Have you ever looked down into the swirling foam at the top of a freshly poured beer and thought "that looks like a galaxy"? Ever had your mind blown by a Carl Sagan quote? Do you like New Haven pizz- OK, unless you're a CAPTCHA-bot, of course you do. The point is, whether you've watched the original Cosmos ten times, or you just wonder how far away the stars are, BAR in New Haven has re-started Astronomy On Tap, where beer, pizza, and cosmology come together.
Astronomy On Tap is a a global event series where professors, PhDs, and grad students talk about their areas of expertise at bars full of anyone who's interested, and it's free.
Residents of Greenwich are no strangers to The Beach House Café located on Sound Beach Avenue in Old Greenwich. The restaurant, with its beachy-chic interior and seafood fare with a fresh, Asian twist, has been a local favorite since it was re-opened in 2016 by restauranteur Kane Xu.
Just recently The Beach House Café opened a second location in South Norwalk, directly across from the Maritime Center. While it retains a nautical theme with reclaimed wood, dock-line roping, seaside prints and dock-master lanterns, the vibe here is edgier, more urban, lending itself perfectly to the SoNo landscape.
I had the opportunity to visit the new SONO location for brunch a few weeks ago and was struck by the Southern influence, though perhaps I shouldn’t dismiss the fact that the restaurant’s current location once belonged to Mama’s Boy, known for its Southern cuisine. The Brunch Menu boasts a great many choices, seemingly something for everyone, unless you’re like me, indecisive with an extensive palate and healthy appetite.
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.
A short while back, fellow CTbites writer James Gribbon sent me a text. He asked, “Where’s a good place to get breakfast in SoNo?” I replied with, “There aren’t many. SoNo Baking Company and SoNo Harbor Café. That’s probably it.”
Unless it’s a weekend and restaurants are serving brunch, breakfast in South Norwalk is scarce. I’m not talking wheat grass juice or a pastry at one of the Latin places on South Main Street, when I say “BREAKFAST” I mean eggs, pancakes, and bacon. I want a sit-down place where I can get wired on quality coffee and clean up maple syrup drizzles with that last chunk of sausage.
There’s no shortage of good quality craft beer flowing from the taps of multiple bars and restaurants in South Norwalk. On the flipside, Washington Street has seen a few brewpubs bomb. Now there’s a new beer bar on the block, and before you scoff, and say to yourself, “Really? Another one?” let us tell you what’s different about Spigot Beer.
The first thing you’ll notice is it’s in SoNo, but just slightly out of reach of the main drag. Then you must find it. At least four people saw a photo I posted, some who live on the same street, and still had no idea where Spigot is located. It’s across from the post office and Klaff’s, at the very end of the strip of stores that houses Nagoya, right before the Webster Lot entrance near the front of the 50 Washington Street building. You’re welcome.
2017 was a good year for burger lovers in Southwest CT. A closing (Fleisher's Craft Kitchen) and a fire (The National) have sadly removed two of 2016’s winning burgers from contention in our 2017 edition of Top Ten Burgers in Southwest CT. Nonetheless, the local burger scene remains vibrant, inventive, and ever evolving. So we happily welcome three new, mouthwatering iterations to our 2017 Top Ten Burgers list.
We sampled over 75 burgers to arrive at this list. Our rankings this year are focused exclusively on the sandwich and its ingredients alone, not the accompanying sides.
The day started with snow flurries in Denver, pre-dawn, long week, long flight, two hours from Kennedy to CT. When my wife asked where we should eat, the temptation for a culinary transport to the Caribbean was too much to resist. After a quick drive to SONO, we were seated at one of my favorite restaurants, Harlan Publick, where Chef Kamal Rose is still creating magical combinations, balancing the spiciness of the Islands, with a delicate focus on subtleness.
There are those who say pigs don’t fly…. They’ve never had Killer B’s Bacon Flight where thick cut strips of bacon arrive attached to a clothing wire, juices dripping, only to come flying immediately off. I really intended to have just one bite…
Killer B recently opened in South Norwalk, and stands for Beer, Bourbon, Bacon and Burgers – and with that I will tell you that this bacon, offered in such flavors as bourbon, butterscotch, fire, honey and orange, was indeed “killer.” Take a bite and you soon realize this ain’t no grocery store bacon.
