Soupstock 2013 brings soup contest , a food court, music, arts + more to Shelton, Connecticut

We told you about Soupstock last year…a free music, food, and arts festival that is now in its fourth year.  While Soupstock (taking place on June 8 from 10-8 pm at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Shelton) has always been about fun, there’s also a heart to this much anticipated event.  Proceeds from the event (there are lots of chances to give and help support) go to The Mary A Schmecker Turtle Shell Fund (read more here) that benefits art, craft, and music education for children and young adults.  Let’s show you why you’ll need to keep Saturday, June 8 free for you, yourself, your friends, and your fam:

1) There will be great food options for you:

We’re talking Liquid Lunch of Shelton and Milford, BRYAC from Bridgeport (they’ll have a raw bar), DiSorbo’s Bakery of Hamden, Mamoun’s Falafel of New Haven, and Addeo’s Italian Ice of Shelton.  Kristien just might spend the entire festival shooting oysters, though. :P

Pour at the Shore brewing up at Seaside Tavern Memorial Day weekend

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…

Bobby Q’s BBQ Kicks off the Season with Beer Garden Opening – Westport, CT

Ah, that’s a beautiful beer garden. Photo from Bobby Q’s FB page.

Biergarten:  literally translating over to beer garden.  Much cooler than kindergarten which is, literally, a garden of children?!  Um, no thanks…we’ll take a garden of brews, ales, and stouts thank you very much.  And, we’ve seen beer gardens sprouting up recently:  the popular Beer Garden @ Harbor Point opened recently  and The Landmark Biergarten at Station Eats is opening up any day now.   But, Bobby Q’s Bodacious BBQ & Grill in Westport has been ahead of the curve.

Barcelona hosts Memorial Day BBQ and pig roasts all summer long

Some of the tapas we sampled at Barcelona in Greenwich for the first Dishcrawl

Memorial Day and BBQs…they are inseparable like peanut butter and jelly, Batman and Robin, Lewis and Clark, Ren & Stimpy, bread and butter, and even pasta and sauce.  Perhaps they go so well together because BBQ’n brings family and friends together outside for good times, good fun, and good eats?  In essence, the grill unites people and connects us through our basic needs of friendship and food.

But, what do you do if you don’t have a grill or just want to go out and celebrate?  Easy…you head over to Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant in Fairfield on 5/27 from 1-9 pm.  For just $20 or $10 for kids (that’s a nice deal, btw) you’ll get a BBQ buffet that consists of sliders, kebabs, ribs, grilled veggies, salads, and their famous suckling pig.  For the beer lover, they’ll also have tastings from one of our favorite local breweries, Captain Lawrence.  They’ll have face painting for the kids (or that cool hipster) from 1:30-4:30, they’ll have outdoor games (cornhole please!), and they will even have a lemonade/popsicle/ice cream stand.  And, what’s a BBQ without live music?  Barcelona will have Rick Reyes & The Pasonfino Social Club playing from 2-6 while you chat, chew, and chill.

Step Out for Stepping Stones with Wine, Brews, and Bites

Update:  unfortunately, Step Out has been postponed.  We’ll give you more info when we get a new date.

Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk is a fun place to be, especially if you’re a kid…or a kid at heart.  They have an amazing amount of exhibits for children all the way from birth to 7 and up, they provide educational classes, they are always up to something new like Dinosaur Revolution, they have tons of events, and they are a favorite stop for schools.  Fun like this isn’t easy to provide, so that’s why Stepping Stones is holding their 8th Annual Step Out Wine & Food Tasting fundraiser.  This vital (and tasty) event is being held in partnership with our friends over at the Young Professionals Network of the Business Council of Fairfield County.  Here are all the details for you:

Sunset Dinner w/ Drinks and Bites in the Garden at Ambler Farm in Wilton

 

Around this time last year we headed up to Ambler Farm in Wilton to take part in Bull N’ Brew.  The farm was beautiful and the night was just perfect, set off by good wine, beer, and food from Super Duper Weenie.  And, just about a year later Ambler Farm is holding another event…a much anticipated annual event.

