Nom Away @ 7th Annual Food + Wine Tasting ft. Stamford Favorites

Check out this great event with details in this post.

The North Stamford Exchange Club is hosting its 7th Annual Food & Wine Tasting this Friday from 7-10 at the Italian Center . . . and we hope you can make it. The tasting (or gorging if you’d prefer 2nds and 3rds) features some great favorites from across Stamford, including one of the most anticipated restaurants that’s ready to open. Tickets are just $50, 4 for $190, or 6 for $270 with proceeds going directly to local scholarships and organizations. The organizations that will be helped are the Exchange Club Parenting Skills Center of Stamford, ARI, The Salvation Army, Stamford Youth Foundation, MarcUS for Change, Pacific House Homeless Shelter, and the Turn of River Fire Department and the Belltown Fire Departments. Get your tickets here, at either BevMax (Ridgeway or East Main) or by calling up Amy at (203) 667-1202.

2016 Greenwich Wine + Food Festival Tickets Giveaway Game Plan

We had lots of entries (thank you!) and we’ve picked our random winner. Well, without further adieu, meet our winner: Michael Drazin from Instagram!

The 2016 Greenwich Wine + Food Festival is just around the corner . . . and we’ve got some exciting news for you. We’re working with the good people at Serendipity Magazine and GW+FF to give away two General Admission tickets for Saturday, September 24. Those two tix will get you full day entry from 12-10 and includes the Grand Tasting Tent, celebrity chef demos, interviews, and book signings, sandwiches, cocktails, bbq, burgers, tacos, beer, wine, and a stunning finish with Old Crow Medicine Show and Ziggy Marley!

Community Plates Looking for Food Runners; One Night Only Fundraiser at The Spread

Community Plates, a non-profit run by volunteers, is looking for more food runners to help them accomplish their food rescue mission. And, with more places than ever that are sharing their food for pickup, it’s more vital than ever to join the able corp of food runners. There are over 300 food runners in Fairfield County alone, but they are hoping to add at least 50 by the end of this month. With your help you can boost these numbers even more: 8 million meals saved, equal to 12 million pounds! New members who are doing their runs can post a pic using #bgooddoesgood and b.good will give you a free meal in return. 

Cheers: THC Beer Garden (Largest in CT) Opens in Derby

The main room at THC beer garden in Derby. Pic from THC’s FB page.

Beer gardens have seen a surge in popularity in Connecticut over the past few years. But, no matter which beer garden, there always seemed to be something that was just off: one was too small, one didn’t serve good enough beer, one wasn’t open all year round, one didn’t (insert your gripe here). Well, that’s about to end with the opening of T.H.C. in Derby at 77 Sodom Lane. 

Book It: Stamford Literary Pub Crawl to Benefit Ferguson Library

Happy Hour is cool and everything, but how often have you been able to really catch it? Most of us suckers are stuck at work, finishing that report or presentation, or running errands. So, why let Happy Hour end so early? Solution: join the Literary Pub Crawl in Stamford on October 13 from 6-9:45. Registration is $10 with profits going directly to Stamford Library and here’s how it works:

14 Local Chefs + The Wailers ft. at Most Innovative Chefs Gala @ 2015 Greenwich Wine + Food Fest

While we love the Grand Tasting day at the Greenwich Wine + Food Festival, we have a real weak spot for the Friday night event: the Most Innovative Chefs Gala. The event features the best food and chefs from Connecticut and Westchester, drinks, and live music from big bands. 

