Fast casual fried chicken is a hot craze that’s seemingly not cooling off anytime soon. Haven Hot Chicken, Birdcode Hot Chicken, the new to Connecticut Dave’s Hot Chicken, and smaller spots like Stamford’s Cwispy Chicken are proof of that. But even newer to the coop is Dippin Chicken in East Norwalk where Korean fried chicken is their menu’s centerpiece.
The next time you’re enjoying a pint in Spacecat Brewing Company’s taproom, that tray of burgers that just went by IS NOT courtesy of Shake Shack’s Shack Truck. Right out back by Spacecat’s appropriately named patio, “The Litterbox,” is their own brand-new food trailer where the brewery smashes burgers, grills up Connecticut’s own Hummel Bros. hot dogs, and fries to perfection a crispy chicken sandwich.
Most Connecticut residents who were unfamiliar with Hugh Mangum before he and his family started making donuts in Wilton four years ago, may be oblivious to a few tidbits. Mangum, you see, isn’t only a French Culinary Institute graduate who worked under Jean-Georges Vongerichten, but he’s the founder of the popular Mighty Quinn’s BBQ. Now that his family’s donut shop, Rise Doughnuts, has gone from a pop up to its own physical location, paired with the fact that the Mangums reside in Wilton, the time to open another Mighty Quinn’s in nearby Norwalk in the former Bobby Q’s and the short lived Lechon Smokehouse space at The Waypointe.
Now almost three years old, Magic 5 Pie Co. has had no problem with repeat diners. But the people have to first find it before they can return.
Tucked away in the parking lot of the East Norwalk Metro-North Station, even longtime Norwalkers won’t even see it from the usual slow crawl of East Avenue traffic. You’ll have to go all the way in the back. Or you can plug in “Magic 5 Pie Co.” in Google Maps for an assist.
“Lots of people still don’t know we’re in Norwalk,” says Shawn Longyear, who along with Chris Hickey, Andrey Cortes, and Christopher Rasile, are also all co-owners of The Spread and El Segundo just across the bridge in South Norwalk. “But once they find us, they come back.”
When I sat down with Tim Topi to talk about his bakery’s expansion, and second location, this time in the form of a sit-down café, I jokingly told him that Wave Hill Breads could very well be the most mentioned place in the history of this website. It may not actually be a joke, though. Countless restaurants swear by Wave Hill and prominently feature their sourdough or burger buns on their menu and others have a deal with Topi’s bakery for custom loaves or buns. Off the top of my head? Damon Sawyer’s 29 Markle Ct uses their brioche buns, Jeff Taibe of Taproot serves Wave Hill sourdough with either butter or pimento cheese and bacon jam, Josie & Tony’s has them custom bake semolina for their terrific sandwiches, and they bake milk buns for Cwispy Chkn’s tasty fried chicken sliders. I’m sure I’m leaving out dozens more, but you get the idea.
Udine, Trieste, Pordenone, Rome, Barcelona, Santiago, Athens, and…Norwalk, Connecticut? So, you usually don’t see six European cities and one South American city mentioned in the same breath as Norwalk, but when it comes to gelato and master gelato maker, Carmelo Chiaramida, this is perhaps the one time it applies. What Chiaramida is doing in Norwalk, opening his first OGGI Gelato shop in America, is simply every local ice cream lover’s good fortune.
Call it a coincidence through connection, actually. And it’s best spelled out by Maurizio Ricci, who along with his brother, Graziano, are the founders of Romanacci and Norwalk’s Osteria Romana.
Joshua Mesnick is well aware that his restaurant, Josie & Tony’s Italian Deli & Supper Club, is polarizing.
He dared to be different and opened a fine dining membership-based restaurant in South Norwalk, catering to paid club members first, and the general public second. Scoff it you want, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in. It’s not impossible, and if it’s not for you, Mesnick will be the first to tell you, that that’s totally fine. “I’ve always done through this project what I’m passionate about,” he says. “Membership has been sold out. We have plenty of great regulars that aren’t members. There have been doubters all along and that’s OK!”
Supper club aside, let’s talk about that other part of the name…Italian Deli.
Josie & Tony’s located at 20 North Main Street in South Norwalk, Connecticut, opened its gourmet Italian deli last month. The deli offers hot and cold sandwiches made on local breads from Wave Hill, alongside homemade mozzarella, fresh pasta, cured meats, rainbow cookie desserts, specialty sodas, coffee, and other Arthur Ave-inspired delicacies and products.
