Places to Eat the Easter Bunny in Fairfield County

We know you’ve seen the awkward pictures: crying kids, afraid for their lives, trying to free themselves from the grips of the Easter bunny conveniently located at your local mall. Truly, pics with Peter Cottontail are enough to scar a child for life and make them fear furry white things. But, then again, perhaps it has inspired a growing crowd of people who call themselves Furries and kinda dig furry white things. Either way, it’s hard to understand this Easter bunny thing. Does he lay eggs or just steal them from chickens? That’s kind of mean, right? Well, it’s our time to get revenge on him for stealing all those eggs and for haunting our nightmares. Yes, we present to you a guide to some Fairfield County restaurants where you’ll be able to enjoy your own portion of the Easter Bunny.

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Rabbit loin with lentils, prunes, and mustard oil at Bar Sugo in Norwalk

Bar Sugo, Norwalk: Chef Pat Pascarella takes great pride in his use of game and you’ll often see rabbit on his menu. Whether it’s in the form of a meatball, loin, or another creation of his, it’s always great.

Crafting Modern American Dining at Artisan in Southport, CT

Roasted Tomato Soup

Red Eye Revival made with Whistle Pig

Grilled Local Calamari

Tuna Crudo:

Crusted Nantucket Fluke

Rabbit Ragu at Artisan

Artisan Sundae

People throw around big words all the time, so much so that they begin to lose their meaning. Foodie, farm to table, organic, handmade, and artisan (to name a few). It’s not that we hate these words or what they stand for, but take artisan for example…brands like Lays hijacked the word and weakened the cache it carries with machine-created artisi-ficial products. With that being said, there’s a restaurant set away in the Delamar Hotel called Artisan that actually lives up to its name.

In style, it’s sleek, modern, and comfortable, while the food is American at heart, though it is inspired and influenced by a classically trained French chef, Frederic Kieffer. Along with working at various restaurants in Paris, he has also worked at Windows on the World, C’est si Bon, Gaia, and l’escale, Artisan’s sister restaurant. And, you can add another feather to his cap:  gardener.  That’s because he manages, grows, and helps to pick herbs in the Artisan patio garden.  Rosemary, Genovese Basil, Sweet Thai Basil, chives, lemongrass, parsley, Italian Parsley, and other herbs are all at Chef Kieffer‘s disposal throughout the summer and fall.  And, because there isn’t an infinite amount of space at Artisan and the Delmar, they get a big portion of local produce from Gilberties Farm in Westport, even planting some of their own veggies and herbs there.  Now that is artisan:  cultivating and creating beautifully finished products by hand.

SBC and Willimantic Brew CT Beer Week Signature Beer: White Willi

Dave from Willimantic and Mark from SBC Brewing up Awesomeness. Photo from Willimantic’s FB page.

Introducing…the one, the only…White Willi.  It’s a collabo between Dave Wollner of Willimantic Brewing Company and Mark DaSilva of Southport Brewing Company.  They met at SBC Stamford just yesterday to get the brew started.  This bad boy will be a beautiful, sessionable beer.  Here’s a bit more about it:

Cool Beans: The Buzz Truck Set to Percolate, Caffeinate + Feed the Masses

Update:  The Buzz Truck is running and fully caffeinated!  

Mornings, afternoons, or whenever you wake up from your late night out just got a helluva lot better.  That’s ‘cuz we’ve got a brand new food truck that’s ready to hit up the streets of Fairfield County called The Buzz Truck.  Run by husband and wife team Alex and Jess Grutkowski, The Buzz Truck is nearly ready to get us buzzing with caffeine and fill us up with some awesome local baked goods.  We think their new food truck will fill a major void in Fairfield County and will round out events perfectly.  So, let’s hear a little bit from Jess about how The Buzz Truck came to be, what drinks and food they’ll feature, where they plan to be stopping and setting up shop, and what their plans for the future are.

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Where did the idea for The Buzz Truck come from?

The idea came about organically, just from being a coffee lover and a mom short on time. My husband Alex and I both have a corporate background (online advertising and public relations, respectively). We always knew that someday we would start our own business, but it took some time to come up with the right idea. We thought about children’s parties, the Community Theater in Fairfield, mini golf, but nothing was “just right.”

I was always late to pick up my girls from nursery school at Earthplace…it was kind of embarrassing. But my friends and I would always cover for each other when we were late to pick up, especially since some of us drove from Fairfield and would get stuck on the highway or behind school buses.

I remember being in line one day watching the clock – slightly panicking – and the only guy in front of me pulls out a piece of paper and starts reading off orders…”One sugar, free, non-fat, vanilla latte, extra hot 190 degrees, not a ton of foam.” I was left to choose:  be late again or ditch the line and forego coffee all together.

