Archive for the ‘food’ Category

Stamford slices shine on national pizza list

Thursday, February 7, 2013 by:Maggie Gordon
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When New York Magazine waded through hundreds of pizzas to name the best in the nation, they saved a spot for Stamford on the coveted Top 101 list.

The magazine recently released a list of the top pizzas in the country for several different kinds of pizza. From deep-dish, New York style, new wave, thin crust and everything in between, the magazine named the top pies in 11 different categories, adding Stamford-based Colony Grille to the top of the thin crust category in a move that, frankly, doesn’t surprise us.

Here’s what they had to say about our city’s most famous pie:

Hot Oil Pizza

Colony Grill

Stamford, Connecticut

“You can’t help but respect a place that only has one thing on the menu. That’s the case at the Colony Grill, where cracker-thin pizza is the only choice. You can pick your toppings, but the only real decision to make is whether you want that pizza with or without the place’s signature chile-infused hot oil. You want it with.”

And Stamford was in good company; in addition to pies from Brooklyn, St. Louis, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, and other cities famous for their near-perfect pizzas, Frank Pepe’s and Sally’s Apizza in New Haven were also named to the top thin crust pizzas.

Some like it hot

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 by:Brett Mickelson
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20121126-234813.jpg

John Dough’s Pizza Bar in Norwalk was shut down for a few weeks by frankenstorm Sandy, but they are back in business with a “Man Versus Food” style pizza challenge. Here’s the deal:

  • One small pizza
  • Mozzarella
  • Cherry peppers
  • Jalapeño peppers
  • Habanero hot oil
  • Ghost chile hot oil
  • Special hot tomato sauce
  • One beer or soda
  • 15 minutes

If you polish off one of these bad boys, you get a free shirt and plenty of gastrointestinal discomfort.

I sampled a pie and I won’t pass judgment on the heat because everyone has a different tolerance, but I will say I was super impressed by how much flavor this pizza has.

The challenge is running for the next few weeks.

First taste: Norwalk’s New Haven slice

Sunday, September 16, 2012 by:Brett Mickelson
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JOHN DOUGH’S PIZZA BAR: 77 NORTH MAIN STREET, NORWALK

Last month, Chris and I took a brief tour of the upcoming New Haven pizza joint in Norwalk. Chris is currently “stuck” honeymooning in Spain, but a few of us got a chance to try some of the pies. They are as legit as their siblings at Behind the Net in Darien. Our group was split between favoring the meat lover’s and buffalo chicken pies.

Look for them to open early this week.

Today’s excuse to eat pizza

Wednesday, September 5, 2012 by:Brett Mickelson
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September 5 is, apparently, national cheese pizza day. I’ve done a lot of research on this topic (two minutes on Google) and have scientifically determined that this is a made-up holiday. Compared to other made-up holidays (I’m looking at you, Groundhog Day), this really has a cause I can get behind.

I suspect national cheese pizza day is a thinly veiled attempt to distract breakfast haters from the fact that this week is national waffle week, but I’ll take them both (and a side of antacid) without complaint.

It’s probably worth mentioning that today is just a preamble to October, which is national pizza month. If you need to warm up for the pizza onslaught, check out some of our favorite cheese pizzas:

Sneak peek: John Dough’s Pizza Bar in Norwalk

Tuesday, August 7, 2012 by:Brett Mickelson
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JOHN DOUGH’S PIZZA BAR: 77 NORTH MAIN STREET, NORWALK

“We’re going to introduce New Haven style pizza to SoNo.”

If you’ve ever tried the pizza at Behind the Net in the Darien Ice Rink, you already know what owner Bill Ferguson and chef Derek Furino are all about. If things go forward as planned, they’ll be slinging fresh Elm City-inspired pies by the time September rolls around.

Ferguson let the LBC sneak in for a preview.

“The heavy lifting is pretty much done. Now we’re getting into the details,” he said. “We’re probably a couple weeks out.”

Unlike Ferguson’s prior ventures in the space, Archie Moore’s and Rivals, John Dough’s will have a singular focus.

“Previously, we had mainstream burgers and wings and fried foods,” he said. “Now we’re keeping it a lot simpler.”

Aside from pizza, the menu will consist of salads and a full bar.

