Kent Falls Brewing Begins Bottle Sales At The Farm: A First Look Ingredients Restaurant Beer Beer Garden Brewery CT Beer James Gribbon June 03, 2016 If, in an alternate world, you'd bought stock in Kent Falls Brewing Co. the first time you read about the small, Connecticut based brewer here on CTBites, you'd be rich by now. The brewery isn't actually public in the financial sense, but it will welcome the public to its farm in Kent, Conn. for the first time on June 11. Kent Falls beer has previously only been available on tap, in bottles at a few shops, and at single farmer's market. All that changes this summer, and anyone up for a drive to the NW corner will be able to buy it bottled at the source, Saturdays from 11a.m.-5p.m., with a focus on special releases like brewery-only IPAs and barrel aged beers. A special bottle release is planned for the grand opening on the 11th. Kent Falls has seen its popularity skyrocket lately and, as I've said several times before, the beer justifies the acclaim. The announcement of their new retail sales plan ended up being just the push I needed to finally visit their brewery and the working farm in which it's seated. Here is your first look. Read More
The Uber-Guide to Connecticut’s Asian Markets Ingredients Asian Seafood Special Dietary Needs Specialty Market Anna Bendiksen May 25, 2016 “From wonder into wonder existence opens,” said Laozi, the founder of Tao Buddhism. He might have been speaking of the joys of the table, so central to Asian culture for millennia---and to Connecticut foodies today. Almost 160,000 people of Asian descent call Connecticut home, and a considerable number of grocery stores in the state support the diverse cooking traditions of China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. True to both their Asian roots and the universal principle of making the best of fresh ingredients, quite often the most modest such store will have a produce section and a fish section---in one case, at least, featuring live fish. Your guide to the best East and Southeast Asian markets of Connecticut appears below. Read More
May 26 @ The Westport Farmers' Market: Guest Chef, Bar Sugo Ingredients Farmers Market Lynn Felici-Gallant May 23, 2016 With the fragrance of simmering basil on one end and vendors setting up to the Talking Heads on the other, there was a palpable energy to opening day of the Westport Farmers’ Market last Thursday. And this week promises the same, sans the Talking Heads, perhaps. Instead, Julie Moffat will lead a short class in qigong for shoppers who want to destress. Qigong is an ancient Chinese health care system that integrates posture, breathing, and focused intention. Gentle movements are adaptable for people of all age groups and abilities. Julie’s sessions are hugely popular and we invite you to join her at the market this Thursday, the 26th, from 1:00 to 1:30. Fragrance will once-again fill the air, of course – from the vendors’ booths to the make-shift kitchen of Bar Sugo, this week’s featured chef/restaurant. Bar Sugo is a Norwalk icon that celebrates the art of simple Italian fare using farm-fresh ingredients just like Nona did. Chef Pasquale Pascarella will lead a demonstration at noon on pasta making; get a seat early, what’s not to love about a free sample of handcrafted pasta? Read More
DiFiore Ravioli Shop: Three Generations of Italian Cooking, In Hartford & Rocky Hill Ingredients Hartford Italian Pasta Rocky Hill Specialty Market Hope Simmons May 22, 2016 Most people look forward to taking it easy and traveling in their 60s. But at age 62, Andy and Louise DiFiore had a different retirement plan in mind. They opened DiFiore Ravioli Shop on Franklin Avenue, in Hartford’s Little Italy back in 1982. Their son Don explains, “My parents were always the home gourmet types. Back in those days, they weren’t called foodies, but they had a lifelong love of food. My dad had been an executive in the office machine world almost his whole life in sales and marketing. And he was probably looking at this more as being a retirement thing for income. Just like a little boutique store. But they stayed with it. My dad would be in the store until he was in his late 80s. And my mom stayed in the store till she was 90. She’s 95 now.” Then, about five years ago, Don’s father was in a nursing home and his mother was getting too old to run the store any longer. They were going to close it. Then Don’s eldest sister came back home from Chicago to help. “She threw the option at me—do you want to do something with it? Geez, I don’t know.” Read More
