LeFarm in Westport CT.......I'm finding new favorites and enjoying older ones

I know many of you know I write more about leFarm than I do any other restaurant.  Yes, I'm friends with Bill and Rachel who own the restaurant.  I like to support my friends. But it's such good food!!!!  It's Creative, Fresh, and rather satisfying.  And I'm not alone with my thoughts.  The night I was there was a Tuesday night.  leFarm is closed Sunday and Monday.  Tuesday was jammin!!!!!!

So this Tuesday was the one night that we were able to put together with two other couples.  One were friends of ours who had moved to London last year for what we are hoping is only three years.   The others were the owner's of Marly's in Wilton (which is another great local place).  This one Tuesday night in July, yes I'm running behind in my writing, was the only night that we were able to get together.

The first thing I noticed when I came into the restaurant is that the bar in the back that separates the dining room from the kitchen is covered in Tomatoes.  I mean covered.  All sizes and colors.  Cherry, grape, beefsteak, cherokee you name it, it was there.  It was a fireworks display of color.   yellows, reds, purples, oranges and everything in between.

When we sat down and looked at the menu, I noticed that the appetizer section was a lot larger than what it used to be.  Since the 6 of us all really love to eat, we decided to share 5 different appetizers.

Here is what we got:

The first one was a new dish to Anita and I.  Battered Fish Bait.  We had to ask because we had no idea what it was.  I still don't remember what the name of the fish was, but it was a small thin fish that was battered and cooked whole.  it was so small that you literally ate the whole thing.  Bones and all.  The fish was light and mild and the batter had a lot of the crunchy flavor you like in a fried fish.  It was served pickles and nice roasted peppers.

Artisan Burrata was placed in front of us next.  A large generous portion of creamy firm cheese was served with a pesto and fresh cherry tomatoes and a slice of the olive bread.  we had to ask for more bread to accompany the dish.

The Kale and Beet salad is a dish we can't get away from.  I have become a huge fan of beets and it still remains to be one vegetable that I have never made.   I have heard that they can be boiled or more popularly roasted.  But for some reason I have steered clear of them.  I don't know why.  Besides the Portobella mushroom, the beet has to be the "meatiest" of the vegetables around.  But they are crisp and fresh tasting and oh so earthy.  I really have to get some of these in my kitchen.

As it was tomato season, the plate of tomatoes with onions and Pearl Cous-cous was a nice addition to our selection.  All I can say is that there is nothing better in the summer than fresh picked tomatoes.

The last appetizer is one that has become my personal favorite at the restaurant.  When we first tried the Octopus, we were told it was a special and Frank our server brought us out a dish to try.  Since then, I have always ordered it.  I know I have written about it before, but h the way Bill cooks it, make it so soft and uncommon than most other chewy octopus dishes I have had.  But the key to the dish is the Harissa dressing he makes.  Bill posted a picture recently on facebook showing a kitchen accident while making the dressing.  it was everywhere.  I told him I would have volunteered to clean it up.  I just needed some loaves and bread and it would be gone very quickly.

 
Our main dishes as usual didn't disappoint us.  We had some similar orders but had some nice new dishes to try.

The Bronzoni was a piece of fish that we had gotten in the past.  Bill serves this fish with an assortment of fresh summer beans and his tomato marmalade.  If you can look back on Martha Stewart shows, you'll find he makes this on one of the shows he was on.  Really bright flavors here.

Sweet breads were also ordered and they were as good as the last time I had tried them there.  Made with fresh peas, carrots and onions, the dish sits in a light mushroom broth and dotted with bacon.  Oh, I so love bacon.

We had two pasta dishes a the table.  Both of them were 1/2 orders and it was a good thing because the desserts were plentiful.  The first pasta dish was the Cavatelli.  It was served with squash and a bean pesto, then topped with thinly sliced Prosciutto.

The last dish was the one that Mike and myself had gotten.  It was a good think he ordered first and asked for the 1/2 order.  otherwise I would have made a real pig of myself.  The Buccatini Carbonara was served with onion, peas, bacon (oh joy), and topped with fresh shaved Parmesan.  Fabulous dish.

The table was a group of Dessert fanatics.  Not that many people are not but this group really loves their sweets.  We got two orders of the fresh raspberries with melted chocolate on them.  I'm not a huge fan of chocolate on fruit but this just looked so beautiful.

I can't resist Bills Corn Bread and candied Bacon.  (OK, I can see I have a problem here)

Last and newest dessert was one that had to be preordered because it takes 15 minutes to make.  Fresh fruit compote was on the bottom of a ramekin and topped with a pastry that can only be described as a cake of pancake.  I know they described it differently when I was there a month ago and I have to admit, I just don't remember.  But this dish was served with Basil ice cream.   The combination was terrific and the cake in the first ramekin was soft and moist.  It's worth the wait.

Another great meal and another great entry for me in the blog.  This place is always easy to write about.  Please go and say hello to Bill.  Tell him I sent you.

leFarm can be found in Westport and on the web at www.lefarmwestport.com

PRET in NYC..............Impressive small sandwich shop

I know I usually don't write about convenience places or fast food places but this is a place worth mentioning.  My good friend Wendy had mentioned this place to me once and I had never heard of it.  As I now know, it's a fairly large worldwide chain.   They are also located at airports for a quick bite on the run.

There were a number of things that I really liked about this place.  The first one was the selection.  They stay away from the traditional sandwiches and kick it up a notch.  All the items are done in a healthier manner.  All the ingredients are delivered fresh everyday and nothing is from the previous day.  They literally open each shop everyday with no ingredients on the shelves or in the refrigerators.  At the end of the day, anything left over is given to shelters that are associated with that store.

