Elm Restaurant's Lil' Foodies Event w/ Chef Brian Lewis

Asher is an 9th grader at Fairfield Country Day School. He has a true passion for food and started his blog, AsherZeats, in September of 2012. 

“A little chocolate a day keeps the doctor at bay”

I recently had the absolute pleasure of being a part of a unique experience called Lil’ Foodies. During this special event,  Brian Lewis, the chef/owner of well regarded restaurant, Elm, and his wife Dana, guided a group of children from the age of 8 to the age of 16 through a culinary extravaganza. All for the fantastic price of… nothing!

Our first stop on the journey was the New Canaan Farmers Market. During this time, Chef Lewis generously bought for us the freshest ingredients the market had to offer. We obtained fresh, crisp, juicy apples (of all varieties), a heap of straight from the ground fingerling potatoes, brightly vivid purple cauliflower, and much more.

Chef Lewis taught the group about the importance of supporting local organizations and also about picking the freshest foods from the stands.

After gaining new information about the Farmers Market and a few delectable tastes as well, we made our way through the crisp, fall air towards the Elm.

When we entered the beautiful, modern restaurant, we felt a rush of warm air and we all settled into a secluded seating area with several seats overlooking a counter into the hard working kitchen.

While seated, we came up with this weeks Lil’ Foodies team name (the Fantastic Fall Foodies) and also shared with the group our favorite foods. After conferring about the delectable favorite food choices, everybody presented, and we made our way into the pristine kitchen and met the friendly staff of Elm Restaurant. In addition we learned the various ways Elm prepares its delicious food.

As we sat back down, we were suddenly bombarded by a fleet of accommodating waiters and waitress’ who served us our first course. The first course was a Square Grilled Cheese. The grilled cheese contained melted, oozing cheese, tender, succulent ham, a sweet tomato, and was squeezed in between two crunchy, perfectly buttered pieces of bread. The grilled cheese was fantastic and the warm sandwiches were devoured by the whole group in no time at all.

The next course was a Chestnut Soup. The Chestnut Soup at Elm is very well known among food connoisseurs in Connecticut. The soup was thick, creamy and a pleasing chestnut brown. The heat of the soup was great for soothing a cold throat.

The final non-dessert course we enjoyed was a Tortellini Dish. The dish contained perfectly cooked Tortellini covered in a light sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, and filled with a rich, orange squash filling (perfect for the fall months). The Tortellini was fabulous and was a great choice of a meal to have for that time of year.

Finally was our dessert course. In this course we sampled a rich, warm, dense, moist chocolate cake, with a side of cold, palate cleansing, home-made vanilla ice cream. This dish was a hit among the kids, and was a perfect way to close out the eventful afternoon.

Overall, I would definitely recommend participating in the Lil’ Foodies event next month, and if you are over 16, I would recommend trying Elm for a meal in your near future. I would rate it ZZZZZ- 5 Z’s- A Perfect Experience For A Saturday Afternoon!