On Tuesday, March 20th, the first day of spring, tickets will go on sale for the 2012 season of Outstanding In The Field. This year's dinner will take place at the Waldingfield Farm in Washington CT on September 15, 2012.
Outstanding in the Field visits orchards, beaches and vineyards. At Waldingfield Farm, we have a site where we can all be out standing in the field. The other meaning of Outstanding in the Field is outstanding as in the best. This year at Waldingfeild Farm, guest chef Joel Viehland of Community Table will return to prepare another late summer feast. Joel is truly one of the best.
"Outstanding in the Field is a roving culinary adventure – literally a restaurant without walls." Their mission is to re-connect diners to the land and the origins of their food, and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it.
The Details:
WHEN: Saturday September 15, 2012
WHERE: Waldingfield Farm, Washington, CT
PRICE: $220.00, Tickets can be purchased on their website.
The Millstone Farm “Glean Team” made its first visit to the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County on Friday, February 24 with a donation of 32 pounds of spinach gleaned from The Hickories, a family-owned farm in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Gleaning at The Hickories was the first of what Millstone’s patrons and farmers intend to be a regular occurrence throughout the 2012 growing season. The goal of Betsy and Jesse Fink, owners of Millstone Farm, is to gather and train a volunteer task force that will harvest fresh food offered up by local farmers and deliver it to those in need.
CTBites readers and residents of New Canaan who are eagerly awaiting Chef Brian Lewis’ cuisine at elm Restaurant will soon enjoy this new addiition to the New Canaan culinary scene. Elm's much anticipated opening is scheduled for March 20 to coincide with the first day of Spring.
The facade of the building and the interior space has been beautifully updated to reflect a sleek and minimalistic architectural style. The feel of the restaurant is airy and open and offers ambiance that is warm, relaxing, and stylish. The layout includes a large, handsome pewter-covered bar separating the main dining area from the less formal bar seating. A Chef’s Table with a view into the immaculate kitchen can be quickly enclosed behind sliding glass panels for a private dining experience for up to twelve guests. And if you like to watch, grab a chair at the four-seat tasting table where Chef Lewis will prepare and present special menus to lucky guests.
Attention locavores or really anyone interested in getting farm fresh produce while supporting our local farming community. According to Analiese Paik of The Fairfield Green Food Guide, the 2012 Spring CSA's are open for registration and opening up new shares at several farms. This is your chance to share in our local harvest. Act fast however, these CSA's fill up quickly.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs are partnerships between an individual farm and a community of supporters, providing a direct link between the production and consumption of food. CSA members make a commitment to support the farm throughout the season, and assume the risks and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or grower.
For those of you new to the "farm dinner" concept, Dinners at the Farm is a series of benefit dinners that recreate a sense of connection to farming, cooking and eating. Plus you get to reconnect under the stars in a beautiful candlelit tent while eating a spectacular multi course meal.
Special Offer: Diners at the Farm is again offering $100 Thursdays and Sundays beginning now through mid-night March 30, 2012. Hurry the clock is ticking.
A flurry of activity surrounds New Canaan’s Elm Streetas Chef/Owner Brian Lewis’ much anticipated elm restaurant is set to open in New Canaan in January 2012.
Elm will be a Modern American restaurant, “rooted in tradition and inspired by the seasons” featuring a 60 seat elegant dining room and 25 seats in the warm, casual bar area. A highlight of elm will be The Chef’s Kitchen Table, with seating for twelve as well as a separate Chef’s Tasting Bar with four seats, which will be etched into a semi-private nook overlooking the heart of Brian’s kitchen. Together, the food, wine, hand-crafted cocktails and exceptional service will embody both luxury and comfort; a destination perfect for everyday or your favorite occasion, filled with high energy, world class food and small town charm.
The weekend morning meal. This sacred cow for many, consists of copious amounts of coffee, newsprint (for you digital hold-outs), and a healthy combination of carbs and protein. In addition to providing fuel for the errand-filled, kid-chaffeuring day ahead, brunch can also be one of the most frequently debated destinations of your weekend.
Since they began serving brunch just a month ago, Sugar & Olives in Norwalk has easily moved to the top of my brunch list. House-made ingredients, a green certification and a happy space make Sugar & Olivesthe type of place you can drop-in with your friends, a gaggle of kids or simply fly solo and enjoy this most important of weekend meals.
Chef John Holzwarth of The Boathouse at Saugatuckis coming to Millstone Farm in Wilton CT on October 4th and October 11th.
These “Farm to Fork” on-site events feature Chef Holzwarth’s seasonal creations showcasing Millstone Farm’s well-recognized sustainable produce. Both dinner events will feature two sumptuous five course dinners including wine pairings with each course. Arrive at 6:30 for a tour of this pristinely beautiful farm, with Annie Farrell as your guide.
It’s a great opportunity to meet chef Holzwarth and farmer Annie Farrell in action! Tickets are $85 per person and must be purchased at the Boathouse in advance by calling 203-227-3399.
On a perfectly clear and balmy night last week, 60 diners gathered at Millstone Farm, Wilton, to dine alfresco in the field adjacent to Betsy and Jesse Fink’s farm house . Tim LaBant, Chef and owner of The Schoolhouse at Cannondale Restaurant, was focused and in good humor as he checked last minute details and greeted familiar faces. Enthusiastic attendees sauntered down the hill towards one very long, white draped table dotted with glowing candles and jam jars filled with brightly colored flowers from the fields.
The details of Tim LaBant's Ambler Farm dinner have been announced. On Saturday September 10th, Wilton's very own award-winning chef, Tim LaBant of The Schoolhouse at Cannondalein Wilton, will present an organic harvest feast + Ambler's own produce.
