What's Up, Mock?
by | Feb 6, 2025 11:34 am | Comments (1)
Dining
Anxiety Mixes With Adobo On Grand Ave
by | Feb 5, 2025 9:16 am | Comments (5)
Allan Appel Photos
J&J staple, arroz con gandules and maduro.
Jiminian: "I've just got to keep going" as ICE-raid fears keep customers home.
First sauté the peppers, garlic, and onions. Add your basic Caribbean spice mix, Adobo, then bring the pot of water to a boil. Pop in the gandules, or pigeon peas, add the arroz, the rice, cover, and cook on low heat for about an hour. And voila!, as they say in Spanish: arroz con gandules.
Brewery Birthday Bash
by | Jan 20, 2025 1:16 pm | Comments (0)
Arthur Delot-Vilain photo
Johnny Kraszewski, king for the day.
Ruling over the taps and the raffle tickets: King John “Johnny” Kraszewski.
Cellar On Treadwell Mixes It Up On Monday
by | Nov 26, 2024 8:27 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photos
Parlay Droner, with his "toys."
Music on stage. Art on the walls. Pizza and drinks on the table. Pickles in the corner. The latest installment of Mood Maker Mondays at The Cellar on Treadwell in Hamden featured all of the above, mixed together for a healthy-sized Monday night crowd who came out to hear experimental musician Parlay Droner and veteran surf rockers the Vulture, partake of Jam City Pizza’s Detroit-style pizza, check out the fantastical art of Thomas Drew, and sample the vinegar delights of Mo Piklz.
Continue reading ‘Cellar On Treadwell Mixes It Up On Monday’
Cold Comfort: Vegan Dessert Shop Opens
by | Nov 19, 2024 3:42 pm | Comments (5)
Paul Bass Photo
Plant-based panorama: Some of the flavors at newly-opened Vía Láctea
The sign said “frozen desserts.” Some people called it “ice cream.”
Whatever they called it, a crowd dug into scoops of plant-based … “nice cream?” Tuesday at a ribbon-cutting event on Whitney Avenue.
Pizza Club Serves Up Slices Of Art
by | Sep 9, 2024 8:45 am | Comments (2)
Karen Ponzio Photo
Michael Pollack and his pizza monument.
The subject of pizza is always on the minds of New Haveners, whether it’s deciding what kind to order and where to order it from or what makes the perfect pie and slice. On Friday night, those pies and slices were unveiled as the theme of a world premiere art exhibit at District NHV. “New Haven Pizza Club: Discover the Art of Pizza” showcased the four-year-long odyssey of artist Michal Pollack to commemorate everyone’s favorite meal as a contemporary symbol representing a local legacy.
Ozzy's Apizza Brings It All Back Home
by | Aug 9, 2024 1:39 pm | Comments (1)
Karen Ponzio Photos
KP's serving of Ozzy's Apizza.
New Haven-style apizza arrived in East Rock Market last weekend as the East Coast outpost of a super successful Glendale, Ca. location. Wait — New Haven apizza from L.A.? Yes, indeed.
Ozzy’s Apizza, which started in the West Coast kitchen of CT native Chris Wallace and made its way from pop up to mainstay in Los Angeles is now a part of Goatville. Pies with names like The Liotta, The Swanson, and The Bada Bing are already hits on the other side of the U.S. Now co-owners Wallace and Craig Taylor are hoping to become an integral part of their home state’s scene.
"Jammin" Salmon Seasoned Straight From Jamaica
by | Aug 8, 2024 11:34 am | Comments (1)
Brian Slattery Photos
Damien Clarke sauteeing vegetables at Jammin Jamaican.
Salmon and chicken, en route to being served.
Damian Clarke, chef and owner of Jammin Jamaican Cuisine at 611 Washington Ave. in the Hill, set to work preparing a salmon entree that has become one of the restaurant’s more popular dishes.
First, he chopped peppers and onions into neat strips. He folded a bunch of scallions in half before dicing them, using both onions and salmon to maximize the flavor. Then he sliced some thyme for extra seasoning.
Continue reading ‘"Jammin" Salmon Seasoned Straight From Jamaica’
A Blistering Merengue, & A Berry Good Time
by | Aug 6, 2024 8:22 am | Comments (1)
Carlos y su Movimiento Musical.
A dozen varieties of fruit flavors and a dozen Latin rhythms came together on Monday evening as the Westville Village Renaissance Alliance closed out HI Fi Pie, its series of outdoor concerts and pie-making contests held in Beecher Park, in front of the Mitchell Branch Library, in Westville.