Owner and sommelier, Joshua Mesnik, opened the restaurant at Josie & Tony's in December with 50 founding members – being the first membership hospitality concept of its kind in Fairfield County.Read more here.
“The deli will be something the whole community can enjoy and we look forward to expanding our services to include catering and boat provisioning this summer,” Mesnik explained. It will also be the face of the Josie & Tony’s Pasta Club, a subscription-based service offering fresh pasta and sauce to cook at home. At the moment, hot sandwiches include chicken parmigiana, Italian dip, meatball parmigiana, sausage & peppers, and roasted vegetables; cold sandwiches include Italian combo, spicy soppressata, Caprese, and Italian tuna salad. Deli hours are 12:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
Back in 2018 when Christian Burns opened Evarito’s on the corner of N Main Street, just past the 50 Washington Street building, “Hola!” was the restaurant’s catchy little social media term. Six years later, Burns, and the public, can say “Hola!” to the new concept that inhabits 14 N Main, The Pompano.
Before we get to what The Pompano is all about, a lot of folks are itching to know why Evarito’s is no more after announcing its last days earlier in 2024. While there were a few factors, the simplest answer is they never fully got back on track financially after 2020.
“We just did OK,” Burns explains. “We were popping in 2019. In the winter, we still had a crowd. Then we never really popped out of COVID the same way. 2021 came and it was less (customers). 2022 came and it was even less. I knew it was time for a change and I thought Evarito’s had run its course.”
Burns—who you know from The Ginger Man and Cask Republic locations—had to think about if he wanted to relaunch the Evarito’s space, and if so, what would he want it to be. Travel was that inspiration. If Evarito’s was inspired by Burns’ trips to and love of various parts of Mexico, his new idea for a restaurant would be a New England seafood restaurant meets a South Florida seafood restaurant.
Jeff Taibe had a big 2023. Not only did Taibe relocate his six-year Bethel restaurant, Taproot, to South Norwalk, he received much deserved recognition at December’s edition of the CRAzies Awards in the form of a “Best Restaurant Fairfield County” win.
That’s the word Adrian Hurtado uses when he describes the food he serves at his newly opened restaurant in Norwalk that’s an extension of his food truck, Taco Guy.
“I have chicken tinga on the menu because it runs in my family, going back to my great-great grandparents,” he says. “When you’re eating here, you’re getting my culture, my family tradition, and a piece of what’s in my soul.”
But for Hurtado, who grew up in the hospitality industry learning the ropes at the popular Super Taqueria Las Salsas in Bridgeport that’s owned by his father, he chose to not be a taquero as an adult.
Instead, he started making pizzas at Bar Sugo in Norwalk before hopping behind the bar as a bar back.
CT Bites readers who shop the market get a free gift with a purchase of $25 or more, a seasonal seasoning; a tin of our coffee salt rub (great for roasts or steaks) featuring Gorilla Coffee Beans and Himalayan Pink Sea Salt. Keep it or gift it, either way it’s a delicious addition to your holiday meal.
This indoor, rain-or-shine market/outing will run every Friday through February (except after Thanksgiving Christmas and New Year’s), offering locally produced edibles, including milk, eggs, cheese, honey flour, grains, produce and meats. More Info Here.
With a name that is creatively based on the French for "knowledge of food," Savoir Fare offers an evolving collection of cookware, bakeware, stemware, cooking tools and fine French linens.
With an impeccably curated assortment from these fine brands, you are assured that only the highest quality items are in this collection:
“Come on in. I just finished putting the wine away about an hour ago,” says John Noakes as I enter Off The Vine Wine & Spirits, a wine shop in Norwalk. “I had about 100 cases just sitting in my basement.”
Off the Vine is a work in progress; a paint brush lies in the corner waiting for use and the shelves have a few empty spaces awaiting bottles. Still, Noakes is well on his way toward reopening the store in its new location. The shop, previously situated on the corner of Spring Hill Avenue, is moving across town to Winfield Street. The space has its own legacy. It once housed the original location of Fountainhead Wines before it became a part of Fat Cat City on Wall Street.
Off the Vine is a relatively small operation. Noakes owns and works in the store full-time and has two people who assist him part-time. The new location is physically petite as well, even more so than the previous shop. Don’t let the size fool you though. The shop offers an enviable collection of boutique wines.
