The culinary landscape of New Canaan now includes the vibrant cuisine of the Iberian Peninsula with the opening of Picador, the second restaurant of owner Alan Basaran. Located on Elm Street in the space formerly occupied by Harvest Supper, the interior’s décor offers a warm and inviting environment as backdrop to the region’s vibrant cuisine. Copper-topped tables and a wrap-around leather-covered banquette fill the entire back and side walls with additional copper-topped tables with dark leather chairs occupying the remainder of the space. The walls are adorned with plates, mirrors and sconces; reminiscent of the region.
It’s 8am on a Friday and we’re here to observe the inner workings at Isabelle et Vincent, aka The French Bakery in Fairfield. Eight a.m. is nowhere near the dark morning hours one would associate with a baker’s schedule, and yet there’s plenty going on even at this “late” hour. In one corner of the kitchen, a wide galley space behind the counter lined with ovens, a gigantic standing mixer, and speed racks of measured flour and finished pastries, strawberry tarts are being assembled. The scent of fresh berries, an enormous pile of ruby red, hit us before we even laid eyes on them. In fact, the entire space is a feast for the senses. Piles of baguettes, stacks of macarons in a rainbow of color, glistening apple tarts, fondant covered eclairs, and savory quiches...close your eyes and just imagine a symphony of freshly baked bread, butter, sugar, fruit, and chocolate. It’s incredible.
Un autre grand restaurant Français ouvre dans New Canaan. Oops, I got ahead of myself. What I meant to say was another noteworthy restaurant, Boulevard 18, a French Bistro and Wine Bar, officially opened last Friday in New Canaan and the food is well worth a night out.
The 62 Main Street address has been transformed into a little bit of Paris by owners Steven Semaya, Luciano Ramirez, Henry Rosenbaum and Chef/Owner David Raymer (Strada 18 in Sono).
Oceanview Café is your typical diner. They serve breakfast and lunch with the common bacon, eggs, home fries and toast, and burgers, you get the idea. It is not a big place, with 8-10 tables, tops. Decorations of marine life and fish nets echo the area of its location but postcards from France that peer at you through the glass on the tables offer a subtle hint to what Chef Jean Paul Pauillac is all about. French cuisine.
Every Friday and Saturday night, from 5:30-9:00 p.m.,Pauillac, who once worked at Maxim’s in France (as did Wolfgang Puck) and La Grenouille, turns his modest diner into a French culinary experience. After his friends pleaded with him to cook up some French classics, the idea caught on and the semi-secret menu began. And what’s even better than this "underground restaurant", are the prices, the ability to BYOB, and more importantly, the food.
Boulevard 18 is scheduled to open during the latter half of January 2012 on Main Street in New Canaan. The restaurant will offer a French Bistro / Gastro-pub experience from the décor, to the beer and wine selections, to the traditional fare offered in Parisian bistros. The second venture by the team of Chef David Raymer, Steven Semaya, Luciano Ramirez and Henry Rosenbaum, Boulevard 18 will maintain the same philosophy as its sister Italian café restaurant, Strada 18 in SoNo, of quality food at quality prices.
Chef Raymer described Boulevard 18 as “going back to my roots.” After leaving college to form a rock band in NYC, Chef Raymer supported his life as a musician by gaining experience and working his way up the ladder in the kitchens of several of New York’s glamour restaurants, including Joanna’s Restaurant and Gotham Bar and Grill.
Walk under the blue awning and into the open doors of Caroline’s Crêperie and you’ll feel as if you’re walking into Caroline’s very own French home. With the warm, helpful service and Caroline herself standing at the helm making crêpes and welcoming clients into her buzzing restaurant, you can’t help but be charmed by this new restaurant on New Canaan's Elm Street.
Fire up the grill tonight ... your outdoors will get great with the flavors and the aromas of Grilled Marinated Flank Steak !
Whether you're cooking chicken, burgers, steak, fish on the grill, a tasty marinade gives taste and tenderness to every meat. You can use almost everything you have in your kitchen to make your own marinade. Today, I decided to buy a piece of Flank that I marinated with : Olive Oil, Garlic, Onions, Basil, Thyme, Parsley, dried Herbes de Provence, Barbecue Sauce and few drops of Tabasco. Check out the recipe below. The result: a serious crowd pleaser.
On Bastille Day, everyone is a little bit French. Each year on July 14, citizens of France, francophones and francophiles across the globe celebrate La Fête Nationale or Bastille Day, France's independence day that commemorates the storming of the Bastille in 1789. Here is where you can go to celebrate this national French holiday, including a Supper Club, Street Fairs, and a Country French Buffet.
Once Le Chambord vacated its location on the Post Road (you have to be a true townie to remember it), Da Pietro’s staked its claim as Westport’s standout “classy joint” from the late 1980s on, and today is like the town’s elder statesman in the restaurant realm. A seamless fusion of French and Italian cuisine, a tour de force of European refinement and classic technique, Chef Pietro Scotti’s repertoire has evolved with the times, but his establishment is still a benchmark of classic fine dining in the area, and he's still in the kitchen.
Happening by Riverside Avenue recently you might have seen a chalkboard sign subtly advertising DaPietro’s weekday lunch and dinner prix fixe deals. For real? Yes, $12.00 gets you a two course lunch, three courses for $15.00, and at $33.00 for dinner (drinks excluded), you can enjoy a three course meal and be privy to the chef’s wonderful creations.
