Darien native and chef Peter Crawford is the culinary braun behind lower Fairfield County's newest destination butchery, The Darien Butcher Shop. The shop focuses on high quality meat and gourmet specialty products, as well as events and catering, not to mention hot pressed sandwiches if you're looking for a new lunch option.
We had a chance to chat with Peter, and wanted to know what this carnivore cooks for himself, his preferred cut of meat, and his most memorable meal.
Tired of cooking? Looking for something less expensive than take-out from a restaurant? Then a new venture on Vitti Street in New Canaan, GOOD2GOURMET, may be an alternative. The brainchild of local resident and mother of four, Lisa Strupp, GOOD2GOURMET offers a variety of soups, salads, and entrées for families to enjoy. Teaming with business partner Kevin Schmudde, the two enlisted the culinary skills of Executive Chef Eric Ulbrich to create a menu that includes soups, salads, pastas, and entrées. Customers go to the website (they do not take telephone orders), place their order, choose a 1-hour delivery window (curbside pick-up at the store is also available) and the food will be on the front stoop as requested. Alternatively, customers can visit and purchase a selection of items at the store.
Lithos Restaurant opened in April serving an array of Greek specialties from a house made hummus to individually prepared crocks of Moussaka to a full selection of dinner entrées including fish, meats and chicken. Located at the eastern edge of Darien in the building that formerly housed Anthony's coal fired pizza, Lithos redecorated the interior to a lighter feel with blues, taupes and fixtures to inspire a Mediterrean softness. There is a long bar in the rear of the dining area, tables, booths and a large dining table that seats 10-12 to the right of the space that can be secluded by a sliding curtain. This month the restaurant commenced lunch service with a fixed price ($16 on my visit) 3-course special that includes an appetizer sampler, a choice of entrées and a dessert of yogurt, honey and fruit.
Back in August we reported on LobsterCraft's brick and mortar location opening in Darien. No longer did you have to chase their truck to enjoy its deliciously sought after lobster rolls. As Winter rolls around, LobsterCraft is making some exciting updates to their menu. They're not just a lobster roll joint; they are serving up New England comfort food...and it's good.
In addition to the award-winning lobster bisque, menu additions include: hush puppies, clam strips, lobster tacos, lobster salad, clam chowder, and roasted vegetable soup. The new kid-friendly menu includes the Salty Dog, a hot dog shaped like an octopus set on a bun, and Mac-N-Cheese Bites.
Sono Baking Company is officially open for business at their new Darien outpost. Guests can drop in and sample John Barricelli’s expansive baked goods menu, or sit down after ordering counter side and dig into both breakfast and lunch. I know what you’re thinking…yes, he remembered the espresso machine. Excited? We are.
Conveniently located on 49 Tokeneke Road right across from the Darien train station, Sono Baking Co. is the perfect spot to grab an impeccably baked croissant or egg sandwich and a quick latte on the way to the train. Open 7AM to 7PM, this beautiful sun soaked interior also offers guests comfortable seating where one can relax and order from their menu of soups, paninis, quiche or special weekend pancakes.
LobsterCraft opened its first storefront location today at the entrance to Rowayton on Tokeneke Road, serving the same menu that many of our readers enjoy from its trucks.
There is truly a Mexican restaurant for everyone. There are the quiet ones that scream “authentic! authentic! authentic!” and then there are the more modern ones with the guac that is “hand-slapped” or “slapped to order.” Excuse me? Was it naww-ghty? Mex goes 50 Shades, I see. And if the recent lime shortage (I can’t think of lime-hijackings without giggling, sorry) has you in a tizzy and wondering just how the heck you and your margaritas are going to make it through the summer, just head to these places. Let them figure out the limes, you can figure out how many drinks and how much lime-infused guacamole to have.
Here's our list of the 16 Best Taco Restaurants & Trucks in Connecticut. Feel free to add your favorites to the list below.
