Battle of the Chefs Returns to Ridgefield's Founders Hall on June 3

Features Ridgefield Events

Amy Kundrat May 08, 2018

Battle of the Chefs returns to Founders Hall on Sunday, June 3, 4 – 7 pm. In a culinary showdown similar to those featured on television shows such as Top Chef and Chopped, three seasoned chefs will match sharp knives and quick wits for the benefit of Founders Hall. Chefs Brian Bender (David’s Soundview Catering in Stamford, formerly of Cutting Board Café in Ridgefield), Zachariah Campion (Bailey’s Backyard, Ridgefield), and André Gainer (Luna Rossa, Ridgefield), will compete to create an entree from a basket of surprise ingredients, in just sixty minutes, in front of a live audience. A panel of food experts, including Brendan Walsh (Dean of Culinary Arts, the Culinary Institute of America) and Amy Kundrat (executive editor, CT Bites) will judge the chefs on their creativity, craftsmanship and culinary results as the crowd cheers the chefs on. Ken Tuccio, host of CTbites new Food & Drink podcast, will emcee the action.

Steakhouse Del Frisco's To Acquire Barteca (Bartaco & Barcelona) for $325 million

Features news

CTbites Team May 07, 2018

If you haven't heard the news, this is big for CT, reported here by CNBC.

Del Frisco's Restaurant Group, known for its upscale steakhouses, told CNBC it will acquire Barteca Restaurant Group for $325 million in cash in a bid to expand its footprint and balance its portfolio.

The deal announced Monday represents a calculated move by Del Frisco's, which owns Del Frisco's Grill, Del Frisco's Double Eagle and Sullivan's Steak House, to grow in scale and reach new customers. It's a big step for a company with a market cap of $344.8 million.

Barteca is a 20-year-old company with two brands, Barcelona, an upscale casual dining restaurant that specializes in Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine, and Bartaco, which features a menu of "upscale street food" with bold South American, Mediterranean and Asian flavors.

Read the complete article on CNBC.

New Haven’s ROÌA Restaurant: A Tale Of Two Countries

Restaurant New Haven French Italian Brunch Lunch Farm to Table Homepage

CTbites Team May 06, 2018

What do you get when you mix cooking traditions of both the Italian and French? The best of both worlds at ROÌA Restaurant in New Haven. It’s a culinary combo that doesn’t require you to renew your passport.

Located in the former Taft Hotel that dates back to 1912, ROÌA Restaurant and Cafe has historical charm. Step inside and you’ll see what we mean with its two-floor open design with ornate ceilings and impressive columns. The building is truly an architect’s dream. But you don’t have to be a designer to appreciate all that ROÌA has to offer. You just have to be hungry.

Nibble: CT Food Events For Week of May 7-13

Features Events

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson May 06, 2018

Shake Shack’s 7th Annual Great American Shake Sale lasts through May 13th! Donate $2 or more to No Kid Hungry at your local Shake Shack and receive a complementary hand spun shake on your next visit.

Valencia Luncheria in Norwalk now offers Sangria Sundays! Join them from 4pm- close for ½ price pitchers of sangria and margaritas.

Chef Geoff Lazlo and Mike’s Organic in Stamford are teaming up for “Vermont Wagyu Beef, Craft Beer, + Wine” on Thursday May 10. Lazlo will prepare wagyu on the grill while guests sip on craft beers and wine from Val’s. Plus, meet Sheila Patinkin, founder of Vermont Wagyu. Tickets are $125.

On Thursdays, Basso Café treats ladies to two drinks for the price of one! They also have a $35 menu that includes an appetizer, entrée, dessert, and ½ bottle of select wines.

On Wednesday May 9, Finalmente Trattoria in Westport will host an Antinori Estates Wine dinner. The 6 course meal is $110, inclusive of tax and gratuity.

Litchfield’s Saltwater Grille invites you to a “Vive Le France Wine Dinner” on Wednesday May 9. The evening will include five wines and five courses for $75 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations can be made by calling 860-567-4900.