Then the idea hit me. Why isn’t there an ice cream truck, but for grown-ups, with coffee? Even the name, The Buzz Truck, came to me at that moment. I could drive to the nursery school at pick-up time and the moms and staff could get coffee or tea, kids snacks and drinks.

Got Spoon? Nomworthy List of ChowdaFest 2014 Finalists Named

ChowdaQuest, the quest for the fest, was a huge success this year and it placed some amazing restaurants into the 2014 ChowdaFest competition through your votes.  Going down on SOUPer Bowl Sunday, 2/2, from 11 am to 3 pm, ChowdaFest VI promises to be even more awesomerest than last year!  Tickets will be just $10 and benefits The Connecticut Food Bank!  We’ll have more details to share with you shortly, but in addition to everything that makes Chowdafest great like sampling chowders and voting for your favorites, there are tons of new things that you’ll love!  And, speaking of liquid goodness, check out the winning competitors for ChowdaFest 2014 to be held at Webster Bank Arena:

New England Clam Chowder:

Bernard’s (Ridgefield) – first year

Donovan’s (Norwalk) – defending champion

Go Fish (Mystic) – first year

Guvnor’s Brewery (Norwalk) – first year

Mansion Clam House (Westport) – 2 time champ

Old Post Tavern (Fairfield)

Rory’s (Darien)

Wood’n Tap (Orange and various locations) – first year

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Traditional Chowder (Manhattan/RI only):

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.

Harvest Table 2013: Raising Funds for the Hungry in Fairfield County

 

On Sunday, November 3, be sure to head down to The Italian Center in Stamford between 11-2:30 for a day of food sampling, tips on entertaining, auctions, and a luncheon discussion on how to help the hungry of Fairfield County.  This is all part of Harvest Table, the annual fundraiser for New Covenant House of Hospitality.  NCHH is the only soup kitchen that provides for all Lower Fairfield County and is also part of the Community Plates network.  Entrance for the event is just $50 plus a non-perishable food item.  Besides raising money for this worthy charity, check out some other reasons why you should come along:

Food Samples and Style Watch

ChowdaQuest 2014: Tons of Restaurants Compete for Coveted Spots at ChowdaFest

We’ve covered ChowdaFest for the past few years and we’ve been happy to see it grow into one of the most popular events in Connecticut.  Really, what’s better?  You pay just a small amount of money to go around and taste chowder after chowder, soup after soup, then vote on your favorites.  And, at the end of the day, you feel good knowing that you’ve helped Connecticut Food Bank.  Now, the next ChowdaFest isn’t until February 2, 2014, but there’s lots going on before then…namely the brand new experience called ChowdaQuest.  

Which of these soups from Ginger Man will you like the most?

ChowdaQuest is “The Quest for the Fest” and will put even more power in the hands of hungry chowda-sippers.  This all new experience came about due to so many restaurants wanting to be involved, but only having a limited amount of spots in the competition.  All you need to do is check out any of the restaurants that we’ve listed below, ask for their soup sampler, then vote for your favorite soup by heading to ChowdaQuest.com.  You get one vote per restaurant per valid e-mail address, so make sure you’re voting for your absolute favorite soup from each restaurant.  The restaurants with the most votes by Thanksgiving will get spots in ChowdaFest 2014, so make sure that you support your favorite restaurants by voting!  While you’re on the voting page, make sure to enter the Sierra Nevada contest.  Just explain where your favorite place to drink Sierra Nevada is and you just might win dinner for two at any of the restaurants that are participating in ChowdaQuest 2014.  

Here is the massive list of restaurants that are participating in ChowdaQuest 2014.  Some of the restaurants are still waiting to confirm with Jim (nothing next to their name), but will be ready to go shortly:

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

Celebrate IPA Day with CT Brews and Vote for CT’s Best IPA!

Awesome IPADay banner from The Drink Nation

August 1.  It’s a day each year when we pause to remember the brilliant men who loaded hops into beer to preserve it on a long voyage on ships to India.  We salute you, o’ brave and tenacious travelers.  And, we thank you!  Your invention far surpasses the usefulness of things such as wheels, pulleys, levels, and even filtered water.

Yes, it’s on this day when we profess our love of IPAs!  Say it loud, say it proud:  I drink India Pale Ales!  And, to help you fuel up this day, we’re providing you with a list of IPAs made locally that you should try.  Also, please vote below by Thursday (8/8) for your favorite CT IPA.  We’ll announce a first, second, third, and OmNomCT choice winner next Friday, 8/9.