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Guide To Great Caterers in Fairfield County: Holiday Catering Made Easy

Features Catering Entertaining Special Dietary Needs

April Guilbault

A stack of gifts. Cards with cute holiday stamps. Family parties. Work parties. Kids’ parties. Cocktail parties. Concerts. Shopping. Even more shopping. And now you want me to host a party of my own or host eighteen relatives?? Your holiday to-do list is quickly making the song “The 12 Days of Christmas” look like a lullaby with all the items that are mentioned-that partridge atop that pear tree has nothin’ on you and your list. So...save yourself some gray hairs and a freak-out by booking one of these delightful, highly capable, and creative caterers to take over the food-portion of your entertaining obligations this season. They will do you proud and you can actually relax and enjoy an evening before you have to wrap that 200th gift. And with that, may there be peace on earth. + CTbites readers get special discounts. See below.

 Here is our Guide To 9 Great Caterers in Fairfield County:


"Future Chefs," A New Cookbook by Westport Author, Ramin Ganeshram

Features Chef Talk Cookbooks Recipe

Jessica Ryan

This is not a kid cookbook – well, of course it is, but it’s not the type of cookbook you’d expect from a bunch of kids. This is a book to be gifted, passed on and shared, especially among children and teenagers. It’s inspiring and thought-provoking. Future Chefs: Recipes by Tomorrow’s Cooks Across the Nation and the World is the brainchild of chef, food writer and author, Ramin Ganeshram.  Future Chefs is a remarkable collection of stories and recipes from extraordinary children world-wide. Some of the recipes are quite complex, others couldn’t be more simple, but the messages about the food and around the food are what inspires. 

We are introduced to a new generation of chefs, foodies and tastemakers and we see the ever changing world of food through their eyes. Today’s children are smart and savvy. They are aware of all that lies around them. Many of these children are keenly aware of health and nutrition, the importance of fresh, wholesome ingredients, supporting local businesses and farms and using organic ingredients. In Future Chefs you will meet all sorts of children from a wide array of socio-economic backgrounds – some are privileged, others are not, and many have remarkable stories to share. These children, are focused and determined. Collectively they have published recipes, have food blogs, have been invited to the White House as guests of Mrs. Obama, and have made appearances on The Today Show, The Tonight Show, NPR, and Chopped.


Recipe for Coleslaw from TRUCK Chef

Features Recipe

CTbites Team

This Thursday, October 30th, at the Westport Farmers' Market, chef/owner of TRUCK restaurant, Nancy Roper, will be demonstrating their house coleslaw. Stop by and try a mini green chile cheeseburger topped with TRUCK coleslaw. 

TRUCK Coleslaw

1/2 head medium sized farmers' market white cabbage, thinly sliced
1/4 head medium sized farmers' market red cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 lemon juice and zest
3 carrots shredded
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1 cup parsley, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise (add more or less depending on house saucy you like your coleslaw)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
finish with Maldon salt
Gently mix all ingredients in a large bowl. 

16 Fall Recipes from Our Local CT Chefs

Features Chef Talk Recipe Video Recipe

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

Temperatures have started dipping and a fall chill is in the air!  CTBites has collected recipes from local chefs and popular restaurants that embody the seasonal harvest.  We've compiled some of our favorites below- and included three new fall inspired recipes.  Try Chef Frederic Kieffer's Acorn Squash Cappuccino Soup, Chef Matt Storch's Quince and Hazelnut Torte, and Cask Republic's Harvest Vegetable Medley.

  1. Autumn Harvest Apple Contorno, The Boathouse
  2. Curried Butternut Squash Soup, Chef Nicole
  3. Cider Braised Turkey Legs, le Farm
  4. Prosecco Apple Fizz, Sugar & Olives
  5. Baby Pumpkin, Bernard's
  6. Spiced Dark Chocolate & Pumpkin Seed Bark with Sea Salt, Katie Vitucci
  7. Homemade Apple Fashioned Cocktail, Luxe Wine Bar
  8. Pecan Pie, Leticia Schwartz
  9. Apple Tart, Tina Rupp

Halloween Recipes Kids & Adults Will Love, via Marcia Selden Catering

Kids Bites Features Holiday Recipe

Marcia Selden Catering

Halloween is around the corner, and in honor of this ghoulish holiday, Marcia Selden Caterers have created the perfect menu plan for your Halloween party. These dishes are both adult and kid-friendly, and are simple time-saving delicious meals that will leave you plenty of time for dress-up. This is the first in our series, and really... what defines the real joy of Halloween more perfectly than eatable severed body parts? 

