I know you all know pizza and are very protective of your claims to your chosen slice, not to mention, have a tome of opinions about where to go, where not to go, on thick pie or thin pie. HOWEVER, just as there’s always room for another coffee shop, there’s plenty of love out there for more ‘za. So hear me out and listen to the exciting crackle of Square Peg’s crust.
I think we can agree that whatever Chef Tyler Anderson gets involved in, it’s backed up by experience, quality, and good old school hard work. Add Chef Bruce Kalman and his Italian stylings to the mix and you have a Bro-mance of delicious proportions.
Just a week out of the gate and people have some great things to say about the newest parlor in Glastonbury.
The Hour has just confirmed the rumors regarding Sally’s Apizza opening in South Norwalk’s new SoNo Collection.
The billboard has long been on the opposite side of Interstate 84 from Danbury Fair, steering drivers a few exits beyond the mall to the western-most Connecticut outpost for the legendary Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, a New Haven institution since 1925.
About 20 miles south, another New Haven pizza icon will be firing up the ovens in Fairfield County — and you’ll be able to pop in from the mall concourse while shopping.
Sally’s Apizza chose The SoNo Collection mall for the first entree in what new owner Lineage Hospitality sees as an expansion nationally. The mall will open Friday with a handful of stores, and others to follow as the holiday shopping season gears up.
Nestled alongside I-95N in Mystic, CT, you will find what many say is the best pizza in New London County.Mango’s Wood-Fired Pizza Co. is the perfect place for a pit stop and quick bite. The restaurant is named after a tour guide, Mango, who the owner met on vacation. Connecticut is known for its New Haven pizza. However, this pizza, in my opinion, can compete with best of them, and is why the restaurant was packed on Easter weekend. The variety and creativity in the menu keeps customers coming back.
My family and I stopped at Mango’s on Saturday morning at around 11:45 am, where we found the place already hopping.
There’s a new pizza joint opening in Westport. “Ignazio’s Pizza will be moving into the former Bertucci’s on the Post Road in Westport. This will be the 2nd location for this thin-crust pizza establishment. The original location is in DUMBO right underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, adjacent to the famous Grimaldi’s and Juliana’s.
The Westport spot may be slightly less scenic than that of DUMBO, but will continue the Ignazio’s tradition of thin crust pies, or “signature round pies.'“ They will also be serving up a slightly thicker crust square pizza, the “Siciliana.” In addition to the pizza menu (which is extensive), they have a full Italian menu featuring dishes including: Estelle`s Meatballs, Baked Anchovies, a Chicory Salad, pasta favorites like Manicotti as well as Calzone.
Westport loves their Italian joints, so bring it on Ignazio’s.
Milestone Restaurant is redefining the idea of a neighborhood gathering spot offering made from scratch, simply prepared food with bold flavors and classic cocktails that are served up in a stylish yet understated setting. Drawing inspiration from the unique character of the area (the restaurant is on the site of a former lumber yard) owners Peter and Andi Fine aspire to do more than serve great food. The restaurant has been designed to be not only a welcoming gathering spot, but also to showcase fun and unique food events. (Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted!)
One of the greatest advantages of living in New England is our access to autumn. Our home in Connecticut means even if we live in urban convenience, the rural hills and river valleys of our state are a nearby drive away. This proximity gives us one of our best traditions: the fall weekend road trip. We can get out, see what nature has in store for us, and find ourselves in places which fall outside the rhythm and routine of our daily lives. Up towards the center of the state, past the historic colonial homes on Worthington Ridge in Berlin and into New Britain - a city many on the coast may not consider a destination - is 5 Churches Brewing, a place you should.
Connecticut Magazine shares a great new spot for pizza and small plates in New Haven. Put this one on the list.
