come dine with me...

Near the Frog Bridge in the former digs of The Victorian Lady Restaurant at 877 Main Street in Willimantic you can find the newly opened Opus on Main.

We had lunch there today because of a great review in the local paper. The restaurant has great potential and hopefully will succeed.

One entrée was Fish and Chips, the traditional way, consisting of one large piece of perfectly breaded and fried white fish. The potato choices were fries, mashed and baked. The diner opted for the baked potato which while small was excellent.

The other two entrées were the Chicken Opus served over ziti in a white wine sauce. The chicken breast was breaded and fried in a brown sugar steak sauce which lent a sweet taste to the dish.

bloginfo: No salad or bread with lunch entreées; the service was quite slow with one server.

blognote: 'overheard from other tables:' the fries are excellent, the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich was done 'non-traditionally' and the Calamari comes in pre-breaded

Labels: Connecticut

Had a great lunch today at Pazzo at their Glastonbury location.

Arrived at noon and snagged a good booth; really filled up shortly after that. Guess it's a popular business luncheon meeting spot. Bring your own wine!

Entrées were the
~Siena~ Roast Duck and Mango salad, with field greens, radicchio, fennel, red onion, grape tomatoes, cucumber, caramelized pistachios and gorgonzola cheese tossed with a raspberry vinaigrette, drizzled with a port wine reduction. $9.99

and the ~Zio Roberto~ Eggplant Stack appetizer of the day: Mozzarella and fresh Tomato sandwiched between two rounds of fried Eggplant served with a side salad dressed with Balsamic Vinaigrette. $7.95

bloginfo: Pazzo is located at 60 Hebron Avenue, Glasstonbury, CT 860.657.3447
and 377 Cromwell Avenue, Rocky Hill, CT 860.721.8888
www.pazzoitaliancafe.net

blognote: Allison was our server and she was just a little too mechanically sparky for my mood today.

That is my niece, Julie Southern, that is competing in the Chef Competition this Saturday. Wish I could be with her! Hopefully her father, Chef Peter, or mother, Sandra my Restaurant Manager sister, will be able to watch her.

GOOD LUCK JULIE!
Break a fork [or spoon or whatever you say in a culinary competition]. I know it's 'break a leg' for dancers.

Labels: Florida

Sunday brunch here today before seeing 'Zerline's Tale' at Hartford Stage.




Three entrées:

Smoked Salmon Frittata $14.95
Three Egg Open Faced Omelet with Capers, red onion, fresh
dill and home fried potatoes

Oyster Bar “Hangtown” Fry* $13.95
Three egg frittata with pan fried oysters and crisp bacon,
Chorizo-Yukon Gold potato hash

Smoked Salmon Benedict $14.95
Two poached eggs, Catskills smoked salmon, potato latkes,
dill Hollandaise

bloginfo: 964 Farmington Avenue, West Hartford, CT
Phone: 860-236-6299

Brunch/Lunch: Sunday: 11:30am - 2:30pm

Labels: Brunch, Connecticut, Seafood

Ate here again tonight!
Appetizer: Crispy Baby Calamari served with hunan chili aioli dipping sauce [$10]
and a glass of Greg Norman Sirah [$7]
Entrées:
Kari Asam Laksa; Gulf shrimp, sea scallops, grouper filet, tofu, pineapple, red onion and tomato simmered in chili tamarind broth [$20] [spicy]
Peking Duck; Steamed Chinese burger buns with scallions and Beijing tianmenjing spread [$22]
Tangerine Beef; Crunchy rib-eye steak with a spicy tangerine glaze [$17]
Desserts: Pomegranate Sorbet [$6], Pandan Lavender Crème Brûlée [$6] and a Numi Organic Mint Tea [$2]

blognote: I have made reservations for the Girard Napa Valley Wine Dinner on Februrary
5th, Mardi Gras!

The Firehouse Restaurant that used to be on the Silas Deane Highway in Wethersfield and closed last year has reopened as the Firehouse Steakhouse and Halligan Taproom in Middletown.

Bunch of us ate here [for the third time] and it turned out real well. Everyone seemed quite satisfied, I had the lunch special: Shaved Prime Rib Sandwich [$10.99]. The sandwich was huge and was covered with melted cheese, onions and peppers. It also came with Fries which as I have reported before are terrific. Also had a Smithwicks beer [a Guiness product]. No dessert!

Ate there again yesterday. Much better meal this time. But it was lunch.
I had the Bleu Burger; medium rare, blue cheese, onion straws, tomato, lettuce and pickles on a nice bun. Very tasty and the Fries have that crunchy coating, yes. [$9.99] and a Backdraft Brown Ale [$4].
Other guy had a Turkey Melt on Rye [$8.49] which he said was very good. He had a Blue Moon beer [$4] liked it but not the orange slice floating on top.

We ate there tonight. The restaurant is at 412 Main Street in the old Camp's building. They have done a great job in remodeling and turning it into a firehouse.

app: 2nd Alarm Sampler [$10.99] which had Onion Rings, Chicken Fingers, Cheese Sticks and Wings with three dipping sauces. Great wings and onion rings.
entrées: 16 ounce Prime Rib end cut medium-well with Baked Potato [$25.99] and the Flatiron Steak [$15.99] served sliced with Beef Gravy, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans.
desserts: none but a great looking dessert menu
beverages: Root Beer and Water but a huge beer list and specialty drinks

bloginfo: open 11 am to 2 am
blognote: there is a $5 coupon online at www.firehousesteakhouse.com

Labels: Hamburgers and such, Middletown, Steakhouse

Watch the Jacques Pépin interview at Big Think on Salon:

Labels: Celebrity

First of all, I love my new Garmin StreetPilot c330 GPS. It got me to the Delmonico Hatters on 47 Elm Street in New Haven. I had lost my 'famous black hat' so went there to see their Kangol Hats. They had to order my Trilby Bamboo in black as it is a seasonal item.

Two doors down was Fresh Taco. a little streetfront eatery. I had a Jack Cheese and Guacamole Sincronizado. This is kind of like a non-squashed quesadilla. Anyway it was good and cheap and sort of filling. That and a can of Seltzer came to $4.40.

The GPS got me home too!

bloginfo: Fresh Taco is located at 39 Elm Street
telephone: 203.777.3068
bloginfo: everyone in the kitchen was Asian [Korean?]

Labels: Connecticut, Mexican

THAI CHICKEN WINGS here at Houlihan's are the very best appetizer in the world [well, I do exaggerate a bit]. But they were spicy with a very hot dipping sauce with lots of cilantro.
Next time, it's Thai Chicken Wings and salad or soup for my entire meal. AND I won't share them with anyone! The entrées were the Fish Tacos [I should have ordered them again] and the Chicken Parm Sandwich with Pesto on Focaccia [a little dry].

Labels: Asian, Comfort Food, Connecticut, Thai