Food Truck Festival + Tag Sale Appetizer for 2015 Daffodil Festival in Meriden

The Daffodil Festival in Meriden has quickly become one of the most anticipated festivals all-year long and marks the start of beautiful, warmer weather. This year the 37th festival goes down at Hubbard Park on 4/25 from 10-9 and 4/26 from 10-5. There will be a non-profit food tent for all your nomming needs, arts and crafts, a boutique, children’s rides, plenty of live bands, a parade, and fireworks on Saturday night. We’ve included a full schedule at the end of the post for you. 

Guten Grog 2014: Guide to Beer Fests + Oktoberfests in Connecticut

It’s hard to beat a crisp fall day.  Sweat isn’t pouring down your face and stinking up your clothes, there is excitement in the air, and…well…beer takes center stage.  (Then again, in our lives, beer always takes center stage.)  There are Oktoberfest beers, brown ales, and pumpkin beers as the last of the summer beers are drunk.  And, you better believe fall time means that Oktoberfest and beer festivals are in your plans.  Lucky for you we have been keeping track of all of these events throughout Connecticut and we proudly present them to you right here.  Prost!

Oktoberfests

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Beer Garden SoNo’s Oktoberfest, 1st Annual

Location:  Oyster Shell Park in Norwalk, CT

UPDATED! Date and time: 10/4 10/5 from 12-5

Cost: 1) General Admission is $10 with code IWANTIN or $20 at the door.  This gets you entrance, live music, food truck access, free bottles of water, and a chance to purchase beer.

2) The Beer Drinker is $30 with code GIVEMEBEER or $59 at the door.  This gets you entrance, live music, food truck access, free bottles of water, a commemorative tasting glass, and unlimited tastings from 12-5.  You can also buy beer, but you’ve got unlimited tastings!  Come on now!

3) VIP Access is $105 with code CANTSTOPWONTSTOP or $211 at the door. This gets you in an hour early, gets you unlimited tastings with a bigger 10 oz tasting glass, you can skip lines, you get a reserved table for singing beer songs, water, live music, food trucks, and you get to take part in The Beer Garden SoNo’s after party!

Description: Achtung, baby…the Beer Garden in SoNo is throwing a major par-tay at the beautiful Oyster Shell Park right in Norwalk. There will be beer, there will be music, and there will be food trucks, so we’re not really sure what else you need.  ;)  But, if you want some deets, here they are:  Blind Pug Ales, Shock Top, Widmer Bros., Goose Island, Hooker, Blue Point, Paulaner, Palm, Radeberger, Heineken, Guinness (they’ll be debuting a new beer), Strongbow, Newcastle, and more along with some great food trucks like Grab Your Balls, Cowabunga, One Bro Pizza Co, Tacos El Azteca, and Caseus. If all of that seems too overwhelming, they’ll have a digital guide that can take you from beer to beer and get you to where ya need to be.  While all the drinking and eating is going down, check out One Bad Oyster, The Adam Currie Band, Tim Currie’s Motown Band, and Beach Avenue who you might know from America’s Got Talent!  Deals go on until 9/26, so snag ’em while the snagging’s good. Children 13 or younger are free, btw.  A portion of sales will be donated to the Whittingham Cancer Center, too, so cheers to that!

Milford Oktoberfest

Location: Rotary Pavilion at Fowler Field, 1 Shipyard Lane in Milford, CT

Date and time: 9/27 from 12-9 pm

Cost: $10 per person, 16 and under free

Description: Sponsored by the Devon Rotary, the Milford Oktoberfest is one of the most popular scenes in the area.  There is a German biergarten, music from HitList, Rumrunners, and an authentic German band, a bratwurst eating contest, and even things for the kiddies to do while you get a refill.  And, food wise, you’re set with plenty of German goodies as well as some classic American dishes if you’re sausaged out.  Get your tickets at the gate or ask a Devon Rotary member, or call up Scott Moulton at (203) 306-5172 for more info.  