New Haven is the opposite of a pizza desert. World-renowned pizza, er, apizza options abound, from Pepe’s, Sally’s and Modern to BAR and relative newcomers such as De Legna. So when I heard that pizza was one of the specialties at Next Door, a new bar and restaurant on Humphrey Street, I admired the restaurant owner’s chutzpah but privately wondered if the concept would work. Arriving at the restaurant on a recent evening, I learned that Next Door is about far more than just pizza.
Opened in June, in the space that once held the venerable restaurant Humphrey’s, the expansive interior includes two distinct, yet linked, bar and dining areas. Each has a warm and welcoming neighborhood feel. In addition to its creative pizzas, Next Door has a wide variety of well-crafted and interesting food options, and the bar features 32 craft beer taps as well as excellent cocktails.
The restaurant is owned by three veterans of the New Haven food scene: Douglas Coffin, who launched Big Green Truck Pizza (a mobile, wood-fired pizza truck business); Dom Giannotti, who owns Dive Bar & Restaurant in West Haven; and Robin Bodak, the owner of Coco Tamale, a New Haven street cart and catering company. The owners met while working “next door” to Next Door’s location at the adjoining garage that houses the Big Green Truck Pizza fleet.
Just over a year ago, Bar Sugo quietly changed hands. Change, even if it happens slightly under-the-radar, can be either good or bad, but in Bar Sugo’s case, change is reinvigorating. I’m reluctant to say something like, “Bar Sugo is back!” because the reality is, it never left, it’s just kind of different.
In this case, different is good, and this is an appropriate time for Bar Sugo’s reintroduction. Bar Sugo’s newness starts with its new owner, Adam Roytman. Some of you might know Adam as a former partner at Walrus + Carpenter and Rothbard Ale + Larder. At each, he was the opening day head chef, and chances are you saw him occasionally tending bar as well. Dubbing him a jack-of-all-trades restaurant guy is a proper description.
At nearly every pizza place, I have a set order or a few go-to specialty pies. I’m sure you can relate. This also applies to the legendary—and ever-expanding—Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana. My usual suspects at Pepe’s are the tomato pie, occasionally a white clam (with bacon, obviously), or their still sort of new Margherita with thick-cut pepperoni as an added topping.
Every summer, I’m willing to make drastic life changes for Pepe’s fresh tomato pie, so based on mood, one of those other pies gets dropped as fast as a failing relationship. After all, those other pizzas will still be there waiting while you explore other options.
In Connecticut when you think "pizza" a few places immediately come to mind, but Ken Tuccio has always championed Letizia's Pizza in Norwalk as the best pizza in Connecticut. Well, it seems like other people are jumping on the Letizia's train, because they just beat out "the big boys" and were crowned 2018 Best of the Gold Coast for pizza. Ken sits with Danny, Dennis and Dave from Letizia's to talk about their 20 years making pies in Norwalk, the struggles they faced as a business and what it means to finally be recognized as the best. Listen in here.
Happy hours are one of life’s greatest pleasures. Bad day? Have a reduced-price wine, beer, or cocktail to take the edge off. Even worse day? Have more than one. Hungry? Happy hours usually offer a handful of delectable bites to be had on the cheap as an accompaniment to your glass of booze. I’m obviously a fan of the whole idea of happy hours—and I’m betting you are too—so I’m always on the lookout for new ones in the area. That’s when I came across Tarry Lodge Westport’s brand new Aperetivo Hour.
Introduced in May, Aperitivo Hour goes down Monday – Friday from 4 – 6 p.m. It features wine and cocktails for $10 each, and five snackable small plates for $5 per.
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
New Haven pizza icon, Sally’s Apizza, reopened this week. Leeanne Griffin of The Hartford Courant reports on the re-opening...
In its 80th year, Sally’s Apizza, a New Haven icon since 1938, is heading into a new chapter in its history. The Wooster Street pizzeria reopened Wednesday under new ownership after being closed several weeks for transition.
