by | Apr 12, 2023 9:05 am | Comments (17)
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Vegans, beware. Cheesy school products get budget bump.
The city’s school board agreed to hand over extra cheese to a fromage contractor in a food-focused budget vote, prompting a debate around how much cheddar the district actually saves when choosing minimum-bid contracts that bulk up midyear.
by | Mar 10, 2023 12:34 pm | Comments (1)
(Opinion) From a “key” supermarket renaming to a history-making lemonade contract, from tree-massacre and parking-vs-patio showdowns to a $4 million composting quest, this week’s news put the food chain front and center in New Haven.
Will rubber soles gum up the works?
by | Mar 7, 2023 10:44 am | Comments (4)
Thomas Breen photos
Yezenia Lebron outside newly renamed Key Food at Ferry and Grand: Supermarket is "associated with this Latino community."
Yezenia Lebron succeeded in finding pork loin, bacalao, and Fiesta Campesina flower cookies at her go-to Grand Avenue grocery store — even as she struggled to get used to the supermarket’s new name above the door.
by | Feb 7, 2023 9:04 am | Comments (2)
Karen Ponzio Photo
Alexander Silver Angeloff and a sampling of his creations.
When you walk into The Cultured Café on State Street, you are greeted by the feeling that you’ve walked into as natural a habitat as you can find that is not actually outside. Philodendrons wind around glass jars full of fermenting vegetables on a wooden counter. Above, cotton ball-like clouds dot a blue sky ceiling. What the café serves is also as close to nature as it can be, courtesy of the café’s owner Alexander Silver Angeloff, who is trying to make the path into the world of natural health safe, welcoming, and delicious.
by | Feb 2, 2023 12:20 pm | Comments (4)
Thomas Breen file photo
City health inspector Brian Wnek (right) at Krauszer's in the Cove.
Proposed grading system for food establishments.
The next time New Haven’s restaurants sit for a Health Department test, customers may get to see the grade.
That would be the case if the Board of Alders passes a new legislative proposal submitted by the city’s health inspection agency.
Continue reading ‘Is That Kitchen Clean? Grade Plan Advances’
by | Jan 25, 2023 2:27 pm | Comments (0)
"Municipal Voice"'s recent interview with CitySeed, Sanctuary Kitchen leaders.
by | Jan 19, 2023 9:45 am | Comments (33)
Allan Appel file photo
Sandra's owners Miguel and Sandra Pittman: Planning to push back on zoning board rejection.
Nora Grace-Flood photo
The contested outdoor refrigeration containers on Arch St.
City zoners turned down a Congress Avenue culinary institution’s bid to store five outdoor fridges in a residentially zoned area — following testimony from the restaurant’s neighbor that the restaurant’s expansion has resulted not just in nationally renowned chicken wings, but also pesky rodents and stenches.
The restaurant’s owners now plan to contest that decision so that they can continue to keep corn, sugar, flour and plenty of perishables nearby as they look to continue serving the neighborhood they’ve long called home.
by | Dec 15, 2022 3:53 pm | Comments (29)
Thomas Breen photo
Mario Franco, play money in hand, at Thursday's protest.
A group of highway service plaza workers and union organizers showed up to a Church Street office lobby with $1 million in “cash” as part of a holiday-season pressure campaign against alleged wage theft at Dunkin’ Donuts.
by | Dec 14, 2022 4:27 pm | Comments (8)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
At the Greenwich Ave. C-Town: More aisles, coming soon?
A Kimberly Square supermarket is looking to stock more shelves and serve more shoppers — by first paving more parking spaces and later tearing down a two-family home.
by | Dec 12, 2022 9:16 am | Comments (8)
Maya McFadden photos
Semilla's Tortillería Collective co-founders: Ariana Shapiro, Elizabeth Gonzalez, Anabel Hernandez, Martina Perez, and Javier Gonzalez-Villatoro.
Freshly made tortillas, hot off the comal.
Standing over a hot comal filled with half-cooked handmade tortillas, Elizabeth Gonzalez pinched her thumb with her index and middle fingers to grip the corner of a puffy tortilla and flipped it over — showing in a single swift motion how she and a small group of worker-owner chefs hope to bring a Central American and Mexican staple to the streets of New Haven.
by | Nov 28, 2022 3:11 pm | Comments (8)
Maya McFadden photos
Sabrina Gibbs with daughters Xora and Nova.
Alder Smith greets Stetson Librarian Diane Brown.
Sabrina Gibbs and her two daughters Xora and Nova got a slice of their new neighborhood — and a slice or two of pumpkin pie — at a reborn West Hills community center’s inaugural “Our Table” Thanksgiving dinner.
Continue reading ‘Shack Sets "Our Table" For Thanksgiving Feast’
by | Nov 22, 2022 11:58 am | Comments (2)
Laura Glesby file photo
Alex Depavloff swirls Nan Rosa's oat milk chocolate cone.
Nan, Lux, Ben, and Gus Rosa with their dad, Evan, digging in on some Sunday afternoon East Rock ice cream.
