Win Two Tix to Battle of the Chefs @ Founders Hall in Ridgefield

Chefs Bernard Bouissou, Silvia Bianco, and Prasad Chirnomula will be competing in Battle of the Chefs! Read more to find out how to win a pair of tix!  Photo from Bruce P. Weber

You’ve been to their restaurants, you’ve tasted their food, so it’s about time that you got a chance to watch them cook live. Actually, cooking live is a bit of an understatement– we’re talking a full-on battle, Battle of the Chefs 2015 that is! On May 17 at Founders Hall you’ll watch Chef Silvia Bianco, private/corporate chef and cooking teacher, Chef Bernard Bouissou of the popular Bernard’s, and Chef Prasad Chirnomula of Thali (who is one of our faves and was also on Chopped) cook their hearts out in competition for the title.  Which of these badass chefs will create the entrée of the night using a secret ingredient? Well, a panel of judges including food writer, Jane Stern, and Monica Brown of No. 109 Cheese and Wine, will pick the winner based on creativity, craftsmanship, and taste. 

Noms: Taste of Ridgefield Returns for 16th Year, Full Details

Last year we travelled up to Ridgefield to get a taste of what they were cooking at their yearly Taste of Ridgefield event. One of our favorite restaurants in CT, Bailey’s Backyard, is in Ridgefield, so we figured we’d see what else the town and nearby areas had to offer. Turns out it had a whole lot to offer and we made our way through restaurant after restaurant, drink after drink. Despite the event being crowded (it’s in a bigger venue this year), it was fun, energetic, and was an absolute success.

Secret Ingredient Released for Battle of the Chefs with Chefs Pasternack, Storch, and Taibe

Grace Weber, executive director of Founders Hall, presents a fresh Pekin duck to Chefs Matt Storch, Forrest Pasternack and Jeff Taibe, who will be competing in Battle of the Chefs to benefit Founders Hall on Sunday, June 1, 4 -7 pm, at Founders Hall.  Photo by Karen Rayda.

Oh, duck yeah!  The first ingredient for the appetizer round of the Battle of the Chefs at Founders Hall has been revealed.  On June 8, Chefs Pasternack (Bailey’s Backyard), Taibe (leFarm/The Whelk), and Storch (Match, The Chelsea), will need to use Peking duck in their appetizers.  For these three talented chefs, we don’t think they’ll have too much trouble…but the real challenge is putting out the best duck dish.  Duck can definitely be challenging, too.  It’s pretty easy to overcook and should be served rare to medium rare.  Plus, it does take lots of work to perfect that perfectly crispy duck skin.

All three chefs will be cooking up 200 servings for guests who will then vote for their favorites on June 1 from 4 to 7.  While all three chefs do have the advantage of planning out their attack with the Peking duck, they won’t be so lucky when it comes to the entrée round.  That’s because they’ll open a basket filled with secret ingredients and will have only 40 minutes to put a killer dish together.  A panel of judges will then discuss each dish and pick the winner of that round.  If you want a taste of the entrees, you can buy a special chef’s table ticket.  And, even if you don’t buy that, all tickets will get you enough hors d’oeuvre to fill up that belly, an open bar (oh yeah), and plenty of amazing desserts.

Tickets are now on sale at Founders Hall in Ridgefield, online, or by calling up (203) 431-7000.  Tasting Table Tickets are $500, Floor Seats are $200, and Stadium Seats are $125.  To read more about The Battle of the Chefs, please check out our introduction post and to learn more about the great work of Founders Hall, check out their site.

In Bloom: A Review of Chef Pasternack’s Spring Menu @ Bailey’s Backyard in Ridgefield

The back room at Bailey’s Backyard also opens up to the outside for warmer weather…

It’s been a year since Sal Bagliavio and Executive Chef Forrest Pasternack worked together tirelessly to give Bailey’s Backyard a new vibe, a new focus on local food, and a new soul.  When we went for a pre-opening dinner back in April 2013, we were excited to see what Chef Pasternack was up to since he left Morello Bistro in Greenwich, where we first met him.  Our experience was amazing and we came back lots of times alone and with friends and family.  We came with our buddies Renato and Alicia, Jay and Ali, and even Kristien’s parents…closing the place down each time.  We even sent friends and colleagues, like Ashley and Rudy, Kristien’s hairdresser Ashley, Fran, Kelley & Mike, and many more… all who reported back with RAVE reviews. So, we couldn’t say no when we were invited back for a special writer’s dinner to introduce us to the spring drink and food menu, using local, in season ingredients.

Lucky us got the chance to literally taste almost the entire menu, and lucky you, we’re going to share all the juicy details!  Let’s take each dish in order of menu headings. Here we go…

Yeehaw! Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival Spans Two Days

Oh yeah!