Continue reading ‘A Blistering Merengue, & A Berry Good Time’
New Japanese Grocery Keeps Customers In The Loop
by | Aug 5, 2024 8:26 am | Comments (2)
Eleanor Polak photos
Jody Sharninghausen, at The Loop: “I think some of these things you couldn’t get in New Haven before.”
Beef and rice bowls, ready to eat.
Jody Sharninghausen bought matcha powder, umeboshi, and furikake powder to go — and ordered a fried chicken bento box to stay — at a new Japanese grocery store and restaurant downtown.
Continue reading ‘New Japanese Grocery Keeps Customers In The Loop’
The Ful Story
by | Jul 26, 2024 1:18 pm | Comments (2)
Paul Bass Photo
Sublimity, in a bowl.
Omar Rajeh had the slow-cooked fava beans ready to go. A little mashing, pinches of seasoning, a drizzle or two, and a signature dish was ready to go.
Vegan Kosher-Certifying Rabbi Rides To Felafelier’s Rescue
by | Jul 15, 2024 8:45 pm | Comments (6)
City development official Carlos Eyzaguirre, Whalley leader Allen McCollum, Eddie Eckhaus, Rabbi Andre Malek, Mayor Justin Elicker at Monday's ribbon-cutting.
Paul Bass Photos
Eckhaus's trademark super-stuffed felafel.
It’s a miracle how many toppings Eddie Eckhaus can stuff into a felafel sandwich. But he needed more than a miracle to make his felafel storefront succeed: He needed a maschgiach.
I.e. a rabbi who certifies that a restaurant serves kosher food.
Like Elijah the Prophet on the first night of Passover, that rabbi appeared at Eckhaus’s Lea’s Felafelhaus to-go storefront Monday for a ribbon-cutting bringing hopes for a business resurrection.
Continue reading ‘Vegan Kosher-Certifying Rabbi Rides To Felafelier’s Rescue’
Farmers Market Brings Community To The Table
by | Jul 8, 2024 11:45 am | Comments (2)
Eleanor Polak photo
Stephanie Berluti.
Stephanie Berluti of South Haven Farm was selling vegetables and greens at her stand at the CitySeed Edgewood Farmers Market on Sunday when she was approached by a man asking if she had any arugula.
Unfortunately, Berluti hadn’t brought any arugula that day — it had been too hot for it recently. The man was disappointed, but he still left her on a note of praise.
“He said my arugula ruined him for other arugula,” said Berluti. “This time of year, in the heat, farming can get you down, so it’s nice to get compliments.”
Continue reading ‘Farmers Market Brings Community To The Table’
Celebrated Indigenous Chef Tells The Stories Behind The Flavors
by | Jun 26, 2024 11:08 am | Comments (1)
Brian Slattery Photos
Sherry Pocknett: "We've been here for 12,000 years and we're not going anywhere."
Catching and cleaning eels with relatives. Learning about the migratory patterns of birds and fish. Deciding that snapping turtle soup might be your favorite dish.
For renowned Indigenous chef Sherry Pocknett — who led a cooking demonstration at Gateway on Tuesday as part of the Arts & Ideas festival – the cultural and personal history is part of what makes the food so rich, and the reason she cooks it so well.
Continue reading ‘Celebrated Indigenous Chef Tells The Stories Behind The Flavors’
Wooster Square Lines, Worlds Apart
by | Jun 18, 2024 2:09 pm | Comments (6)
Laura Glesby photo
Waiting for a pie from Sally's on Wooster St. ...
... as, right around the corner, Mykala Grace grabs two iced teas for maximum hydration at DESK's drop-in center.
Two lines that never meet form around lunchtime on one Wooster Square block: one for Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen’s drop-in center, the other for the world-famous Sally’s pizzeria.
Jitter Bus Coffee Breaks Grounds On Grand
by | Jun 13, 2024 11:27 am | Comments (9)
Arthur Delot-Vilain photo
Co-owner Paul Crosby: "The dirty chai is a crowd favorite."
After eight years of slinging coffee on the streets of New Haven, the Jitter Bus has brought their dirty chais and espressos to a newly opened brick-and-mortar store on the northern end of Wooster Square.
Continue reading ‘Jitter Bus Coffee Breaks Grounds On Grand’
Meat-Up Celebrates The First Burger
by | May 28, 2024 5:29 pm | Comments (4)
Paul Bass Photo
4th-generation Louis' Lunch burgermeister Jeff Lassen tends to lunchtime crowd in between hosting elected officials.