Friday Froth: Big Fuzzy Double And The Harpooned Whale, New England Brewing Ingredients Beer CT Beer Friday Froth James Gribbon May 13, 2016 Feel free to argue with me in the comments, but New England Brewing Company is currently the biggest whale in Connecticut. Unlike the white whale which drove Ahab mad and dragged him to his doom, no number of obsessive trackers will soon be bringing it down. NEBCO finished doubling the capacity of its brewery over the winter and in short order released a huge batch of its more sought after beers to multiple bars just in time to coincide with St. Patrick's day. My base of operations that night was Walrus+Carpenter in Black Rock because they were having a Van Morrison tribute band, and the list of things I will fight you over is not long, but it includes "Astral Weeks." I was several Supernauts and a long awaited Gandhi-Bot deep when I sensed a disturbance in the force, as if thousands of apps had fired up at once, and looked up to watch a steady trickle of bros and bro-ettes flow in, order no drinks, and peruse not a single menu. They just waited. These, then, were the Untappd zombies. Cannibalistic brain-eating being so 20th century, the horde was utterly uninterested in music, roast pig, fried chicken, or a tap list filled with excellent beer - they wanted cheeeeeck-iiiiinnnnsss. It was five minutes before the hour, and the tap was about to open on Fuzzy Baby Ducks. Thumbs hovered - twitching, aching - over phones. Read More
Opening Day of the Westport Farmers’ Market is May 19: Raise a Glass to Food & Community Ingredients Events Farmers Market Lynn Felici-Gallant May 13, 2016 Michael Pollan once said, “The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community.” Nowhere is that sense of family and community more alive than at the Westport Farmers’ Market. Join your friends and meet new ones on opening day this Thursday, May 19th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 50 Imperial Avenue. Gather in the center of the market at noon to raise a glass of green juice compliments of The Stand, Fairfield County’s premier vegan-inspired food and juice bar. This yearly ritual kicks off a celebration of local, healthful, delicious food, farming, and community, and is where market organizers unveil the year’s Friend of the Market bags. For a yearly contribution of $40, Friends of the Market are the backbone of the WFM, supporting educational and other activities for clean eaters of all ages. In turn, Friends are rewarded with weekly discounts from over 45 vendors. Read More
Ultimate Guide To Berry Picking in CT (2016 Edition) Ingredients CT Farms Local Farm Pick Your Own kids activity Anna Bendiksen May 11, 2016 “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, dear,” my maternal grandmother told me over and over again when I was growing up in the Midwest. Grandma, may she rest in peace, always had berry patches in her backyard for pies to please the most hard-hearted male guest, but if she could have seen the scale and abundance of Connecticut berry farms, she would probably, as we used to say, have fainted dead away. Prairies are not made for berries; woodlands are. Since it’s true that the way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach, too, I’ve developed a passion for the annual ritual of visiting local pick-your-own farms for strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. The argument for going to pick-your-own farms, when one has the time, is unassailable. It does not get more local than this, unless, like my Grandma, you want to grow your own (another unassailable idea but beyond the scope of this article). Berries in season are at their peak of freshness and nadir of price, and one also has the satisfaction of knowing that one is supporting farmers in one’s community. Read More
A New Era for Bethel’s Holbrook Farm Ingredients CT Farms Farmers Market Local Farm Specialty Market farm fresh Jessica Ryan May 11, 2016 Founded by John and Lynn Holbrook, Holbrook Farm in Bethel has been family run and operated for the past 40 years. The farm is small by most people’s standards. Although it is situated on 12 acres only two are used for production. From these two acres yield an abundance of produce. While not certified organic, the land is clean of pesticides and herbicides, using plants that attract beneficial insects. Weeds have a special place in the ecological mix as well. Last week I took a trip up to the farm to meet with Jess Wong, the new manager who