Ripka’s Bridgeport Market floods food desert, Stamford seeks downtown suitor

Ripka’s Bridgeport Market Set to Rejuvenate Downtown Bridgeport

Clyde Ripka is no stranger to markets or restaurants in Connecticut.  He owns Ripka’s Market in Norwalk and Stamford, Ripka’s SoNo Cafe, and Ripka’s Beach Cafe at Calf Pasture Beach.  And, with the new addition of Ripka’s Bridgeport Market, he’s created a hybrid of all his locations with a heart and purpose.  His brand new Ripka’s Market in downtown Bridgeport will fill a massive gap that has long plagued people that have lived downtown and who have wanted groceries or a store to find a quick and healthy meal for dinner.  In fact, studies have shown that people without access to fresh produce and a good selection of food encounter many problems.  According to a study done by the USDA in 2009, 11.5 million people in low-income areas live more than a mile from a supermarket.  Many people, when faced with shopping at a market far away (especially if they have no car) will shop at small bodegas or shops (usually more expensive) or even rely on fast food restaurants for cheap and easy meals.  Unfortunately, the reliance on fast food and the lack of farm fresh food packs on the pounds, clogs the arteries, and keeps the body devoid of essential nutrients.

But, now with Ripka’s Market open, the people who live in Downtown Bridgeport have an option that they haven’t had in quite a while.  They’ll be able to pick up freshly baked bread and other goodies, market-made sausage, freshly butchered meat, produce, seafood, groceries, cheeses, a salad bar, a cafe, and prepared foods for meals on the go.  All of this can be found inside the 7,500 square foot space that is part of the historically amazing Arcade Mall.  You’ll have quick and easy access to Ripka’s Market from the street or through inside the Arcade Mall that is now occupied by Main Street Pharmacy and the Bridgeport Arts and Cultural Council.

Georgetown Day brings community together through food, fun, and music

Georgetown Day becomes bigger and better every year, picture from http://georgetownct.org

The village of Georgetown is nestled right where Redding, Weston, Wilton, and Ridgefield meet.  One of our favorite restaurants in the area is Bistro 7, a farm to table restaurant that has been pulling in some rave reviews (like ours and Local Food Rocks).  And, one of the restaurants who will be providing food this year, Luca Ristorante Italiano, is another on our must-eat list.  But, believe it or not, there’s more to life and a village than just food.  Yes, that’s hard to believe, especially coming from two food bloggers.  So, let’s tell you a bit about Georgetown Day, this year on June 9 from 4-10 pm on Main Street.  Don’t worry, we’ll talk about the food, too…

Pop by PopShop Market for food, brews, local goods, and more!

You might have heard of pop up restaurants, springing up in empty spots or abandoned places.  Here one week, gone another.  You know…that’s so 2012.  PopShop Market, though, is taking things into 2013 with their pop up market.  For each pop up event they’ll have 50 or more vendors, a mini farmers’ market, they’ll feature a local brewery, and they’ll have a bunch of CT’s best food and food trucks available for your noming needs.  The first PopShop Market is being held on June 1 from 9-3 at the Fairfield Theater Company‘s warehouse and parking lot.  There’s no cost at all and there is live music, too.  Here are the details for the first event:

Graze Delivers the Farm to Your Fridge to Your Table

The skillet meal

The before of the skillet meal, directions included

Look how nicely everything is packaged

Processed and passionless food.  Tight aisles.  Fumbling for coupons.  People who won’t move out of your way.  Finding the right aisle for your special ingredient.  Horrible music. Old ladies writing checks in the express lane.  These are just some of the reasons we haven’t looked back since switching over to grocery delivery several years ago.  We just feel so much more centered and can use that extra time to catch up on our DVR shows.  Ya know: Bones, The Walking Dead, How I Met Your Mother, L & O SVU, and Big Bang Theory ain’t gonna watch themselves!