Fresh off planting New Haven’s pizza flag in D.C., Mayor Justin Elicker led an official delegation to Crown Street Tuesday to lay claim to yet another round-and-flat New Haven original.
"Local" Lunch At IKEA
by | Apr 4, 2024 4:18 pm | Comments (9)
Laura Glesby Photo
Lunch is self-served.
After a single bite, I realized I had ordered the wrong entree at IKEA. The “veggie balls” were a blank slate: a mush of chickpeas, carrots, peppers, and other veggies I usually enjoy, mashed and blended until they amounted to something almost as thoroughly bland as the cauliflower rice I got on the side.
A&I Gives Sneak Peek At 2024 Festival
by | Mar 29, 2024 9:18 am | Comments (5)
artidea.org
Jazz vocalist Samara Joy, an A&I headliner this year.
Shakespeare in circus, choral fusion, climate activism and optimism talks, making your own empanadas: this eclectic mix of events and more is part of this summer’s International Festival of Arts and Ideas, which is returning with a full schedule of programming that covers just about anything an arts and culture lover would have a taste for — and maybe something they have never tasted before.
East Rock Breads Breaks Into Business
by | Mar 22, 2024 3:57 pm | Comments (12)
Nora Grace-Flood Photos
Milling your own grain is like grinding coffee to order, according to Frisch, who does both.
Bill Frisch signed up for the city’s DNA of the Entrepreneur program — and found the right recipe to make his business, East Rock Breads, rise to the top.
City officials joined Frisch outside his shop at 942 State Street Friday to cut a formal ribbon for the new shop and publicize the secret ingredient to that shared success: $15,000 in funding from the city’s Leaseholder Improvement Program.
Tipping A Glass To 116 Crown
by | Mar 18, 2024 12:08 pm | Comments (3)
Bo Sandine with a signature gin and tonic in 116 Crown heaven.
The illuminated bar. The welcoming, gorgeous garden in the back. The carefully crafted cocktails, which were worth the extra time they took. Over its now-ended 17-year run, 116 Crown was a singular sensation.
Ribbon Cut On New Haven's Latest Hot (S)Pot
by | Mar 7, 2024 5:11 pm | Comments (11)
Partners in life and business, Jonathan Dolph and Hu Ping-Dolph: cheers to their newest restaurant.
Hot Pot is the name and aim of Hu Ping-Dolph’s latest New Haven revelation: a sit-down soup joint at 68 Whitney Ave. offering a steamy reprieve from the cold season.
Continue reading ‘Ribbon Cut On New Haven's Latest Hot (S)Pot’
Want Some Organ Meat With That Smoothie?
by | Mar 1, 2024 12:24 pm | Comments (10)
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
The Redberry Basil, Fruit Roll-Up, and "Fortitude" smoothies.
The thick, tawny mason jar smoothie I ordered from The Remedy’s Cultured Cafe on State Street looked, smelled and tasted like soft, cinnamon cream — despite the fact that it was filled with liver, pancreas, blood, tongue and heart.
It also had 2.5 mg of THC, a splash of CBD and CBG, maca- and ashwagandha-infused cashew butter, coconut yogurt and banana.
:( Bar Told To Stay Closed & Quiet
by | Feb 15, 2024 12:40 pm | Comments (5)
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
Emojiis: Closed Valentine's Day, ordered to stay closed after 11.
A bar has been barred from expanding its hours — after a plea by the owners of Emojiis on Middletown Avenue got more thumbs down than smiley faces from local police and next-door neighbors.
Pols, Pom-Poms Celebrate Pizza, Magnets
by | Feb 9, 2024 4:50 pm | Comments (5)
This reporter's favorite student as seen during Friday's Davis magnet school pep rally.
Nora Grace Flood Photos
Ernie's owner Pat DeRiso tries to get orders out for delivery while reporters hound him about National Pizza Day.
A plethora of pizza, pom-poms and politicians flooded Upper Westville Friday morning amidst a pair of symbiotic popularity contests – in which every party was a winner.
The slices of of za and strings of plastic were featured in two separate city celebrations taking place around the corner from one another.
Over at Davis Academy, students screamed out of ostensible excitement or, perhaps, excess energy as their principal announced that both The Magnet Schools of America and the University of Connecticut have recognized the school for “innovative excellence.”
Down the street on Whalley Avenue, politicians and thin-crust fanatics packed like anchovies inside Ernie’s Pizzeria for National Pizza Day and a proclamation by the governor naming New Haven the “Pizza Capital of America.”