gave me a tour of the property. Wong was brought on to manage the property and grow the farm to a new level of productivity. A Skidmore graduate, she dabbled in marketing for a while before realizing that she missed being outdoors and working with her hands. Wong started volunteering at the farm assisting the former manager, handling minor projects and social media Last December John told her that he wanted to retire and asked if she would run the farm and the market. Wong was elated. She had big plans for the farm which included a new greenhouse and renovating the store. But greenhouses are expensive. Enter Tony Pham and Richard Reyes of Mecha Noodle Bar, and Mezon, and their new program, Eat Justice, a movement of restaurants on a mission to transform taste and tradition to pride and progress. Read More
The Westport Farmers' Market Opens May 19 for 2016 Summer Season! Ingredients Farmers Market CTbites Team May 05, 2016 Thursday, May 19, the Westport Farmers’ Market (WFM) will kick off the 2016 summer season, celebrating fresh, local food and the community that supports us. WFM cultivates community, nurtures an appreciation of real food and the work that goes into growing it. WFM has blossomed into a market that boasts 45 vendors, food trucks, chef demos, yoga, organic eats, children’s programming and even a pizza truck. Thanks to thousands of shoppers from all over Fairfield Country, WFM’s Thursday market is a destination not to be missed. What do we have in store for 2016? Plenty of old friends, along with some new faces. Look for integrated chef involvement, expanded children’s programming, and some gorgeous new Friends of the Market bags and offsite fun and educational events. Join the market at 12:00, high noon, to toast local food with organic green juice donated by The Stand. Don’t miss the opening day festivities, Thursday, May 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The WFM is located at 50 Imperial Avenue, in Westport. Read More
Latte Art Throwdown at NEAT Westport. And The Winner Is… Ingredients Coffee Tea And Coffee ellen bowen May 03, 2016 I had no idea. Like most people, I enjoy a good cup of coffee. My personal preference being a latte, the Americanized version of a cappuccino, but with a more densely foamed steamed milk. So when I was invited to represent CTbites as one of three judges at this past weeks Latte Art Throwdown at NEAT Westport, frankly I envisioned a couple local baristas serving up some prettily topped lattes. Hearts, Flowers, Tulips, etc. Little did I know, but being a barista has taken on a new respect in the coffee world. Third Wave coffee, Single origin, specialty coffee, French Press, pour overs and simple are words that have crept into our vocabulary as true coffee aficionados seek out the best baristas in local independent coffee houses. NEAT is one of the original boutique coffee houses in CT, opening its first location in Darien, and in the last year coming to Westport in the former Vigilante Fire House on Riverside Ave. This past week, they hosted their first Latte Art Throwdown, a judged bracket style competition not for the faint of heart barista. Read More
Donut Crazy Doughnuts Now Available in Bridgeport's Black Rock Neighborhood Ingredients Restaurant Bridgeport Doughnuts Breakfast Take Out Kid Friendly Dessert Jessica Ryan April 29, 2016 I recently headed over to Donut Crazy’s newest location in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport with Jessica Grutkowski, owner of the Buzz Truck, who shared that she will be adding this local vendor to her offerings. While I fully admit I have never met a donut I didn’t like, these aren’t your typical donuts; they’re indulgent and decadent, and enormous! As you step inside you’ll notice how physically different this donut joint is. Most don’t share a space with a Vietnamese restaurant, which in this case is the recently opened Nom Eez. So I asked Jason Wojnarowski, founder of Donut Crazy about this curious new home and this most unusual pairing, because as I saw it, Pho and donuts don’t necessarily go hand in hand. Wojnarowski, a builder by profession, was hired by Matt Storch (owner of Nom Eez) to renovate Match a couple of years ago. What resulted was not only a friendship but the current Pho-Donut partnership. Read More
2016 Guide to Fairfield County Farmers Markets via Fairfield Green Food Guide Ingredients CT Farms Farmers Market Local Farm farm fresh CTbites Team April 26, 2016