Arrive to cocktails on the Farm. Supper served family-style in the Ambler fields. Tours of this beautiful property will be offered, (one of the oldest farms still in use in Fairfield County)...as well as other diversions.
ON THE TABLE -Roasted multicolored Ambler peppers and eggplant with ricotta, olive oil, herbs,sunflower seeds and grilled Wave hill toast -Mason jars with pickled beets
FIRST COURSE -Salad of assorted fresh Ambler Farm tomatoes accompanied with cornbread, Crème fraiche and grilled green onions
MAIN COURSE -Slow roasted Berkshire pork shoulder -Summer succotash (zucchini, Summer squash, pearl onion,bacon,peas and corn) -Confit potatoes with nasturtium, fennel pollen, frisee with goat cheese dressing
As the July sun softened beneath the vineyard, diners gathered in Simsbury on Thursday night to enjoy another Chef to Farm dinner atRosedale Farms, in partnership with Max Restaurant Group. Now in its third season, Chef Scott Miller and the Max Chef to Farm team will delight diners with a truly local menu for another six Thursday evenings through October. View photo gallery here.
Each three-hour feast begins with a wine tasting reception featuring Rosedale wines. After the reception, stroll through the vineyard or take a hayride to an elegant tent filled with lights and music, set peacefully between the vineyard and the cornstalks. Past events have featured Bombster Bros. seafood from Stonington, pork belly from Rowland Farms in Oxford, and vegetables sourced right from Rosedale Farm. Guests enjoy four- to six- courses of local, seasonal ingredients, designed to highlight the best available that day.
Last Thursday marked the opening weekend of Dinners at the Farm's 2011 season. This year, Jonothan Rapp of River Tavern Restaurant and his team of top notch chefs will park their big red truck at two farms; Barberry Hill Farm in Madison, CT and White Gate Farm in Old Lyme. Dinners at the Farm started in 2007, long before "farm to table" fare became mainstream, and they continue to delight guests with exceptional menus, farm tours, and insight into the life of a farmer in CT. View the Photo Gallery here.
"Dinners at the Farm is a series of benefit dinners celebrating Connecticut's local farms, food and community as a way to generate awareness of the importance and vitality of our local farming community and the delicious, wholesome and abundant food it provides us. Recreating a sense of connection to farming, cooking and eating is what Dinners at the Farm is all about." --Dinners at the Farm
A portion of every dinner goes to the non-for-profit community benefiting organizations such as Connecticut Farmland Trust, Slow Food Connecticut, CitySeed, Shoreline Soup Kitchen and Pantries, and Working Lands Alliance.
Artisan, a "farm to table New England-inspired" restaurant opens tonight, July 13, 2011 at the Delamar Hotel in Southport, CT.
“We wanted Artisan to feel comfortable, as if you have been invited to enjoy a weekend in the country,” says Chef Kieffer, a native of Paris and resident of Fairfield County. “And we want the food to match the feel of the restaurant; a place that is casual and very comfortable yet that also reflects quality and excellence.”
Previewing the space during an opening party is a biased occasion, admittedly, but it’s also one of the best ways to understand intentions as well as gauge reactions. Dining experience non-withstanding, mission accomplished Artisan.
This fall, the New Canaan culinary landscape will welcome an exciting addition with the opening of elm, a new restaurant by Chef Brian Lewis. Chef Lewis has cultivated strong relationships with local growers and producers and looks forward to bringing his seasonally inspired, modern American cuisine to New Canaan. Lewis is especially thrilled to be opening his first restaurant in New Canaan, a town where he once lived and was married to his wife Dana.
CTBites is proud to announce that over the next few months Chef Lewis and elm will be the subject of an exclusive “Behind the Scenes” series chronicling the various aspects of bringing this much-anticipated restaurant to town including interior renovations and design as well as at-the-farm interviews as Brian visits local area farms in preparation for opening day.
Dauntingly overcast skies would not deter the guest list of 50 or so people who only 24 hours before the recent Souterrain event were summoned to Sport Hill Farm in Easton CT for a Sunday brunch. Bill Taibe's latest culinary adventure would be unique in both the mid day time slot (leFarm does not serve brunch, and according to Chef Taibe...never will), as well as the presence of a film crew shooting a TV pilot during the meal. But the stars of the show were the menu, the shared experience, and the magnificent backdrop of Patti Popp's sustainable Sport Hill Farm. Check out the photo gallery here.
Ambler Farms is hosting a 2-part Cooking Series with Chef Brian Lewis, Wednesday, July 20th and August 17th.
Ambler Farm's popular 2011-12 cooking series resumes in July with Chef Brian Lewis making his debut in the Carriage Barn kitchen. Chef Lewis' kitchen credentials include Lutece, Oceana and The Sign of the Dove. His most recent venture was at The Bedford Post Inn which he co-created with Richard Gere. His new restaurant is due to open on Elm Street in New Canaan. Chef Lewis will work with Farmer Ben Saunders at the time of the dinners to select and harvest seasonal ingredients to create his menu.
Attendees will receive recipes, hands-on instruction and a fully serviced four course menu. Prices: $100/course for Ambler Farm members and $115/course for non-members.
Some meals need no words. The recent "Family Meal" at leFarm was one such event. On the final Tuesday of each month, the restaurant opens up for a single seating and several courses based on the whim of Chef Bill Taibe and his team. This past month featured a down-home family meal based around LeFarm's playful interpretation of pub grub carefully paired with a selection of beers chosen by Saugatuck Grain & Grape. Warning ... the following photos may make you drool on your keyboard.