The shadows seem to be growing this January. Winter daylight is all too brief, darkness glooming in through a window you swear was sunny the last time you walked by. It suddenly feels like it's gone dark all the time now. Maybe you feel it, too. And how long to go before the next sunrise? Ugh. The days ahead seem so stretch on to the invisible horizon. Maybe you could use a drink, a 16oz. weight to hang from time's pendulum to speed those dark hours on their way. Make it a strong one, because maybe we can clip off some of tomorrow's darkness while we're at it. Gravity shapes space, as we all know, and space is tied to time, so let's grab a few high gravity beers, and bend the long arc.
Ch’i Public House opened in late November in the space formerly occupied by Ocean Drive and Red Lulu on Washington Street in SoNo. The forces behind the new Asian-inspired restaurant are Rob Moss, Marco Siguenza and Dave Studwell, owners of neighboring Washington Prime. Overseeing the kitchen is Executive Chef Mark Taruna, whose long career spans attending the French Culinary Institute and working as the Sous Chef for Nobu Matsushisa at Nobu. He subsequently joined The Food Network and ran the Iron Chef kitchen where he worked with Morimoto, Mario Batali and Bobby Flay. He brings a new level of creativity to many classic recipes with bold flavors and textures, from the simplest dumpling to the most complex sauces.
Room 112 is shaking up the pulse of the lively SoNo restaurant scene. A modern-day speakeasy with a rock’n’roll edge, and eclectic, modish décor recently opened its doors at 112 Washington Street. Owner Isaac Patrick Camoro’s vision was clear the minute he walked into the then empty space.
Room 112 conjures up images of an urban garage meets underground lounge. Eclectic and unconventional this new bar is a truly unique experience; the antidote to the typical Fairfield County bar scene. The main level, framed in exposed brick, offers the perfect canvas for local artists to showcase their talent, thus lending themselves perfectly to the bar’s eclectic furnishings and lighting. Downstairs, a “man-cave” style game room includes a pool table, dartboards, shuffleboard, a jukebox, several HD TVs and a sleek bar.
Hi, my name is Maizy. I'm 13 years old, love food, and have celiac disease. When I heard about BunBurgerBun, a food truck that specializes in gluten free burgers and fries, I had to go try it out.
Arriving at the truck in Stamford, I was instantly impressed by the menu because it had all the favorites. I ordered three things while I was there: The sweet and salties, The Jammer burger, and the chicken tenders with a side of fries.
My absolute favorite thing that I ate was the Jammer: A burger on a gluten free peasant bun with house-made pickles and a bacon relish. I love pickles and those on the BunBurgerBun truck are fantastic. They are made with mustard seeds, onions and have this great classic pickle taste, but with a hint of a spicy undertone. When I took my first bite of the burger, the first flavor was vinegar. This came from the pickles, as well as the amazing bacon relish.
Located in the heart of historic South Norwalk,Zapata Mexican Restaurant crafts authentic Mexican cuisine in an area rich in history and vibrant in color, Zapata Mexican Restaurant proudly contributes to this energetic environment. This is our second location, the original is located in Palisades, NY where our family-owned and operated restaurant has thrived for over 20 years. Many of our customers come in and ask why SONO? The answer is simple, SONO lacked an authentic Mexican restaurant with fresh ingredients, amazing margaritas, and smiling faces. Freshness is what we believe in and what we thrive on. We personally choose all our produce, and all of our ingredients. We are in a society where fresh and healthy is key! To ensure the highest quality, we also cook all of our products with olive oil to keep it healthy and always tasting delicious.
Fresh beer isn't always the best beer. As arguments for freshness go, you could make one for juicy, resinous IPAs, and you certainly don't want to drink any hot can of Busch Light which rolls out from underneath a car seat, but as the American craft beer industry matures, it's beginning to make beers meant to do the same. Stone, the Escondido, California brewer of undeniable arrogance, will shy away from claims of being the first to put "born on" dates on their bottles and cans, but they were the first to use "Enjoy By" as the actual name of a beer. The Enjoy By series of IPAs (followed by a date on each) was to be taken so seriously Stone would come and retrieve any unsold beers from retailers.
This is why it was so interesting when Stone Enjoy After 10.31.16 hit shelves - in 2015. This week I opened the bottle I bought over a year ago. Here's what happened.
You may have noticed we've been playing around with the structure of Friday Froth for the past several months. This space has been everything from event coverage, to brewpub openings, to a travel diary, but this week we're going back to something more like a classic Froth. I began writing this column way back in ye olden days of 2009 with the idea of expressing a renaissance.