Snow day: You’re rudely awakened at some ungodly hour by your phone informing you that yes, indeed, there is no school today. Two thoughts run through your mind, “Great, I get to go back to sleep”, followed immediately by a more frightening thought, “I have to feed them all day?!” Relax, we’ve got you covered even if you didn’t brave the market the day before to properly stock up on supplies.
First things first, make yourself a cup of coffee, it’s going to be a loooong day. Second, assess what you have in the house.
Assuming you have some eggs, why not make these fun eggs in a cup to start the day? Then you can kick them out to shovel the driveway knowing at least they’re fueled up. This is a great recipe because you can use whatever you have laying around to mix into these egg-mom-muffins, get it?! Follow up with our recipes for: Kitchen Sink Stir Fry & Simple Pizza Dough. Done...You've made it.
Swyft, historic Kent’s new restaurant featuring wood-fired pizza, is now open offering creative small plates, pastas, rustic entrees, and a large selection of craft beers and natural wines.
Swyft is the brainchild of chef-owner Joel Viehland, formerly of the award-winning Community Table in Litchfield County. The historic 18th-century building is divided to house both a modern tavern and a fine dining restaurant. Swyft, a 40-seat tavern and bar, will offer seasonal comfort fare, with ingredients largely coming from nearby Rock Cobble Farm. Through a separate entrance is Ore Hill, where eventually Viehland will serve a tasting menu that draws upon his experience cooking at Noma, Gramercy Tavern, and other renowned restaurants.
At Swyft, the focus is on adventurous comfort food. Small plates include baby back pork ribs with guanciale-spiked XO sauce, a salad of lightly charred brassicas with crispy grains and pomegranate, and pickled wild mussels on saffron aioli toast, while entrees range from wood-fired chicken for two to rabbit milanese with cardoon gribiche or a burger with old-school tallow fries. Swyft will offer a selection of seasonal pizzas, wood-fired in a Pavesi oven from Naples, Italy. In addition to classics like margherita, Viehland will offer a kale and potato pie, with both the greens and the milk for the housemade ricotta coming from Rock Cobble Farm just minutes away.
It’s big news in the foodie world when you hear that the Schoolhouse at Cannondale chef and owner Tim LaBant is expanding his culinary footprint and opening up a second restaurant. The award-winning chef is known for melding farm-to-table creativity with fine dining, so you can only imagine what kind of white tablecloth, haute cuisine will spring from LaBant’s imagination.
Pizza.
That’s right, LaBant will be opening up a pizza place, called Parlor, right here in Wilton, in a space at River Park Shopping Center.
Yep, a pizza place in a shopping center. Light years from what you think of when you think Tim LaBant, Schoolhouse Restaurant chef/owner.
LaBant laughs at the image. “There’s a reason for that.”
He wanted to open Parlor in the center of town and for it to have a different vibe–something of a cross between the old school pizza parlors that CT is known for and a lively, great, neighborhood space.
“I think there’s something humble about an old school pizza parlor. Look at like a place like Pepe’s, something that’s just got linoleum everywhere. It’s got an amazing product and they’re packed all the time for a reason, because their product is great, and they care about one thing–pizza and the people that are there,” LaBant says.
Just weeks after the opening of their latest restaurant, — Rascal Flatts — the doors of the Stamford Town Center’s newest tenant are about to open. Pieology, a fast-casual pizza chain, plans to open its ‘restaurant row’ shop on November 17th, when they will be hosting a a FREE PIZZA DAY featuring music, activities, and of course FREE PIZZA.
Living in Fairfield County that name may not be familiar to you. But the California-based chain has been around since 2011 and includes about 140 stores across the country with plans to open even more within the coming year.
This week Chef/Restaurateur Vinicio Llanos of the popular Arezzo Ristorante & Wine Bar located alongside the tranquil Saugatuck River in Westport, CT, introduced his newest CT venture, Le Madri, to the town of Bethel. This family owned and operated restaurant, bar, and event venue features rustic Italian cuisine set in an open and contemporary space with panoramic views of a bustling town.
