If you haven't been following the exciting eating adventures of Alex from Sunday Diners, you're seriously missing out. Oh, did we mention that he's just 10 years old? Yep! He and his dad, James, hit up Connecticut diners and breakfast spots and write about the food, the people, the experience, and, oh, the bathrooms...but more on that later. Always a fun read, we love seeing where "the boys" (James is a kid at heart) have gone.
Today’s Sunday Diners is a very special first for us! Last Sunday, we got to do two very exciting things, we got to try out VOLTA in Stamford which makes awesome crêpes and gelato… and best of all, we went there with our two favorite bloggers OMNOMCT’s Kristien and Dan Del Ferraro
Before we talk about VOLTA, here’s a little bit about OMNOMCT. OMNOM is an award-winning blog about food and restaurants in CT. It’s really fun — definitely check out their story on eating A Burger a Day For The Whole Month Of May!Now THAT’s a commitment! Dan and Kristien, have been big fans of Sunday Diners since we have started. They always comment on our posts, sometimes they tweet about us and always have great suggestions about new places to try. They’re also very good people!
Dan and Kristien thought that it would be fun if we blogged together about a place - and they suggested VOLTA – which they have been to before and liked a lot. We’ve been waiting to do this for over a year… and on this Sunday here we are!
VOLTA is modern looking space which reminds me of when I was in Europe. They play cool music and there are pictures on the walls of Italy — like statues, a Fiat, and scooters. The first thing that you notice when walk in is the HUGE selection of Gelato! I was thinking… I’m definitely having some of that later!
VOLTA is not only a Gelateria, but also a Creperia AND a Juice Bar! So, to start I had a Fresh Carrot-Orange Juice. It was so fresh and orange, I thought that I would turn into a carrot. Dan and Kristien and my parents all had cappuccino… I got to try the foam which was extra foamy.
Then it was time for the main course. Dan, Kristien, my Mom and I had Crêpes! Kristien had Goat Cheese, Egg Sunny Side Up, Mixed Greens, Mushrooms and Spinach. My Mom had Black Forest Ham and Swiss Cheese, Dan had the Prosciutto, Scrambled Egg, Mozzarella Cheese and Mixed Greens. Want to guess what I had? I had the Nutella Crêpe with a side of Applewood Smoked Bacon. Dad, had a Croissant with Eggs, Cheese and Bacon… I guess he wasn’t in a Crêpe-y mood today!
“Kristien and I go out to eat a lot, and when we did, we always were telling our friends online about the places we went to. Soon, our friends were starting to think that we went out to eat ALL of the time!
So, Kristien and I decided why don’t we share the places we go to with other people to, so we started OMNOM.”
I asked Kristien, “What is her favorite dish at VOLTA?”
She said, “What I had today, the Goat Cheese Crepe – I love Goat Cheese and it’s extremely healthy!”
Kristien is very nice, she works in advertising, so we talked a little about my advertising project at school and she gave me some good tips. Then I showed her some funny dog videos on youtube because she loves pets!
So with our interviews done… it was time for Gelato! VOLTA, makes their own Gelato, and it’s awesome.
I had Dulce De Leche, Lemon, and Mint Chocolate — Dan had Salted Caramel and Dad had Nutella.
I asked Santiago, our server, what his favorite gelato flavor is
He loves the “Gianduia” which is a Chocolate Hazelnut flavor.
Thank you so much Dan and Kristien for such a great experience, we hope that we can see you again soon… How about we grab Burgers!?!
Today was pretty foggy out, which reminded me of when I visited Paris. So we decided that it would be a perfect day to have crêpes and got into the car and headed to Caroline’s Crêperie in New Canaan. The first thing you notice about Caroline’s is how much it looks like a real French café… except for one thing — the pictures of the New Canaan High Cheerleader Squad on one wall, which the owner’s daughter is a member of but there are also French signs, posters and even a picture of the Eiffel Tower in the bathroom. I did not get to meet Caroline today, but I heard that she grew up in Bordeaux, in France… so I knew the crêpes would be really be good.
Caroline’s has lots of choices on their menu for breakfast, but today we were here for the crêpes. For those of you that don’t know, crêpes are a French pancake but are lighter and thinner. They can be sweet or savory… and can be stuffed with meats, cheeses, fruits, basically anything!
Today I had Le Paris, which is a Savory Crêpe stuffed with Parisian Ham, Scrambled Eggs, Mozzarella Cheese and Mushrooms. I also had their homemade Hot Chocolate, which I couldn’t stop drinking. Dad had an omelet, which he liked because it had mushrooms and caramelized onions. After, dad and I shared a sweet crêpe, which was topped with Dulce De Leche — it was so delicious. If you like, you can even add a scoop of ice cream to any crêpe on the menu – I’ll have to try that sometime.
I spoke with Valerie St. Armand and Brendan Finn and asked, “How many different types of crêpes are there at Caroline’s?”
Brendan said, “There are 36 on the menu, but really it’s almost infinite… we can make you any combination that you want.”
I asked Valerie, “What is the most popular crêpe for kids?”
She told me “Definitely, the Banana and Nutella, but they also like the Mikey V – which is Scrambled Eggs, Bacon and Cheddar.”
I also asked, “What is the difference between a crêpe and a pancake?”
For this, they asked the chef, Jesus, who told us, “Crêpe batter is lighter, and is made with more eggs and no milk – They are also much thinner than pancakes.”
Thanks everyone for making a foggy morning a little sunnier!
We had a very busy few weeks, and have not been able to post – but now we’re back!
