The Baltimore Crab Cakes Vs. The San Francisco Rustica Welcome To “Benny Bowl 2013″ At Rosie In New Canaan

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Rosie, 27 Elm Street, New Canaan CT www.rosienewcanaan.com

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Today is Super Bowl Sunday and the Baltimore Ravens will be playing the San Francisco 49ers in New Orleans.  Here at Sunday Diners… we’re live in New Canaan at Rosie for the 2013 Benny Bowl!  But… we’ll get to that in a minute after we tell you a little bit about Rosie.  Rosie has been open since 2004 and is owned by George and Rosie Nammack. I have one one word for Rosie and it’s… AWESOME!

The first thing you notice when you walk into Rosie is the art on the walls and all of the delicious baked goods on display like muffins, cookies, whoopee pies and especially their Famous Carrot Cake.  The art is by a local artist named David Stevens who paints in a very colorful style and likes to paint people with dogs… there’s even a painting of a pug (which is what my dog Coco is).  Rosie is a very comfortable place, it’s really great for kids, they even have games, toys and books for little kids.  The staff is very friendly and they really make you feel at home.  And now about the food!

Today’s menu had lots of great choices, but since it’s Super Bowl Sunday, my dad and I decided that we would have our own battle pitting two different types of tEggs Benedict on the menu against each other and so, The Benny Bowl was born!

Louisiana Crab Cakes Benny

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My choice: Representing the AFC and the City of Baltimore (with a little bit of New Orleans) the Louisiana Crab Cakes BennyPoached Eggs, on Crab Cakes with Hollandaise Sauce.

Eggs Benedict Rustica

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Dad’s Choice: Representing the NFC and the City of San Francisco, The Eggs Benedict Rustica — Poached Eggs, on a Crusty Baguette, Thick-Sliced Peppered Bacon, Roasted Plum Tomato, Fresh Basil, Hollandaise Sauce and Cracked Black Pepper.

Both were so good, if this was a real football game we’d go into overtime!  I’ve never had Crab Cakes for breakfast before – they had a little kick to them (get it?) – but they were really good, I also tried Dad’s Rustica and it was really great too.

And Now For The Halftime Show (Not Starring Beyonce)

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For the halftime show, instead of Beyonce we had a really special treat; a fresh from the oven Ginger Scone with Maple Butter and a real Honey Comb (made by real bees!)  I never knew that you could eat the honeycomb itself — it was a really great combination.  To drink I had a Chocolate Steamer with Whipped Cream and Cinnamon - YUM!

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I spoke with Rosie Nammack, and  asked for her Benny Bowl 2013 pick;

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She said, “I would say it’s a tie, but I really like the Rustica, because I’m Sicilian!”

I also asked her, “What time do you get in to start baking in the morning?”

Rosie told me that, “I get in at 5 AM, to start baking… you really have to be a morning person for this job!” 

Rosie’s favorite restaurants are the Whelk and Le Farm in Westport and she told me all about her other favorite, Blue Hill at Stone Barns

She said, “There is no menu, they give you a list of ingredients and then ask you what things you like and they make it for you, everything is fresh because it comes right from their farm.”  

I also spoke with Mr. George, who told me that, “Rosie is like an extension of our home, which is what makes it so special”

We were so full, that we did not get to try their Famous Carrot Cake, but we took some home for dessert when we watch The Super Bowl.

Rosie invited me to come back and spend a day working in her kitchen – that would be a lot of fun, so maybe you’ll read about that in in a future post.

Thanks to everyone at Rosie for such an excellent meal!

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The Sunday Diner Rating (Super Bowl Edition) 

FOOD * * * * * (Touchdown with a Two-Point Conversion!)

SERVICE  * * * * * (Touchdown With The Extra Point!)

LOOKS * * * * *  (Touchdown!)

BATHROOM * * * * *  (Two Field Goals

PS: GO RAVENS!

Caroline’s Crêperie in New Canaan Makes Even a Foggy Day Brighter!

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Caroline’s Crêperie, 155 Elm Street, New Canaan

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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.

IMG-20130113-00314I 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.”

 

IMG-20130113-00316I 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!

The Sunday Diner Rating (Out of Cinq) 

FOOD * * * * * (Cinq)

SERVICE  * * * * * (Cinq)

LOOKS * * * * *  (Cinq)

BATHROOM * * * * *  (Cinq

THE NEW CANAAN DINER IS AS GOOD AS APPLE PIE… AND JUST AS FILLING!

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New Canaan Diner, 18 Forrest Street, New Canaan CT 

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Welcome to our first post after a little break… After our trip to Block Island, I’ve been super busy – I visited Lancaster County… was on the news… started 4th Grade… began Fall baseball season… And now I’m even playing in a chamber group with my friends from music class!

So, we really wanted to make today’s post extra special.

Today, we visited The New Canaan Diner and brought my oldest friend Brandon as our special guest – I’ve known Brandon since I was ZERO YEARS OLD!  We first met as babies – and he is one of my best friends. He also likes to eat too!

The New Canaan Diner is one of the three Post Road Family of Diners, and it’s the baby of the family… it’s only two-and-a-half years old, but the food is just as good as the other members of the family… and so is the style of the diner.

The diner is very classic but it is modern and new.  It’s a retro-style diner with lots of cool old signs and 1950′s style things like toy cars, old Coca-Cola stuff and even the ceiling fans look like old airplane propellers – cool!

