Reflecting on a year of pandemic dining
Last year was unforgettable for all the wrong reasons. Yet as I reflect on 2021, there were still some memorably good foodworld experiences.
We all kept on eating, and the food service world rose to the occasion. Yes, it was different, but not all bad. Going out was replaced with take-out, home cooking ramped up, and baking went wild.
Over the year, I had the privilege of meeting some industry insiders and watching them work.
The renowned chocolatier, Fritz Knipschildt gave me a tour of his Norwalk kitchen and some insight into the importance of using the best ingredients to make the best confections.
With his unabashed love of the Westport Farmers Market, Bill Taibe, chef-owner of some of the best restaurants in Westport including The Whelk, Kawa Ni, Don Memo and The Art Space Cafe in Norwalk, took me along on a provisioning sweep of the vendors to stock up. He’s another advocate for using top-notch ingredients.
Jennifer Balin shared the lowdown on her Badass wild-yeast,
sourdough bagels — a pandemic innovation.
Coffee evangelist Dennis Bubbico of Strigo Coffee got me excited about small-production locallyroasted coffees from around the world. His passion for great coffee is as exciting as the aroma of a well-brewed cup.
Despite the pandemic restrictions, there were some new and
notable restaurants in the year.
Chef Renato Donzelli moved his popular Basso Cafe to stylish new quarters in Westport. Re-christened Basso Restaurant and Wine Bar, it’s still the place for Donzelli’s creative mashup of Italian, Spanish, and Hispanc flavors drawn from his heritage.
The Art Space Cafe at Norwalk’s ADK Norwalk Art Space opened with a burst of creativity. Chef Caitlin McGowan and her boss Bill Taibe have put together an enticing menu that relies on some of the best suppliers in the area paired with the careful and creative execution of McGowan.
I had been watching the papered storefront in SoNo ever since the sign went up for the Appétit Bistro. French restaurants reel me in and when this one finally opened, I wasn’t disappointed.
Just as restaurants began to figure out how to manage outdoor dining, the warm weather came and restaurants were back. Old favorites like Oak and Almond, Harbor Lights and Washington Prime set up stylish, comfortable, safer outside spaces.
There was a bump-up in home cooking too. I got to watch Susan and Steve Hanson in their kitchen as they celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by making 200 loaves of Irish Soda Bread to give to family and friends.
At The Thimble Islands Bed and Breakfast in Stony Creek, co-owner and co-innkeeper Tony Broom shared the secrets of his famous slow-cooked scrambled eggs memorialized by radio personality Faith Middleton on her show, The Food
Schmooze.
As the fall harvest peaked, avid canner and home cook Julia Currie let me spend an afternoon watching her put up bread and butter pickles and peach salsa. It’s an old-time craft that had a revival during the pandemic.
Leading up to Christmas, Marsha and I apprenticed to home-cook Basia Hirsh to study the traditional art of making Pierogi. It was a window into the cuisine and culture of Poland and Northern Europe.
Wine is something that can be enjoyed while hunkered down. Early in the year, we explored wines to give and get, re-discovering Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc-Viognier. It’s sort of become our “house wine.” There are usually a few bottles around ready at a moment’s notice.
A survey of four Premier Cru Chablis, one of the world’s great wines, was instructive, entertaining, and an excuse to eat a lot of Norm Bloom’s Copps Island oysters.
So it wasn’t all dreary basics and empty shelves. It turns out that we ate well in 2021.