In July, Sunday Diners was interviewed for a feature story on News 12 Connecticut. The story was filmed at Wave Hill Breads in Norwalk,which our readers know is one of our favorites.I was interviewed by Sarah Hagen, who is a News 12 reporter and was so nice to us – she and her cameraman really made dad and I feel calm about being on TV.
The story was on News 12 in August, but many of our readers could not see it, because they don’t live in CT — so we hope you enjoy it!
Here are some photos Dad took while we were filming.
SUNDAY DINERS IN THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE!
I’m excited to tell you that I am in the Food Network Kids magazine that is in the September issue of Food Network Magazine! It’s on-sale this week!!!
This May, I got to be in a photoshoot in New York City – my job was to model cool t-shirts with food on them – they chose a one with an Egg, on Bacon Surfboard surfing on a wave of Orange Juice! It’s very SundayDiners!
Everybody was so nice at the shoot, I got to try tons of delicious cookies that they baked and were photographing for the magazine. My favorite one was the Double Chocolate Chip – if you buy the magazine all of the cookie recipes are there.
Here’s me in Food Network Magazine! – I still can’t believe it!
There is a lot of other cool parts the magazine, like facts about food, recipes and even a Guy Fieri Kitchen Challenge Quiz!
Be sure to pick one up if you know or have any kids that love Food Network or good food!
Last week was the one-year anniversary of the first Sunday Diners blog post. Since then, we have done 47 posts and have visited some of the best places for breakfast in Fairfield County, and beyond, like Block Island RI, Westchester NY, and Lancaster, PA.
We even wrote about our trip to Italy(where the food is awesome) and went to a Mets game and checked out the Hot Dogs at Citi Field!
Most of all, Sunday Diners has been a lot of fun to do with my dad, and we have met some really great people from all over the US and even some from as far away as Japan and Australia who read the blog. We also met some other great bloggers like OMNOMCT and Dan Woog here in CT.
It’s going to be a very fun year ahead, so if you have any ideas on where we should go next, please let us know!
Thank you everyone for reading, commenting and sending e-mails!
Love and Happy Father’s Day,
Alex and his Dad
So, without any more delays… let’s get on with the show!
First of all, I want to congratulate ALL of the great places, even the ones who did not finish first, because all of you helped to make the blog to become a big success.
We received tons of votes from all of you and here’s who you chose for:
Just like their commercial says… Chip’s has “The Best Pancakes Around” they were also named the best pancake in CT by Connecticut Magazine too! Congratulations Chip’s on your Sunny Award!!!!
Westport’s Coffee ‘An Donuts are good enough for the President of The United States and are really popular with our readers too! Congratulations on winning the Sunny Award for Best Diner Donut!
The winner of The Best International Breakfast was Valencia Luncheria. I love their Arepas, Pancakes and Batidos – Deeeeelicious! Congratulations on your Sunny Award! See you soon at your new location!
Congratulations to Gold’s Delicatessen on your Sunny Award!! We loved your Lox and so do our readers! And plus, as a bonus, you get pickles with your breakfast!
As many of you know I almost always check out the bathroom for Sunday Diners. Sometimes, they’re clean and decorated nicely…. and other times… they’re not so nice.
Now, Nicholas Robert’s Gourmet Bistro’s bathroom is almost as awesome as the food is! Congratulations to Chef Robert and his Dad, Mr. Nicholas — another great Father and Son team
Everyone deserves a HUGE round of applause!
We’ll be back next week with another post, thanks for reading and remember to
To celebrate the 1st Anniversary of Sunday Diners, I thought it would be fun to give out some awards to our favorite places that we visited.
Sunday Diners needs your help picking the winners! Please VOTE for your favorites below, and make sure you tell all of your friends about the Sunnys! You can VOTE once a day (if you like) until June 12, 2012.
We will announce the winners on June 17, 2012, Father’s Day!
Memorial Day is the day when we give our thanks and support to all of the men and women who protect America. The Memorial Day Weekend is also the unofficial start of summer and a great time to celebrate with some very American things… like Hamburgers! Hot Dogs! Baseball! And Parades!
On Friday night, we started off the weekend with a trip to my favorite burger place in Norwalk and Fairfield County –
If you are a regular visitor of Sunday Diners, you know that I love The Beach Burger. Beach Burger burger’s and shakes are fresh and always give me something to smile about. I usually have “The Beach Burger” which is an all-natural beef patty served with cheese, red onion, lettuce and tomato on a potato roll! They are juicy and delicious. There are two sizes – small and large — I had the LARGE one. The fries are also excellent. Beach Burger is also famous for their Shakes – which are great on a hot day and they make all kinds of great combos! I had the Strawberry Cheesecake Shake which is made with Vanilla Ice Cream, Strawberry Jam and REAL Cheesecake! It was thick… and so rich… I couldn’t finish it.
If you’re ever in Norwalk, definitely check out Beach Burger, you won’t be sorry!
On Saturday, I went to Citi Field to see my favorite team, The New York Mets play the San Diego Padres. While watching the ball game, I had what everyone says, including me, are the BEST hotdogs at Citi Field– The Nathan’s Famous Hotdog.
I spoke with our server Suzanne (or was it Suzann?) and asked her what her favorite thing to eat at the ballpark was and she said… “The Nathan’s Hot Dog!” Citi Field has some really great other places to eat, like Shake Shack, Blue Smoke (for BBQ and ribs!) and the Brooklyn Burger”. I’ll be sure to try those next time when I see The Mets beat the New York Yankees in June!
PS: The Mets beat the Padres 9-0! Let’s Go Mets!!
Finally… here’s a picture of me marching in the Norwalk Memorial Day Parade with my Music School– we played the Star Spangled Banner!