Enjoy receipes for: Bloody Brains (Dumplings with Sesame Chili Oil); Bat Sh*t Crazy Wings- Honey BBQ Glazed Chicken Wings; Bloody Fingers in a Blanket; Devil on Horseback (Bacon Wrapped shrimp Skewers with Blue Cheese Dip); & Worms in Dirt- Hijiki Salad. 


Best of Wines Recap: Greenwich Wine + Food Festival 2014

Ingredients Features Greenwich Wine + Food Festival WIne Wine Tasting

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

The Greenwich Wine + Food Festival feels a lot like a rock concert.  People from across the state come by bus, train, cab, and car to Roger Sherman Park. This year marked the 4th year of the festival.  Although I have attended the event for the last three years, it never gets old.  Each year, Greenwich Food + Wine evolves with new guests and changing formats.

This year, the first thing I marveled at was the organization.  The number of demonstrations and participants had definitely increased, but guests were evenly distributed throughout the grounds.  

As wine correspondent, I enjoyed the food (understatement!) but focused on the wines and drinks served that day.  Wine is central to the festival; demonstrations not only include the best chefs, but also revered mixologists and sommeliers.

Here are my selection for some labels to watch:


Behind the Scenes @ Fresh & RIPE: Connecticut's Craft Juice Movement

Ingredients Features Special Dietary Needs Specialty Market New Haven

Amy Kundrat

We are in the midst of a craft food and beverage movement. Craft cocktails, craft beer, craft butchers, so why not craft juice? The New Haven-based FreshBev Craft Juicery, best known by its RIPE bar juice and Project Fresh product lines, is seeking to define the craft juice movement, one cold-pressed bottle of fresh vegetables and fruits at a time.

I had the opportunity to visit the New Haven factory (read: I was nosy and curious, so I invited myself over) to meet the folks behind the juice, taste some juice, and was excited to find a Connecticut business succeeding in the emerging and highly competitive juice market. First a little history. In 2008, frustrated by the abundance of preservative-laden shelf-stable cocktail mixers, founders Michel Boissy and Ryan Guimond took to their kitchen to create a natural and fresh juice for cocktails, beginning with everyone’s favorite cocktail staple, the margarita.


13 Pumpkin Treats & Cocktails To Enjoy This Fall in CT

Features Restaurant Holiday Kid Friendly

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

Fall is officially here… and nothing embodies the season as perfectly as the pumpkin!  Many of CT’s best restaurants, eateries, and specialty stores are celebrating the arrival of autumn with pumpkin-inspired treats.  For fun for the whole family, Chips serves up pumpkin pancakes; Ferris Acres Creamery is serving "Pumpkin Pie" ice cream (pie crust included); while the over 21 crowd can sip on homemade pumpkin vodka at Darien Social, or a Spiced Pumpkin cocktail at Napa & Co. 

  1. Darien Social, (Darien): Housemade Pumpkin Vodka
  2. SONO Baking Company, (Westport, Norwalk, Darien)  Pumpkin Cookies, Pies & muffins
  3. SBC, (Milford, Branford, Southport)  Pumpkin Crème Bruleé
  4. Ferris Acres Creamery, (Newtown) Ice cream specials include: Pumpkin, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Cookies and Cream - with crushed Oreos, Pumkpin Pie, Oh Snap - pumpkin w/ crushed ginger snaps
  5. Stew Leonard’s, (Norwalk, Danbury, Newington) Pumpkin Frozen Yogurt
  6. The Schoolhouse, (Wilton) Kabocha Squash Soup
  7. Fresh Market, (Westport) Pumpkin Salsa

K is for Killer Local Cookies, Baked in LeFarm's Kitchen, Sold Around CT

Features Dessert

Deanna Foster

Consider the cookie. For many of us, it was likely our first dessert – if you can consider a zwieback cookie a dessert (but what do infant palates know?). Through the years they become our ‘quick-grab’ to satisfy a sweet tooth, or our ‘go-to’ when we want to bake something home made. For Kelly Clement, eating and baking cookies was all of the above, until baking also became her physical therapy. For years, Kelly baked cookies as a hobby that satisfied her own sweet tooth, and made her visits to family and friends deliciously anticipated. When she was sidelined by a misdiagnosed knee injury, physical therapy included all the usual grueling exercises, with one exception: her physical therapist ordered her to stand in the kitchen, and bake. 


