by | Apr 6, 2021 2:03 pm | Comments (2)
The plate was set for a return to social dining.
A friend who recently moved to East Rock called last week inviting us to a dinner party.
A dinner party? Leave the house? Eat with other people? Change my sweatpants?
by | Mar 31, 2021 3:13 pm | Comments (2)
Emily Hays Photos
Robert Harris: I can’t make just a little collard greens.
It was 30 years ago when Robert Harris finally got his mother’s collard greens recipe exactly right.
Now he doesn’t even have to taste the cooked greens to know that they are ready for the customers of his Whalley Avenue restaurant, Mama Mary’s Soul Food.
by | Mar 25, 2021 9:20 am | Comments (0)
Social media spats and California wildfires. The difficulties of freelance writing careers. But most of all food — growing it, foraging for it, cooking it, eating it.
On Wednesday night, these were some of the contents of the latest episode of Co Create, a conversation series hosted by Nadine Nelson, head of Global Local Gourmet, interdisciplinary artist, and creative in residence at the New Haven Free Public Library.
by | Mar 24, 2021 3:06 pm | Comments (3)
Lisa Reisman Photos
Chef and manager Kenia Calderon at the grill.
Kenia Calderon slathered Italian bread with mayonnaise and layered on lettuce and tomatoes. She slung sliced ribeye steak, onions, and cheese onto a grill. She gently transferred the sizzling ingredients onto the sub.
Calderon then wrapped up one of New Haven’s best-kept secrets: B&M Deli’s grilled steak and cheese sub
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Kenia’s Steak & Cheese Sub’
by | Mar 17, 2021 5:55 pm | Comments (2)
Courtney Luciana photo
Loretta and Louis Abate.
Regardless of lines going out of the door of New Haven’s renowned “Little Italy” restaurants, many owners didn’t think they were going to make it through the pandemic.
Continue reading ‘Wooster Square Rolls With Pandemic, Ready For Spring Rejuvenation’
by | Mar 15, 2021 12:46 pm | Comments (9)
A new chicken joint has opened in Newhallville, with a name that echoes New Haven’s history.
by | Mar 10, 2021 12:54 pm | Comments (1)
Lisa Reisman Photo
Zinc’s Alex Blifford prepares chicken pad thai meals to go.
Today’s idea for helping a restaurant weather the pandemic, through to-go orders.
by | Mar 2, 2021 10:11 am | Comments (0)
Allison Hadley Photos
In these days of quarantine there are few thrills like that of the doorbell — a mix of danger and excitement, anticipation and fear of contagion. When a crisp and optimistically white Atticus Bookstore Cafe-branded paper bag awaits, the day becomes like a holiday. When it’s filled with products birthed of partnerships and local flavor, doubly so.
Continue reading ‘Atticus/Chabaso Joins Forces With Foodie Start-Ups’
by | Feb 16, 2021 12:57 pm | Comments (2)
Lisa Reisman Photos
Devil’s Diet beet salad with goat cheese panna cotta.
Leave it to Alba Estenoz, widely known in these parts as the celebrated pastry chef at Zinc, to feature a beet salad with goat cheese panna cotta as a way of introducing The Devil’s Diet, the new dessert bar on the Howe Street side of The Novella apartment complex at the corner of Chapel.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Alba’s Beet Salad With Goat Cheese Panna Cotta’
by | Feb 15, 2021 1:46 pm | Comments (2)
Emily Hays Photos
Sandra Pittman with her blackened salmon platter.
The oil sizzled as soon the salmon fillet hit the pan.
That noise was the hint that the fish would turn out crispy but not overcooked, explained Sandra Pittman, chef and co-owner of Sandra’s Next Generation.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Sandra’s Bourbon-Glazed Salmon’
by | Feb 12, 2021 1:40 pm | Comments (0)
Charred Chicken bowl.
You can watch Gabi Merayo make one of B‑Natural Kitchen’s signature healthful dishes in the above video. You can actually pick up the dish — and stay healthy — through a contact-free system the restaurant is pioneering in town.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Gabi’s Charred Chicken Bowl’
by | Feb 10, 2021 2:21 pm | Comments (5)
Maya McFadden Photo
Ricky Evans with Brisket Kansa-Lina Fries creation.
For Ricky Evans, owner of Ricky D’s Rib Shack, cooking up comfort food behind a grill totally beats wearing a suit and working in Corporate America.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Brisket Kansa-Lina Fries’
by | Feb 8, 2021 1:21 pm | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photo
Nicole Ellis, owner of Around The Clock Restaurant and Bar on Dixwell Avenue in Hamden, said new customers looking for Jamaican food often have two questions.
First: “Do you sell oxtail?”