Free & Company Kitchen: Saving the World One Brownie at a Time (Gluten, Dairy & Refined Sugar Free) Ingredients Recipe Bakery Gluten-Free Special Dietary Needs Kid Friendly Dessert Jessica Ryan April 06, 2016 What do brownies and superfoods have in common? Some of you might jump up and shout, “Why chocolate, of course!” while the rest of you might scratch your heads and wonder. What if I told you that the Free & Company Kitchen’s incredible baked goods are all super-food based? Additionally, every one of their items is gluten, dairy and refined sugar-free, sweetened only with organic maple syrup. Some of their products are also egg and nut-free. For those of you with food sensitivities or who have children who do, this small, newly launched company should be on your radar. It should also be noted that these edibles aren’t for just vegetarians, vegans or celiac patients; they’re truly for everyone. Founded on the premise that snacks can be familiar and comforting and still good for you, Chef Lynne Pasquale sets out to prove this possible one brownie at a time. She has, so far, won over even the most discerning of palates, myself included. I met with Chef Pasquale at her bakery last week where we had a chance to chat. Read More
Liuzzi’s Gourmet Market In North Haven: A Well-Crafted Bridge to Italian Foodways Ingredients Cheese Italian Specialty Market New Haven Anna Bendiksen February 09, 2016 Anna Bendiksen is new to the CTbites team. Anna is a former scholar of Russian literature, and a food blogger over at threecoursesonaweeknight.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter @anna_bendiksen. When Domenico “Dom” Liuzzi talks about artisanal cheesemaking, his eyes light up. “Quality is what sets us apart from Stop and Shop,” he said in a recent conversation at Liuzzi’s Gourmet Market---not that anyone could mistake his store, which carries over 200 cheeses, for anything other than the Greater New Haven landmark it is. The cascades of Italian speech in the air, the display cases featuring Liuzzi’s own house-made cheeses, the scent of cured hams and sausages hanging overhead, the attentive staff darting about---all combine to make Liuzzi’s a prime destination for foodies from Connecticut and beyond. The cheeses for which the store is best known---the result of the family’s cheesemaking heritage stretching over a century---are its burrata (favored by Mario Batali), a caciocavallo (“cheese on horseback,” so named because it is strung in rope to drip dry), and two kinds of ricotta (whipped and large-curd). Yet the cheese offerings at Liuzzi’s, located in North Haven, don’t stop with these house-made specialties. You’ll also find imported Grana Padano (a cheese similar to Parmesan that is favored by Italian children and a standby in Lidia Bastianich’s new cookbook Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine); Moliterno, a raw sheep’s-milk cheese exquisitely scented with black truffle paste; the best of American artisanal cheeses such as Humboldt Fog; and many more. Read More
Behind The Bar: 3 Winter Cocktails from Mixologist Adam Patrick Ingredients Recipe Cocktails Bar CTbites Team February 03, 2016 Egg Nog (Jeffrey Morgenthaler version) Behind The Bar is a new column from bartender Adam Patrick who has graced the bars of venues such as Walrus & Carpenter, Luxe, Match and Can Tiin. He will explore trends, recipes and the cocktail culture from both the front as well as behind the bar. One of my favorite movie quotes of all time is, “I won’t tell the story the way it happened, I’ll tell it the way I remember it.” It’s from the late-nineties film adaptation of Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens. Ethan Hawke delivers the line in the opening monologue. There’s something about nostalgia that adds a touch of humanity to our lives. The real world, the world we exist in day to day, can be overwhelming and unforgiving. Take your job, your family obligations, traffic jams, mortgage, credit card bills, your dog destroying your new carpet, and view it all in aggregate, and things can steam roll out of control quickly. And yet, when we look at the past, we find it difficult to remember the mundane, the run-of-the-mill, even though those experiences dominate our lives. Sure, we can generally recall tragedy, or loss, but more than not it’s memories of our childhood, or a long lost love, or a favorite pet, that we gaze back at longingly. Read More