As New Haven’s first wintery weekend settled over Orange Street, the sign outside Elena’s On Orange lit up — and welcomed a steady stream of families seeking solace from the acerbic wind in a sweeter kind of cold.
by | Nov 18, 2022 2:11 pm | Comments (3)
Maya McFadden Photo
New Haveners pick up turkeys from John Martinez parking lot.
Hundreds of New Haveners are now a bit more prepared for next week’s holiday meal after picking up a free bird at the city Youth and Recreation Department’s annual turkey drive.
Continue reading ‘Youth & Rec Hands Out 1,250 Turkeys At Pre-Thanksgiving Giveaway’
by | Nov 3, 2022 1:09 pm | Comments (2)
Noel Sims photos
Tacos Los Gordos, bustling with culinary activity on Wednesday.
The shop's "Day of the Dead" ofrenda.
A downtown taco shop has reemerged from its temporary fire-induced closure with new life, plenty of pozole and quesadillas, and a Día de los Muertos altar remembering lost loved ones close to the head chef’s heart.
by | Oct 31, 2022 2:00 pm | Comments (1)
Laura Glesby Photo
Fest Faves' owners, employees, and town supporters snip the opening ribbon.
Neon candied apples, plump corn dogs, flaky fried Oreos, and carousel jingles await customers of a new Whitney Avenue restaurant, where co-owner Victoria Streeto hopes to offer a time-traveling portal to childhood comforts and delights.
by | Oct 27, 2022 4:03 pm | Comments (10)
The Wine Thief at 181 Crown: Boxing out "package" competitor.
A Crown Street wine shop has succeeded in stopping a booze-dispensing competitor from opening down the street, at least for now, according to a proposed agreement that would put an end to a months-long court case.
Continue reading ‘Wine Thief Prevails Against High Competition’
by | Oct 26, 2022 9:31 am | Comments (1)
Abiba Biao photo
Church volunteer Lois Fucci at the pumpkin patch.
Hamden Plains United Methodist Church has carved out a pumpkin patch on Dixwell Avenue — continuing a seasonal tradition of full-circle fundraising.
Continue reading ‘"Pumpkin Church" Gets Out The Gourds On Dixwell’
by | Oct 21, 2022 2:01 pm | Comments (14)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
The now-closed Mexican eatery on Whalley Ave.
A currently shuttered Mexican eatery on Whalley may soon find company — in the form of six new apartments stacked atop the erstwhile dining and kitchen space.
by | Oct 19, 2022 3:09 pm | Comments (7)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
This empty Newhall St. church will remain an empty church, for now.
One planned convenience store won’t be coming to a former Newhallville church any time soon — while another convenience store might be on the way to the ground floor of a Hill house.
That was the upshot of two contentious Board of Zoning Appeals hearings at which two sets of neighbors pushed back hard on corner stores coming to their blocks.
Continue reading ‘Newhall, Sylvan "Convenience" Plans Contested’
by | Oct 17, 2022 2:35 pm | Comments (18)
Noel Sims photo
Former pharmacy site: New cafe still on tap.
Allan Appel file photo
Common Grounds co-owner Dena Jara and attorney James Perito with cafe photos at a November 2018 East Rock management team meeting.
A “Common Grounds” cafe duo still plans on opening up a long-delayed new coffee shop at the former East Rock Pharmacy site on Orange Street — even as their growing company takes over three now-shuttered Blue State Coffee locations downtown and in the Hill.
by | Oct 12, 2022 5:21 pm | Comments (8)
Paul Bass File Photo
Arvinas's John Houston adds oregano in the BAR kitchen.
A taste of next-generation New Haven corporate philanthropy emerged Wednesday — from a brick oven.
by | Oct 4, 2022 1:21 pm | Comments (3)
Paul Bass Photo
Alexis Evans at work at Raw Juicescape.
Alexis Evans was ready for the start of flu season with a natural weapon. Four natural weapons.
by | Sep 29, 2022 3:40 pm | Comments (3)
Markeshia Ricks File Photo
Kim Hart: Takes mission to D.C.
DeLauro, second from right, addresses White House conference.
Food access activist Kimberly Hart brought her voice to the White House and emerged with a national perspective on hunger — plus a little more hope.
by | Sep 29, 2022 9:12 am | Comments (1)
Noel Sims photo
At Wednesday's food entrepreneur showcase.
Tamales, cupcakes, hot sauce, and corn ribs were just a few of the locally made items on the menu at a Q House-hosted showcase of homegrown foodie talent.
by | Sep 19, 2022 2:18 pm | Comments (9)
Noel Sims photo
Edgar Marcial inside his now-shuttered Orange St. restaurant.
A kitchen-wall fire shut down Edgar Marcial’s Tacos Los Gordos restaurant barely a month after it first opened on Orange Street.
Now, the California transplant is working on raising money to rehab his recently renovated culinary home so that he and his staff can soon get back to cooking up and dishing out nopales tacos, esquites, and other Oaxacan fare.