And second: “Is it soft?”
by | Feb 3, 2021 11:28 am | Comments (3)
Emily Hays Photo
When Dave Singh first tried navratan korma in New Jersey, he knew he wanted the creamy, vegetable-filled curry on his own restaurant’s menu.
Twenty-five years later, Singh’s Tandoor The Clay Oven has sold over 100,000 servings of the “nine-gem” korma.
by | Jan 29, 2021 4:16 pm | Comments (4)
Brian Slattery Photos
Khalid: Never gave up on his vision.
To make the lemon chicken at Ali Baba’s Kitchen, Jamshed Khalid started by cutting boneless chicken breasts into strips. He then marinated it, for at least 12 hours, in a blend of special spices.
I wondered what was in the blend.
“Should I tell you?” Khalid responded with a laugh. “No.”
by | Jan 27, 2021 6:21 pm | Comments (3)
Dylan Sloan Photos
After its Reuben sandwich won accolades, the crew at Olmo decided to adapt the recipe to a breakfast sandwich.
As Olmo remodeled its Trumbull Street dining room during the pandemic to become a takeout storefront called the Bagelry, the retooled Breakfast Reuben has become a bestseller.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Craig’s Breakfast Reuben’
by | Jan 27, 2021 10:37 am | Comments (0)
Rosen.
What is a book
It’s a simple question — it’s a rectangular object with pages, and those pages most likely have words on them, and you read it to get information, or be told a story.
Right?
But what if there are no words? What if the pages are filled with images? What if they’re empty? What if the book doesn’t open like books usually do? What if it can become another shape altogether if you unfold the pages right? Is it still a book?
Continue reading ‘Bookmaker Reads All The Way Between The Lines’
by | Jan 22, 2021 2:15 pm | Comments (2)
Brian Slattery Photos
The order for a Super Supreme baked potato at Spuds Your Way in Hamden took owner and cook Jared Cohen either mere minutes — or over 12 hours — to prepare, depending on how you counted.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Jared’s Super Supreme Baked Potato’
by | Jan 18, 2021 2:31 pm | Comments (0)
Lisa Reisman Photos
“Baking is unforgiving,” said Bryan Burke as he poured flour from an industrial-sized bag into a container on a commercial scale at Sherkaan, the restaurant in the alley across from Yale Bookstore.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Bryan’s Butter Chicken Pie’
by | Jan 15, 2021 4:07 pm | Comments (1)
Dylan Sloan Photo
Chef Isaiah Perez applies the finishing touches.
Since adding the “Prison Reformer” hot dog — spicy mustard and his signature sauce — to the menu at Jordan’s Hot Dogs and Mac on State Street, Corey Spruill has gotten plenty of questions from customers.
He intended it that way.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Corey’s “Reformer” Frank’
by | Jan 14, 2021 12:34 pm | Comments (1)
Nora Grace-Flood Photos
Ernesto García at work.
“You never stop moving in the kitchen!” Ernesto García remarked as he sliced avocado, cooked tortillas, and directed employees.
Minutes later, one golden arepa filled with black beans, plantains, avocado, tomato, and crispy mozzarella lay plated on the bar of Rubamba, García’s High Street restaurant.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Ernesto’s Venezuelan Arepa’
by | Jan 11, 2021 2:12 pm | Comments (2)
Emily Hays Photos
Kuro Shiro owner Kenny Kim prepares vegan tantanmen.
The broth was creamy, savory, almost nutty. And it was vegan.
Kuro Shiro owner Dohyuan “Kenny” Kim created his recipe for vegan tantanmen with his younger brother. It was a twist on the meat-based, Japanese noodle soups that were just getting popular in the U.S. at the time.
by | Jan 8, 2021 4:16 pm | Comments (4)
Brian Slattery Photos
Hazan.
Jessica Hazan, chef and owner of The Soup Girl on Whitney Avenue, thanks the insistence of a customer for getting her to come up with a recipe for gumbo, which has turned out to be one of the takeout place’s most popular dishes.
by | Jan 7, 2021 6:36 pm | Comments (0)
Sophie Sonnenfeld Photos
Tony Zhang (momentarily unmasked for the photo).
Chef Tony Zhang’s squirrel fish is traditional dish with an individual spin: a boneless deep-fried sea bass with pine nuts, green beans, corn, carrots, and a homemade fruit sauce, a traditional dish with an individual spin. It also happens to be his boss’s favorite dish .
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Zhang’s Squirrel Fish Dish’
by | Jan 4, 2021 3:42 pm | Comments (0)
If you order Mikro Depot’s Sunday brunch in Hamden and can’t decide which breakfast food you are craving most, you can ask for the French toast and get the flavor of multiple breakfast foods all in one order.