant’s name is a play on words—it’s in Stratford’s Oronoque neighborhood.
Much like Liberty Rock, Oar & Oak is very much focused on the area’s locals. “I want it to grow slowly, and become a neighborhood hangout,” Kardos said. “It used to be the original Parker Eatery—a favorite around here—so we freshened it up and gave it a new look.” The woodwork, brick walls, hanging lights, and periwinkle/grey/white tones in the space contribute to Oar & Oak’s casual, come-as-you-are vibe.
This past spring, members of the CTBites team were invited to Prime to check out one of Stamford’s newest restaurants. We were immediately taken with the scenic water views, the casual yet sophisticated décor and, most importantly, the food. (Click HERE to read about that experience.)
We were invited back a few weeks ago for a sneak peek at the fall menu, now available, created to reflect the flavors of the season. Regulars need not fret, your favorite dishes are likely still available, summer flavors and ingredients have simply been replaced with those readily available this time of year.
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.
I visited Liberty Rock Tavern in Milford shortly after they opened, and I distinctly remember Dan Kardos’ description of his menu, “I’m making food that people like to eat, food that I like to eat,” he said.
That “food” is best described as elevated pub grub, which could be surprising to those who followed Kardos’ stints at Napa & Co., Le Farm, and various Barcelona locations. His fine dining background ultimately results in better bar food. It’s the kind of food made for cheat day, where you’ll have to roll up your sleeves, and sit as pulled up to the bar or table as you can get. It’s successful stuff.
Food, like any other aspect of human culture, has its landmarks. Local touchstones, the food you grew up with can be felt from great distances away, even by people who didn't grow up nearby. Ask just about anyone across the world what constitutes American food and chances are "hamburger" will be in their top two answers. The burger's invention at Louis Lunch in New Haven is well known and, regionally, so is Danny's Drive-In in Stratford. This is why a "For Sale" sign on the building has met with such concern - it's only been seen twice before in 83 years.
After being closed for 13 years, a Stratford legend has returned!
Finally, and to much anticipation, Cricket Car Hop has reemerged in Lordship over Independence Day weekend to sling burgers, fries, shakes, and foot longs once again.
The original, which opened in the mid-1950s, closed in 2004, and was located on Main Street, almost exactly a mile away from where they are now on Access Road. Running the show at the sequel version of the popular hot dog hut is co-owner Stacy DiCostanzo—who worked as a cook at Cricket from 1980 until it closed—and her husband, Ron, who handles day-to-day general manager duties.
The first hot rod movement was sparked by people who realized cast off objects still had plenty of potential. Kids walking to school in post WWII America passed junkyards where derelict Model T Fords, relics even then, baked in the sun. An after school job's income could net you one of those heaps, and with it came your first taste of independence. Dropping in a salvaged flathead V-8 could make that old bucket loud, fast, and dangerous. The sexy combination was like flypaper to teenagers and young veterans, and their creativity launched an American culture.
Newly opened PizzaCo, just across the street from Two Roads Brewing Company, is one such hot rod. Once the site of several thoroughly defunct gas stations, the old place has been cleaned up, given a new paint job, and had its own motor swap. The driving engine is now a Marra Forni oven. They call their pizza "Garage Fired," and PizzaCo's edge was hiring world champion Bruno DiFabio to create it.
Two Roads Brewing of Stratford has announced their plans to add a 25,000 square foot expansion to their brewery specifically to create sour and barrel-aged beers. Situated on 2.5 acres of newly acquired land adjoining the existing brewery's hop yard and music venue, the brewhouse will have a 120-person capacity tasting room overlooking both the brewing operations, and a wetlands preserve.
Sour beers such as Framboise Noir Black Raspberry Lambic, Urban Funk Wild Ale made with yeast from Superstorm Sandy, and Worker’s Stomp White Wine Barrel-Aged Saison will see increased production, along with Hexotic Tropical Lambic, which won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado this October. Hexotic spends 28 months in oak, and was fermented with "Brett C" (brettanomyces clausenii). Six different types of fruit were added during fermentation, including orange, passion fruit, mangosteen, soursop (aka gaunabana), guava, and mango.
There are some ingredients in this world that, when you add them to anything, they pretty much make it spectacular. Bacon, for example. It would probably make a sneaker taste good. “Air” is another ingredient. Air-a bizarre ingredient on an episode of Chopped? No. Air, as in fresh air. Eating outside. Have you noticed that when you eat a lobster roll outside on a deck overlooking the ocean, it makes you happy? Or eat a grilled burger at a picnic table on a warm summer evening? Or sip a frothy cappuccino at a sidewalk cafe? What is the common ingredient here? Fresh air. Good food combined with a hefty dose of the outdoors.
And lucky for you, we’ve put together a long list of our favorite eateries (40+) that have lovely outdoor dining spaces.
If we missed an outdoor venue you frequent, please share your find below.
Asher is an 8th grader at Fairfield Country Day School. He has a true passion for food and started his blog, AsherZeats, in September of 2012. Asher reviews everything from Michelin starred restaurants to great dives. This review originally ran on AsherZeats.
“Anyone who tells a lie has not a pure heart, and cannot make a good soup. “-- Ludwig Van Beethoven.
This Saturday we traveled to Vietnam Palace (a new restaurant, opened this past June) located at- 955 Ferry Boulevard, Stratford, CT in a very busy shopping center.
When we entered, we noticed two very cool statues of lions and a statue of a Buddha. The ceilings were filled with many upside down umbrellas and the restaurant was extremely clean. We also saw that it was a family run business (the best kind of business) with a very small number of people working there. When we were seated, we were greeted by an EXTREMELY friendly Husband/Wife pair who could not be any nicer.
Looking for something fun to do next week? "Restaurant Impossible" will be filming at Stella's in Stratford. Here's the news from ctpost.com...
"The Food Network's top rated show, "Restaurant Impossible," will be paying a visit to Stella's Restaurant next week.
"Restaurant Impossible" is hosted by Chef Robert Irvine, who, according to the show's website, "faces a daunting new challenge: save America's most desperate restaurants from impending failure in just two days with only $10,000."
Tucked in the corner of the Oronoque Shopping Plaza, Stella's is an Italian restaurant that has been serving homemade meals for 34 years. Decorated with black-and-white family photos and old photos of Stratford, Stella's, at 7365 Main St., is owned and operated by longtime restaurateur Michael Savoie. In 1998, Savoie took over Stella's.
