Filtering by Tag: New Years,Turkish

60+ CT Restaurants To Celebrate New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day (2024 Edition)

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Hannah Goodman December 19, 2024

Every year has its ups and downs, its highs and lows, and 2024 was no different. Maybe it was your best year yet or maybe it kind of stunk and you’re looking forward to 2025. Either way, I hope you were able to eat great food and share yummy drinks over inspiring conversations with family, loved ones, or by yourself if that’s what you really wanted (alone time is okay!). So no matter the type of year you’ve had, it’s important we all go out with a bang, collectively. This list will provide you with the many New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day dinners, parties, brunches, and celebrations that our great state of Connecticut has to offer. The list is also broken down by county, so you have no choice but to throw some glitter on, dig out your 2024 glasses that you’re planning on turning into 2025 glasses somehow (you’re creative, you got this), and get yourself to a great restaurant or a rockin’ club. Do we love clubs 364 days out of the year? Maybe not, but on December 31st, we do! Happy New Year to my fellow CT brethren and here's to 2025! And don’t forget the advil…you’ll thank me later.

Sofra Turkish Grill: Delicious Authentic Turkish Cuisine in Waterbury

Restaurant Turkish Waterbury Turkey Meats Middle Eastern Homepage

Jessica Ryan June 21, 2024

Executive Chef Eren Polat and his wife Nigjar invite you to their newest restaurant, Sofra Turkish Grill a cozy neighborhood restaurant in Waterbury, Connecticut. The restaurant, which opened in late July 2023, has been drawing healthy crowds from Cheshire to Fairfield. No stranger to the restaurant world, Chef has over 25 years of experience in prominent restaurants in Turkey and Greece before opening his own Eren’s Grill in Fairfield. He opened Sofra to be closer to home and his family.

Chef hails from Adana, Turkey’s fourth largest city, located in the south where the Seyhan River meets the Mediterranean. One of the oldest cities in the world, it’s a major agricultural area and known for its distinctive cuisine, specifically the “Adana Kebabi,” a unique dish comprised of hand-minced meat prepared with a special knife called a Satir that closely resembles a machete. Authenticity is paramount as Chef remains true to his roots using the skills and techniques so prevalent in his country. So determined is he to do this, that many ingredients are imported directly from Turkey, some from Adana specifically.

50+ CT Restaurants To Celebrate New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day (2023 Edition)

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April Guilbault December 20, 2023

2023 went by in the blink of an eye

and now it’s the time again to say goodbye

So long, yes, but also hello too

and may 2024 be wonderfully good to you.

With tasty food and bubbly drink

we celebrate and sing, our glasses clink

We toast and dance, reminisce and dine,

trying to remember the words to Ol Lang Syne

No one knows, no one really cares

its about being together as good wishes blare

So, dine and drink well before that ball drops

and know that all of us at CTbites think you are tops!

60+ CT Restaurants, Bars & Caterers To Celebrate New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day (2022 Edition)

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Carly Terzigni December 18, 2022

It might be hard to believe, but we are just days away from bidding adieu to 2022. With a new year right around the corner, restaurants all around Connecticut are preparing to ring in 2023 with specialty a la carte menus, prix fixe dining experiences, live music, and plenty of champagne to toast with at midnight. Whether you are looking for a special dinner earlier in the evening or a full-blown party to midnight and beyond, there is something happening on December 31 for just about everyone.

If something on this list strikes your fancy, make sure you call ahead to book a reservation. Have a happy and healthy new year!

50+ CT Restaurants To Celebrate New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day (2021 Edition)

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April Guilbault December 21, 2021

Here we go again, roaring into the 20s, this time #22! To celebrate this flip of the calendar, whether you choose to dine out or partake in a delicious and fun takeout with friends or family, there are a myriad of delicious menus and restaurant events that await you as we kiss goodbye one year and welcome another. Raise that glass, belt out Auld Lang Syne, hope for the best, and support our favorite restaurants while we do! Happy 2022, everyone. May we all have a happy, healthy, and delicious New Year (fingers crossed).

70+ CT Restaurants & Caterers Serving Christmas & New Year's Dinners To Go or Dine In

Features Restaurant Holiday Christmas New Years Catering Catering Guide Take Out Homepage

April Guilbault December 13, 2020

The holidays have arrived. Unlike the usual joy and party atmosphere of a typical year’s end, this one brings with it innumerable emotions. In the midst of this tumultuous year, though, we have seen people coming together, helping each other and their communities as we haven’t seen for quite some time on such a scale. As you can see with just a small glance, the Holiday list before you is a long one-one of our longest—but it serves a dual purpose: to keep you, our fabulous readers, happy, safe, and cozied up with your families and “pods”, but it also serves to help us be aware of the restaurants in our midst who are going above and beyond to simply make it through this year and greet the new one. We hope you will continue to support each other and support the businesses in our state which help to keep our communities thriving. Happy Holidays to you all, to good health, and of course, good eatings.

We bring you 70+ CT Restaurants & Caterers for Holiday 2020 Catering & Dining.