The interior has been repainted and refinished, 12 TVs will broadcast the latest sports, and there might even be some outdoor seating.

I asked if there were plans to experiment with other types of pizza (maybe jumping into the Colony-style pie fracas).

“If there is a demand for a thicker crust, a different style, a thinner crust, some additional toppings, then we can explore that,” Ferguson said. “Coming out of the gate we’re going to do what we’ve been successful with.”

Works for me.

Anthony’s brings coal-fired pizza to Darien

Saturday, July 14, 2012 by:Brett Mickelson
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ANTHONY’S COAL FIRED PIZZA: 319 POST ROAD, DARIEN

The first time I went to Anthony’s, shortly after they opened their doors in February, Chuck Locke, director of operations for the chain, told me I could take as many photos as I wanted, as long as I didn’t photograph the oven.

That’s too bad, because the thing is a beast. From what I can tell, there’s basically a gigantic lazy Susan rotating around the hot coals. Pizza goes in one side as dough and comes out the other as crust.

Speaking of the crust, let’s cut to the chase. It’s a chewy, charred, thin crust. That sounds like something you’d get in New Haven, but it’s not. It’s more dense and has less flavor. In the crust arena, the big selling point for this kind of pizza, New Haven still very much wins. Even the Behind the Net snack bar in the Darien Ice Rink, just half a mile away, outshines the crust here (to be fair, Behind the Net, sometimes called Zamboni’s, is much better than ice rink snack bar pizza has any right to be). That’s not to say the crust is bad, it’s just up against some stiff competition.

The most interesting pie at Anthony’s is a cauliflower number (see below) with garlic, romano, mozzarella, and a noticeable kick from red pepper flakes. Even the small version of this is daunting in size, but totally delicious. I thought the cauliflower might be too tough, but it’s surprisingly tender.

The traditional cheese pizza is heavy on the cheese, with the sauce on top. It’s not the most delicate pizza you’ll ever have, but the flavor is pretty darn good.

Overall, I’d say Anthony’s is a welcome addition to the Darien food scene and a lot better than a chain from Florida has any right to be, but nowhere near the upper echelon of pizza joints in Fairfield and New Haven counties.

So who’s dietary whims are you conforming to?

Sunday, July 1, 2012 by:Magdalene Perez
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Great talker today from the New York Times about our new collective penchant for gluten-free, lactose-free, vegetarian, vegan, local food, paleo diets, etc., and how that affects the (once simple) act of getting together to eat with friends.

In April, Coco Myers, a writer who avoids gluten and lactose, invited a fish-averse friend to a dinner party in East Hampton, N.Y., hosted by a couple who don’t eat red meat. A few days earlier, the hostess (Scott O’Neil, a painter and an amateur cook, who had been planning a seafood stew) e-mailed Ms. Myers to ask about problem foods.

…

Joanne Heyman, who owns a consulting firm in New York, thinks that stories like this illustrate just how much “the locus of responsibility has moved from the eater to the hostess.” Ms. Heyman, a former vegetarian, said that she recently organized an invitation-only business dinner for two dozen people. On the day of the event, she started getting last-minute notes from guests saying they were vegetarian, vegan or gluten free.

“The distinction is not that people have restricted diets,” she said. “It’s their attitude about whose responsibility it is to meet their dietary needs.”

Read and discuss!

Moe’s pizza joint: Tomatillo out, Cortina in in Bridgeport

Monday, June 4, 2012 by:Brett Mickelson
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CORTINA: 960 MAIN STREET, BRIDGEPORT

Tomatillo, we hardly knew ye.

A few short months after Moe Gad opened this new Tomatillo location, he decided to switch up the cuisine from burritos to pizza.

Moe told me this had a lot to do with the fact that, by his estimation, 90 percent of folks in Bridgeport will eat pizza, while only half will eat a burrito.

The new Cortina, an offshoot of the restaurant formerly known as Pizzeria Rosso in Norwalk, offers a broad menu of Italian dishes ordered at the counter including both New York style and Napoletana pizza.

For lunch, I tried the NY style cheese pizza. A slice during a lunch break will hit the spot, but don’t expect an exquisite dining experience.

I’ll have to head back to try the Margherita.

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