CTbites Announces Food & Drink Podcast Launch Hosted By Ken Tuccio

Features Interview Podcast

Stephanie Webster May 04, 2018

We are thrilled to announce the launch of a new podcast series only on CTbites! Starting May 17th Ken Tuccio is joining the CTBites family when he begins hosting FOOD & DRINK, a CTBites Original Podcast! Subscribe to Apple Podcasts here or find us on Spotify.

Prior to the premiere of Food & Drink on May 17th, Ken Tuccio wanted to give his listeners a behind the scenes look at the last year of his life when he was the host of a morning drive radio show, First Thing Fairfield County, on 95.9 The Fox.

This episode is moderated by Patrick DiCaprio from Full Pours Radio and serves as a bridge between Ken's previous show, Welcome To Connecticut, and his upcoming show Food & Drink.

Ken openly discusses how the morning show job came about, his creative frustrations, battles with the sales staff, why it all came to an end and what he learned from the experience.

The Westport Farmers' Market Opens May 17th w/ Great Vendor Lineup, Food Trucks + "Chopped At The Market"

Features Ingredients Farmers Market Westport

CTbites Team May 04, 2018

As a proud sponsor for The Westport Farmers' Market, CTbites is pleased to announce, the 2018 summer season.

While it’s fair to say this long, cool spring has taken a toll on many of us, Westport Farmers’ Market shoppers and vendors have especially felt its bite. We’re happy to report the wait is over; the vision of supporting the best market in the area is in sight. In just a over a week, on Thursday, May 17th, the Westport Farmers’ Market will return for its 12th year 50 Imperial Avenue.

There will be new faces among other vendors, too, including Grateful Food Company offering plant-based fare, and Norm Bloom & Sons with local oysters. In addition to new faces – even those whose identity is still a secret – familiar favorites will return, including last winter’s newest guest vendor, Cross Culture Kombucha, who will be pouring booch on site, and farm favorites Sport Hill; Fort Hill; Riverbank, Two Guys from Woodbridge; Sankow Beaver Brook; Ox Hollow; Beltane; Woodland; Rose’s Berry; Aradia; and Muddy Feet Flower Farm.

Station House Opens in Historic Port Chester Train Station: Coal-Fired Pizza & Tavern Fare

Restaurant Port Chester American Pizza Openings Bar pizza

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson May 03, 2018

As city-bound commuters dash to and fro’ and the pulse of the city continues to thrive, the Port Chester railroad station, a landmark since 1890, stands as a symbol of where we’ve been and where we’re going. Today, this turn of the century building is home to Our House Restaurant Group’s newest venture, Station House. In keeping with this dynamic restaurant group’s approach to hospitality, as seen with their popular Rye House Port Chester and Manhattan taverns, and last year’s mega outdoor hit, Village Beer Garden, Station House offers that same neighborhood vibe, this time, it comes rooted in history and coal-fired pizza.ctb

PORRÓN Opens Today in Hartford: Spanish-influenced Cuisine From Chef Tyler Anderson

Restaurant Hartford Hartford County Spanish Celebrity Chef Openings

CTbites Team May 02, 2018

Today, the much anticipated Restaurant Porrón opened its doors to Connecticut's Capital City. Hartfordites and travelers alike will be able to dine in the Goodwin Hotel’s new signature Spanish-style restaurant. Helmed by nationally renowned Chef Tyler Anderson, and his all-star team - many of whom are behind the success that is Millwright's Restaurant and The Cook & The Bear - promise to bring local flair to the globally-inspired menu.

Restaurant Porrón is a tapas-style restaurant complete with wine room and ham bar, as well as an accompanying craft cocktail bar (Bar Piña) - set to officially open by week’s end. The restaurant will feature 60 wines by the glass, local draft beer and an exciting gin & tonic selection. The tapas-driven menu will allow guests to sample a wider array of items, order a bunch of items to share, or order a la carte Spanish steakhouse-style. The food and service are intended to be elegantly simple and will use the highest quality products that Anderson and his kitchen and bar team can procure.