The growth of American craft brewing was every bit as compelling as the culinary scene in terms of new ideas, personalities, and dedication to ingredients and flavors, but most people were still pretty lost when it came to picking out something new to try. Glance at the patrons in front of the craft case at the rare well stocked liquor store at the time, and they'd be wearing expressions like someone at MoMA trying to decide if what they were looking at was the intentional work of an artist, or construction debris. I started Froth just to give people a heads up. So, without going on too long I hope, that's what we're doing today.
Fairfield County has some great bars with good old fashioned bar food…wings, burgers, fries, onion rings, cheesesteaks, with a wide variety of beers. Recently, many have expanded the menu to include tacos, chili, ribs, chicken and other down and dirty delicacies. When I received an invitation to join a media event at Johnny Utah’s in SoNo I was curious, since this bar also features a mechanical bull (spoiler…not happenin’).
Recently the CTbites team previewed the menu at El Segundo in South Norwalk, the newest restaurant from the talented partners who created The Spread just up the block. The concept: Eat the Street. Intersect some of the world’s tastiest street food at the corner of Washington and North Water in SONO.
What began as a tasting quickly turned into a party ... a coming out party for Carlos Baez, Executive Chef of The Spread, one of the region’s most versatile, yet unheralded, chefs.
The menu flaunts Baez’ extraordinary range -- a gastronomic tour de force featuring over 3 dozen dishes curated from the boulevards and back allies of 27 countries on all seven continents, including barren Antarctica. (More about that selection later)
New Belgium Brewing Company of Fort Collins, Colorado, is now a month into making their beer available in Connecticut for the first time. Thanks to an extremely effective initial round of distribution, I've seen their canoe-shaped tap handles popping up all over Fairfield and New Haven counties. Not too long ago, before New Belgium built their new brewery in Asheville, NC, the beer was only scantily available much east of the mountain time zone. It was during this time that I went full-on Smokey And The Bandit and made a beer run from Georgia to Colorado and back again. It started with a heartbreak.
My trip to Colorado, like that of the Conquistadors, began with an expedition to Mexico. Specifically, an airline ticket to Cancun for spring break. The father of one of my friends in the history program at the University of Georgia was pilot, and I could afford the ticket to Mexico because it was free. The five of us who were going planned to spend the savings by investing in cheap accommodations, cheaper booze, and lasting skin damage. I was hard at work polishing my lustrous C average in college Spanish all the way up to a gleaming B-minus when my hopes were torched like ships of Cortez. The promised five tickets materialized as two tickets, and I hadn't made the cut.
The Spread was the first: hip, smart, happening. Contemporary Sono.
El Segundo, by definition, will be The Second. This time: Street. Urban. Old World Global.
“We’ll have street food from each of the 7 Continents,” said Chris Hickey as he recently gave CTBites a preview of The Spread team’s new joint set to open in early August. Hickey and co-owners Andrey Cortes, Chris Rasile, Shawn Longyear and Executive Chef Carlos Baez envision an international playground for the palate.
“We’re going to have some fun,” Chris promised, grinning.
Open the corrugated metal garage door, and the vista is a courtyard boasting a fountain, storefronts, and looming apartments. A piazza in Naples? A market in Buenos Aries. A food fair in Bangkok.
Inside the restaurant, you’re on a side street. The vibe is almost Third World. The predominant motif is that corrugated sheeting – the humble material that shelters much of the earth’s population. A wall is painted in the brilliant graffiti of Duster, New York’s notorious tagger. On the wall, a subway door and a Number 6 Train to Duster’s Bronx. Its boogie. Its street food.
Are you looking for an inexpensive burger for lunch? Maybe some fries and a soda to join the burger? If they are all offered as a lunch special, even better. With my obsession with burgers, and my annual Best “10” burgers in southwest Connecticut behind me, I decided to try the moderately priced, newly opened Prime Burger in SoNo. Located next to The Spread, one of my Best “10” burgers, the SoNo location is the second in the area, after the original opened in Ridgefield several years ago.
Prime Burger offers beef, salmon, turkey, chicken and veggie burgers from $6.50-$8.00 with free (sauces, onion, lettuce, tomato, etc.) and $1.00 toppings (cheese, chili bacon, etc.), a la 5-Guys. The menu also includes hot dogs, grilled cheese, chicken tenders and salads (you can add a patty or grilled chicken). If you enter from the street your journey begins near the rear, where you place your order. I ordered the $10 lunch special, which included a cheeseburger, fries and a beverage.