Dagnabbit, Ridgefield’s done and gone all country up in this here place!  Yup, yup…check out The Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival on May 3 (11-9 pm) and May 4 (11-5 pm).  Entrance is $10 for adults, $5 for students 12-18, and $0 for children under 12.  Proceeds from Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival go to The Ridgefield Rotary Club, who is putting on this event with the Ridgefield Community Center.  Speaking of the Ridgefield Community Center, when you arrive at 316 Main Street, be ready for some BBQ madness and to be intoxicated with the smell of burning wood and smoking pork.  Here’s what you can look forward to:

Chefs Pasternack, Storch, and Taibe Face Off at Battle of the Chefs for Founder Hall Fundraiser

Chefs Forrest Pasternack of Bailey’s Backyard, Matt Storch of Match Restaurant in Norwalk, and Jeff Taibe of The Whelk and LeFarm in Westport will battle to benefit Founders Hall on Sunday, June 1, 4 pm, at Founders Hall.  Call 203-431-7000 for more information. Photo from Karen Rayda

Although June 1 is quite a while away, we wish we could fast forward to that date to witness an epic culinary battle at Founders Hall.  We speak of the Battle of the Chefs for Founder Hall where three chefs from Fairfield County will compete against each other in a food-infused brawl.  

Challenger 1:  Chef Forrest Pasternack of Bailey’s Backyard in Ridgefield.

Challenger 2:  Chef Matt Storch of Match in Norwalk

Challenger 3:  Chef Jeff Taibe of LeFarm and The Whelk…and a soon to open Japanese pub in Westport

All three challengers have extensive experience cooking a variety of cuisines, so it’ll be interesting to see what they bring to the plate.

This is how the night will go down:

Win a Bareburger Gift Card and Sir Kensington’s Condiment 4 Pack

What’s ironic about the name Bareburger is that you’d be crazy to ever order a bare burger there.  What, with all the different kinds of patties like beef, wild boar, ostrich, turkey, fried chicken, lamb, and wild boar, all the different burgers on the menu, or the countless options and toppings in order to make your own Barest Burger, you’d seriously have to be cray cray to order just a patty.

Well, whatever burger, sides, or shakes you order, things just got a bit saucier!  That’s because Bareburger is testing out a new ketchup in 5 select locations: Ridgefield, Park Slope, Chelsea, 73rd Street on the Upper East Side, and their Astoria location.  But, we’re not talking about just any old ketchup.  We’re talking about Sir Kensington’s, a gourmet, all-natural, non-GMO ketchup that some great restaurants like ABC Kitchen, Sarabeth’s, and Spotted Pig in NYC use.  Visit any of these locations, try out Bareburger’s new ketchup, then leave your feedback via comment card.

Bring It: New England Brewing Co. Fest 2014 @ Little Pub

Dumb snowstorm.  We don’t even know what the ridiculous name of this past storm was (Merlin? Lucius? Voldemort?), but we know that it sucked mainly because it hit the pause button on NEBCO Fest at Little Pub in Ridgefield.  But, chill…it was just the pause button.  There’s still plenty of New England Brewing Company brews available…and they’ve been aging for an extra day!  We bet you can taste that added depth that the day put in.

Food and Drink Aplenty @ 15th Annual Taste of Ridgefield

Ridgefield is quite the dining destination for many reasons. First up, it’s home to our favorite restaurant, Bailey’s Backyard with Chef Forrest Pasternack at the helm. Ridgefield was also recently noted as the place that has the highest restaurant to person ratio in Fairfield County.  And, it was named as one of the top 25 towns in New England for culinary awesomeness by GoLocal.

That’s pretty amazing if you ask us. Even if you don’t ask us, we’ll say it’s amazing. :)  Well, you’ve got the perfect opportunity to explore the food and drinks of Ridgefield with the 15th Annual Taste of Ridgefield event, put together by the Ridgefield Rotary. The food (and drink) coma from sampling at 36 different spots begins on 1/26 and will include two tastings from 12:30-2:30 and 4-6.  Tickets are $20 for kids aged 8-12, $40 if you buy tickets in advance or will be $45 at the door of the Ridgefield Community Center. Pick up your tix by visiting the Ridgefield Rotary site or pick them up from any Ridgefield Rotary Club member, Squash’s, Dimitri’s Diner, Cellar XV, Bistro 7, Deborah Annes, and the Women’s Center. 

And, here’s what you’ll get:

Bailey’s Backyard Hosts Local Farmers for Ultimate Farm-to-table Dinner

It’s always a strange moment.  

Invariably, people will ask us what our favorite restaurants are when we meet them or when they discover we have a food blog.  Although we spend countless hours writing about some of the best places in Connecticut and trying new places, our minds always seem to draw a blank.  But, then, we remember some of the best meals that we’ve had.  And, one of those places that we always mention to people is a quaint little restaurant in Ridgefield called Bailey’s Backyard.  We’ve been there three times already and plan to come back three hundred more times.  

Bryan Walsh is not only the mixologist, but is also in charge of the drink program at Bailey’s

You might remember back in March we interviewed Executive Chef Forrest Pasternack (formerly of Morello Bistro in Greenwich) and we saw how deeply devoted he and Sal Bagliavio (the owner of Bailey’s) are to the farm-to-table principle.  Yes, we know that word gets thrown around and is quite overused.  But, at Bailey’s Backyard it’s a literal interpretation.  Forrest and staff hit up the local markets and visit nearby farms to build their menu on a daily basis.