Filtering by Tag: Entertaining,SONO

100+ CT Restaurants & Venues for The Perfect Holiday Party: 2019 Edition

Features Entertaining Catering Private Party Holiday Parties Best of CT Homepage

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

As the temperatures drop and November gives way to December, it’s time to get ready to celebrate the holidays!  Call up your friends and family, pick out a festive outfit, and find the perfect place to throw your seasonal bash.  These 100+ restaurants and venues across CT have private and semi-private spaces for intimate affairs, company parties, enormous shindigs, sit-down meals, cocktail hours, and more.  After all, they don’t call it “the most wonderful time of the year” for nothing!

Read More

Candied Kabocha Squash Recipe: Chef Emily Mingrone of Tavern on State

Features Recipe Recipe Holiday Thanksgiving Cooking Entertaining

CTbites Team

For the next two weeks CTbites will be featuring a series of Thanksgiving recipes from local CT chefs. Some of these recipes will be family favorites, or dishes the chefs cook in their own homes. Others will grace the holiday menus found at your local restaurant. One thing is certain. They will all be delicious and worthy of a seat at YOUR table. Our second in this series comes from Chef Emily Mingrone of Tavern On State. Enjoy her recipe for Candied Kabocha Squash.

Read More

Polenta Holiday Cookies Recipe from Chef Silvia Baldini

Features Recipe Recipe Dessert Holiday Cookies Entertaining

Silvia Baldini

Crispy, crunchy, polenta cookies. The recipe was kindly gifted to me by my MIL Elisabetta. They have become a welcome tradition in my family. We make them a couple of weeks ahead of the holidays and keep them fresh in metal tin, lined with parchment paper. The mix of polenta and potatoes starch gives them a melt in your mouth texture. I like to dust them with a light coating of powder sugar and I enjoy them as treat with tea or when my sweet tooth requires a fixing.

Read More

New Haven’s popular Sally’s Apizza to open in SoNo Collection (via The Hour)

Restaurant Openings South Norwalk SONO Pizza Homepage

CTbites Team

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.

Read the complete article here.

Read More

Recap: SAVOR Lobster Competition At Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk

Features Events Lobster SONO

Kristin L. Wolfe

My arm had to be twisted to join a panel for judging Lobster Bites at last weekend’s (September 22) first SAVOR LOBSTER event at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk. I would be walking around a gorgeous museum filled with things that take me back to the ooos and ahhs of childhood; drinking creative tasty libations; having some of the most delicious bites of Lobster EVA; and judging said bites with slick fellow writer and official realfooddude Andrew Dominick, and the endlessly talented Chef Matt Storch of Match (duh), which just rocked out for its 20th anniversary. You can see how this would be a struggle for a newly single gal on a Sunday afternoon. 

NOT.

Read More

Famed Plant Based Chef Matthew Kenney and Marcia Selden Partner Launch "Naked Fig Catering"

Features Entertaining Vegan Plant Based Catering Caterer

CTbites Team

Huge news for CT catering! The famed LA plant based Chef, Matthew Kenney Cuisine, is partnering with CT Catering Company, Marcia Selden to create Naked Fig Catering, a new plant-based catering company, launching this month.

Naked Fig Catering will embody the proficiency and finesse offered by Marcia Selden Catering to serve the elevated, refined plant-based cuisine that MKC is known for. The collaboration provides an opportunity to expand culinary presence into the catering and events industry, where Naked Fig will curate unforgettable culinary experiences that redefine the current standards in this category market.

Read More

Guide To Connecticut Caterers For Your Next Party

Features Catering Caterers Entertaining Best of CT homepage Homepage

April Guilbault

School has started. You know what that means, don’t you? The holidays are coming (sorry!). Plan now, get a jump on things. This will be your year to be…ready for it?…organized! We all love the parties and events that the holidays bring but they can also have us sighing and dreading them because, well, they are a lot of work, no matter how wonderful they are. With that in mind, maybe this is the year you opt for a caterer to help you enjoy the season and these delightful gatherings all the more. A gift to yourself, so to speak. This bunch of professionals will set up, decorate, coordinate and serve a wonderful variety of delicious morsels for you and your guests. You can rest easy as your beautiful event unfolds before your very eyes. Sometimes, we get by with a little help from our friends, and in this case, our friends who cater…

Read More

SoNo Seaport Seafood Reopens: Iconic Waterside Seafood is BACK!