Today Brandon and I had the Apple Pie French Toast which is French Toast made with Challah bread, topped with Warm Fresh Apple Pie Filling and a little Whipped Cream.  We both gobbled it down… but not all of it… because… IT WAS SO FILLING!  (get it?).  We also had a side of Bacon, and split some Scrambled Eggs – the bacon was not as crispy as I like it, but it tasted good.  We also had Orange Juice – which tasted like the orange in a creamsicle.

I asked Brandon, what he thought about the New Canaan Diner:
He said, “I would definitely come back with my family… the food was really good… and the bathroom was really clean.  The service was fast, which is also good… one time I was in Rhode Island with my family and it took almost 2 hours for the food to come out!… and they didn’t even come out to check on us!… that wouldn’t happen here.”

I also spoke to John Gallo, the manager at the New Canaan Diner who has worked for the Post Road Family of Diners for 11 years and asked him, “Why did you open the diner in New Canaan when you already have a diner in Norwalk and Darien?”

He said, “First off, I wish I could say I owned the place, but I don’t.  I have worked for the family who are really nice for a long time… they decided to open in New Canaan, because a lot of customers told us that there wasn’t a good diner in town, so the owner opened up 2  years ago and business has been great.”

I asked what his favorite breakfast was and told me that he “LOVES the Breakfast Burrito!”

I love Breakfast Burritos too — maybe we can try that next time!

A BIG thanks to Brandon for being my special guest today and to Ruth for being such an excellent server!

The Sunday Diner Rating (Out of Five)

FOOD  * * * * * (FIVE)

SERVICE  * * * * * (FIVE)

LOOKS  * * * * *  (FIVE)

BATHROOM: * * * * * (FIVE) *

* They really had a clean and awesome bathroom!

A Gold Medal Breakfast at the Silvermine Market!

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Silvermine Market, 1032 Silvermine Road, New Canaan, CT www.silverminemarket.com

The Silvermine Market is located directly across the street from The Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan, CT and serves up an amazing gourmet breakfast!

The Market is in a building that dates back to 1860 – that’s over 152 years old!  Though it has not always has been the Silvermine Market, the building has for a long time been a market, which we learned about  by talking to the owners Chef Scott Kaluczky and Lou Aloupis and will tell you about that in minute.  But first about the Silvermine Market and its awesome food!

The Silvermine Market is a cozy country-style place that not only serves breakfast, it’s also great for lunch and now even serves dinner on Friday and Saturday nights.  If you’re having a big party, like for the Super Bowl, they do catering too!

A lot of what is served at the Silvermine Market is freshly made, they do all their own baking, they roast their own roast beef and turkey for lunch and make all sorts of other great things like lasagna, chicken pot pies and even chocolate cake.  But I came for breakfast… and it was VERY GOOD!

To start, I had a Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream… it was super hot and delicious, and was made with steamed milk on the cappuccino machine.  There’s many choices for breakfast, and I had a hard time choosing, but I decided to go with the Breakfast Burrito, which is a flour tortilla filled with bacon, ham or sausage, eggs, onions, peppers and cheddar cheese and was served fresh salsa!  I had mine with bacon.  It was so tasty and BIG — I couldn’t even eat the whole thing!  My dad and I also shared a side order of Home Fries — they were so good I was in Home Fry Heaven!

I spoke with the owners Chef Scott and Lou about the market and asked them about its history, Lou told me that:

Me with Lou (l.) and Chef Scott (r.) the owners of Silvermine Market

“It’s been here since 1860, and was known as Guthrie’s Market.  This building was an icehouse that sold ice to people because back then people didn’t have refrigerators and had to buy ice to keep their food cold.  They also sold produce.  It’s been The Silvermine Market for a long time, but Scott and I bought and fixed it up 6 years ago”.

I also spoke to Chef Scott about the food and asked:

“What’s most popular with kids at the Silvermine Market?”

He said that “…Kids LOVE our Chicken Fingers and Mac & Cheese for lunch and our Chocolate Chip Pancakes and French Toast for breakfast — the french toast is really thick because it’s made with challah bread  — kids also love our fresh muffins”.

I’m totally coming back here for lunch…and might even stay for dinner!

The Sunday Diner Rating (out of 5)

FOOD  * * * * * (5)

SERVICE  * * * * *   (5)

LOOKS  * * * * * (5)

BATHROOM: * * * * * (5)

Thanks Scott and Lou!

Great Country Cookin’ at Reid’s Country Kitchen

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Reid’s Country Kitchen 17 Elm St, New Canaan, CT 

Reid’s Country Kitchen, is a little hard to find… because it’s hidden down an alley off of Elm  Street… but when you do, you’ll be amazed at how good the food is.  Before the new Reid’s Country Kitchen re-opened, the place was JP’s Country Cupboard… but before that it was the original Reid’s which had opened in 1988.

Reid’s is known for its baking — especially their muffins and biscuits.  I had the Biscuit Bundle which is bacon, eggs, cheese and tomato on a HUGE fresh biscuit! It was scrumptuous!

I spoke with our servers  Nora and Sharon (who even asked and answered her own question)…

Do I enjoy my job?

YES!!!!

Nora, also told me that “Kid’s love the Country Kitchen”

I know why… because not only do you get a great breakfast, they give all the kids Wikki Stix which are kind of like Benderoos — waxy sticks that you can make pictures, figures or just about anything with. They’re super cool.  They even hang the best creations up on their bulletin board for all of the customers to look at.

The Sunday Diner Rating (out of 5)

FOOD  * * * * * (5)

SERVICE  * * * * * *  (5)

LOOKS  * * * * * (5)

BATHROOM: * * * * * (4)