CTbites Podcast Launch Party @ The Spread: First 40 Guests Taste Test New Spring Happy Hour Menu!!

Features Events Podcast

Stephanie Webster May 01, 2018

Join the party Thursday, May 17th, when CTbites celebrates the launch of our new Food & Drink PODCAST hosted by Ken Tuccio. Come on down and meet the CTbites team, as we open up the patio season at The Spread in South Norwalk. Pssst....first 40 guests to arrive once we open the doors at 5:00PM get to sample some of Chef Carlos Baez' NEW HAPPY HOUR MENU (Free!!)..

We will also be celebrating the winner of our Cocktail Naming Contest, as we toast to new beginnings with The Spread's new signature cocktail, (to be named by a CTbites reader...enter here).

This event is open to the public, and does not require prepaid tickets for entry. The first 40 guests will be able to taste test the new menu free of charge. The rest of the evening is a la carte.

Special guest, Lock City Brewing, will also be on hand, giving out samples of a few of their tasty beers.

21st Annual Food & Wine Celebration at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center

Features Fundraiser Events

Stephanie Webster May 01, 2018

Doing Good While Eating Well at the 21st Annual Food & Wine Celebration benefitting the Stamford Museum & Nature Center

With so many world-class chefs in Fairfield County, even the most-dedicated gastronome would find it impossible to sample the ever-changing culinary bounty in our midst. And while many an oenophile would be up to the challenge, pairing this delectable fare with the perfect wine would be equally challenging.

Fortunately, the 21st annual Food & Wine Celebration at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center presents the opportunity to do just that – sample a dizzying array of the most-distinctive local cuisine accompanied by spectacularly-curated wines – while benefitting one of Stamford’s most-beloved local institutions.

50+ Restaurants for Mother’s Day in CT: 2018 Edition

Restaurant Features Holiday Brunch Events Homepage

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson April 29, 2018

Mother’s day is right around the corner! Treat the special lady in your life with prix fixe dinners, delicious brunches, special holiday dishes, cocktail specials, and more. These 50 Connecticut restaurants will help you show Mom just how loved she is!

Rosie, New Canaan: Rosie in New Canaan invites you to Mothers Day Brunch from 9am-4pm. Treat her to favorites like Huevos Rancheros, the gigantic Lobster Club, and Brioche French Toast.
Roia, New Haven: At Roia in New Haven, Chef/owner Avi Szaprio has created a two-course prix fixe menu. A kids a la carte menu will also be available.
Essex Steam Train, Essex: All aboard! The Essex Steam Train & Riverboat has a range of Mother's Day packages available. Take a scenic ride or enjoy dinner on the train.
Griswold Inn, Essex: The Griswold Inn in Essex will treat Mom with a "dinner" buffet and featured "pink drinks." The Mothers Day meal will be served from 11am-7:30pm and costs $45 for adults and $19.95 for children under 12.
Washington Prime, Norwalk: Washington Prime's Mother's Day Brunch Buffet will feature a carving station, raw bar, sushi, ham, and so much more. $49.95 for adults includes a drink while children are $24.95. Choose from 3 seatings: 11am, 12:30pm, and 2pm
Bar Sugo, Norwalk: Bar Sugo's Mother's Day brunch will include ½ price wines, $17 unlimited bloody marys and mimosas, and the regular brunch menu

Cocktail Naming Contest: WIN FREE Dinner at The Spread & Launch CTbites' NEW Podcast!

Features Cocktails Podcast Giveaway Bar

Stephanie Webster April 28, 2018

Game on! We're back with another cocktail naming contest. WIN a FREE Dinner for 2 @ The Spread. Here's How...

CTbites and Ken Tuccio are launching a brand new PODCAST on May 17th, and The Spread is launching patio season. In honor of this big night, The Spread has asked CTbites readers to come up with a name for their new summer sipper to be served at this event. The cocktails ingredients are below.

If your Cocktail name is selected, it will be featured at our Podcast Launch party May 17th & you will receive a FREE DINNER FOR TWO @ The Spread. Here are the ingredients:

Post your submission below (include email). May the best namer win!! Good luck.

