"Pardon Me, Do You Have Any Earl Grey Poupon?" Tea Roses Tea Room, Cromwell November 2017 Here's how much I know about local tea room culture: When I published the "completing Cromwell" introductory page, a Ms. Peggi Camosci commented, "How about the only English-style Tea Room in the greater Central Connecticut … [Read more...]
Pakistan: Rasham
Pak it up, Pak it in, Let Me Begin Rasham, South Windsor June 2017 For the record, I waffled between the House of Pain lyric in my subtitle versus "Rasham-a-lamma ding-dong." (By Otis Day And The Knights, a fictional band created for Animal House.) But really, Irish Bostonians or fake black doo-woppers have … [Read more...]
French-Canadian: Chez Ben Diner
C'est Si Ben Chez Ben Diner, Manchester Multiple Visits from November 2014-December 2016 (Is a title pun better or worse when it's in another language?) Straight up: I love Chez Ben. I've been several times and it became sort of my "go-to" place for pre-hike food while I descended upon Manchester and Vernon to … [Read more...]
Argentina: Aby’s Bakery
Dulce de Leche Can Get Messi 765 Farmington Avenue, West Hartford Several visits between 1999 & 2016 When I renewed my promise to myself to write as much original content for CTMQ as I can in mid-2016, I also promised to try to do more food stuff. Mostly these hole-in-the-wall specialty ethnic places. As … [Read more...]
Jewish: Crown Market
Where is "Jewish?" Bishop's Corner, West Hartford October 2015 This is my first "food/restaurant" post in the "CT Restaurant Tour of the World" section in which I flew solo. I still don't really know what to do with this section and I darn well know that I'm not qualified to write about food. At … [Read more...]
Portugal: O’Camelo
Oh Oh Camelo! Park Street, Hartford April 27, 2013 This was the first event of the CTMQ CT Restaurant Tour of the World. I did it! I got over myself and my introversion and pushed through to organize and pull-off the very first Connecticut Restaurant Tour of the World dinner! I don’t want to get all … [Read more...]
Connecticut Food Tour of the World
The Most Difficult and Delicious Section of CTMQ CTMQ Ethnic Food/Restaurant Tour Skip the intro and go straight to the list! Here’s something you may not know: writing about food is very, very difficult for me. I can’t do it very well at all, but at least I’m friends with a few quality food writers. As I … [Read more...]
Polish Plate at Staropolska
Great Place to Polish off a Meal Staropolska, New Britain Ah, New Britski. I could write several thousand words on New Britain’s Broad Street “Little Poland” area. I don’t know why it fascinates me so much, as I’ve been to plenty of neighborhoods with fairly homogenous nationalities. But something is different … [Read more...]
Polish Food at Polish National Home
ZachwycajÄ…cy! Polish National Home, Hartford June 2009 In researching this write-up I came across the same theme over and over. So I'll follow tradition and dispense with the mild cliché right off the bat - The Polish National Home is one of the worst kept secrets in Hartford. It's hidden in plain sight. I … [Read more...]