So, you could imagine when Vermont based Graze contacted us with promises of a complementary delivery of their farm food for a week, we were game.  The process of how this happens is very interesting. Will (or whoever is available) drives bins of food (that have been organized by order) from Vermont to their Norwalk location.  From there, drivers deliver the orders on to happy homes throughout Fairfield County on Monday between 2-7 am, ready for you before you leave for work.  When they see you next, they’ll collect your bin, so no cardboard box waste anymore!

Half off Wine Tasting Class at Black Bear Spirits in Westport

From Groupon site…

Sure, wine tastes good, but there’s more to the good stuff than just “red” or “white.”  Where were the grapes grown?  What was the climate like there?  What was the micro-climate there?  What variety of grapes were used?  When was the wine bottled?  How was the wine fermented?  How was the wine stored?

These are all questions that make wine…well…wine.  Specifically, you’ll learn to distinguish wines by grape, vintage, and region as you take a 90 minute class at Black Bear Wines & Spirits in Westport.  The classes are held Saturdays from 1 to 2:30 and normally cost $50 each, but there’s a special Groupon going on now.  You’ll pay just $25 for a wine tasting and class for one or $49 for two people.

Black Bear Wines & Spirits is a great community supporter (they’re pouring at Taste of Westport), has an excellent selection, and is a great destination for all your wine needs.

Forever Sweet Bakery Finds Their Forever Home in Norwalk

Look how pretty that bow is. Well, that didn’t last long…

Chocolate Celebration, Cinnamon Streusel, and Chocolate Vanilla

EXTREME CLOSE UP! Awwwwww yeahhhh

Sweet Endings Bakery Kiosk in the Stamford Town Center mall

Sweet Endings Bakery Kiosk in the Stamford Town Center mall

So cute, but not cute enough to not devour!

You’re all in for a real sweet treat.  Forever Sweet Bakery (formerly Sweet Endings) has set up their very own location in Norwalk at 4 New Canaan Avenue.

You might remember we wrote about their awesome cupcakes, cookies, and treats when they were at Stamford Town Center.  While they moved out, they took up shop and based themselves out of Scoop Cafe in Stamford.  During this time, they were able to get their cupcakes placed in many restaurants and were able to make lots of custom cakes and grow a steady customer base.

Frances Mercede, baker/owner extraordinaire, recalls what it was like to see the building at 4 New Canaan Avenue:  “When Sky showed me the space, I knew this would be a great home for Forever Sweet Bakery.”   But, that doesn’t mean it was easy to get things rolling.  Sky (co-owner, husband of Frances, media specialist, awesome guy all around) immediately got to work with friend Ted Sihpol and built a wicked awesome bakery.  One of the Forever Sweet Bakery customers said, in fact, “This is the nicest looking bakery I have seen.”

Fairfield Cheese Company Celebrates 4 Years with Case Takeover, Burgers, and Beer Tasting

 

Although it might seem like they’ve been around forever, Fairfield Cheese Company only started cheesemongering four years ago.  Owners Laura Downey and Chris Palumbo transformed Fairfield Cheese Company from a local shop into a culinary destination and inspiration.  Their shop is known for their amazing selection of small batch and farmstead cheeses, their charcuterie, and the variety of excellent food in the store.  In fact, just a few people know (heavy on sarcasm) about how great the store is.  They won tiny (more sarcasm) awards from Connecticut Magazine in 2011 and 2012 for having the best cheese selection and were even recognized by Food and Wine Magazine as being one of the top five places to buy cheese in the US.

Both Laura and Chris wanted to do something big to show their appreciation for the recognition and to their customers so they are hosting a Case Takeover.  This is a fun new idea that you can liken to bars and restaurants doing tap takeovers that highlight one particular beer.  Except, we’re not talking brews (keep reading though) here, we’re talking ’bout cheese, glorious cheese.  In fact, we’re talking about two cheese producers:  Columbia Cheese and Jasper Hill Cellars.  The cheese from both of these producers will literally take over the cases in a decisive victory for your taste buds.  The Case Takeover is happening on Saturday, May 4.  During the day, representatives from Columbia Cheese and Jasper Hill Cellars will be on hand to talk about their cheese, how it’s made, and to answer any of your questions.  Plus, the nice people at Saugatuck Craft Butchery will be providing cheeseburger sliders to help in the celebration from 1-4.  What?  Need something to wash that down with?  Well, take part in a beer tasting from a local CT brewery, too, during the same time.  In addition, there will be prizes, t-shirt giveaways, and refreshments, too.

Stew Leonard’s Voted Best New England Shopping Spot

When you want to find out about gardening, you go to about.com.
When you want to find out about the birds in your backyard, you go to about.com.
And, when you want to find out what everybody’s favorite shopping spot in New England is, you go to…Stew Leonard’s!

That’s right, about.com readers picked Stew’s over other amazing places such as The Yankee Candle Village, the L.L.. Bean Flagship Store, Settlers’ Green Outlet Village, and Vermont Country Store to win Best New England Shopping Spot. If you’ve ever been to Stew’s, you know why. They are the world’s largest dairy store, they have great produce, excellent prepared food, a stunning selection, and they have animated figurines that greet you throughout the store.  Really, who else does that and can pull it off?  It’s like an adventure every time you go to Stew’s!

We’d like to congratulate Stew Leonard’s on this awesome win.  It’s a testament to their hard work, their commitment, their devotion to charity, and their love of community.

Stew Leonard’s is in Norwalk, Danbury, Newington, and in Yonkers.

Wined Down Fridays: Painting and BYOB at The Giggling Pig

Pic from The Giggling Pig Site

Living Social has a great deal going on now at The Giggling Pig in Shelton.  For just $12 (normally $25), you’ll get to take part in a Paint & Sip BYOB painting class.  These fun events where you bring your own bottle are held every Friday from 7-9 pm.  You don’t need to bring any supplies at all, either!  Artist Gail Bell, a landscape painter, will be hosting the class.  If this is something you really love, there’s the option to sign up for the entire month, too.  If you do that, you’ll get $5 off each class.  Quite a nice deal!

If you’re concerned about being a beginner and not knowing how to paint, don’t worry.  Gail will teach you the tricks of the trade.  Plus, think about it.  Everybody will be drinking wine and beer, so if someone appears to be better to you, blame it on drinking too much liquor.  Or, give those people more liquor so that your skills start to match up!  See, it’s a win-win!

Bookwalkers + Unsullied: Where to Get Game of Thrones Iron Throne Blonde Ale in Fairfield County!

Brewery Ommegang’s Iron Throne Blonde Ale made for Game of Thrones, available at BevMax Stamford. Pic from BevMax Stamford

Yes, this is one of the hottest items on store shelves now.  Actually, it only just hit the shelves yesterday!  Hotter than any Elmo doll, video game, or Cabbage Patch Kid.  We’re talking custom-made brews from Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY.  This just happens to be one of our favorite breweries and we even were lucky enough to visit their digs and take a tour.  Well, and we also might have bought a wickedly amazing growler and filled that growler with some golden goodness.  But, let’s get back to these custom beers.  Ommegang has created a series of beer for HBO’s hit show, Game of Thrones which has its Season 3 premiere on March 31.

The first beer in the series is Iron Throne Blonde Ale.  Here is how Ommegang describes it on their site:

Iron Throne is a blonde ale at 6.5% ABV and brewed with a robust amount of pils, honey malt, aroma malts and red wheat. Gentle hopping includes Styrian Golding and Hallertau Spalter Select, appropriately noble hops. Spiced with grains of paradise and lemon peel. Hue is a slightly hazy golden amber. Head is full and fluffy. Finish is crisp, backed by a touch of spice and hops. Aroma is a bit grassy with a hint of lemon fruitiness from the lemon peel. Taste is lightly malty, rounded out by honey malt sweetness.  Available in limited quantities in 750ml bottles and 1/6 BBL kegs starting in late March 2013.

Sounds good, right?  But, did you catch that last sentence?  Limited quantities?  Oh man.  Better think fast!  You don’t want to be that one lame Game of Thrones fan who doesn’t have any beer for the season premiere.  Really, think how uncool you’d be!  So, sheath your sword, take off your armor, and head to these Fairfield County stores to get your Iron Throne Blonde Ale while it lasts: