Each year, the CT Restaurant Association recognizes the exceptional ability and talent of Connecticut’s restaurant community in the prestigious CRAzies awards. Restaurant owners, operators, chefs, and vendors come together to celebrate the success of the industry at Foxwoods Resort Casino on Monday, December 6. While a panel of more than 25 food writers, critics, bloggers, and social media influencers created a list of nominees, YOU VOTE for the winners.
We are excited to showcase the nominees for BEST CHEF OF THE YEAR in our new series. All the candidates worked incredibly hard to receive this nomination, and while many of you may know some of them, you probably don’t know all of them. We sat down with each of these talented chefs to learn a little bit more about what makes them do what they do. We begin with Chef Ashley Flagg of Millwrights, in Simsbury CT.
The Spread you know and love from Main Street in South Norwalk has some new digs and a whole new summer look. Spread owners Andrey Cortes, Chris Hickey, Chris Rasile, Shawn Longyear and Chef Carlos Baez have taken their much heralded menu and rustic industrial vibe, and moved down the street, next door to their sister spot, El Segundo. The new spot resides in the old Harlan Public location within the IronWorks complex, and it comes with one of the most beautiful outdoor dining spaces in Fairfield County. Loyal diners and regulars….don’t worry. The menu will feature all of the usual favorites such as their Brick Chicken and Ricotta Gnocchi but Chef Baez has a few surprises up his chef’s coat.
A now seven-time nominee from Connecticut and two chefs from Westchester County have been named Best Chef semifinalists in the 2020 James Beard Foundation Awards.Tyler Anderson has carried the torch for Connecticut since 2014 at Millwright’s Restaurant in Simsbury. Newcomers David DiBari from The Cookery in Dobbs Ferry and Eric Gao from O Mandarin in Hartsdale are showing the nation that what is happening in Westcheter’s kitchens should be paid attention to.
Last year, the James Beard Foundation announced it was redefining the regions that make up the Best Chef awards since 2012. Once its own category, the five New York City boroughs will now contend with the rest of the state, which used to fall under the New England region. A statement says this is an effort to begin to “level the playing field” and recognize just how rich the dining world is across America. This year, NYS has 20 semifinalists; just four are outside of NYC.
“In a small town in Westchester, and you’ve been cooking for 11 years, you just didn’t really think that this is something you’d be noted for,” DiBari says. “And it really honestly feels absolutely amazing.”
“WTF!” was DiBari’s response upon hearing the news through a relative on social media. “Everyone knows the James Beard awards have to be the Grammys of the hospitality industry,” he says.
Kombucha is delicious and nutritious! Cross Culture Kombucha Taproom & Brewery will teach you how to make your own at home in their Kombucha Homebrewing Workshop on November 21.
CTbites was thrilled to be a part of the judging process for the 2019 CRAzies Awards Gala presented by the Connecticut Restaurant Association. Each year, the CRAzies recognizes the exceptional ability and talent of Connecticut’s restaurant community. More than 700 Restaurant owners, operators, chefs, vendors and more will come together to celebrate the success of the industry at their awards gala at Foxwoods Resort Casino on Monday, December 2. VOTE here for your favorites.
Happy hours are one of life’s greatest pleasures. Bad day? Have a reduced-price wine, beer, or cocktail to take the edge off. Even worse day? Have more than one. Hungry? Happy hours usually offer a handful of delectable bites to be had on the cheap as an accompaniment to your glass of booze. I’m obviously a fan of the whole idea of happy hours—and I’m betting you are too—so I’m always on the lookout for new ones in the area. That’s when I came across Tarry Lodge Westport’s brand new Aperetivo Hour.
Introduced in May, Aperitivo Hour goes down Monday – Friday from 4 – 6 p.m. It features wine and cocktails for $10 each, and five snackable small plates for $5 per.
The James Beard Foundation announced today its list of Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists for the 28th annual James Beard Foundation Awards. Selected from a list of more than 20,000 online entries, the prestigious group of semifinalists in 21 categories represents a wide range of culinary talent, from exceptional chefs and dining destinations nationally and in ten different regions across the U.S., to the best new restaurants, outstanding bar programs, bakers, and rising star chefs 30 or younger.
CT has two semifinalists for Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, NY State, RI, VT).
Congrats to Brian Lewis, The Cottage, Westport, CT and Tyler Anderson, Millwright’s, Simsbury CT!