New York's Artichoke Basille’s Pizza Opening in New Haven & Hartford

Restaurant New Haven Hartford Hartford County pizza Openings Take Out To-Go Homepage

CTbites Team April 27, 2018

Artichoke Basille’s Pizza, the nation’s largest and fastest growing New York pizza concept, has signed a multi-unit franchise deal to bring its larger than life slices and whole pies to the greater Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut areas. Franchisee Matthew Rusconi is looking to open the first location by year’s end and is actively scouting real estate opportunities in Hartford County, New Haven, Middletown, and Cromwell.

Artichoke Basille’s Pizza, founded in 2008 by cousins and best friends Francis Garcia and Sal Basille, specializes in serving authentic New York slices in a fast casual setting, but without the conveyor belt oven. The concept’s massive slices and whole pies, which have been named the ‘Best Pizza’ by The NY Post and one of the ‘Top 5 Slices in the Boroughs’ by CBS New York, range from the traditionally-topped to the more eccentric.

Friday Froth: 12 Connecticut IPAs And A Sweep At The 2018 Blind Beer Awards

Features Ingredients Friday Froth Beer CT Beer Events

James Gribbon April 27, 2018

Being a beer writer, as you'd expect, has its perks. For a few years one of these was being chosen to serve on a panel of expert judges at the Connecticut Blind Beer Awards, a competition between a dozen local beers which takes the popularity contest aspect out of the equation by serving each from unlabeled, color-coded taps. The event is held each year at the Blind Rhino in South Norwalk, and while brewery representatives are on hand in case their brewery wins one of the awards, they are sequestered away from public view in the bar's basement to bottle share, play beer pong, and perform impromptu interior decorating with some cans of spray paint they found, until the Experts Choice and People's Choice are handed out. I had no formal connection with the awards this year, attending instead as a civilian, and drank all twelve of the CT beers on tap. Here is how that went.

Caputo Trattoria Opens at Foxwoods Resort Casino May 5

Restaurant Openings Italian Foxwoods

CTbites Team April 26, 2018

And now a word from the folks at Foxwoods...

On Saturday, May 5, Craveable Hospitality Group (CHG) opens Caputo Trattoria at Foxwoods Resort Casino, bringing a convivial Italian restaurant to the resort. Caputo Trattoria is a collaborative culinary effort from Culinary Director Matt O’Neill and Executive Chef Gary LaMothe.

Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant Offers Guests Garden-to-Table Dining

Features Fairfield farm fresh Farm to Table Ingredients

CTbites Team April 26, 2018

Robert Atkinson is impatient with Mother Nature. The 12 vegetable beds beneath the patio of the Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant in Fairfield are awaiting the seeds for their sixth year of providing homegrown ingredients to the Fairfield restaurant’s kitchen, but the New England weather has not been cooperating.

This will be the sixth year of Barcelona’s vegetable garden, which offers patrons the opportunity to select ingredients for preparation by the restaurant’s kitchen staff. “I always like to tell people it’s better than farm-to-table,” continued Atkinson. “It is garden-to-table, and there is no transportation because the farmers aren’t even driving it over.”

Chef Luke Venner of Elm Cooks The James Beard House May 14

Features Events

Stephanie Webster April 25, 2018

Chef Luke Venner of Elm restaurant will be cooking a very special meal at the prestigious James Beard Foundation to bring a taste of "Connecticut Spring" to the Beard House on Monday, May 14th. Designed to celebrate, nurture and honor chefs who make America's food culture more delicious and sustainable, the Beard House Dinners are prepared by culinary masters from all regions of the US and around the world.

Chef Luke will prepare an elegant menu of seasonal selections inspired by his reverence for local purveyors and producers paired with his choice of wines. Beard House Dinners are open to the public; for more information: https://www.jamesbeard.org/events/connecticut-elegance. View the complete menu below:

Nibble: CT Food Events For April 29- May 6

Features Events Beer Dinner Pop-Up Dinner

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson April 25, 2018

The 5th Annual Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival in Ridgefield starts Saturday May 5 at 11am and runs through Sunday 5pm. The Event will be held at the Historic Lounsbury House at 316 Main Street. Tickets: $10 for adults and $5 for students. Children under 12 are FREE.

