America is all about the indie spirit…especially when it comes to music and beer. And, it just so happens that Seaside Tavern and Sound Magazine are hosting a wicked good time this coming Sunday (5/26), starting at 1 pm. Pour at the Shore will surely be one of the great highlights of your Memorial Day Weekend. Now, you can’t exactly wear white yet, so hold off. Very soon, but not quite yet…
It’s a Friday night, mid 70s outside, and there are just a few little clouds in the sky. Could there have been a better day to hit up the brand new Beer Garden @ Harbor Point? No, probably not. Unfortunately, it seemed that everybody in Fairfield County agreed, but we still managed to find a killer parking spot just right outside of Walgreen’s. There’s also a huge lot nearby that they have devoted to Beer Garden parking, too, if you can’t find any street-side spots.
Before we even entered, we were amazed to see this building that was empty just a few months ago, turned into a massive party scene. Maddy’s food truck and Lobstercraft were outside, with about 50 devoted followers ready to get their grub on. That is one of the great things about this Beer Garden: although you can’t get food inside (yet), they’ll have food trucks there for you to get your nom on.
Two of our favorite spots to get brews and grub in Fairfield County have lots of fun ahead for American Craft Beer Week. ACBW kicks off today, 5/13, and goes until 5/19. The focus of the beer week has always been on smaller batch brews, a focus on fine details, and more of a hands-on approach to beer. Now, it’s no coincidence that Ginger Man in Norwalk and Coalhouse Pizza in Stamford live and breathe this philosophy year round, but you know they have to step up their game (is that possible?) to celebrate American Craft Beer Week. It’s kind of like the Super Bowl of the beer world.
Coalhouse Pizza is featuring a week of tap takeovers:
Flights at Coalhouse Pizza in Stamford CT
Monday, 5/13: Sebago
Tuesday, 5/14: Half Full (see a full week of special Half Full events here)
Wednesday, 5/15: Harpoon
Plan B Burger Bar asks, tongue in cheek, “Can you beat our meat?” Lolz. But, taking things to a more serious level, we love us some burgers. Heck, we’re even in the middle of our Burger a Day in the Month of May post. And there, on May 11 is Plan B. While they haven’t done anything specific for National Burger Month, they have planned quite the event for National Hamburger Day, May 28.
You NEED this!
One of our favorite places in all of Connecticut Stamford Museum & Nature Center. And, this coming Spring on the Farm Festival Weekend it’s about to become our more most favoritest place! All the action is going down on 5/18 and 5/19 from 11 am to 3 pm. Yes, their annual party is getting bigger and badder than ever with the addition of seven, count ‘um seven, food trucks. On Saturday you can get the Caribbean flavors of Maddy’s Food Truck, good ol’ fashioned American fare with Cowabunga, hot pies from Victoria’s Wood Fired Pizza Catering, got your hands on some meatballs from The Local Meatball, and cold and creamy goodness from Skip’s Ice Cream Co. Then, come back for more on Sunday where you can try the awesome fries and sandwiches of Fryborg, the awesomely organic and oven-to-table pizzas of Skinny Pines, and get more of that ice cream from Skip’s Ice Cream Co.
Aw, we have the same hair color!
But, this weekend isn’t just about food. Okay, it’s a big portion of it, but there’s other reasons why you’ll love coming by:
1) Check out the baby goats. It’s all about the baby goats…but there are lots of other animals to ooh and ahh over.
Cinco de Mayo doesn’t have to end, especially not at Station Eats. Starting today until the middle of June, they’ll be featuring their Taco Dog as the Dog of the Month. Pick your dog (grass fed beef, chicken, or veggie), then they’ll add on tomato salsa, lettuce, shredded cheddar, sour cream, and wrap it up in a warm flour tortilla. If that’s not spicy enough for ya, just remember that the good guys at Station Eats will be donating 10% of their profits for Taco Dogs to two great causes: Camp Promise East (giving summer camp experiences to people with muscular dystrophy and ALSTDI (fighting to find a cure for Lou Gehrig’s Disease). You can get the Taco Dog at either the New Canaan or Stamford locations, btw.