Winners of the 2018 James Beard Media Awards will be announced on Friday, April 27, 2018. Good luck to out local CT chefs. The honor is well deserved. See this year’s full semifinalist list at jamesbeard.org/awards
Elm City Social has entered New Haven’s burgeoning craft cocktail scene with an exhaustive and inventive array of cocktails and a variety dining options from mid-day to late night. Venturing into the Elm City Social bar during Happy Hour, I had but a simple mission – to quickly refuel with a cocktail and a few snacks before an evening event. I knew I had come to the right place when I noticed the cocktail menu was equal to, if not greater than, the dining options.
So first, those cocktails. The Rubber Ducky is a shaken cocktail made from a combination of a citra hop-infused New Amsterdam Gin, basil, grapefruit, lemon, with sparkling water. First sip, my eyes quickly narrowing, I found myself put off (turned on?) by the hoppy notes. Second sip, a bit of offense but also wonderment, “how did an IPA get in my cocktail?” From that point until my last sip, I was impressed by the equal parts confusion and compulsion on my palate. Well done. Also, there is an actual rubber ducky floating in your drink. Bonus points for cheekiness.
Kawa Ni, Westport's izakaya by the river, has been both a haven of Japanese-inspired food and a boisterous drinking scene since its opening just over a year ago. The party is about to start earlier, as Bill Taibe and co. have announced the debut of their new happy hour menu of food and drink at the Bridge Square, starting now.
Izakayas are small taverns which cater to the occasionally raucous after work set in Japan, so the new menu, with its focus on a limited number of small bar bites backed up by almost twice as many drinks, is right on theme. The prices of food and drink alike are sharply reduced for the happy hour, which runs Tuesday -Friday 4-6PM.
Vespa Restaurant recently introduced its new culinary team, Executive Chef David White and Pastry Chef Susanne Berne to create a vibrant menu to complement the relaxing décor and wonderful water view. The duo will collaborate in creating a menu for the full dining experience, from the first bite of Antipasti to the last bite of Dolci. In addition, the restaurant recently unveiled its lunch service, a new dessert menu and the commencement of “Apertivo Hour” from 4-6PM, offering half price beer, wine, $8 select cocktails and a small plates menu.
Chef David joins Vespa from The Inn at Pound Ridge, where he was the Chef de Cuisine. Prior to working with Chef Jean-Georges, he sharpened his skills in Europe before returning to the US to further refine his talents with award-winning Andrew Masciangelo at Savona. Chef Berne’spassion for the culinary arts was sparked by a pastry course in college before receiving her Grande Diploma in Pastry Arts in 1999. She subsequently won back-to-back ACF Florida Pastry Challenges in 2003 & 2005.
CTbites recently visited Vespa to sample a variety of the new culinary team’s Italian-inspired creations.
Imian Partners will open The Beer Garden at Shippan Landing for its second season on May 21st. Imian first introduced the pop-up beer garden concept two summers ago with The Beer Garden at Harbor Point and is credited for invigorating the social scene in Stamford’s South End. The Shippan spot has a significantly more relaxed vibe than that of Harbor Point, but has all the charm and beauty of the perfect summer hangout.
With unobstructed waterfront views, (and the best seat in town to watch the sunset all summer long), The Beer Garden at Shippan Landing will showcase and rotate its carefully curated list of local craft beers on draft and in cans offering a variety of options. Look for favorites such as Half Full, Broad Brook, Captain Lawrence and more. We also hear that The Beer Garden will be partnering with Half Full to create a signature beer just for the garden. Pretty cool.
An impressive rotating lineup of the area’s best food trucks will also be part of the nightly festivities at the Beer Garden. Stay tuned for details on some of your favorite mobile eats.
The family-friendly environment will include outdoor games such as life-size jenga, corn hole, can jam and beer pong.Entertainment will include live music and special themed-events throughout the summer beginning on Sunday May 24th with a Memorial Day party.
Get ready to bite into the restaurants judged the best of the best in Connecticut by the "experts" from Connecticut Magazine, who range from veteran restaurant critics and food writers to contemporary bloggers who track the trends—and hottest, newest places—along with cookbook authors and even a former restaurant owner. And to make sure the state's hottest food destination (Fairfield County, of course) was well represented, our friends at Connecticut Magazine reached out to CTbites for key input.
Altogether, with some food savvy Connecticut Magazine editors sprinkled in, it's a group for which dining is a passion—and dining at the best places is an art that takes constantly having a collective finger on the pulse of the Connecticut dining scene.