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espresso NEAT: 20 GROVE STREET, DARIEN

8/31/2009

Espresso NEAT opened today in Darien and brings – as promised – a uniquely serious approach to coffee in Fairfield County.

I could go on and on and on (and on) about coffee, but I’ll spare you. Just trust me, if you’ve experienced any of the quality espresso bars in the city like 9th Street Espresso, Cafe Grumpy, Gimme! Coffee, Abraco, etc., you are going to be as excited as I am about NEAT opening almost in my backyard.

The cappuccinos are 6-ounces, the coffee is brewed to order with your choice of a Counter Culture single-origin coffee and the owners are more than willing to explain the crazy syphon brewers and other fancy new equipment in the shop.

I’ve been patiently waiting for a real espresso bar in Connecticut for years.  I would come up with ANY excuse to head down to NY for a cappuccino at Grumpy. I was forced to start home roasting my own coffee and I souped up my Rancilio Siliva with a PID computer for consistent brew temps. I go through pounds of espresso like nobody’s business trying to get the perfect shot. I’m still going to do all of this but at least now there is a local joint where I know I can get a solid shot and a really, really good cup of coffee.

This weekend, my sister astutely remarked “you are going to spend all your money there.” Yeah, that’s the only problem.

–CP

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8/30/2009

The A&P on High Ridge closed in May for renovations and will reopen this week as an A&P Fresh with a ribbon cutting on Friday.

READ: The business-section story from May.

AND: The thread on Chow.

–CP

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ABOVE: A Panko-breaded chicken cutlet on a light brioche bun. I was waiting to put a burger on this, but since cops reporter Jeff Morganteen’s barbecue was rained out last week, this is the best I could do with what was in the fridge (essentially nothing).

8/28/2009

So, you’ve picked up some nice Roquefort cheese, your grass-fed ground sirloin and maybe a couple of heirloom tomatoes and are you gonna stick that on a fluffy store-bought hamburger bun?

I don’t think so.

A few months ago, the Times ran a recipe for light brioche buns adapted from the Los Angeles restaurant Comme Ça. (Angelenos know their burgers). These buns will stand up to whatever you throw at them, even that juicy 1/2-pound monstrosity that would lay waste to a storebought bun, leaving it a sticky, soggy mess. Problem solved.

They aren’t all that hard to make and they are well worth the little advanced planning involved.

CHECK OUT: The recipe here.

–CP

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ABOVE: The real deal in Valencia (AP)

8/26/09

BARCELONA RESTAURANT & WINE BAR: 222 SUMMER STREET, STAMFORD

There still may be a couple of seats left for Barcelona Restaurant & Wine Bar’s 3rd annual Tomatina dinner tonight featuring a $60 prix fixe menu of all things tomato.

FROM THE RESTAURANT:

Every year the villages of Valencia celebrate with their famous tomato throwing battle, painting the streets, buildings and revelers red. In homage to this fun holiday we will be serving a special menu by Executive Chef Larry Baldwin with each course featuring heirloom tomatoes, the summer season’s greatest fruit. The dinner will be paired with delicious wines from Valencia and other regions of Spain.

If I didn’t have bocce tonight (and if I had $60), I’d be there.

MORE INFO: HERE

–CP

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espresso NEAT: 20 GROVE STREET, DARIEN

8/25/2009

OK, I can barely contain my excitement. This is huge coffee news for Fairfield County.

When a friend and up-and-coming commercial coffee roaster, Donny Raus, told me a former Gimme! Coffee barista was opening an espresso bar in Rowayton, I rushed over and scoured the neighborhood for any sign of a new cafe. The only problem is, Donny meant to say Darien. (Yeah, I get them confused too.)

Once I got it all straightened out, I literally raced over to espresso NEAT in Darien to see what he was talking about. After talking to the owners, I will tell you this: they know their coffee.

NEAT, which opens Monday, will be the first (as far as I know) Fairfield County cafe to offer individually brewed drip cups and even syphon pots, which give you a super-clean and silky cup. This is in addition to their spankin’ new La Marzocco GB/5 three-group machine for pulling espresso.

PURISTS TAKE NOTE: I’ve been personally assured that there are no 20-ounce cups and no air pots to be found at NEAT. Hallelujah.

CHECK OUT: Their Flickr photo-stream for photos of the cafe under construction.

–CP

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8/20/2009

Downtown Stamford’s Summer Restaurant Weeks, which began this Monday enters its first weekend with dinner menus fixed between $19.09 and $30.09. Sixteen downtown restaurants are included, everything from Tigin Irish Pub to Market and Columbus Park Trattoria. You also get a couple of bucks off of an Avon ticket. Go see 500 Days of Summer, it ain’t bad.

For a list of participating restaurants: CLICK HERE

–CP

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ABOVE: A slideshow of images I will be showing at the Slide Slam SoNo at the 22 Haviland Street Gallery in South Norwalk on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009.

Head over to the 22 Haviland Street Gallery in South Norwalk tomorrow for their inaugural Slide Slam event. About ten local photographers are taking part in this, so it should be good.

READ MORE: On the 411

–CP