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Taste of Stamford 2016
City of Stamford (that is in Connecticut, not in England) sports vibrant “wining and dining” scene, with more than 300 restaurants (321, according to TripAdvisor – not bad for a city of about 126,000). City of Stamford also is well known for its business culture and as one of the biggest financial hubs outside of New York city, with Stamford Chamber of Commerce always hard at work to have all the businesses and people well connected. To showcase the love of good tasty food and wines, Chamber of Commerce organizes annual event called Taste of Stamford, which brings together purveyors of the fine food and willing patrons of the same, now in 23rd reincarnation.
I had a pleasure of attending the Taste of Stamford event, which took place last Thursday, and sample offerings of many Stamford’s fine restaurants. Even as portions were perfectly sized, it was literally impossible to taste everything – yes, “too much of a good thing” is real. I tried my best, but yes, failed. There were also good number of wines, beers and even some scotch – I limited myself to the wine only, and there were few nice discoveries there. So what I have for you here is [a very long] collection of pictures from the event – yes, most of them are about food, so if you are hungry, proceed at your own risk.
I also want to share an interesting observation – it seems that Southern Cuisine is a king (a queen?) in Stamford – the amount of pulled pork and grits in various reincarnations coming from many different restaurants was staggering – not something you would see even 5 years ago. Or may be pulled pork is the easiest tasty dish to make in the mass quantities – don’t know, but this is an interesting fact any way you want to look at it.
In no particular order, here are some of my highlights from the Taste of Stamford 2016 event:
Brown Dog Fancy Mustards – a very interesting collection of mustard, available in the number of locations in Stamford or over mail order ( free shipping). Horseradish was good, and Honey Dijon was particularly distinct, with expressive taste of honey clearly coming through.
Amore Cucina & Bar – tasty pork belly with polenta:
Sign of the Whale – were serving tasty Ahi Tuna Tacos and oyster shooters:
Judy’s Bar & Kitchen – very tasty pulled pork and Mac’n’Cheese:
David’s Soundview Catering – shrimp and grits, pulled pork and grits – delicious!
The Capital Grille – serving their famous Lobster Mac’n’Cheese and Kona crusted Filet Mignon (tasty!!):
Franklin Street Works offered a nice selection of the bite size appetizers:
Kona Grill – tasty sushi rolls, excellent presentation:
Columbus Park Trattoria – Italian all the way!
Olio Restaurant, Cantina Southwest Grill & Tequila Bar and Tawa all had tasty dishes (curry chicken from Tawa was spectacular):
One of the biggest surprises for me was the display from the local chain of supermarkets, ShopRite. We like ShopRite bakery very much, this is where we get most of the birthday cakes for various family occasions. It appears that ShopRite also offers great selection of the party platters. And the sushi which they were making right there at the event were outstanding:
BevMax, one of the biggest wine stores in Stamford, provided most of the wines at the event. I tasted a number of wines, and most of them were quite good. There were a few of Cabernet Sauvignon wines presented at the event – 2014 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley, 2013 Joseph Carr Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley and 2014 Iron Side Cabernet Sauvignon California – all very tasty, with good classic profile. My favorite wine was 2013 Gnarly Head 1924 Double Black Limited Edition California, “A dark red blend inspired by the field blends made popular during Prohibition.” – while powerfully boasting 15% ABV, the wine was smooth, polished and perfectly balanced.
And last but not least – dessert! Di Mare Pastry Shop stand had Cannoli 10 ways (okay, may be not 10, but lots of them in any case), and lots of other pastries – if you like cannoli, this was a cannoli paradise:
That is all I have for you, my friends – definitely was one tasty evening. Cheers!
Three Strikes and … In!
Very interesting wine ordering experience during the last dinner at The Capital Grille in Paramus, New Jersey. The Capital Grille restaurant itself needs no introduction, of course – whether you like steak or not, every visit there is a dining experience (you can find my previous excited post here). I have to also acknowledge that part of our great experience during this visit was our waiter, Andre – his service was absolutely impeccable.
Ok, so let’s talk about ordering wine. Wine List at the Capital Grille is quite extensive, plus I’m very particular when it comes to wine ( who would’ve thought?) – and one of the things I’m always looking for for is QPR – I want to find the bottle which will taste good, and will have reasonable cost (have a real problem with paying triple-retail in a restaurant). So after 10 minutes of intense reading I finally decided on Ladera Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 – I like the wine very much (you can find one of the previous posts here), besides, at $58 it is less than double retail – makes me very happy. So I ask for the bottle of Ladera 2006, Andre comes back in a few minutes to inform us that they out of Ladera 2006. He start offering 2007 Cabernets – and of course, 2007 Napa valley Cabernets are lauded all over wine press, however, my experience with 2007s is less than stellar – a lot of them simply not ready yet (do I dare to say that they might be just not?). So I refuse his advice, and ask for Central Otago Pinot Noir, Amisfield 2006 – it is outside of QPR comfort zone at $69, but at least I know it is a good wine. Andrea comes back to inform us that they are out of that wine as well. No problems, I was almost ready for that (a bit surprising – two out), so my next choice was Ernesto Catena Locura 2006 blend from Argentina – I didn’t have that before, but at about $55 it was an interesting wine to try. Well, time to ask questions. Do you think we got that wine?
This time Andrea didn’t even show up. Instead, we were approached by the Sommelier (unfortunately we didn’t catch her name) with the bottle of Ladera 2007 in her hand. So we manage to ask for 3 wines from the wine list, which were not available! Of course it happens that the restaurant doesn’t have the wine you ask for, but 3 of them? Wow, we were impressed with our wine picking ability.
Anyway, after Sommelier assured us that she tried that Ladera 2007 and liked it very much, and moreover, if we don’t like the wine we can send it back – we decided to give a try. Oh boy, that happened to be a very good decision, as the wine was beautiful. Soft layered black and red fruit, just right amount of silky tannins, all perfectly balanced with acidity – that was a perfect wine for our dinner, and I would highly recommend this wine to anyone – it is ready to drink now, but as they say, the California Cabernet need about 13 years to shine – it will be interesting to put a few bottles in the cellar and enjoy them later.
So I’m glad to say that this story has a happy end (sometimes restaurant experience can be quite different). Also, if I can give you an advice, for the actual happy ending of the dinner (meaning: desert), try the Cheesecake – it is literally the heaven on earth, and I have to commend Andre for his recommendation – it is the best desert in the house. Until the next time – wishing you all great restaurant experience. Cheers!
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