May is National Burger Month and it’s that time of year again for CTbites to unveil its “Best Bar Burgers of Fairfield County.” The last twelve months brought us several suggestions to try and I tried many of these additional locations. The 2014 list included some outstanding bars and haunts that served delicious burgers, so good in fact that only one newcomer was as delicious. (See complete list below)
Not only was this an outstanding burger, but it earned my top spot as the Best Bar Burger in Fairfield County.
Bick’s Burgers & Fries – 2014 Best Bar Burger in Fairfield County
There are some ingredients in this world that, when you add them to anything, they pretty much make it spectacular. Bacon, for example. It would probably make a sneaker taste good. “Air” is another ingredient. Air-a bizarre ingredient on an episode of Chopped? No. Air, as in fresh air. Eating outside. Have you noticed that when you eat a lobster roll outside on a deck overlooking the ocean, it makes you happy? Or eat a grilled burger at a picnic table on a warm summer evening? Or sip a frothy cappuccino at a sidewalk cafe? What is the common ingredient here? Fresh air. Good food combined with a hefty dose of the outdoors.
And lucky for you, we’ve put together a long list of our favorite eateries (40+) that have lovely outdoor dining spaces.
If we missed an outdoor venue you frequent, please share your find below.
After several years of immersing ourselves in the Fairfield County dining scene as partners and editors of CTbites, we had the opportunity to trade pixels for print. We are very excited to announce the launch of our book, Fairfield County Chef's Table, featuring over 50 restaurants and recipes, now available at your local book store and online.
The book, published by Globe Pequot Press, was written by Amy Kundrat (yours truly), the executive editor and partner at CTbites. The photography is by none other than CTbites founder and editor in chief Stephanie Webster. It is the culmination of the many years we have been writing about and photographing the Connecticut food scene. This two year project was a blast to work on, and we only wish we could have included 50 more of our favorite restaurants. For more information, please visit our website.
A special thank you to all the chefs, restaurant owners, farmers, friends, CTbites contributors, and CTbites readers who shared their time, expertise, and support. We hope you enjoy the book, experiment with the recipes from some of our favorite restaurants, and share it with your friends and family!
The restaurant of The Waters Edge at Giovanni’s is a gem hidden at the fringes of Darien, Connecticut. The restaurant marries the subtleties of Italian cuisine with the boldness of an American Steakhouse to create a dining experience unique in its balance and complexity. Each menu selection is made from the freshest of ingredients and designed to tantalize the palette.
A core tenant of The Waters Edge at Giovanni’s is to serve only the best food and the best food starts with the best ingredients. Vegetable dishes, such as the restaurant’s stuffed zucchini flowers, are made from homegrown and hand picked vegetables to ensure maximum freshness. Seafood is purchased live whenever possible and, in the case of the restaurant’s blue point oysters, sourced locally and brought to the restaurant directly from the Tallmadge Brother’s boat in Norwalk. Beef, which the Restaurant’s staff butchers and ages in house to produce the best possible flavor and texture, is always prime Certified Angus Beef. This commitment to quality ingredients extends not just to the restaurant’s dining customers but also to the weddings and other events The Waters Edge at Giovanni’s hosts and caters.
Meatball & Co., in Darien, was in “soft opening” mode last week in anticipation of next week's "official" opening and CTbites stopped by to taste a few of their meatballs. The main entrance is in the rear of the building and I decided to sit on their patio and enjoy the beautiful weather. The menu is separated into numerous sections so please listen carefully as the server explains the various options.
I chose an assortment of sliders including a Beef with Cheesy Goodness, a Spicy Pork with Pesto and the special of the day, a Buffalo Chicken Slider. Each was served on a delicious and sweet brioche bun from Kneaded Bread in Port Chester.
Chef / Owner Joe Criscuolo showed a deft hand in both the texture and the flavors.
Everyone has their favorites, and Espresso NEAT is definitely one of our favorite coffee places here at CTbites. Now with two locations (Darien, and a small shop in Greenwich), their devotion to the craft of caffeine delivery is bar none.
