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March 2009

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• 03.20.09
  UNPASTURIZED, UNFILTERED, UNPARALLELED Uncategorized | (0)

  The LBC/File 3/20/2009 The Manhattan Cask Ale Festival kicks off today at Chelsea Brewing Company in Manhattan with 45 'real ales' on hand for your beer-drinking enjoyment. The event runs through Sunday and is "pay-as-you-go," as in: you pay by the pint, or half-pint, as it were. DOWNLOAD: the beer list here. I ain't supposed to be working today, so I'll just leave you with a link to a previous cask ale post on the LBC. –CP
• 03.20.09
  WHOOPIE PIES? FOR REALS? Uncategorized | (0)

  Whoopie pie, Keene, New Hampshire. 3/18/2009 During a visit to New Hampshire in the fall I encountered the Whoopie pie. My brief experience with this dessert snack left me with the distinct impression that people in New Hampshire must be crazy. When asked what – exactly – the filling of a Whoopie Pie is made of, the guy at Beaver St. Market in Keene told us, "you know, the regular whoopie pie filling." As we pressed him for a more detailed list of ingredients, he gives it up: powdered sugar and Crisco. At this point I should disclose that I hate most frostings when ...
• 03.20.09
  TV UPDATE: SUPER DUPER WEENIE ON FOOD NETWORK Uncategorized | (0)

  3/16/2009 You've seen the sign off of I-95 in Fairfield but if you haven't pulled off on Black Rock Turnpike for a dog at Super Duper Weenie, you don't know what you are missing. I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a hot dog guy; at restaurants and even back yard barbecues - you all know – I'm going for a cheeseburger, but Super Duper is the one extraordinary exception. Guy Fieri's Food Network show, Diners Drive-ins and Dives, which recently featured Norwalk's Valencia Luncheria [watch here], will air a segment about Super Duper Weenie tonight at 10 p.m. The ingredients are first rate; the ...
• 03.08.09
  STREET FOOD NEW YORK: CARNE ASADA AT CALEXICO Uncategorized | (0)

  3/7/2009 CALEXICO: WOOSTER AND PRINCE, SOHO, NEW YORK It's finally warm enough to wait in line for 15-minutes for a burrito from the Calexico cart in SoHo. The brothers from San Diego, who took top honors at the 2008 Vendy Awards, serve up California style tacos, burritos and quesadillas at Wooster and Prince Streets in Manhattan. RECOMMENDED: Carne asada burrito and a Toronja Jarritos, $10. –CP
• 03.08.09
  WHISKEY FOR HIS MEN, BEER FOR HIS HORSES Uncategorized | (0)

  3/06/2009 Outlaw country legend and American icon Willie Nelson is set to perform at The Palace in Stamford next month. [Tickets go on sale today] According to The Smoking Gun, during a recent tour Willie and company required – among other things – a ton of organic fruit and vegetables, juices, milk, "local or regional dishes requested. Few to no fried foods," two dozen free-range eggs and "butterfly cut organic free range pork chops." I can't imagine what a local Stamford specialty dish could be, but I'm guessing he's not going to go for the sausage and hot oil pie from Colony. –CP OVERHEARD AT ...
• 03.08.09
  COFFEE GEEKS UNITE! Uncategorized | (0)

  ABOVE: 14 grams of a Kenyan peaberry in my favorite ceramic cone dripper today in the Advocate photolab. 3/2/2009 Have you ever poured a cup of your morning coffee and thought to yourself, I detect a hint of lemongrass with subtle blueberry undertones, a silky mouthfeel and clean finish? THIS ONE'S FOR YOU: The Connecticut Coffee Society, a local Meetup.com-based group, is holding its first coffee cupping of 2009. This meeting's featured topic: water composition. Yeah, I know, but before you take a pass, if you haven't been to a cupping before here is your chance. Cuppings are an industry-standardized way to assess coffee quality ...
• 03.08.09
  A BELATED MARDI GRAS: SHRIMP ETOUFFEE Uncategorized | (0)

  ABOVE: Shrimp étouffée over rice. 2/28/2009 I was a little under the weather this week, so whipping up a New Orleans dinner for Mardi Gras was out of the question. I'm just now catching up. Without overlooking gumbo, po' boys, boiled crawfish, bread pudding (and let's not forget sazeracs), when I think of New Orleans, I can't stop thinking about étouffée. For my money, crawfish étouffée is the quintessential Crescent City dish, but around here it's easier to use shrimp, unfortunately. After some Internet research over the past couple of years, I've settled on a recipe from NOLAcuisine.com, with just a couple adaptations [there ...
• 03.08.09
  O BOURBON, WHERE ART THOU? Uncategorized | (0)

  2/27/2009 Despite the cold that has been dogging me for a week, I managed to make it to see Ruth Reichl, the editor of Gourmet, speak at Columbia University's School of Journalism last evening. I overheard a little snickering from a couple of students before the lecture; perhaps food writing holds not the gravitas of the other subjects featured in this weekly magazine lecture series, but it is worthy nonetheless. After picking up a copy of the magazine on the way into the lecture hall, I was surprised to see just how much it has changed under her leadership. Reichl's Gourmet delves into the ...
• 03.08.09
  THE GREEN MERMAID HITS SOUTHFIELD? Uncategorized | (0)

  02/20/2009 The Advocate's Elizabeth Kim is reporting on plans for a new Starbucks on the West Side next to the old Bongiorno's at 288 West. Ave. FOR THE RECORD: I'm going to call this Southfield, not the West Side, but I guess it's sort of a middle ground. It will be the first Starbucks in Stamford with drive-through service and will be an easy on-and-off from exit 6 north or south-bound. RELATED: this week's sign the apocalypse is nigh: Starbucks begins selling instant coffee. To be honest, this doesn't really bother me all that much since I can't bring myself to drink Starbucks coffee ...
• 03.08.09
  BURGER BAR: PERFECTION, GRILLED Uncategorized | (0)

  A Kobe beef burger with goat cheese, $18. 2/16/09 BURGER BAR AND BISTRO: 58 NORTH MAIN ST. Wary, of course, that I may need to rename my blog “...A Hamburger Today,” we are talking here about yet another burger joint...except that Burger Bar & Bistro, in South Norwalk, is hardly ‘yet another’ anything. My only real hesitation was that I was Hollywood-stopping at all the intersections off exit 14 instead of recklessly blowing through them with eager anticipation for my meal. I was visibly giddy with expectancy because Burger Bar is unquestionably the gold-standard of hamburger purveyors in Fairfield County, a class not without formidable ...

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