For The Love Of...10 Unique CT Valentine's Day Gift & Events Ingredients Restaurant Gift Guide Holiday April Guilbault February 02, 2016 Oh, for the love of....! How do you typically finish that sentence? We here at CTBites have a lot of love to share and would like to complete that thought with a whole flurry of creative ways to wooooo your special someone. Show the person you love (like/lust) that they are the peanut butter to your jelly, the mac to your cheese, the frosting to your cupcake. We offer you these delish restaurants and take out spots, seductive surroundings, heavenly drinks, gratifying classes, tasteful gifts...hell, we are making this holiday easy for you. You should send US a Valentine! Take a peek and enjoy Valentine’s Day everyone! Here are 10 totally unique local CT Valentine's Day Gifts for your loved one... Read More
Friday Froth: Tres Hoppy w/ Olde Burnside, Kent Falls & Two Roads Breweries Ingredients Beer Dinner CT Beer Friday Froth James Gribbon January 29, 2016 This week will be an all Connecticut-brewed, and intensely hopped version of Friday Froth. We start by wishing happy birthday to one of our state's early modern craft brewing pioneers, Olde Burnside Brewing Company, which turned 15 years old this month. Olde Burnside was initially highly visible due to selling their Ten Penny Scottish Ale in 64oz. growlers at retail in area liquor stores, which was 1) a great deal, 2) useful for refilling with anything you chose, and 3) garnered a $1.50 reimbursement when returned, if you weren't so inclined. This came in handy during the years when Connecticut had around five breweries, instead of our current 30ish, and growler filling stations were rare as sober nights at Owl Farm. Read More
Tap-a-Tree Maple Syrup Program @ Ambler Farm Ingredients CT Farms Local Farm kids cooking party CTbites Team January 13, 2016 It's that time of year again. Sign up for Ambler Farms immensely popular, Maple Syrup Tap-a-Tree program. Sign up quickly...these classes fill up fast. Learn the science and history of maple syruping by being a hands-on part of the process at Ambler Farm in Wilton. Training Sessions: Saturday, February 6th at 10am or 1pm Learn the science and history of maple syruping by being a hands-on part of the process. There will be two training sessions offered (February 6th at 10am or 1pm); only ONE session is required for training. On that day, participants will choose a tree and hang their bucket that will collect sap. Ambler Farm will send regular updates on the running of the sap so families can come to the Farm to collect sap from their trees. Sap will be boiled down in the Farm’s sugar shack and each family will go home with their very own bottle of Ambler Farm maple syrup. Read More
Friday Froth: The Tale Of The Commodore from Ballast Point Ingredients Beer Friday Froth James Gribbon January 08, 2016 Hello! Welcome back to Friday Froth, 2016 edition: the semi-weekly beer column eagerly awaited by literally tens of people. This week, as in most weeks, I will start off with discussion on a topic which has nothing at all to do with beer. Continue reading at your own peril. I have a friend who moved to Germany because of a girl. I think we can all agree emigrating from the country of your birth to one across a large ocean whose language you don't speak while relying on an intimate interpersonal relationship for success and happiness with no fall-back plan usually works out perfectly, and I'm sure you'll all be relieved to learn that has been precisely the case with him. If anything, he has more hair on his head than when he left - a fact about which we can all be magnanimous, and definitely not introduce small amounts of arsenic into the care packages of American peanut butter and bourbon whiskey we send him, because we are not envious monsters. Read More
15 Places to Eat Healthy in CT: Juice Bars, Restaurants, Organic Markets & Food Trucks (2016 Edition) Ingredients Restaurant Juice Bar Juice Cleanse Organic healthy Best of CT April Guilbault January 03, 2016 No partridges and pear trees in our version, but there were.... 12 Frosted Cookies...11 Drinks-a-Drunk...10 Dips-for-Dipping...9 Ice-Cold Cocktails...8 Trays of Hors d’oeuvres...7 Festive Brunches...6 Company Dinners...5 Cooooookie Traaaaays (everybody sing)!...4 Cheese Straws...3 Baked Hams...2 Yule Logs...and (finally)...1 Healthy Meal for MEEEEE!! Time to get back on that wagon, everyone. And thankfully, you have us to help you do it! Happy 2016 to you and may it be filled with good eats and good health! And ok, a good organic wine or beer now and then. Here are 15 Healthy Restaurants, Juice Bars, Organic Market & Food Trucks across the state of Connecticut. Read More
