EL CHARRITO: JACKIE ROBINSON PARK, STAMFORD & 7 APACHE PLACE, GREENWICH
1/5/2011
I’ve been hanging on to this news for quite some time and it’s been killing me. While Alex Terron from El Charrito has been hinting at a new location, she wouldn’t give me the address until last night.
Well now it’s official: El Charrito, the bright-yellow taco truck with a cult following on Stamford’s West Side, will also offer takeout from a new location at 7 Apache Place in Greenwich.
This comes at a time when the area is seeing a veritable taco renaissance. From a second location of Casa Villa, to Bar Taco in Port Chester and Lola’s in downtown Stamford, Mexican food in this part of the world is finally, slowly coming of age.
Terron told me they’d been renting a commercial kitchen to prep food for the truck and when an opportunity opened up in Greenwich where they could combine this with a small takeout operation, they jumped on it.
Alex and her husband, Carlos, are two of my favorite small business owners in Stamford if for no other reason than for the energy they bring to their work — they are constantly putting new things on the menu and tweaking recipes. On a recent visit, I found Carlos poring over recipes in the back of the truck while working on some new salad dressings.
I’ve never seen a guy more excited about salad dressing before, but this is what makes El Charrito special and this is why I’ll be one of the first customers on Monday.
–CP
P.S. Incidentally, Moe, of Moe’s Burger Joint in Greenwich, told me recently he’s thinking about opening a taco shop in Greenwich. He’s Egyptian, but no newcomer to Latin-American cuisine — he owns Geronimo in New Haven and Sonora in Port Chester.
As some of you are well aware, Brett Mickelson a co-worker of mine, organized a party last night to celebrate our first attempt at smoking a couple of cow heads. Tacos were made, eye balls were eaten and a good time was had by all.
It’s the only party I’ve ever attended where I was specifically instructed to bring a meat cleaver — and it was a good thing too because cracking those skulls wasn’t easy.
Bobby Q’s in Westport was instrumental in this whole process, as they kindly took us in and smoked the cow heads for us. If you think about it, it’s a little bit amazing that a couple of complete strangers carrying cow heads walked in during their dinner service on a Friday night and they didn’t kick us out of their restaurant. But more on that later. (Big ups for coming through in the clutch for us!)
The LBC is working on a video, but I have lot of footage an it’s going to take me a while to produce it, so for now, here’s an intro:
BSF has become a cult favorite in the Byram section of Greenwich, even garnering mentions in New York Magazine — actually, it was one of the first burger joints I blogged about on the Lunch Break Chronicles (read more).
Thursday, after LBC reader @unsatisfiedmind broke the news on Twitter, a crack team of Stamford Advocate journalists mobilized within minutes to scope the place out. We found BSF totally slammed with office workers, families and other assorted rubberneckers like Espresso NEAT regulars Mickey and Joe. Owner Kory Wollins and the staff did their best to keep up with the rush, but give them some time to iron out the wrinkles (the milkshake machine wasn’t up and running).
One of the problems with the original Byram location is the size (it’s tiny). By contrast, the Darien shop is massive, featuring ample counter space, huge communal tables, and four-tops. The new BSF even has a bar with wine and a half-dozen beers on tap.
Importantly, the menu is the same as the original and they serve up some of the best burgers in Fairfield County.
That’s all for now, I have actual work to do, but we’ll revisit this soon.
CASA VILLA: NEW LOCATION, 886 EAST MAIN STREET, STAMFORD
11/19/2010
I’m famously a fiend for tacos, so I could barely contain my excitement when I heard Casa Villa, my favorite Mexican restaurant in Stamford, was opening second location.
But the owner, Alvino Villa, wouldn’t tell me where it was going to be.
I tried playing twenty questions and the best I could get out of him was that I couldn’t walk to it from my house, but there would be parking. This ruled out the West Side and Downtown. Frankly, opening a second Casa Villa would only make sense on East Main or in the Cove, but I still couldn’t figure it out.
It was right under my nose all along. Looking back, it seems a little ridiculous I didn’t figure it out earlier: Alvino is taking over the location of Myrna’s Mediterranean Bistro at 886 East Main Street (meanwhile, Myrna’s is setting up shop in Darien).
The most important thing about all of this is that my office will be way closer to the awesome al pastor and carnitas tacos, yet I will STILL be able to walk to the original location, at 182 West Main Street, from my house.
Anthony Bourdain is coming to Stamford this winter, but you better hurry up because all the good seats are already gone. This is pretty much OK with me since the “VIP packages” were going for $90.
Bourdain, the executive chef at New York’s famed bistro Les Halles, is the author of the bestselling Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, a candid, hysterical and sometimes shocking portrait of his life in restaurant kitchens. The long-awaited follow-up, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook, pulls back the curtain on the big-time personalities of the modern gastronomical revolution as only Bourdain can. Other books include A Cook’s Tour, Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook, The Nasty Bits and No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach, an illustrated journal of Bourdain’s travels.
Bourdain was part of a panel in Hartford last year where he pointedly called out the legendary Alice Waters, a fellow panelist, as an elitist. Good times.
MOE’S BURGER JOINT: 1340 EAST PUTNAM AVE., OLD GREENWICH
11/09/2010
If you haven’t cruised over to The Hamblogger yet, you should give it a once-over. A couple of dedicated photojournalists from California started the site a while back and have expanded with correspondents around the country, myself included. (more…)
STAMFORD MUSEUM & NATURE CENTER: 39 SCOFIELDTOWN ROAD, STAMFORD
“Visions of Gingerbread,” the Stamford Museum & Nature Center’s gingerbread house contest is returning this year with an opening reception tonight at the museum (5:30).
It’s a pro-am of sorts, with entries from around Lower Fairfield County. Last year the entries were pretty cool, and I’m sure this year it will be worth checking out as well.
FROM SM&NC:
Creative confections from some of the area’s best pastry chefs, restaurants, and caterers will be on display as part of the second annual Visions of Gingerbread: The Sweetest Architects! exhibit, through December 5. These creative confections, consisting completely of edible materials, will be revealed for the first time at the Members’ Opening Reception on Nov. 5. A panel of special guest judges will award First, Second and Third place at the Members’ Opening. Visitors will have the opportunity to vote for Fan Favorite at the Museum. Additionally, these imaginative creations will once again be available for purchase through silent auction. Silent auction proceeds will benefit Stamford Museum & Nature Center’s educational mission. Expect to be dazzled by creations from DiMare’s Pastry Shop of Stamford, SoNo Baking Company of South Norwalk, Cake Suite of Westport, Sugar & Olives of Norwalk, and more! Visitors are encouraged to vote for their favorite creation.