Sunday, April 29th, Half Full Brewery is hosting a pig roast with Hoodoo Brown BBQ. Doors open at 12:00 for beers, starting at 1:00 Hoodoo will be serving up BBQ Wings (tossed in Red Bee Honey Sauce), and a Pig Roast that will feature a whole hog, apple-vinegar slaw, slider buns, cornbread, and mac and cheese. Reserve tickets here.

Tickets for The Schoolhouse at Cannondale’s Farm to Fork series go on sale May 1. Each evening includes a cocktail hour, a farm tour, and four locally sourced courses under the stars by Chef Tim LaBant. It takes place at Millstone Farm in Wilton, CT.

On Monday April 30, head over to Terrain Garden Café in Westport for “Dishing Local.” CTbites and the Westport Farmers Market welcome foodies to a food-focused evening and open forum in the terrain Garden Cafe. They’ll gather with some of the local food community's leading talents to discuss the latest trends, everyday eating, and tips and secrets from farmers and restaurateurs. This event is free and open to the public. Food and beverage available for purchase.

On Tuesday May 2, Fairfield Cheese Company presents “Cheese 102: Beyond the Basics with Arethusa Farm.” The class will expand on the basics and delve into cheese making, history, science, and more. Plus, taste plenty of cheeses and complementary wines. Tickets are $50 and the class runs from 7-9pm.

CLASP Homes 14th TASTE OF WESTPORT will take place on Thursday May 3 from 6-9pm at the Westport Inn. Enjoy samplings of specialty dishes from Amis, Harvest Wine Bar, Hummock Island Oysters, Pearl at Longshore, Saltwater, Bobby Q’s Cue & Co., Tablao, and more. There will be plenty to drink as well! Tickets are $75 prepaid, $85 at the door.

It's A Woman's World: Sarah Bouissou of Bernard's & Sarah's Wine Bar

Interview Features Interview

CTbites Team April 24, 2018

Fairfield County is full of trailblazing women, particularly in the culinary world. Which is why, with 2018 being proclaimed the Year of the Woman, we felt compelled to honor the pioneers among us.

Our new series, “It’s A Woman’s World’ is devoted to Fairfield County female influencers who’ve forged their own paths, often in food-related fields long dominated by men.

Whether farming the land, bringing healthy food to the masses, feeding an entrepreneurial spirit or injecting feminism with food, these groundbreaking ladies have set a new definition of women’s work, creating new paths and setting examples for those who follow.

How'd they do it? Read on. This week, our focus turns to Sarah Bouissou, Owner/Events Coordinator, Bernard's/Sarah's Wine Bar/Sarah Bouissou Catering. Have a suggestion on someone you’d like to see featured? Email steph@ctbites.com.

New Ramen in Norwalk! Good Hope Dumpling & Ramen House Now Open

Restaurant Norwalk Ramen Japanese Vietnamese Noodles Asian Delicious Dives Homepage

Andrew Dominick April 22, 2018

It wasn’t that long ago that I went to Valencia Luncheria for dinner. I parked where I usually do, on that side of the street, almost directly across from the laundromat. When I came out of Valencia, I noticed a sign with a blushing anime character on it that read “Good Hope Dumpling & Ramen House.” I vaguely remembered that a couple friends mentioned it. After I walked by, Good Hope was fully on my radar.

I just hoped Good Hope would be good.

There were positive signs besides a few of my pals who said they liked it, and the fact that their online reviews are solid. When I walked by the just over 20-seat restaurant (it’s the old Valencia location) at an obscure Sunday dinnertime, the place was packed, and I’ve noticed they gather a decent lunch crowd, even on weekdays. I had to check it out. What’s more is it’s just the kind of neighborhood haunt I like to highlight.