Bourbon and Whiskey Tasting Fundraiser

Features Cocktails

CTbites Team

The Norwalk Historical Society is hosting a fun-spirited Bourbon and Whiskey Tasting Fundraiser, with speaker Gregg Glaser, publisher and editor of Modern Distillery Age, on October 3, 2014, 7:00-9pm at Mill Hill Historic Park - Town House Museum, 2 East Wall Street, Norwalk, CT.  

A sampling of six selections will be tasted from around the world. Join us for an entertaining and informative discussion on the history, production, style and character of each. Appetizers are included. Must be 21 years and older to participate in the tasting.

Tickets - Early Bird until 9/26: $35-After 9/26: $40-At the door: $50. Purchase tickets here.


Kawa Ni's Chef Jeff Taibe's Recipe for Szechuan Stewed Beans

Features Asian Chinese Recipe

CTbites Team

Jeff Taibe is currently the executive chef of Kawa-Ni in Westport bringing Izakaya style Japanese to CT. Chef Jeff's creative, simple and seasonal cooking style is his hallmark as seen in Kawa Ni's menu. Taibe will be at The Westport Farmers' Market Thursday, September 25th, 10:15 AM demo-ing and serving up a Kawa Ni favorite (well, one of my favorites), Szechuan Stewed Beans. 

If you can't make it to the market to watch Jeff in action, please enjoy his recipe for the incredibly delicious, Szechuan Stewed Beans below. 


Garelick & Herbs Opens in Saugatuck: Prepared & To-Go In Westport

Features Restaurant Prepared Food Specialty Market Breakfast Lunch Dessert

Jessica Ryan

It’s been just over a month since Garelick & Herbs opened its newest, and second Westport, location in the Saugatuck section of Westport with the familiar food favorites and a slightly more industrial vibe than its other locations. It's the most recent food establishment to open just below the new luxury condominiums, sharing the small section of town with Craft Butchery, The Whelk, and Saugatuck Sweets.

Many favorite dishes from the other locations are available, including an array of bright and beautiful salads (a crowd pleaser is the ever popular Kale and Quinoa). Also tempting are their prepared fish, chicken and meat entrées. Numerous pre-packaged pastas, sauces, soups and salads, as well as their selection of breads and cheeses are ready for purchase, whether to the beach or for a quick easy dinner. Their same, dangerously decadent, selection of sweets grace the counter by the register. For customers looking for a sandwich, Garelick offers Paninis, breakfast sandwiches and omelets. The space includes a large, brightly lit, dining area with plenty of comfortable seating, plus an e and coffee bar, more baked goods and delicious oatmeal; or enjoy outdoor seating.


The Smokebox in Hamden: New Haven Area BBQ Has Arrived

Features Restaurant BBQ Hamden New Haven

Amy Kundrat

SmokeBox in Hamden first opened to support the smoked meat habit of its sister restaurant Ordinary in New Haven. Its owners, Jason Sobocinski of Ordinary and Caseus, and Mike Farber of Mikro in Hamden, opened their doors to the public for lunch about six months ago. The kitchen's founding mission was simple, support the partners' network of New Haven and Hamden restaurants as a commissary kitchen with barbecue, and open for lunch if there is demand. 

And demand there is. Smokebox has become a sought after lunch destination thanks to its smoky slow cooked meat forward lunch box approach to barbecue. Also, there is the fact that this is real barbecue. Getting it right requires a constellation of well-sourced materials and ritual: types of woods, cuts of meat, spices or rubs, wet (sauce) or dry, and above all things, timeall things that Smokebox takes very seriously. 


The Whelk's Summer Fruit & Vegetable Salad Recipe

Features Recipe Recipe

Lori Cochran

Chef Lazlo has cooked in some of the world's most celebrated kitchens, including Chez Panisse, Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Blue Hill New York as well as in Bordeaux, France where he helped to teach and lead culinary tours of the region for Two Bordelaise. Most recently, Geoff was a sous chef at Gramercy Tavern in New York City where he cooked for 5 years.  Geoff’s cooking style is ingredient-driven utilizing seasonal produce from area farms. He has spent his career traveling and visiting these farms to create a lasting relationship and gain a better understanding of their products.


