by | Jan 28, 2021 2:39 pm | Comments (0)
Emily Hays Photos
Saba (mackerel) sashimi.
Chef Sunny Cheng slipped a tiny sculpture under the plexiglass around his sushi bar. A transparent pane of kombu (seaweed) topped a delicate slice of mackerel and ball of rice.
He pushed the plate with the saba sashimi towards me, as though he were letting me in on a secret.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Sunny’s Mackerel Sashimi’
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 24, 2021 12:03 pm | Comments (9)
Maya McFadden Photos
Alder Honda Smith enlists neighbors, Hindu Temple in pandemic quest.
Continue reading ‘West Hills Pulls Together To Feed Families’
by | Jan 21, 2021 6:29 pm | Comments (7)
Courtney Luciana photo
Mayor Elicker (second from right) helps cut the ribbon at The Neighborhodo Cafe on State Street.
City and state officials looking for a sign of small business hope amidst the ongoing pandemic found one — well, four — on Upper State Street, in the form of local restaurants still open during Covid.
Continue reading ‘4 Ribbons Cut For Resilient State St. Restaurants’
by | Jan 19, 2021 4:56 pm | Comments (1)
“At times the only thing that was in our house was water and flour. We would mix the water and flour and put it in the oven. And that was breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
Continue reading ‘Mini-Documentary Shows The Face Of Hunger In New Haven’
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 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 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.
by | Dec 24, 2020 10:26 am | Comments (2)
Bruce Seymour Photos
“I was walking past Lucibello’s this morning,” Bruce Seymour wrote in on Thursday after visiting the Grand Avenue Italian pastry shop, “and was inspired to send you these pictures.
“The line runs AROUND the building. Everyone socially distancing, and getting some of the best cookies in the world.
by | Dec 23, 2020 5:58 pm | Comments (2)
Maya McFadden photo
Rodney Williams on Nov. 5 in Fair Haven, at one of a half-dozen neighborhood mask giveaways he led across the city.
Courtney Luciana photo
Phi Beta Sigma fraternity members outside Stop & Shop in September, preparing for door-to-door food delivery.
Thomas Breen photo
YNHH nurses and medical personnel celebrated on April 9 in a honk-a-thon led by firefighters and police.
During a year of unprecedented hardship, New Haveners stepped up to help their neighbors survive — with packets of masks, with boxes of food, with backpacks and cash and emergency healthcare.
Thanks to their efforts, 2020 will be remembered not just as a time of great suffering, but as a time of generosity and support as well.
by | Dec 23, 2020 5:52 pm | Comments (1)
Maya McFadden Photo
Mayor Justin Elicker lends a hand at Wednesday’s pre-holiday distribution.
As the holidays approach, city staff distributed 7,000 masks to Fair Haveners Wednesday to prevent the spread of Covid in one of the city’s hotspots.
Continue reading ‘City Serves Masks Along With Meals At Covid Hotspot’
by | Dec 23, 2020 1:09 pm | Comments (1)
Courtney Luciana photo
Seared Blackened Tuna Tataki.
Chef Nixon Sambuaga of newly opened kosher restaurant Fin and Scale on Whalley.
“You’re going to fall in love,” Chef Nixon Sambuaga promised, “after you try this.”
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Nixon’s Kosher Tuna Tataki’
by | Dec 22, 2020 9:09 pm | Comments (0)
City government and business leaders have launched an “Eat New Haven” campaign to encourage people to order from restaurants to help them survive the Covid-19 pandemic.
by | Dec 21, 2020 3:34 pm | Comments (2)
Emily Hays Photo
Ketkeo Rajachack with daughter Christine Son at Pho Ketkeo.
Ketkeo Rajachack learned to make khao poon from her mother to sell from an open-air tent in Laos. Now she cooks and sells the dish at her Temple Street restaurant, Pho Ketkeo.
by | Dec 17, 2020 4:50 pm | Comments (4)
DESK’s future new home.
Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) has purchased 266 State St., one of the brick buildings sandwiched between Cafe Nine on Crown Street and the State Street Parking Garage. The nonprofit plans to move into the building in 2022 and transform into a one-stop-shop for people experiencing homelessness.
Continue reading ‘Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen Buys New Home For Expansion’
by | Dec 15, 2020 1:58 pm | Comments (2)
Maya McFadden Photo
Rasheed at the Hill substation.
At 10 years old, Jamilah Rasheed had one used pair of shoes for school. Passed down from her cousin, the shoes were a size too small. Her family couldn’t afford anything else. A hole eventually formed in the back of those used shoes until Rasheed couldn’t wear them anymore.
She thinks back on that time as she enlists New Haveners to help a new generation of young people stay warm this the winter.
Continue reading ‘Help “NICE” Neighbors Clothe Kids In Cold’
by | Dec 15, 2020 1:57 pm | Comments (0)
Sophie Sonnenfeld Photo
Alison De Renzi and Francesco d’Amuri.
L’Orcio lights up State Street as it has for the past 18 years with customers dazzled by the Tortelli di Zucca and Pappardelle Al Ragù.
by | Dec 11, 2020 10:59 am | Comments (3)
Avi Szapiro at work.
On the evening of Dec. 19, my wife Suzanne and I will cook a whole fish while being advised and encouraged by an expert at such delicate culinary matters.
It’ll be an adventure, I’m sure, just as on previous Saturday evenings when challenged by this internationally trained chef to do the right gastronomic thing, we have complied — though not always without some strain and a sprinkling of four-letter commentary.
by | Dec 10, 2020 2:22 pm | Comments (1)
Maya McFadden Photo
Shilmat Tessema has mastered making food that you don’t need utensils to eat.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Shilmat’s Yemisir Sambusa’
by | Dec 9, 2020 1:00 pm | Comments (4)
Linwood “Woody” Lacy found his wings, and never gave up on his cooking dreams — which spawned a colorful spin on surf and turf.
by | Dec 8, 2020 1:24 pm | Comments (1)
Emily Hays Photos
Te Amo Tequila co-owner Sonia Salazar.
As Georgina Iglesia’s chicken soup simmered in the kitchen of Te Amo Tequila, Iglesia herself was 2,096 miles away in Barranquilla, Colombia.
Her granddaughter Sonia Salazar was the one stirring the soup and adding onions, jalapeños, cilantro and avocado on top.
by | Dec 7, 2020 1:49 pm | Comments (0)
Laura Glesby Photo
Pataka co-founders and brothers Romy and Harry Singh.
If you ask for a Chana Kulcha, Harry Singh will give you two pockets of homemade pita, overflowing with a fruity mix of sweet chutney and warm spiced chickpeas. The pomegranate seeds on top will burst with tart flavor like the fireworks after which Singh’s restaurant, Pataka, is named.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Singh Bros.’ Chana Kulcha’
by | Dec 4, 2020 3:57 pm | Comments (2)
Brian Slattery Photos
Lara.
Aaron Lara added a final touch — a sprinkling of freshly cut scallions — to a Peruvian rice bowl, one of the most popular dishes at Bomb Wings and Rice. With its combination of marinated chicken, aji verde (a flavorful green sauce) and rice and vegetables fried fast in Bomb’s special sauce, the dish balanced tastiness and healthiness, or, as owner Jason Teal put it, “naughty and nice,” a mindset that has guided Bomb since its opening in March 2019 and through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Aaron’s Peruvian Rice Bowl’