What do you get when you combine a Greek-Lebanese restaurateur with a French chef? A Mediterranean bistro with brasserie flair. In Darien, a town long on Asian eateries and upscale pub fare, a true ethnic restaurant is a welcome addition. In fact, Cafe D'Azur Mediterranean Bistro & Creperie's opening was highly anticipated by those of us familiar with Myrna's eponymous restaurant in Stamford, a popular lunch spot.
I dropped in on Cafe D'Azur a couple weeks after it opened
Ah, Versailles. So distant. So unreachable. So . . . French.
Well, that’s how our group felt after canceling /rescheduling our planned trip to this well-established Greenwich eatery THREE separate times. As it turns out, each date was snowier, icier and slushier than the one before. It took three snow storms, three snow days and nearly a month, but we finally made it.
The new location (a few doors down from the original on Greenwich Ave.) is lovely and trimly elegant. We arrived early for lunch … and it’s a good thing we did. The dining room was full to capacity -- with a line out the door -- by 12:20.
Whether you are a hopeless Francophile or just a lover of confections, macarons are the pinnacle of dessert perfection. A cross between a tiny cake and a cookie, macarons boast smooth and delicately crisp exteriors that give way to light and pillowy interiors and are filled with sweet and occasionally savory fillings. In the right hands, they can be the miraculous result of a few deceptively simple ingredients of almond flour, eggs and sugar.
Each year on July 14 citizens of France, francophones and francophiles across the globe celebrate La Fête Nationale or Bastille Day, France's independence day that commemorates the storming of the Bastille in 1789.
So what better way for CTbites to celebrate this holiday than to look back at a few of our French-inspired fare we've featured over the past year such as Lucs Cafe, 1020 Post, Meli Melo and Isabelle & Vincent. We know there are many more in our neighborhood here in Fairfield County and we look forward to exploring them in the months to come.
I hope our list inspires you to célébrer la fête nationale française. I know I am already thinking about where I'm going to order a Croque Monsieur and scare up a game of pétanque.
Don't let the lace curtains and stately brick entrance fool you. Behind the doors of this new French Bistro, named for its location on the Post Road in Darien, is an airy room with coffered ceilings and a sleek zinc bar that buzzes--loudly at times--with the chatter of locals every night of the week. Located within walking distance of the Darien train station, 1020 Post, which opened its doors a little more than a year ago, pulls people in like a magnet for dinner and drinks after work and lunch during the week.
On a chilly Tuesday night, I arrived with four friends to find packed tables and a bustling bar, which was lined with large glasses of Malbec and Pinot Noir. Nearby, people dined on bar stools at one of two tall community tables, where small groups can enjoy a quick bite without a reservation
Yesterday a group of CT Bites and Suzysaid readers enjoyed their first in a series of lunch events, this one at Cafe Lola in Fairfield. The dining room was abuzz with satisfied diners who, for a mere $15, savored a wonderful 3 course meal in the warmth and elegance of owners Ivanina & Henri's Donneaux French bistro.
We arrived early to check out the scene. In the kitchen, Chef Henri had things under control and was beginning to prep his first plate of Ratatouille. Ivanina (who manages the restaurant and creates their excellent wine list) was greeting guests and making sure things were running smoothly. And they were! I sat down with two of our CT Bites contributors, Sarah Green and Jenny Vynerib and began strategizing the meal.
Back when I lived in the city, I hit my corner bistro when I craved comfort food. There’s one on practically every corner. But since I moved to Westport, the authentic bistro has been elusive. That is, until friends turned me onto Café Luc’s, a homey, out-of-the-way Parisien gem tucked behind Ridgefield’s main drag, for real-deal peasant fare in one of the town’s oldest and most rustic buildings.
To get to Café Luc’s, you cruise up the winding Rte. 35, past antique farmhouses and sprawling country spreads, until you hit Ridgefield’s postcard-quaint town center.
Admittedly, it’s a bit of a schlep for a weekday lunch, but the payoff is a steaming crock of soupe à l'oignon gratinée or a heaping bowl of moules marinières with addictively thin and crunchy pommes frites—perfect cold-weather food. It’s a taste of Paris secreted away in the ‘burbs.
On Tuesday December 8th & Wednesday Dec 9th 2009, CT Bites and Suzysaid invite you to anexclusive lunch event at Cafe Lola in Fairfield. This $15 prix fixe lunch includes a fabulous goody bag with products and coupons from local vendors, and a 3 course meal. Menu is below.
Reserve your spot now by calling 203-292 8014, and mention CT Bites. Lunch is available from 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM.
There aren’t too many places in Fairfield County I’m excited to go to when meeting a friend for lunch, butMeli Melo(French for ‘hodgepodge’) in Greenwich is one of the few places that always comes to mind.It is an authentic Parisian crêperie, serving both sweet and savory crêpes, luscious sandwiches, hearty salads, and a wide variety of soups… not to mention homemade ice cream, sorbet, and any combination of smoothie you could possibly conjure up.
When I ask my children what treat they prefer, I used to hear only chants of ice cream... or rich frosted cupcakes. Since Isabelle et Vincent opened their seventh-generation patisserie and chocolate shop in Fairfield, I now hear pleading for croissants, brioche, mille-feuiiles, and chocolate eclairs.
In addition to the perfectly flakey, buttery pastry crust, and the melt in your mouth chocolate desserts, Isabelle et Vincent makes some of the best baguettes in the area. For $3.50, you can take home any variety of multi-grain, tomato-basil, onion-bacon, or the classic... that is if you can make it home without consuming the entire loaf in your car.