The second reason I really liked this place is the philosophy behind everything they seem to be doing.  Besides the fresh ingredients and the charity they subscribe to, the packaging is multi useful.  They have a vast menu of sandwiches and if each sandwich had its own wrapper, there would be a large amount of packaging material made that is only made for that one item.  They package each wrap, baguette, and salad in the same packaging but placed in it's on selective area.  So a ham and Brie baguette is wrapped in he same wrapper as the king prawn and avocado baguette.  There is less packaging to store on hand which not only keeps the cost down for the store but it also allows the items to be multi useful.

The selection is vast and like I said before, the ingredients are not only fresh but healthier than your average store.  They have salads and lots of little nibble sides that I really liked.  when I was there, I got a small container of grapes.  Right by the counter they also sold little brownie squares for a little bit of sweet to end the meal.

If you see one do yourself a favor and stop in, you'll find you'll look for them when you want a quick bite of something good.

PRET has multiple locations all over the world.  Go to www.pret.com for locations, menu's and nutritional facts.

Omanel in Bridgeport........Brazilian cuisine lives large in Bridgeport

In both Bridgeport and New Haven, lies home to many Brazilian families. And where you have a large gathering of a specific ethnicity, you will have local eateries that cater to those people to give them the comforts of home.  In Bridgeport, Omanel's is such a place.  This Brazilian restaurant has been around for many years and while I had been there when I first moved in 1992, I haven't returned since.

We had gone there for lunch from work one day because we just needed a day out for lunch. The four of us are all eaters so we were excited for something different.  Omanel's has a menu that is strong is seafood dishes and they had a nice lunch menu.  We looked around and saw many dishes served in large Pewter crock pots.  When I glanced at the lunch menu, there were 4 dishes of Bakala (salted cod fish) and a few other heavy rice dishes.

We decided to get some appetizers to share first.  We got one order of Chorizo Sausage and two orders of Garlic Shrimp.  The Chorizo came out to us in a dish that had the sausage on fire.  Not like your Saganaki cheese you hear "OPA" yelled at when it is burst into flames, but literally on fire.  It created a crispy outside to go with the smoky inside.

We decided to get two orders of the shrimp because we knew it would be extra garlicy and there would be a good amount of mopping to be done on the dish.   Make sure you ask for extra bread for this dish.  you'll send it back with just the shells and the lemon ring.

Our main dishes came out and I couldn't believe the portion sizes.  these Pewter pots were massive. Salted Cod was swimming in the pot of rice.  The cod was on the bone which add some deep rich flavor to the broth that the rice had absorbed.  But make sure you're prepared for bones because there is some work involved.  also because of the heavy salt, I was able to only eat a little bit of it.  I have found since I've cut back on salt, I've become sensitive to it.  The portion was so big, that I was easily able to bring home 1/2 of it.

Omanel's can be found in Bridgeport at 1909 Main Street.  Their phone number is 203-335-1676.

Alliger's House of Wings.........25 different flavors of wings. what could be better?

Some of the best comforting meals have been in dives.  You know its true.  Sitting at the bar in a Honky Tonk town eating a juicy burger that was served with melted cheese, bacon and onions that was all cooked on the same griddle.  Not there for the ambiance but usually the company and the brew.  But there are times that the food shines better than the rest.

For years I have been traveling to Sayre Pennsylvania which is where Anita grew up.  For almost 20 years since I made that first trip there, we make a right turn past a small bar by the name of Alliger's House of Wings.  Every time we pass it I make the comment, we have to go there one day.  Anita says she had never been there and she enjoys wings.   There was one time that I had purchased their sauce that I had seen in the local market there.  I don't remember the flavors but I remember they were good.

Well the time had finally come that my job of a salesman had crossed over and allowed me to sell the idea of having lunch there this past weekend.  And it was worth the wait.  I couldn't decided which wings I wanted to try.  They sold them by the dozen or the 1/2 dozen.  From Fruity sauce to Nuclear.  sauce 1 was Hawaiian with sweet with pineapple and 25 was Nuclear.  As I rarely utter the words "that's too spicy for me" and I usually stay near the top of the Scoville scale when it comes to heat.  For those of you who don't know what the "Scoville" scale is, the Scoville scale is an index of the level of capsaisan that is found in each pepper.   Capsaicin is a chemical compound that stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings in the skin, especially the mucous membranes. The number of Scoville heat units  indicates the amount of capsaicin present.  (The previous italicized comment is from Wikipedia)   For example, a bell pepper has 0 on the scale, a jalapeño is rated between 2,500 and 8,000, a cayenne pepper is rated at between 30,000 and 50,000 and closer to the top is the Habanero which is rated between 100,000 and 350,000.   


So we went to the bar and ordered our food.  I got the kids their dishes.  They both like wings but there were other kids there so their attention was taken away from the food and was preoccupied by playing around.  


So for Anita I got her the hot and spicy garlic.  It had a really nice heavy garlic flavor.  At times that could be taken as spicy but it was really rich in flavor.  


I ordered 1 1/2 dozen.  I wanted to try two different ones.  The 1/2 dozen was the Singapore flavor. It was an asian flavor but not like a teriyaki.  it was less sweet than that and did have some heat as it was probably number 19 on the list.  The dozen that I got was the Kamikaze flavor.  It was 23 on the list.   So I was expecting heat.  the flavor was nice but the heat was not as high as I thought it would be.  Yes I got the burn on the lips after you eat 6 of them.  The heat came at the end and lingered which was nice.  But I didn't get the sweat.  I love the sweat you get from a real dose of spice.  

All in all it's a great place to go for some wings and a beer.  I know Sayre PA, isn't the place that many would find themselves but if you find yourself on route 17 in New York and see Sayre, consider stopping by there for lunch. 


Alligers can be found at 201 Spring St., Sayre PA 18440.  phone 517-888-9805.