“Having a small store poses its challenges, but it makes it so that your taste has to be spot on,” explains Noakes. He strives to offer only the best products to his customers and tries to find unique, small production wine.
When a recipe called for whole uncleaned squid, I knew that the ingredient would be difficult to find. However, I did not expect it to be impossible. After 4 grocery stores, 4 markets, 6 restaurants, multiple phone calls and exactly 0 success, I began to think otherwise. Fortunately, a friend with ties to the food industry gave me a little tip as I was about to surrender: Pagano’s Seafood in Norwalk. Sure enough, they had plenty of whole squid for purchase. I started on my recipe within the hour.
It turns out that Pagano’s is greatly respected in both the restaurant community. They provide fish to some of the area’s most popular dining destinations including The Homestead Inn, Quattro Pazi, Napa and Company, Barcelona, Match, The Spotted Horse, and Bartaco. They even serve restaurants and markets in Massachusetts and New York. When I asked Allen Pagano, a founder and owner, why Pagano’s was so sought after, he chuckled and responded simply, “Because we’re the best.”
A week prior to the official opening on Saturday December 1st, SoNo Market Place decided to sponsor a soft opening on November 23rd and I decided that tasting some good local food was a whole lot better than fighting the crowds at the mall.
All of the food purveyors were in full test-mode and my first stop was Flat WhiteCoffee to taste the coffee described to CTbites by owner, John Palino, back in September. This was a creamy blend of rich coffee and steamed milk, a brand brought over from New Zealand, and one that should meet with great success in CT.
But it's not just about coffee at SoNo Market Place. With over 20 food vendors and eateries, this European style market is poised to be a foodie destination. Guests lined up at Wise Guys Pizza for New Haven style pies; Norm Bloom served up fresh oysters and clams straight from the Norwalk waters, and Fish & Chips were on the menu from Gotta Nibble. Caterering company, Festivities, has a permananet spot here with their take-out biz, "Party Express." Local specialty purveyors and well known brands such as Knipschildt Chocolatier, Wave Hill Breads, andNothin' But Granola have also opened shop at the market.
If you can't make it to the annual Hatch Chile Festival in New Mexico in early September, this weekend in Norwalk may be a close second.
Stew Leonard’s in Norwalk is partnering with a family-owned New Mexico Green Chile Company to host a Hatch Chile Roasting demo and tasting for customers on Thursday, August 23 through Sunday, August 26, 2012. Stew's will be selling their fire-roasted or unroasted Hatch chiles, as well as offering samples of fresh salsa made with Hatch chiles. For more information, visit Stew Leonards website or better yet, stop on by this weekend.
Pie baking is a both a science and an art, and John Barricelli of Sono Baking Company knows all the tricks. John has been baking the old fashioned way at Sono Baking Company since the very beginning, no short cuts, just fresh ingredients and skill that comes from a lifetime covered in flour.
As part of our Invites program, John Barricelli hosted two "Pie & Dough Making" classes for aspiring bakers. Guests arrived donning aprons and toting rolling pins. Here's what we learned:
5 Tips for Perfect Pie Dough
Tip #1: Calibrate your oven's temperate& make sure that your oven is level.
Can a diehard food lover survive 5 days without solid food?
I love food. I love to eat it…raw food, cooked food, gourmet food, diner food, farm-to-table food, bar food. My first paychecks came from restaurants – seating or serving those seeking food. Decades later, I now earn my living taking photos…and yes, you guessed it, the subject matter of which is, quite often, food. So how in the world did a food-lover like me end up committing to spend 5 day chewing exactly none?
The white truffle. Available for only a few months a year, this buried treasure is sold for $2500 a poundand is one of the most sought after ingredients on the planet. They are elusive, hidden underground. No longer sniffed out by pigs who had the audacity to occasionally eat them, the white truffle hunters have been replaced by the more trust-worthy canine. Their complex delicate taste is revered be chefs and diners everywhere, but you can only find white truffles in one place...the Piedmont area of Italy...and Fairfield County.
October-early December is white truffle season, and in celebration of these sublime fungi, Chef Matt Storch of Match Restauranthosted a 12 course White Truffles Cooking Class at Clarke Culinary Center in Norwalk. Each course featured raw shaved white truffles (added at the last possible moment to preserve the taste of their ethereally earthy flesh). The smell alone could have kept the foodie in me satiated for days.