100+ Connecticut Restaurants To Celebrate New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day

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Emma Jane-Doody Stetson December 20, 2019

60+ Restaurants & Bars for New Years in CT: 2018 Edition

Features New Years Holiday Homepage

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson December 21, 2018

Get ready to rock the night away and usher in 2019… New Year’s is almost here! Connecticut restaurants and bars are celebrating with gourmet meals and epic bashes to help you start the new year out right.

Here is a complete guide to 60+ places where you can dine in style and watch the ball drop.

60+ Connecticut Restaurants To Celebrate New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day

Features Holiday New Years Homepage

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson December 21, 2017

It’s almost time to bid farewell to 2017 and say hello to the New Year! Connecticut restaurants are celebrating 2018 with epic parties, prix fixe menus, and hangover brunches. Here is what they have in store!

Washington Prime, Norwalk Washington Prime in SoNo's NYE Dinner has 3 Seatings: 4pm, 6pm, and 8:30pm. It includes selection of appetizer, entree, and dessert and costs $65 per person plus tax & gratuity.
The Cottage, Westport: The Cottage in Westport presents a New Years Eve Brunch followed by a New Years Eve Celebration Dinner from 5:30-10:30pm. The a la carte menu will include lots of caviar, truffles, and buttered lobster!
Griswold Inn, Essex: The Griswold Inn has NYE Dinner Seatings starting at 5:30 pm and the Shiny Lapel Trio will play from 10pm-1am. Entrees include Pan Seared Atlantic Salmon, Roasted Long Island Duck, Roasted Prime Rib, and Filet of Beef Wellington. It costs $60 per person, plus tax and gratuity.
Present Company, Simsbury: Present Company's 5 course prix fixe NYE dinner includes options like lightly roasted cauliflower carpaccio with black truffles and beef “wellington” with mushroom stuffing. It is $110 per person with wine pairings available for an additional $40.
Harlan Publick, Norwalk: Beginning 12/31 at 9:30pm, dance the night away and enjoy craft cocktails and a chefs buffet at Harlan Publick in Norwalk.

Eren’s Grill: Regional Turkish Cuisine in Fairfield CT

Delicious Dives Fairfield Middle Eastern Turkish Lunch Kid Friendly

Elizabeth Keyser December 16, 2012

The first thing I noticed when I walked into Eren’s Grill was the neatness and precision of the refrigerator case. Platters of perfectly aligned kebabs await the grill. Bowls of bright-red-hued eggplant-tomato salad and pale, fluffy humus. Glistening rows of dark-green stuffed grape leaves. Then Eren, a young man wearing chef’s white’s embellished with the Turkish flag, stepped out from the open kitchen and proudly started telling me about his fresh and homemade food.

Fairfield’s new and only Turkish restaurant is a small joint in a strip mall. With just a few tables, it does a lot of take-out and catering. Whether eat-in or take-out, it’s a welcome addition to the Tunxis Hill section of Fairfield, a neighborhood that could use more good food. And the food here is good: fresh and full of flavor. Ottoman cuisine has a long and noble history, and Eren – who was head chef of the Athens’ Tike, an international group of Turkish restaurants in places like London, Cyprus and Kiev -- for 8 years -- is proud to put his signature on it. “I want to play a little,” he says.

Bereket Turkish Restaurant "2" Opens in Bridgeport

Restaurant Bridgeport Delicious Dives Middle Eastern Turkish

Stephanie Webster March 02, 2011

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Last spring we told you about Bereket, an tiny authentic Turkish eatery tucked behind a gas station in Bridgeport. This fortuitous find primarily offered takeout, but if you were lucky enough to get one of the 3 small tables, you were served food worthy of an Ottoman emperor. While we loved hiding out behind the Citgo station, we were pleased to hear that owner Selahattin Cinar had moved his very reasonably priced menu and talented cooks to a much larger space in Blackrock (the old Helados Vazquez). With an upgraded interior worthy of the excellent fare, Selahattin can now focus on the customer experience...and a more gracious host you've never seen. Warm up your car for a quick departure to Bridgeport.

Bereket Turkish Restaurant: Istanbul in Bridgeport

Restaurant Bridgeport Delicious Dives Turkish Vegetarian

Stephanie Webster April 04, 2010

It's been 24 hours since I left Bereket, a tiny hole in the wall Turkish restaurant located behind a Citgo station on Bridgeport's Main Street. As I write this I wonder, is it too soon to go back?

Bereket has been dubbed by people in the know as Fairfield County's best kept secret, and I finally understand what all the fuss is about. Mind you, this place is not fussy. Hidden beside of the gas station's mini mart, Bereket's small dining space has only 3 tables and boxes of Turkish beverages and pantry staples lining the walls. But what this single room Turkish delight lacks in ambiance, it makes up for in the quality, freshness, and flavor of the food.

Owner Selahattin Cinar has been in business for 6 years, and chats with customers while holding court in the kitchen preparing a steady stream of take-out orders. He greeted us warmly as we walked in, and we were relieved to find that he spoke enough English to answer questions and help us navigate their extensive menu. When we asked what was good, we were led to a display case filled with cold mezes (appetizers) and kebabs awaiting the heat, and simply told, it's all good. And it was.