Women's Tennis and CT Food Trucks Collide at New Haven's Connecticut Open Tennis Tournament

Features Restaurant New Haven

Amy Kundrat

What does world class women's tennis have in common with some of Connecticut's most beloved food trucks? 

This year Valencia's arepas and Orangeside's square doughnuts happily collide with professional tennis at the Connecticut Open, the Women's Tennis Association tennis tournament held each August at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale in New Haven from August 15 - 23, 2015. 

Tennis fans can rejoice as some of Connecticut's most beloved food trucks will be represented within the revamped food court featuring local businesses including the Valencia Luncheria truckCaseus's Cheese Truck, La Petite FranceTony’s Orangeside Donuts, Spuds Your Way, and The Lobster Shack. The tournament has also installed the new Baseline Tap House, a beer garden presented by Goose Island Beer Company, which will feature a selection of craft beers from Connecticut and beyond including Stoney Creek IPA & Amber Ale, Thomas Hooker Blonde, Spiked Seltzer, Bluepoint Bluberry, and Grey Sail Flagship Ale.


Scallop Crudo Recipe from Chef Arik Bensimon

Features Chef Talk Seafood Recipe

CTbites Team

Chef Arik Bensimon of Le Farm wil be the guest chef at The Westport Farmers' Market on August 14th. Chef Arik will be be demo-ing and serving up his Scallop Crudo with Buttermilk, Yuzu, Beets, Cucumber & Peanuts.

Scallop Crudo recipe can be found below.

Chef Bensimon began his career at the age of 11 in his family’s restaurant in NYC. After culinary school he worked at renown restaurants such as Le Cirque, Picholine and La Panetiere. In 2009 Arik came to Connecticut as the executive chef of Napa & Co., then opened The Spread in Sono, and in 2013, he joined the team of LeFarm as Chef de Cuisine.  


116 Crown 7th Anniversary Party

Features Restaurant Cocktails New Haven

Amy Kundrat

116 Crown in New Haven will celebrate its 7th anniversay on August 16 with a garden party, dinner, and (naturally) some of the best cocktails in Connecticut. Admission will be $60 per person. Reservations are recommended as space will be limited, call 203.777.3116 or email 116Crown@gmail.com

From 116 Crown:

On August 16, we're going to celebrate our 7th Summer years, with our third annual anniversary party. The night prior we're firing-up the slow cookers, and at 6pm on Saturday we're going to mix-up the punchbowls and light fires and we ask that you join us to celebrate the last 7 years and look forward to the future. Admission to the garden will be $60 and we will keep the drinks flowing and the food cooking until 10 pm and you're welcome to all you can enjoy. Think of it as a family reunion without the awkwardness and embarrassing photo albums.

The Menu


Fjord Fish Market Serving Sushi At Greenwich, New Canaan & Now Westport Locations

Features Restaurant Cos Cob Japanese Seafood Specialty Market Westport New Canaan Sushi

CTbites Team

Fjord Fish Market has some big news for sushi lovers. Fjord Fish Market started selling sushi at their Cos Cob and New Canaan locations a few months ago, and the Westport sushi program will launch in August. You'll never have to wonder about the freshness or quality of the fish you're eating at Fjord because first and foremost Fjord is one of Fairfield County's finest fish markets. Trust us...it's good. 

“The Fjord name has always been synonymous with the highest quality seafood, says Owner Jim Thistle. Adding Sushi to our product mix is a natural extension of the brand”.

Sushi at Fjord is hand rolled daily, under the guidance of a Manhattan-trained Sushi Master who has over a decade of experience.  Some of the most popular items include the volcano roll—a California roll topped  with baked lobster salad and spicy sauce-- and the Fjord tower, a scrumptious roll filled with Tuna, Avocado, Crabmeat, Lobster Salad and a blend of sauces.

You can be sure the fish in our sushi is of the same premium quality as all the Seafood that they sell at Fjord, where they carefully source and select only the top of the catch. All of Fjord's seafood is also free of antibiotics and colorings.