Oktoberfest on the Meadow, 4th Annual

Location: Stamford Museum and Nature Center in Stamford, CT

Date and time: 10/17 from 7-10

Cost: $60/$75 for non-members in advance or $70/$85 for non-members at the door (21+)

Description: SM&NC is one of our favorite places in Fairfield County and it’s also home to a great harvest festival weekend.  The ultimate kickoff to the weekend of cider making and family fun is celebrating fall and beer at Oktoberfest on the Meadow.  Plenty of great German brews will be flowing with live music from Green Eyed Lady.  Plus, it wouldn’t be an Oktoberfest without lots of great German food, and that’s what you’ll get with Old Heidelberg providing the delicious grub.  Oh…did we mention the S’mores bar?  Hell yeah.

Food Trucks in the Valley ft. 18+ Trux, Music, Cars, Fun, Black Hog Brews + More

So…remember when we wrote about the Meriden Food Truck Festival going down October 25 +26 just a few hours ago?  Yeah…well, we’ve got another one to share with ya, this happening much sooner (9/18 from 4-8) at the Shelton River Walk:  Food Trucks in the Valley!  This feast by the river is being hosted by The Lower Naugatuck Valley Parent Child Resource Center and will help to raise vital funding for them that will go towards programs and services such as helping people who have undergone severe trauma, abuse, or neglect.

Black Hog Brewing Opening Party Labor Day Weekend

 

Update as of 8/27:  32 oz. Squealers will be $7 or $8 depending on the style plus deposit if you’re buying from them.  You can also bring a growler and they’ll fill it for ya, just at a higher cost.  Tours will go on throughout the day, so just ask the kind folks there and they’ll hook ya up.  

The wait is finally almost over…Black Hog Brewing in Oxford will open for tastes, tours, and beer sales this Saturday, 8/30. Just come by their brewery at 115 Hurley Road, Building 9A, from 1-5 and kick off the 2014 Labor Day weekend right.

Oh, and you’ll want to come early, too. That’s because they are roasting a whole Berkshire pig just for ya…for free, too! And, if you want even more food or you’re not quick enough, The Caseus Cheese Truck will be there too, selling their awesome food. But, let’s get back to the beer-

Insider’s Look at NEAT of Westport: Part Cafe, Part Cocktail Bar, 100% Awesome

Uppers and downers all in one spot!

Espresso NEAT has built a reputation in Fairfield County as being at the top of their game.  Year after year, they’ve been awarded best cafe and best coffee, and after you’ve gone there, you can see why.  Owner Rachel Haughey and her crew pick their coffee beans with care and perform routine coffee cuppings to ensure that only the best quality coffee will be served at their Darien hotspot.  And, that quality comes through big time.  Add in their other options like tea, espresso, coffee, salads, snacks, breakfast goodies, and sandwiches, and you’ve got the perfect spot to hang out or grab a quick bite.  

So, to Rachel, it was only natural to take Espresso NEAT into the next phase of evolution by opening up a brand new restaurant that was part cafe and part cocktail bar.  The new venture, NEAT, will open up in the National Hall Campus in Westport in early August.  Working with Rachel in this venture will be owner of Experience Hospitality, Bobby Werhane, and Managing Director Kevin Daniel Lalumiere. Both Bobby and Kevin are locals, too, with Bobby coming from Westport and Kevin from Fairfield.  Kevin and Bobby unite Rachel’s expertise and cafe experience with an amazing resume of bars, restaurants, and shops.  The team at Experience Hospitality helped to bring some amazing restaurants into NYC like Spasso, dell’anima, L’artusi, and Johnny Utah’s, adding an even more rounded background to the structure of NEAT.  

Harbor Brew Fest 2014 Tickets on Sale Saturday, 6/21

Picture yourself here…what, you’re dunk already?

That’s right, tickets to one of our absolute favorite beer fests in the tri-state, Harbor Brew Fest at The Ball Park @ Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, go on sale June 21 starting at 9 am.  Tix are $40 for GA ($50 at the door if any tix are left) and $60 for the Brewer’s Special, which gets you in an hour early and gives you access to a special tented area for exclusive and rare tastings.  You can also get your tix at Harry’s (they help to make this festival so freaking awesome!) in Fairfield.  

9/20: mark it down!

If you went last year and thought they had an amazing selection of craft and local beer, then prepare to be blown away. Seriously, brace yourselves. That’s cuz this year on 9/20 from 12-5 (1-5 for GA), there will be over 100 breweries on hand!  And, whereas there was one giant tent filled to the brim with CT breweries down on the field, prepare for more on that green green grass!

CT Food News, Vol. 9: Hot Dogs, Cocktails, Free Oysters, Trux, Cooking Classes, Festivals, and More…

Well, what can we say but there’s a whole helluva lot going on in and around Fairfield County over the next two weeks.  So, in addition to our regular posts, we’ve gathered up some major highlights of things going on such as awesome events, special meals, beer news, beer dinners, cooking classes, farmers’ markets, festivals, ways to give back, and we give some props to a city in CT that just got some major press.  Check out more events here, too.

Cool (and Chow) Down

6/18-6/20:  Chef Storch of Match continues his themed lunches, this time with “Super Duper” Match.  And, if you’re wondering…yes, he’s featuring some of the greatest dishes from Super Duper Weenie:  the best hot dog joint in the world.  Check out Match’s FB page for the menu.

6/19:  The Chelsea in Fairfield is takin’ things back to ‘Nawlins with food and drink specials, mon cherie.  This is all in celebration of Marc Broussard hitting up Fairfield Theatre Company that day.

CT’s Biggest Food Truck Festival EVER, ever, ever: 1st Annual Connecticut Food Truck Festival

Set aside July 19 and 20…now…seriously…we’ll wait…

Update:  the festival organizer changed the price for tickets to $5.  Bring your ticket back on Sunday and pay only $2 admission! 

Connecticut peeps really like their food trucks.  And, on July 19 and 20 from 11-7 on both days, CT peeps are gonna fall straight up, head-over-heels in LOVE with a helluva lot of food trucks at the The Connecticut Food Truck Festival at the North Haven Fairgrounds.  Although the final details are still being worked out, there are already a few dozen trucks that have been signed up, with 40-50 expected by the time of the festival.  That brings this festival into the record books here in CT as the biggest food truck festival.  The previous record was at Westbrook Tanger Outlets with about 20 food trucks, and the recent RBS Food Truck Festival clocking in at 15.  And, the top record will soon be broken with an estimated 33 trucks at the Hamden Food Truck Festival…still not as big as the CT Food Truck Fest, though.  

Win 2 Tix to Half Full’s Hop, Skip + A Run 5K and Beer Fest

Two tickets up for grabs, click the pic.

On June 29 Half Full Brewery will host its first ever 5K and Festival featuring games, food trucks, and…wait, there was something else…oh yeah…BEER!  While you can certainly run or jog (or walk) your way to the finish line, you’ll also be asked to hop or skip at certain points of the race.  So, we were wondering, what would you be willing to do besides hop, skip, or run to get a Half Full beer?  Let us know on Facebook by clicking here and commenting.  You can also tweet @OmNomCT your entry, just be sure to include #HalfFull5K.   The contest begins now and goes until Friday, 6/20, at noon.  The random winner gets two registration tickets to the 5K and beer festival afterwards.

For more on Hop, Skip & A Run, please either check out our original post or check Half Full’s site where you can register.  In the meantime, here’s a breakdown of the day:

Hop, Skip + A Run 5k and Beer Festival from Half Full Brewery Kicks off Summer Right

Two tickets up for grabs, click the pic.

Take all that you know and think about 5k races and toss ’em away because Half Full Brewery in Stamford has a brand new experience for you.  That experience?  The Hop, Skip & A Run 5k Race and Festival that’s coming to Stamford on June 29.  The race starts at 17 Harbor Point Road where Paloma will be, goes along the boardwalk, then into Kosciuszko Park.  Jordan Giles, Chief Beer Organizer, shared more about the race with us:  “Hop Skip & A Run is a truly unique 5K in that participants will literally hop and skip a (small) portion of the route while running the rest. As with nearly everything we do here at the Half Full Brewery, we thought long and hard about how to put our upbeat and positive Half Full spin on the event.”