For fans of the cozy and enemies of the conventional, Friday night was an evening of tunes, nosh, and acoustic soundtracks to old silent films at Upper State’s Volume II. It was one of the first out-of-town shows for Aesop’s Sound Fables, an ambient chamber music ensemble based in Brooklyn.
The group alternates between silent film sets like Friday’s, called “Strange Animations,” and “Soup Shows,” which are accompanied by readings and, yes, soup.
Though Friday was not officially a Soup Show, New Haven soupheads found a way to bring in a steamy chowder anyway. Aesop’s Sound Fables’s local-talent openers included soft-spoken singer Melanie Champagne, indie band Old Milk Mooney, and pop-up chef Soup Pauper, who’s been slinging broth in New Britain and New Haven since the beginning of last year. Let me lay out the scene for you, one sense at a time.
91 Diner owner Stavros Karadimos with his son, decades ago.
On its last day, the diner's door "kept revolving" with customers saying goodbye.
“I feel like I’m grieving a death,” said Georgette Ieraci, as she described the feeling of saying goodbye to the Middletown Avenue diner her family opened and ran for 38 years.
Doug Coffin, Next Door founder and owner, at closing night.
Teary eyes graced Next Door’s dining room Sunday night as pizza-lovers took in the sights and smells of the beloved pizza restaurant for the last time. It was Next Door’s last day in business before closing its doors forever.
... preparing food that Jerome Hauser, Jr. served up to guests like James Davis, in the Hill.
Jerome Hauser, Jr., Diamond Tree, Zelinda Clark, Tony Evans, and Rev. William Mathis had half an hour to go Thursday before the expected lunchtime rush at a newly opened soup kitchen in the Hill.
The fried chicken, beef, hash browns, and corn were hot. The takeout containers were stacked and stickered. Motivated by a commitment to feeding the hungry, the crew was ready to serve.
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Lisa Reisman |
Mar 27, 2025 11:19 am
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Strega New Haven's Danilo Mongillo.
Midway through a recent conversation at Strega New Haven on Chapel Street, Danilo Mongillo paused. His phone was ringing again.
Mongillo, Strega’s owner and executive chef, was talking about the roots of his ragù sauce. “There is nothing really to it, there is no other way to do it,” he went on, after hanging up. “The roots are there. You can’t change it. You can put a different ingredient on top to finish, but in the end this is about knowing our roots.”
Earlier this month, Gambero Rosso, the world’s foremost authority on Italian food, wine, and travel, recognized the pocket-sized Chapel Street restaurant for its excellence in authentic Italian cuisine.
Atticus expansion rendering, now rendered obsolete.
The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) unanimously rejected Atticus Market’s bid to build a second bathroom at its East Rock grocery and convenience store — citing concerns that the proposed 600-square-foot addition would be “incongruous with the neighborhood.”
Coordinated Food Assistance Network (CFAN) volunteers prepare food bags in August 2023.
President Donald Trump’s administration has officially canceled an expected $800,000 in federal funding designated in October to Connecticut Foodshare, the state’s primary food bank.
Umut Yasmut brings the kanun to RAWA, all the way from New York.
As Umut Yasmut filled the dining area of Westville’s Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fusion restaurant RAWA with cascading melodies, the New York musician said that his instrument, an intricately carved stringed creation, did not exist.
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Maya McFadden |
Mar 4, 2025 8:29 am
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Maya McFadden File Photo
At January's Local 217 rally at Gateway Center.
Pay raises laid out in the new four-year deal.
The Board of Education unanimously approved a new contract for the school district’s cafeteria workers union that includes a $6‑per-hour raise over four years and stepped-up training for lead cooks.
Antonio Portillo presents demand letter alongside ULA members.
(Updated) A pay dispute at a downtown restaurant ended with a manager threatening to call immigration authorities — and pro-immigration activists showing up to demand respect.
Connecticut’s primary food bank is preparing to lose at least $800,000 in federal funding, as food pantries and soup kitchens across the city brace for a dual storm of federal budget slashes and an expected rise in hunger.
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Thomas Breen |
Feb 26, 2025 2:14 pm
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I-91 diner, under new ownership.
A gas station development crew from Trumbull and the Bronx has purchased the I‑91 diner site for $1.225 million — as a neighbor seeks to stop the burgers-to-fuel conversion through a state court appeal.
Rendering of proposed addition, as viewed from Linden.
A group of East Rock neighbors are raising a stink about Atticus Market’s plan to tack on a new 600-square foot structure to the grocery and convenience store to make way for another bathroom.
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Arthur Delot-Vilain |
Feb 7, 2025 7:49 pm
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Colin Caplan: Ready to set a new Guinness World Record.
DATTCO Pizza bus, at Friday’s shindig.
The effort to canonize pizza as the heart of Connecticut’s cultural life continued apace Friday morning, with local connoisseurs and state politicos in attendance on Crown Street to announce a host of ah-beetz events in the works — including a pizza party of world record-setting proportions.
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Chris Randall |
Feb 6, 2025 10:15 am
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The main dish.
While some customers wary of ICE raids stayed home, Alexis Ramirez was as usual marinating sliced pork shoulder in a blend of dried chiles, achiote, pineapple juice, and spices.
NICE Director Rasheed: “People know we’ll be here and won’t fail them.”
Sacred Heart University student Pavan Morla and his three roommates showed up to the Howard Avenue police substation just before noon — to pick up apples, tomatoes, cheese, and milk, at a food pantry that has been serving the Hill for nearly a decade.