In addition to fueling their customers, they are also offering a series of educational classes for the month of May.
The upscale, inspired Mexican street food and vibrant bar scene that Bodega has ushered in to Fairfield, has migrated south, opening in Darien this past weekend. The trio behind the original Bodega—Michael Young, Luis Chavez and Mario Fontana—have continued to perfect a brash menu that embraces the Americas, skewing from South America to North, and settling centrally on Mexico. In a markedly larger setting, the new Darien outpost has successfully duplicated much of the same menu, from antojitos to mezcal, with a few noteworthy additions. Bodega will be officially open starting Monday, November 12 at 5 pm for dinner, and will be open 6 nights a week Monday through Saturday, and open for lunch and brunch beginning January 6, seven days a week.
As if on cue, the day I attended class at the Rhubarb Kitchen, a cooking school with an emphasis on all things British, the sun disappeared and the weather turned appropriately overcast and drizzly. A perfect backdrop for learning about the delights of the very English ritual of Afternoon Tea.
But first, a little about the women who run this show. Rebecca Binks (aka “Becs”) grew up in Kent and learned the highlights of English food from her grandmother, mom, and eight aunts. A former banker and world traveler who has lived in France and Spain, Becs landed in New York City where she met Lisa McMullan. Lisa, an Irishwoman, grew up surrounded by lush farmland and her culinary path is inspired by a true farm to table experience. Lisa practiced as an optometrist, but her love of food always lingered in the background.
Scena Wine Bar & Restaurant in Darien has been serving top notch, modern interpretations of Italian cuisine under the direction of Executive Chef Eben Leonard for close to 3 years. It is one of three restaurants owned by brothers Vicente and Kleber Siguenza (a fourth is schedule to open in Greenwich later this year) including Cava Wine Bar in New Canaan and 55 Degrees Wine Bar and Restaurant in Fairfield.
Chef Leonard traces his culinary passion to his early childhood in Chatham, New York when he prepared monthly dinner menus for his mother. As a teenager, Chef Leonard met his first mentor, Chef Urs Bieri, at the Elm Court Inn in Massachusetts, when Bieri hired him to work as a “chef” at the age of fifteen,
Interested in showing off those latte art skills? Or perhaps you just want to learn the basics and sip your way through a fun evening. Either way you are in luck. Espresso NEAT in Darien is hosting their inaugural Thursday Night Throwdown (TNT) Latte Art Competition on July 12. A $5 buy-in will get you into the evening's event. This first event of the season is a customer invitational (everyone is invited). Prizes and sponsors to be announced.
When restaurateur Colin Ambrose decided to follow his wife and three daughters and return to Fairfield County from the eastern end of Long Island, he brought with him a reputation for delivering creative farm to table cuisine. As the former owner/chef of Estia’s in Amagansett and the current owner of Estia’s Little Kitchen in Sag Harbor, Ambrose is celebrating his Darien homecoming by opening his latest restaurant, Estia’s American. After Ambrose settled on the location that formerly housed Ole Mole, he immediately set to create a rustic Americana décor that included American flags created from book spines, relaxing beach paintings and his personal collection of cookbooks and novels, including several by his uncle Stephen Ambrose.
“It is the Americans who have managed to crown minced beef as hamburger, and to send it round the world so that even the fussy French have taken to le boeuf hache, le hambourgaire.” – Julia Child
Forget the fish, hold the pasta, toss the vegetables to the side…May is National Burger Month, thirty-one days dedicated to one of my favorite culinary creations …the hamburger. And in honor of this great event, CTbites is please to highlight both the places that were included in the two Recommended Hamburger Lists from 2011 plus additional establishments from my continuous search for scrumptious hamburgers.
Here (in alphabetical order) is a list of recommended hamburgers from Greenwich to Westport to enjoy during National Hamburger Month.
