Fairfield Cheese Company Spreads the Love with Greenwich Cheese Company, Opening Soon

UPDATE: Greenwich Cheese Company will be open on 12/11/14! 

Days and night have we prayed. Dear provider of cheese, meats, spreads, and all things nomworthy…come to us. Heap your love and your provisions upon us. Long have we suffered the cruel deceivingly short distance on 95 from Greenwich to Fairfield, but yeah, our prayers have been answered. Amen, our cheese loving brethren…amen.

Amen because the award-winning and amazing Fairfield Cheese Company is expanding into Greenwich! Yup, the same shop that pulled in a top five spot of places to buy cheese in America from Food & Wine and a back-to-back winner of CT Magazine’s Best Cheese Selection. Co-owners Chris Palumbo and Laura Downey’s new shop will be at 154 East Putnam Avenue where the Cos Cob Laundry used to be. It’s also located right next to Fjord Fisheries, so you could get all your seafood, cheese, meat, and goodies shopping done in one trip. And, really, what else could you possibly need?

Dina Cheney of Cos Cob Signs Copies of Meatless All Day at Stew Leonard’s Norwalk

You don’t need to go veg only on Meatless Mondays.  How about going meatless any day, any time you want?  That’ll be super easy to do now with Dina Cheney‘s new cookbook, Meatless All Day:  Recipes for Inspired Vegetarian Meals.  So, whether you are vegetarian, vegan, or just want to add a healthier approach to your diet, this is your jam.

The book starts off with Cheney highlighting 45 important “power ingredients” and different cooking techniques that will bring out the flavor in vegetarian food.  From there, Dina takes you through 85 awesome recipes to make the most of your meatless meals.

And, just for you, Stew Leonard’s will have Dina Cheney in their Norwalk store this Saturday, 3/8, from noon until 2 pm.  Not only will she be signing copies of her book ($17.99 that day), but she’ll also be demoing  “Dina’s Mushroom Vegetable Loaf which you can taste on the spot or buy later at Stew’s buffet bar.

Dina Cheney Book Signing and Demo

Date:  3/8

Time:  Noon-2 pm

Cost: free, $17.99 for her new cookbook

Place:          Stew Leonard’s Norwalk

Address:    100 Westport Avenue

                      Norwalk, CT

More about Dina Cheney from a recent press release:

Dina Cheney is the author of Year-Round Slow Cooker, Tasting Club, and Williams-Sonoma: New Flavors for Salads. She has been the “Taste Test” columnist for Everyday with Rachael Ray for several years, is a regular contributor to Fine Cooking, and has written articles or developed recipes for more than 20 other publications. Cheney lives in Cos Cob, Connecticut.

Hop to it: Todd Ruggere to drink a beer in all 169 CT towns in 2014 for charity

Some people sell chocolates, some people grow mustaches, some people run marathons, and there are even some people who go from door to door to raise money for their favorite charities.  Well, “some people” have never met Todd Ruggere of Grafton, MA.  Last year he traveled to every single town in Massachusetts (351 of them) and had a beer there.  His hope was to meet some great people, have some great beer, but most importantly raise some money for children’s cancer research.  

But, how could he expect the amazing reaction that he would receive from people who were following his journey?  They’d give him suggestions of where to have a drink, would invite him over for a beer, and they’d set up amazing events upon his arrival that would help him to raise about $40,000 by the end of his trip.  But, he’s not stopping there.

Little Pub Opening Third Restaurant in Cos Cob, Greenwich

Artist’s rendering of Little Pub Greenwich, from FB page

Ridgefield got Little Pub in 2009.

Wilton got Little Pub in 2013.

And, damn right, Greenwich is getting Little Pub in 2014.

That’s right.  Little Pub is opening up its third location and has set its sights on Greenwich, more specifically Cos Cob.  Their new location will be located at 531 East Putnam Avenue, the former location of Fonda la Paloma.  We’re gonna miss saying “Fondle my Paloma” every time we pass it now, but that’s okay…Little Pub is coming in.

Fairway Market + Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol Host Shopping Day for Abilis of Greenwich

Back on July 2, we told you about local firefighters going face-to-face and grill-to-grill in the Fairway Firefighters Food Face-Off.  The contest, held on July 13, pitted Norton Heights, Westport, Belltown, and Cos Cob’s fire departments against each other.  Not only would the winners get major cred, bragging rights, and a $500 gift card, but they’d also earn a special fundraising day for the charity of their choice.

Because Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol (led by Sgt. Sebastian Dostmann) won this year, they chose to help benefit one of their favorite charities, Abilis.  This non-profit works hard to help out people with disabilities throughout their entire lives.  Now, it’s your part to help out!  Just shop at Fairway Market Stamford on November 20 from 4-9 PM and 25% of your bill will go directly to Abilis.  Just make sure that you’ve registered (look for people by the entrance or registers) before you check out!

Stand Up 2 Cancer Just by Dining Out!

Mastercard is standing up to cancer again this year with their Stand Up To Cancer campaign.  All you need to do is buy at least a $10 meal at any restaurant with your Mastercard.  With every purchase they will donate a penny to Stand Up To Cancer or 2 cents if you make a PayPal transaction at the restaurant, up to $4,000,000.  While a penny might not seem like a lot, that money will add up very quickly.  Already, since July 12, $1,280,280 has been raised!  The Stand Up To Cancer Mastercard campaign goes until September 28, 2013, so get out there and get eating!  Normally, we’d create a list of our favorite spots for you to check out, but you see that all the time with our posts and our annual OmNomy Awards.  So, we thought we’d ask you all, our fellow OmNomivores:

What’s your favorite spot in Fairfield County?  Let us know down below by commenting or by talking with us on Twitter or Facebook.  We’ll update the list down below.   Let’s all take a stand against cancer!  