We are talking about their Annual Sunset Dinner, this year called An Evening in the Garden at Ambler Farm.  The dinner will be held on June 15th from 6-10 pm and will take place inside their new educational gardens.  Program Manager Kevin Meehan not only developed these gardens, but has also tended them carefully—he did get some help from students, though.  :)  Tickets, which are soon to go fast, go on sale 5/15.  Tickets are $95 for members or $110 for non-members.  There will be lots of cocktails, little bites of goodness, and a whole buncha live music from local musicians.  After the little “garden hour,” guests will be treated to a full four course dinner from Bistro du Soleil as the sun sets.  And, in true farm dinner fashion, Bistro du Soleil will be using a good deal of Ambler Farm’s organic produce for the meal!  The lovely people at Ambler Farm were kind enough to share the menu with us, so we’ll share it with you:

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:

Two Roads Brewery Has Some Serious (Meat)balls this Weekend

Get your mind out of the gutter, people.  We’re talking about Two Roads Brewery having The Local Meatball shop on hand for their Saturday food truck experience from 3-7 on 5/11, the start of CT Beer Week.    Since TLM launch on 4/20, Mike’s been gaining quite a following of ballers.  There’s no doubt that Mike will be serving up some Serious meatballs, his standard formulation made with Saugatuck Craft Butchery beef and other local ingredients.  Here are descriptions from his site about the meatball choices (there is usually Serious and one other on special):

SERIOUS:  made with the finest ground beef from Craft Butchery, we use only the best local ingredients. Soaked in our traditional sauce, they are like no other. These balls burst with flavor and are our version of the classic.

Future Specials

KICK IN DA:  made with the most tender local pork around and some hot cherry peppers to give them just the right kick. Served in a chunky, spicy sauce, they’re a win-win.

IN THE BUFF:  fresh ground chicken and our own buffalo sauce—these are the perfect combination of heat and flavor.

HONEY’S:  honey BBQ sauce from a local favorite and a tender, juicy pork ball…who needs ribs when you’ve got balls?

JEWELS:  these salty, sweet creations are what we like to call a “breakfast ball.” Made with delicious ground beef, sausage, bacon and chunks of melted cheddar cheese. Topped off with the tastiest local maple syrup on a soft, light and airy snowflake roll. They’re jewels.

Here’s how to do it:

1)  Place your oder.

2) Grab your slider, Average Joe, or Grinder.

3) Head upstairs to Two Roads Brewery  and down those meatballs with some old cold brews.  We highly recommend the saison.

4) Fill up some growlers or growleritos (they are so cute and tiny).

5) Get some more meatballs before you leave.

Two Roads Brewing Co.

1700 Stratford Ave

Stratford, CT 06615

Phone:  (203) 335-2010

Station Eats Gives Back w/ Their Dog of the Month

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!

Elevated, True Farm to Table at Bailey’s Backyard in Ridgefield, CT: Restaurant Review

Some of the veggies that Forrest has pickled for sale

When we talked with Forrest Pasternack (former Executive Chef of Morello Bistro in Greenwich) a few weeks ago, we couldn’t help but get excited about what he and owner Sal Bagliavio had planned for the reopening of Bailey’s Backyard.  A farm-to-table restaurant that would live up to its name, built from the ground, the farm, and garden up.  A restaurant where the chef actually visits local farms and buys food from them.  A full and complete embrace of what farm to table means.  And, after visiting Bailey’s Backyard a few days before opening and being treated to a special preview menu, we know our excitement was well warranted.

The Menu

The menu is pretty easy to handle, fitting on just one (large) page.  In terms of what to order, it’s divided up into a few sections:  snacks, sides, greens, starts, mains, and desserts.  Of special note is that this is a great restaurant if you’re looking for fresh vegetarian options.  You can order whatever you’d like, or have a 3 course meal (starter, main, and dessert) for $27 ($39 with wine pairing) or a 4 course meal (greens, seafood starter, main, and dessert) for $38 ($50 with wine pairing).  In addition, you can even have the special Chef’s Tasting which is a seven course tasting menu for a very reasonable $65 or $95 with wine pairings.  No tasting menu will ever be exactly the same because it’s built daily based on what’s fresh and from the farms.