And, while we’ve always had a great time, this time around we think that we’re going to have the best time ever! That’s because The Wailers (yes, THE Wailers, AKA Bob Marley’s former band) will be hitting the stage during the night of September 25 from 7-10:30 at the Roger Sherman Baldwin Park in Greenwich. Oh, but there will be much more, especially with the featured chefs and restaurants who will be preparing some amazing bites of food. These chefs include: 

Lugano Wine Bar + Salumeria brings upscale, delish, and affordable Italian to Old Greenwich

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You know (and maybe even love) Molto, ZAZA, Dolce, and some time in the next two weeks, you’re going to know and get intimate with Lugano Wine Bar + Salumeria of Greenwich. This impressive restaurant portfolio belongs to Nick Racanneli Jr. and Senior (and partners), and they know how to do it right. Go into any of these hotspots at night, and you’ll notice the same thing: they’re packed, probably because of the cozy, yet stylish decor, the good prices, the solid drinks, and the dependable Italian food. So logic will tell us that Lugano, located at 1392 E. Putnam Ave. almost on the Greenwich / Stamford border (where Bistro Latino was), will be a huge success. We were lucky enough to get a sneak peak and are pretty psyched about the things that make Lugano similar to the rest of their restaurants, but also, the things that make it unique. Let us break it down into sections for you.

The Menu

Like ZaZa, you can expect an excellent variety of Italian tapas, even some of the tried and true items like their Roasted Truffle Sprouts, Creamy Polenta, and their Crostini. Some other tapas that got us all hungry include Italian Cheese Gravy Fries with bolegnese and creamy burrata, Baby Lamb Chops, Spicy Wings, Panzanella, and Smoked Salmon Carpaccio. In addition, you can go balls to the wall with a meatball tasting for $3.50 for a small order or $10 for a large. Order up the Beef (tomato, basil, grated parm), Turkey (sesame soy jus, scallions, spicy aioli), or House Blend (beef, pork, lamb, tomato, basil, ricotta). Or even get a sampler for $10 so you don’t have to decide.

2015 Farm-to-Trumbull Dinner Series Kick-off w/ Connecticut Farm Table Cookbook Authors @ Parallel Post

Although the farm and the love of all things local has never left Parallel Post in Trumbull, it’s been a while since they have had their Farm-to-Trumbull event. This year actually marks the third year that this awesome celebration of local food has taken place and this year it’s going to be even more amazing.

The first intimate event (only 30 attendees) will be held on June 25 and starts at 7 pm with tickets costing $110 per person or $200 per couple (tax and tip included). While that price might seem high, you’ll be getting plenty of great things:

Brick + Wood Continues Guest Chef Series with 6 Local Restaurants from July to December

Brick + Wood in Fairfield has a whole new selection of great guest chefs in the works for the next few months. While Ryan Fibiger of Fliesher’s Craft Butchery finishes up the first series on June 10, Chef Jes Bengston (one of our favorite people in the world) from The Granola Bar is thinking hard about her specialty collaboration pie that will be featured on July 8. From there, a handful of other chefs and one awesome restaurant owner and BBQ boss will work with the chef and owner of Brick + Wood, Paolo Cavalli, on a pizza that highlights the chefs’ tastes and creativity down to their core. 

Just look at this talent:

A Fresh Look at the Spring Festival Menu @ Bistro Versailles in Greenwich

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French restaurants often get a bad rap, but maybe there’s a reason for that. Many of them give off a snooty, better-than-you, hands-off, 1% kind of vibe. Plus, you need to be prepared to foot a major bill that may require you to sell off one of your kidneys at the end of the whole experience. But, then there are some really great French restaurants that offer an authentic experience without all that baggage. And, yes, Bistro Versailles in Greenwich is one of those great places.

Recently, we attended their La Soirée Printanière event to celebrate the start of spring. The dinner consisted of 8 courses that were paired with 7 different French wines: yeah, they definitely went all out. But before we even dug into that they kicked things off with a few different hors d’oeuvre like freshly smoked salmon and pate on toast, a rich and flavorful housemade chorizo with flavorful chayote, and a cocktail made of pureed cantaloupe, rum, and orange. All the small bites were tasty and the cocktail was very refreshing, with an exotic, on the beach in Cannes taste to it (or at least that’s what we imagine a drink on the beach in Cannes tastes like–hopefully next year we’ll find out for sure).