OmNomivore Favorite Restaurants in Fairfield County

Eat ice cream and help your furry friends too at Bliss in Cos Cob

Isn’t Google AWESOME?

We haven’t even entered the dog days of summer yet and it’s already redonkulously hot.  90 degrees and we’re not even in June yet?  Psshaww.  Well, look any good Nutmegger, you’ve learned how to deal with the heat.  You get to the pool, you hang out where the air-conditioning is so pumped up you see various meats hanging up and icicles forming on people’s noses, and you, of course, hit up your local ice cream shops.  Yes, it’s pretty easy just to buy the little (or HUGE) containers of ice cream at the grocery store, but there’s something so much more satisfying about heading out to the shop, picking out your flavors, then getting your cone, cup, sundae, shake, or whatever frozen concoction you’re in the mood for.

One ice cream shop in Cos Cob has an even sweeter deal for you, though.  Every Wednesday in June (and possibly all summer if it’s well received), Bliss Ice Cream will donate 30% of its profits to two local organizations helping animals.  They have done this before with singular events, but this is quite the effort with a whole month of fundraising.  The two organizations they are helping are PAWS (rescuing homeless dogs and cats and finding them loving homes) and Adopt a Dog, both important organizations that can really use the money to help protect dogs and cats in the community.

Greenwich Restaurants Give Back to Fire Police Patrol with Patrol Dine Out

Here’s an easy way to give back to those brave men and women who give their time and put their lives in danger daily…just eat out.  Yup, just eat at some great restaurants in Greenwich on April 4 and you’ll be taking part in Patrol Dine Out.  Just pick any of the restaurants below and you’ll be helping the Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol!  Here’s a bit about this great organization from their site:

“The Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol is a volunteer company which operates under the structure of the Greenwich Fire Department in the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut. The company conducts traffic operations, scene control, salvage, lighting, and other support functions for the fire department at calls for service. The Patrol is under the command of its own Chief.”

• Arcuri’s Pizza and Salad
• Bistro Latino
• Chicken Joe’s Cos Cob
• Cos Cobber
• Crew Restaurant
• Gofer Ice Cream
• Joey B’s
• Louie’s Restaurant and Bar
• Pizza Post
• Riverside Square Pizza
• Sound Beach Pizza
• Swizzles Ice Cream
• Tomatillo Taco Joint

There are also some restaurants that aren’t participating, but are sponsors and should be thanked:  Beach House Cafe, Meli Melo, Morello Italian Bistro, Pasta Vera, Sundown Saloon, and Villa Nuova.

In addition, there are some awesome event sponsors and they are: Fairway Market, Pepe Auto Group, Greenwich Pharmacy, Rand Insurance, The First Bank of Greenwich, Putnam Shell & Food Mart, Greenwich Bank & Trust, Neal and Karen Neilinger, David and Kerrin Theis, The Joker

Save Some Serious Dough with Restaurant.com

Our obsession with Restaurant.com (not Restaurants.com) started years ago when we’d shell out $5 and get a $50 pass to restaurants.  The amount of money we saved was awesome and we continue to check this site when we want to save some major dinero.  We use it for local restaurants and especially when we’re on vacation and want to find a quick, inexpensive meal.

Chef’s Special Roll, Crispy Melt Goat Cheese Roll, and Crunchy Wasabi Tuna Roll at Bambou in Greenwich

It works pretty easily:  enter the city and state where you want a certificate then select the restaurant.  The most common option that you’ll see is pay $10 for a $25 certificate, but sometimes there will be bigger incentives like $20 for $50, $30 for $75, or even $40 for $100.  Before you purchase your certificate, just make sure that there aren’t any terms of the agreement that won’t work for you such as, “Only includes lunch,” or “No dinner on Saturday.”  Also, pay close attention to the fine print because some have an order minimum or some include a tip into the amount of the bill automatically.

Hold Your Table and Get Some Cash Back with OpenTable

One of the first things we do when we’re looking for a restaurant to hit up is check to see if it’s on OpenTable.  In just a few clicks you can see lots of restaurants in your area that are taking reservations.  From there, you can click on a restaurant, enter in your party size and time, then you’re on your way to booking your table.  You could even play restaurant roulette and enter a party size, date, and time and see which restaurants in the area have tables nearby.

Dino Poutine is killer, unique to Dinosaur Stamford

Recently, we used OpenTable to get ourselves some nice seats at Bar Sugo in Norwalk and Dinosaur Bar-b-que in Stamford.  Plus, we can’t tell you how easy this site makes vacation planning.  And, wouldn’t you know it, Dan’s Prius has OpenTable built into it?

When you show up for the reservation, make sure you give your name and they check you in before you find your seat.  At most restaurants you’ll earn 100 points for each time you show up and dine out.  There are even some restaurants on the site that will earn you 1,000 points for honoring your reservation.  When you reach 2,000 points you’ll be sent a $20 gift certificate usable at any OpenTable restaurant.

Here are just some of the OpenTable restaurants that you could hit up in just Connecticut: