Spring Strollin'

Having now attended two of them, I can honestly say there is no better event in New London than the Food Stroll. Food Stroll happens twice a year - once in the fall and once in the spring - and each one seems to get better than the last.

I blogged about the Fall Food Stroll back in October. The Spring Stroll this evening saw many of the same vendors but with different offerings, as well as some very exciting new editions.

Noe and I were actually very involved in the logistics of Food Stroll this time around - I was on the committee (though I was too busy to contribute as much as I did to Reel Love), Noe volunteered for some various manual labor, and we both sold tickets and helped with the set-up and tear-down. Having worked on the inside, I can truly say that a LOT of hard work goes into this event and Tracy down at Main Street deserves a huge shout-out.

We hooked up with my good friends Dena and Jeanette and headed out. We started at the far end of Bank Street and hit Stroll staples Jasmine Thai (pad Thai and sushi rolls), Hot Rod's (serving my two favorite varieties of wings - garlic pepper dry rub and Thai chili) and Dev's (goat cheese!) as well as Steak Out (formerly Cafe 57), which was serving some marinated steak. (I'll actually be eating dinner at Steak Out for a company dinner on Monday, so a review will be forthcoming.)

We continued down Bank to Lucca (crostini with tapenade - only OK) and the sweet-tooth triple-threat of Daniel's Dairy, Muddy Waters, and Passion Coffee House. Then we doubled back a little ways to mosey down Golden Street to the recently opened Red Lion Steak House. Red Lion served us a decent mini crab cake, but gave us an excellent-looking taking out menu featuring some mouth-watering sounding steaks, as well as chicken and seafood options. That menu, combined with the fact that the place looks amazing (long wood bar, sophisticated color scheme) ensures that we will be back sooner rather than later.

We made our way to the far end of State Street, trying out chili con carne and guacamole at Zavala (I still have mixed feelings about Zavala - I love the look and the location, but the food is extremely inconsistent and the service is terrible).

Jeanette, me, and Dena outside Zavala

We continued up the street, trying out a spicy carrot spread and vanilla bean cake at organic haven Mangetout (the cake was fantastic and the spread was really interesting) and some run-of-the-mill chicken tender offerings from Wings & Pies. Then we came to the Crocker House, the be-all-end-all of food strolling.

Gourmet Galley Catering always sets up shop at Crocker House, a great event space in the heart of downtown. At both strolls I have attended, we've been greeted at the door with booze. In the fall it was rum-spiked cider; in the spring, champagne - Crocker and Gourmet Galley wanted to showcase their wedding potential, so they staged a mock reception.

Champagne in the Crocker House lobby

We took our champagne and headed through the rainbow-colored lobby to the courtyard, where we found ourselves face-to-face with a cheese table containing various varieties of bleu, goat, and soft cheeses such as brie along with crackers and various accompaniments such as olives, nuts, and fruit.

Cheese station

After Dena and I reigned ourselves in from the cheese table, we headed into the ballroom where mini salmon and filet mignon (as well as cake - I just couldn't handle more sweets) were being served. For being mini-portions, everything was beautifully displayed (where did those tiny forks come from?) and miraculously, nothing was overcooked. I'd hire Gourmet Galley to cater my wedding based on this sample alone.

Palm-sized salmon entree

We decided to go ahead and get our drinks at Crocker as well, because they had a full bar and actually pour regular-sized drinks. Even though it was getting a bit chilly, we enjoyed them in the courtyard before reluctantly leaving.

Noe, Jeanette, and Dena in the courtyard

After Crocker, we thought it might be anti-climactic, but then we got to 2 Wives, a new brick oven pizzeria opening officially tomorrow. We tried their four-cheese pizza with pink vodka sauce, and if this sample is any indication, 2 Wives is going to give Apizzo in Pawcatuck a run for their money. Noe and I - and probably the girls and I - will be back soon for sure to try out some more offerings.

We finished the night at Tony D's - unfortunately, they ran out of their famous calamari before we got there. We still accepted our cheese tortellini gratefully, however, and sat down in the lounge to rehash all the food we had just tasted.

Food Stroll continues to get better and better. The restaurants really seemed to step it up this time as well, with new and more complex offerings. I'm sorry I couldn't mention everyone in this post - I inevitably left out a few - but I hope they all keep participating. And I can't wait to try Red Lion, Steak Out, Passion Coffee House, 2 Wives, and - opening in June - the State Street Grill (cool building and - wait for it - gourmet burgers). It's exciting to see New London get so many new and promising restaurants...plus, it will keep me busy with my amateur food critiquing!

Brunch Time

It's no secret that I am a big fan of Dev's on Bank Street. It is also no secret that back in my Ann Arbor restaurant days I was a big fan of brunch. Brunch was the restaurant employee's perfect meal: you'd work late on Saturday, then leisurely meander to whatever was that week's hot spot sometime after 11:00 AM and you got to order booze with your breakfast. In a word, ideal.

Anyway, when we (the Trifecta) learned that Dev's was opening for brunch, we knew we had to check it out. We even managed to get the boys to come with us.


Dev's brunch is served tapas-style, like a significant portion of their dinner menu. You can order small plates of multiple breakfast dishes, all ranging between $3 and $5. The boys were a little skeptical that the small plates would not provide enough food but agreed to check it out anyway.

We needn't have worried.

The portions are smaller than if you ordered a full breakfast at a regular restaurant, yes, but they are by no means wimpy. Amanda and I each started with the French toast - one slice of thick, cinammony-tasting bread not too heavily battered and fried to perfection. The French toast was dusted with powder sugar and, in a glorious touch, was topped by a heap of crispy prosciutto. We drizzled it with a little of the maple syrup served on the side and tucked in. The slightly sweet bread, the maple flavors in the syrup and the salty prosciutto were a match made in heaven.

French Toast with Prosciutto -
This quickly became a table favorite.

Most of us chose egg-based dishes for our second round. The Egg Benito was a popular choice at our table - a poached egg served upon a potato pancake and dressed with sweet potato fondue, with the diner's choice of smoked salmon, prosciutto or spinach. Amanda ordered it with the spinach and Noe and Kevin tried the prosciutto (we're big fans of prosciutto in our group). Once again, we needn't have worried about the portion - the combination of egg, starch, and meat or vegetable was satisfying and filling. The poached eggs were maybe a tad overcooked, but that's a very minor issue and probably just dependent upon whoever cooked them that day. Both versions of the Egg Benito were deemed a hit.

Kevin and Noe's Eggs Benito -
another big hit with our group.

While the boys and Amanda were tucking in Benito-style, Katie and I picked slightly different veggie and egg-based choices. Katie went in for the Flamingo Egg - another poached egg creation, this time served on a mound of roasted vegetables; I chose the Spanish Frittata, a mini open-face omelet stuffed with roasted red peppers, ham and cheese. Both dishes were delectable - once again, the poached egg was perhaps just a tad overdone, but surrounded by a mountain of perfectly roasted potatoes, peppers, and other veggies. The Frittata was cooked perfectly and bursting with the fillings.

The Spanish Frittata

Noe choose the Basque sandwich for his second plate. The Basque is served open-face and consists of scrambled eggs, chorizo, potatoes, and red peppers on chewy chibatta bread. Like the other items we ordered, this savory sandwich provided an excellent balance of starch and protein. The slightly spicy chorizo and slightly sweet red peppers proved to be a very complimentary flavor combination. The scrambled eggs were perfect - not too dry but not too wet and runny, either.

The Basque Sandwich

Of course, it wouldn't be brunch without booze. Dev's features both classic brunch cocktails, the mimosa and the bloody Mary - at the extremely reasonable prices of $4 and $3, respectively. While no one really felt like going in for the orange juice and champagne combination this time, Kevin and I did order some bloodies. They were nice and spicy and neither too vodka-y or too tomato-y (the perfect balance can be hard to strike). Kevin first ordered the variation titled "Maria and her Two Amigos" which came with two giant Cajun-season, celery crusted shrimp. The shrimp were so delicious they almost could have been a tapas choice of their own.

It's worth noting that Dev's also provides a good selection of several juices and pours extremely drinkable coffee - and the coffee, although poured from a regular coffee pot and not a thermal carafe or anything of the like, did not ever taste as if it were allowed to sit on a burner and "cook down" - every cup we drank tasted fresh.

We go to Dev's partly for the food, but also for the service. Candace and Bunny are always happy to see us and make a point of coming by to chat. Kristina was friendly and efficient as always and never left us with an empty coffee cup or an empty plate or glass in front of us.

The tapas portions were big enough that we were full after eating two each but small enough to mix and match and try different things. Everything we had was delicious and there are several items on the menu that we were interested in but no one was hungry enough to order (I guess we had banked on the boys being able to eat more than they did). We didn't need a reason to come back, but the anticipation of trying out those items - and those $4 mimosas - gives us one.

Hopefully Dev's brunch will stick around - it's the perfect way to start a Sunday.

View the complete brunch menu here: http://devsonbank.com/brunch.html

Food Strollin'

Last night, Noe and I attended the New London Main Street Fall Food Stroll. This is the third Food Stroll that has happened since we have been here (one last fall and one in the spring) but the first one we were able to make it to.


New London Main Street is a non-profit organization dedicated to the "preservation, enhancement, and promotion of the Historic Waterfront District" here in New London. Basically, they want downtown to look nice and they want people to come here. New London has kind of a bad rep around CT and New London Main Street is trying to change that perception. (Ypsi - you could probably take some notes from NMLS.) One way they get people downtown is with events such as the Food Strolls, where most of the downtown restaurants and bars give out samples of their wares. Since New London's downtown is very walkable, everybody pretty much sets up shop in their own space and the attendees wander from one restaurant to the next. The cost of this adventure? $25 bucks for all the samples you could eat and a drink coupon.

After meeting up with the group at our favorite downtown watering hole, Hanafin's Irish Pub, we headed all the way down to the end of Bank Street to start the stroll at Jasmine Thai, the newest restaurant in town. Jasmine Thai put out the most diverse array of samples of any of the participating vendors. We were able to get fried rice, salad, tempura shrimp, cucumber rolls, and California rolls. Yum! (Noe and I actually ate at Jasmine Thai about a week ago and enjoyed the food - there will be a review forthcoming.)

Dr. Chattybox, me, Amanda, Kevin, John and Katie setting out

After Jasmine, we continued down Bank Street to some other familiar spots, Hot Rod Cafe and Dev's on Bank. Rod was serving up an Amy and Noe favorite, the garlic-pepper dry rub wings, along with a prime rib slider (both excellent). It is also worth noting that Rod was redeeming drink coupons at a two-for-one rate, which the boys were taking full advantage of. Dev's was handing out their painted grapes (grapes wrapped with Gorgonzola, rolled in spicy almonds, and drizzled with honey).

After gossiping with Bunny for awhile, we continued down the street, stopping at the firehouse (firemen handing out their homemade chili), Frontera's (Ecuadorian place we have never tried, but thanks to the excellent ceviche we will certainly be trying soon!), Lucca (albacore and liver pates on crostini), Brie & Bleu (hunks of Gouda cheese), Thames River Wine & Spirits, Muddy Waters (could not keep the boys away from those chocolate muffins!), Daniel's Downtown Dairy (mini ice cream cones!)

We negotiated the right turn onto Water Street to grab some tamales at Zavala and then turned left to head up State Street. There aren't as many restaurants on State as there are on Bank, but we'd read that some of the local catering companies had set up shop in the stores and venues. We were able to get a good look at City News, the new cigar shop/news stand owned by the Thames River Greenery/Wine & Spirits/Brie & Bleu group. We visited East Coast Catering in the Atrium building, and then headed over to the Crocker House.

The boys at Crocker House heading back for seconds.

Gourmet Galley Catering was displaying their wares in Crocker House's three outstanding event spaces - the modern art-inspired rainbow colored lobby; the gorgeous grand ballroom, and the elegant garden courtyard. We knew we'd like them before we even entered the lobby - we were handed some Captain Morgan spiked hot cider at the door and didn't even have to use a drink coupon. Once we got in, we gawked at the space and ate a sandwich that Steve the Pirate very aptly described as "Thanksgiving on a bun" along with little pieces of pie. Katie and I chose to redeem our drink tickets here for some (full-sized) gin and tonics to enjoy as we completed the stroll.

Katie and I love our G&Ts.

We stopped for curried rice at Northern Indian and squash/carrot soup and apple crisp at Mangetout, downtown's organic offering (the crisp was awesome but I thought the soup - while having a great velvety texture - was lacking in flavor). We finished the night with chocolate chip cookies and banana crepes at the Bean & Leaf - and were finally forced to admit that we were indeed finally full.

This was a fantastic event and I am really impressed with NLMS and all their volunteers for being able to pull it off so smoothly. I can see why these strolls continue to bring more and more people downtown. As long as I live in New London, I know I'll never miss another one.

My ever-dwindling bank account

At some point everyone wonders where all their money has gone. Since I am notorious for never carrying cash and I am obsessive about writing down my debit card purchases in my checkbook, I realized I could actually find out where all my dough disappeared to. (By the way, I do not ever suggest adding up how much money you spend in one place every month because you may end up shocked or dismayed by the total.)

Places I like to spend money*:

Thames River Wine and Spirits

This is a no-brainer and no surprise. Most of the Thames River purchases occur on Fridays when we go for the tastings - I usually end up with one or two bottles of something we've tried. Also, some of my new favorite wines are only locally available at Thames River. Plus, when the wine store guy can't locate a wine that you ask him to find but makes a different recommendation instead, you have to buy it out of curiosity and appreciation, right? (And then possibly continue to buy it because it is so good?) I don't blame myself for my Thames River purchases, but I DO blame Michel Torrino Don David Torrontes, Caymus Conundrum, XY Zin, and a few other cuplrits.

