The journey to Dough & Co. Cafe & Bakeshop and Georgetown has been an adventurous one. After taking a brief break to welcome her son into the world, Christina heard that a Baking Company in Rowayton, CT was looking for a pastry chef. To date, her background had been focused specifically in savory, however she knew that with her passion and creativity, she could translate her skills to pastry and she said YES YES YES to the job! She tapped into the foundational courses she had taken, the internet, books, and Food Network shows to learn how to make pastries like french macaroons and fancy chocolates. The Baking Company in Rowayton started out as a baked goods and healthy salads eatery and eventually became Dough & Co. in 2008 with a rebranding in 2014.
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.
There’s a new Latin pulse beating on West Park Place in Stamford and it goes by the name ACUARIO (Aquarium, in Spanish.) Funky, warm and charming, the new Peruvian jaunt is the latest culinary jewel from the treasure box of Saida and Nicolas Oshiro, who opened the original ACUARIO in Port Chester in the 1980s. This new ACUARIO is in the worthy hands of Oshiro offspring, Eduardo, and his wife, Beth, and they know what’s cookin’. We’ve dined at ACUARIO twice and each time the restaurant has been packed, with many patrons speaking Spanish - ALWAYS a good sign.
You know that little place, right around the corner? The one that serves just that dish you were craving? The one that serves food you just know comes from a parent or grandparent’s tried-and-true recipe? You know the place, your go-to joint, always reliable, where you don’t have to dress up and you don’t have to spend a fortune? Well, “La Esquina,” literally, “the corner,” is just THAT place, serving up authentic South American yummies with home-style flare and flavors that impress.
La Esquina Latin Grill,right on “the corner” at 50 Hamilton Avenue in Stamford, is a labor of love for the young and extremely talented co-owner and head chef, Robert Monegro. Chef Robert grew up in Stamford with his Guatemalan mother and Dominican father, both chefs. He decided that after learning all he could by growing up in the kitchen of his parents’ restaurant, Flamboyant in Stamford, he would put his own mark on the culinary map of Fairfield County. And he is doing just that.
I’ve enjoyed food from many different countries over the years but funny enough, never from Peru. So with three friends in tow, I decided to try Fiesta Atlantic, a Peruvian restaurant in Stamford. Having eaten Venezuelan and Mexican, I expected a fusion of both. It turns out Peruvian food is indeed a melting pot of different cultures but surprisingly, the food is notable for its Italian and Chinese influences. In the 18th century, Lima was the financial center of a vast Spanish Viceroyalty. Chinese laborers and Italian settlers washed up on its South Pacific shores bringing their own spices and cooking techniques.