Restaurant South Norwalk SONO Norwalk Seafood Comfort Food Kid Friendly Waterfront Patio Outdoor Dining Openings Homepage

Andrew Dominick

After a two-and-a-half-month hiatus, SoNo Seaport Seafood is open once again, serving up the ocean’s bounty with a few exciting changes. 

In mid-April, the 35-year-old South Norwalk mainstay announced they would shut down shop while the restaurant, outdoor bar, and patio all underwent renovations. To oversee it all, SoNo Seaport’s owners, the Bloom Family, brought in a legit Fairfield County chef to consult on the project. 

That’s where Matt Storch enters the fray. But make no mistake, the chef/owner of Match and Match Burger Lobster wasn’t merely brought in to make decisions on what furniture to buy and what color paint should go on the walls. One of Storch’s focal points at SoNo Seaport was to give an outdated menu a much-needed refresh. 

Read More

Guide To CT Lobster and Clambake Caterers For Your Next Party

Restaurant Lobster Lobster Bake Seafood Catering Entertaining Best of CT Homepage

April Guilbault

Crack ‘em, steam ‘em, grill ‘em, looooove ‘em. Lobster, lobster, oh sweet lovely lobster, you make our hearts swoon. Summer is here, the living is easy and to make it even easier, why not throw a good ol’ New England Lobster Bake catered to your venue of choice? You’ll feel like you are oceanside (minus the Great Whites trolling the shores) no matter where you decide to hold your bash. Draw that buttah and color yourself happy! We’ve compiled a whole boatful of vendors that will cater to every whim you might have in order to create a memorable and gloriously fun time. We may even need a bigger boat, the list is so long (ok, who got the reference?). Two big claws up to great companies that are attentive to their customers’ needs and desires and strive to make every Lobster and Clambake a delicious event. Having just used up all the lobster-talk I have up my sleeve, please read on and enjoy…

Read More

Pop-Up Space Junction at North Seven Opens in Norwalk Featuring Food Trucks and More

Restaurant Food Truck Pop-Up Bar Norwalk Entertaining Catering Live Music

Andrew Dominick

Unless you live in one of the apartment complexes or take the train to and from Metro-North’s Merritt 7 Station you’ve likely never had a reason to go down Glover Avenue. That’s likely going to change with the opening of Junction at North Seven, a brand-new pop-up venue with a focus on food and drink.

Behind the idea of Junction on North Seven is Building and Land Technology (BLT), a development group that’s in charge of evolving of that part of Norwalk, and they’re doing it with a “live, work, play” approach. 

A major part of that “live, work, play” philosophy, and what Junction will feature, are local food trucks. Melt Mobile, Meˈstēzō Grill, Caffè Bon, Greek Style Grill, Cowabunga, Carmela’s Italian Kitchen, and DCW, an ice cream sundae truck that incorporates donuts, churros, and waffles into their creamy creations, have all made multiple appearances. 

Others that will soon sling food outside of Junction’s garage bays are Hapa, Angie’s Cocinita, Crazy Taco Mex, Planet Pizza, and The Chamo.

Read More

Wood Fire Food Custom Catering Events with Chef Dan Sabia

Features Farm Dinner Catering Entertaining Farm to Table CT Farms

Maddie Phelps

When was the last time you thought about where each element of your dinner came from? The plates, the table, the meat, the cups; each item seems to come from an arbitrary supermarket, creating a culture where the process of making and eating food is incredibly solidarity. That, in a nutshell, is why Dan Sabia left the restaurant industry. And now, he’s using his work with wood, fire, and food to change that norm in a world where very few are trying. Chef Dan Sabia is changing the way we think about private catering with his innovative new business, Wood Fire Food.

Read More

Guide To Connecticut Mobile Caterers: Food & Bar Trucks For Your Next Party! sponsored post

Restaurant Catering Food Truck Entertaining Best of CT Homepage

April Guilbault

Rolling, rolling, rolling…Get that party rolling…Start food and drinks a flowin’

Partaaaayyy!

Hang on to your wagons, folks, we’ve compiled the Ultimate Mobile Caterers Guide for all of your summer (and fall) party needs! Just the fact that the party comes to you gets your soiree off to a unique and fun start. And then it starts dispensing amazing foods and drinks? Yes, we say, sign us up; cupcakes rolled to your doorstep? Check! Beer on tap parked in your backyard? Check! Pizzas, burgers, lobsters and crab cakes saddled up to your house? Check! You are going to have some serious fun with these options. In fact, we think it’s safe to say that your er….party “bar”…will be raised is an understatement. Keep ‘em rollin’ and enjoy!