Dev's on Bank Street

Another "usual suspect." My Dev's on Bank charges tend to show up on the same night as my Thames River charges, probably because Dev's is such an easy walk down the street and we finish tasting right around dinner time. We're already in the mood to drink wine and usually begin our order with a bottle. No matter how many complimentary orders of flan Bunny presses on us, the booze and the tapas add up (plus you've got to throw in a generous tip for cute bartender.)

Hanafin's

Though not nearly as much of a repeat offender as it was during the winter, Hanafin's Irish Pub remains a presence on my bank statement. The girls gather there while the boys play darts on Tuesdays. It's conveniently located near from my job, making it the ideal spot for an after-work beer. It is across the street from the Garde and therefore an appropriate gathering place after events. It's sort of like Cheers. Just ask Kevin Lester - he once kept a tab open there for three days.

Dunkin Donuts

I have just about put a stop to this one, but I definitely ran on Dunkin for a few months. Not the donuts - just the iced coffee, which I still maintain has crack in it. Of course, if this were Michigan and I were still working in non-profit hell, my statement would read "Starbucks" and be for twice as much - caramel machiattos do not come cheap.

Target

For some place so cheap, I sure spend a lot of money there. It seems I can not get out of Target without spending a minimum of $80. See, when you buy a LOT of cheap things, they add up. One of my last Target receipts included Lean Cuisines, conditioner, mascara, a sundress, two maagzines, a paperback, gardening gloves, kitty litter, and a candle. Come on - with that variety of merchandise, anyone is bound to go a little crazy.

Amazon.com

I had stopped for awhile, but my Amazon addiction is back full-force. Amazon combines my love of getting a good deal with my love of receiving packages in the mail. It's a win-win situation for me...except when you order your used copy of Watchmen two weeks ago and it has yet to arrive...

*This list does not include my recent affinity for purchasing vintage and reproduction vintage clothing because I am still in denial that I may have a problem.

Lame title, cool story

Recently the Boston Globe ran an article on New London - the city that I moved to - praising, among other things, the diverse restaurants and funky shops. You can check out the article here.

I was pleased to see some of my favorite restaurants mentioned - readers of the blog should recognize Dev's on Bank Street and Brie & Bleu. I was not, however, to thrilled to see them mentioned in the same paragraph as the overrated Bulkeley House (yes, the patio space is nice but the service is abominable and the live bands are too loud for an outdoor bar). I was also thrilled to see some of the fun stores (Peacock Feathers, Flavours of Life), the Saturday Farmer's Market, and the Garde Arts Center get shout-outs as well.

These are places that have made me appreciate New London a lot more than I thought I would initially. I'm glad to see them getting a little credit from a major newspaper - trust me, it's well-earned.

Check out the story: Whale of a City

Dev's On Bank Street

The weekend got off to an early start when Amanda and I decided to go out to dinner on Thursday. We went to Dev's on Bank Street, a newer restaurant in town which bills its food style as "Mediterrasian Tapas." This turned out to be a most excellent choice. First of all, their wine list is more extensive - and interesting (it's nice to see a restaurant acknowledge that there are wine-producing regions outside of California!)than a lot of the restaurants around here. Once we settled on a couple glasses of Tapena tempranillo (delicious!), we were ready to decide on our food.



Amanda went with Dev's award-winning Sweet Corn & Chorizo Clam Chowder, which was so full of clams, corn, and assorted vegetables that I believe she could have stood the spoon up in the bowl. She also ordered the steamed vegetable dumplings. I chose the toasted goat cheese (I can never say no to goat cheese) and wasabi-crusted scallops.

The Mediterranean/Asian combination may at first sound like another lame attempt at 'fusion' cuisine, but Dev's makes it work. I was crazy about the goat cheese, which comes on crostini and is lightly drizzled with honey - just the tiniest bit of sweetness to compliment the savory flavor of the cheese. The wasabi scallops were surprisingly not hot, just coated in a flavorful and crunchy coating and served with an orange-infused soy dipping sauce - yum.

The prices for the tapas range from $3.00 - $12.00 per plate (the $12.00 is a sampler of several items). We did not try any of the regular-sized entrees during this particular trip, but definitely will in the future.

In addition to great food and great prices, part of the Dev;s experience is the people who work there. Amanda and I opted to sit at the bar, where the bartender, the owner, and the owner's mother/manager lavished attention on us. (Bunny is all about the gossip, so be prepared to share.) Everyone who works at the restaurant is friendly, knowledgeable, and eager to make a recommendation or chat with you about how they happened to choose the location. All in all, Dev's is a great experience.