If you’d like a burger and shake to complement that doggie, then check out these specials starting today: The Steak House Burger and their Coconut Shake. The Steak House Burger (we’d had it before, it’s excellent) has cheese, Station Steak Sauce, shaved onions, and tomato. So, make sure to come by a few times and get your Taco Dog! Also, why not invite your friends, have family reunions at Station Eats, have your next birthday party, too! A Taco Dog for everybody!
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Hot outta the oven…Dishcrawl Stamford is official and is ready to go! Yes, the successful start-up that began in New Haven, then worked its way down to Greenwich has set up in Stamford! Their inaugural event is on May 29 at 7 pm and costs just $45 (buy the tickets here). That gets you food tastings at four different awesome Stamford restaurants. If you’re not familiar with Dishcrawl (if you’ve been following us, you should know this like the back of your hand), let’s tell you some of the basics:
1) You hit up 4 restaurants in a night.
2) You’re told 48 hours before the event where you’ll meet.
3) The rest of the restaurant crawl is a complete mystery.
4) You get to talk with chefs and owners about their food.
5) You meet great new people.
Ignite Stamford #2 is just around the corner on May 9 at 7 pm at the Stamford Innovation Center. If you’ve been following us for a bit, you might remember that we were one of the speakers at the first event. We really had a blast speaking and loved hearing other people’s stories, too. Here’s how Ignite Stamford works:
Here are the speakers with their topics and pics from the Ignite Stamford blog. Check out the full details of the speakers by visiting the Ignite Stamford site. And, make sure to get your tickets ($11.54) before they are sold out! We’ve put in descriptions of our Twiend (Twitter friend) Kristen, Sam Garwin from Saugatuck Craft Butchery, and CT’s favorite blogger, Steve Wood from Connecticut Museum Quest (he also writes about CT beer, food, and wine).
We can still remember walking into Half Full Brewery when it was in shambles and just a run down skeleton of a building. Even with so much work ahead, Conor and crew saw it all as if the glass was, well, half full. Then, we saw Half Full Bright Ales all over Stamford, then we saw more brews hitting Stamford restaurants, and then we saw Half Full expand out to restaurants all over Connecticut. And now, almost one year later, they celebrate their first ever American Craft Brew Week (May 13-19) with amazingly awesome events . Here we go:
May 3, 17, and 31: Friday Night Open House, 5:30-8:30
Pay $15 and get a Half Full recycled plastic pint glass. Taps are open for your consumption pleasures. You are free to circulate, look around, hang with friends, play bags, and play the huge Jenga game. Note: Friday Night Open Houses happen every other Friday from here until eternity.
Gentlemen and gentlewomen, start your, er, horses. And they’re off…well, off to Derby Day at Plan B Burger Bar in Stamford from 3-7 on May 4. Yup yup! You’ll be able to watch the Kentucky Derby at Plan B and get to comment on all the cool horse names such as Charming Kitten, Itsmyluckyday, Fear the Kitten, Frac Daddy, and the number one contender Black Onyx.
But, does anyone really watch the races? Everybody knows what it’s really about:
Looking spiffy, wearing huge hats that strangely resemble ufos, dressing like a princess (or prince), and drinking lots of bourbon. And, you’ll be happy to know that at Plan B you’ll be rewarded for your crazy hat and your daper and dressiness with contests. There’s even going to be a raffle if you can’t find an ugly hat. But, perhaps one of the sweetest things is that Plan B is giving back to The American Cancer Society. You’ll be drinking bourbon anyway, so just make sure to order Four Roses straight, on the rocks, or in their mixed drinks such as their Four Roses Mint Julep.
Dan and Kristien Del Ferraro