Read More

SONO 1420, Small Batch Distillery Featuring Hemp Distilled Spirits, Opens in South Norwalk

Features Ingredients Openings South Norwalk SONO Distillery Cocktails Spirits Homepage

Kristin L. Wolfe

It was a vote of 14 to 20.

One hundred years ago in 1919 Connecticut State Senate couldn’t ratify the 18th Amendment which made Connecticut one of two states at the time to defeat prohibition. 

It was a real moment in history, and now a real moment for SONO 1420, the revolutionary new distillery making waves in the world of spirits. As far as everyone knows, they are THE only distillery around using hemp seed in its remarkable mash for whiskey as well as other parts of the plant for its flavorful and aromatic essence in gins, bourbons, and ryes.

Read More

Ratatouille & Co. Caterers Provides Skill Sets & Menu of Opportunity For Immigrant Women

Features Catering Entertaining

CTbites Team

Orchestrating stylish and sophisticated catered events throughout Fairfield County and New York that incorporate great food and thoughtful service is what has earned Ratatouille & Co. Catering their great reputation. The mission of this innovative catering company, however, goes beyond canapes and silver trays. Ratatouille and Company use the power of the culinary arts and the hospitality industry to empower women to learn a skill set they can use on their road to independence and success.

Read More

Guide To Connecticut Mobile Caterers: Food & Bar Trucks For Your Next Party! sponsored post

Features Catering Entertaining Design

Marcia Selden Catering

The presence of food as edible décor is unexpected and exciting! People eat with their eyes, so before they even take a seat their mouths are watering just looking at your table! Beautiful tablescape design, incorporating food, is the key to these spectacular tables. 

Holiday theming and scheming can be a little overwhelming so eliminate the stress with these terrific ideas from a few of our recent events:

Read More

80+ CT Restaurants & Venues for The Perfect Holiday Party: 2018 Edition

Features Holiday Catering Entertaining

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

They say you don’t need an excuse to throw a party, but if you’re still looking for one the holidays are a good reason!  Connecticut restaurants have beautiful event spaces for your festivities and there are also unique venues that offer creative backdrops for your events.  Click here for a guide to 70+ restaurants and venues for your next holiday party.

Read More

Guide To Connecticut Mobile Caterers: Food & Bar Trucks For Your Next Party! sponsored post

Features Catering Holiday Best of CT Entertaining Homepage

April Guilbault

Less than 90 days until Christmas and less than 70 until Hanukkah. Please don’t hate us, we want to help you! Wonderful, albeit somewhat stressful holiday gatherings are fast approaching and with them come the planning, cooking, and hosting. Looking to streamline and maybe, eh-hem, enjoy your holidays this year? Toss those oven mitts aside, grab a cold, ice-clinking drink and hire a caterer for your soirees! Courteous and attentive staffs, creative and unique presentations, swoon-worthy and drool-worthy foods. When we put it that way, what’s to discuss? CTbites has assembled a list of caterers that are sure to lend that special bit of flair to your gathering, whether it be grand or cozy. These folks are eager to please and ready to tackle the upcoming season with panache. Book now, though, or those oven mitts might be back on your hands.

Read More

Hola! Evarito’s Mexican Opens in South Norwalk

Restaurant SONO South Norwalk Mexican Kid Friendly Cocktails Lunch Norwalk Homepage

Andrew Dominick

SoNo’s biggest recent mystery involved the space where Washington and N Main streets meet. Stacked piles of wood blocked all hopes of peeking inside. A fox shaded on the ends of the wood made passersby more curious. What stumped a bunch of us even more was another fox that popped up in the windows, this time in emoji form, accompanied by the hashtag #Hola. 

What was this riddle? A restaurant? Another bar? In SoNo, that’s what it usually is. But definitely something with a Spanish cuisine theme, right?!

I was puzzled. I posted about it many times. I asked around to no avail. People asked me what it was. I had no freaking clue. Eventually, I heard it would be a Mexican restaurant concept by the good folks at Skal Restaurant Group, who run things at The Cask Republic locations and The Ginger Man Greenwich. All of this was later confirmed (sort of) by a fittingly odd Instagram account that tagged me in a lot of posts as they did food and drink research in Mexico.  

It’s a secret no longer! Evarito’s is now open in South Norwalk! 

Read More
  Archive of All Reviews

Search by Tags