Business

‘Exceeded All of My Expectations’: Look New Canaan Marks One Year in Business

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Look New Canaan, an eyewear vendor and optometry practice located on 21 Forest St., has reached its one-year milestone. Owned and operated by Dr. Jennifer Stewart, a Rowayton resident with more than 15 years of optometry experience, the retail shop and practice provides patients of all ages with eye exams, custom lens fitting, ocular disease management and more. Stewart said that her first year has been “more than she could have ever expected or planned on.”
“It’s been an unbelievable first year,” she told New Canaanite. “Patients have been really great, and the town has been so supportive of us. It really exceeded all of my expectations.”
In addition to the wide range of services offered at Look New Canaan, Stewart said she believes that the location has been a major factor in her success.

Business

Mead Park’s Apple Cart To Open Friday

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As winter draws to a close, one of New Canaan’s favorite seasonal restaurants, The Apple Cart Food Company, is getting ready to open its doors. The eatery’s owner, Emad Aziz, was hard at work last Thursday morning, making preparations for the restaurant’s official opening—a task he has undertaken each spring for the past two decades. “I’m very excited about it,” Aziz told the New Canaanite. “It’s been a very long vacation for me. I took a lot of time to go over everything, trying to get the perfect menu to keep my prices fair and my customers happy.”
In keeping with tradition, The Apple Cart will feature several new menu items this season, including options for those with certain dietary restrictions.

Around Town

New Canaan’s CT Stage Company Opens Season with ‘Hair’

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Connecticut Stage Company, a nonprofit theater production company based in New Canaan, is nearing the start of its second season. Founded by Kate Simone and Lorah Haskins, it didn’t take long for the experienced duo to see success. Their inaugural season, which began in October of 2023, featured productions of “Into the Woods,” and “Little Women,” with both selling out weeks before each show. Simone and Haskins said they hope to keep that momentum going with their next production, “Hair,” showing Nov. 23 and 24.

Around Town

Meet Luke ‘The Flying Fratt’ Frattaroli, New Canaan’s ‘Ninja Warrior’

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It’s not every day you see a New Canaan kid place fifth in a world championship, and even rarer when the contest in question is the Invitational World Finals for the World Ninja League. Yet that’s the case for Luke “The Flying Fratt” Frattaroli, a 14-year-old athlete who has dedicated the last four years of his life to a sport few have heard of. Based on the highly popular “American Ninja Warrior” TV show, Ninja is a form of obstacle course racing which sees athletes compete for the best time as they tackle a series of increasingly difficult obstacles, ranging from a series of steps which the athlete must jump across, to the infamous “bar hop.”
“We couldn’t find a sport that I really liked, that I really wanted to make a big commitment to,” Frattaroli, a Saxe Middle School eighth-grader, told the New Canaanite. “I never knew you could actually do it as a sport until a couple years ago when I found out this gym in Stamford had open classes, so I tried one out and I really liked it.”
Stamford Ninja Academy, Frattaroli’s main gym, is one of an increasing number of “ninja gyms” which provide practice courses and coaching to those interested in the emerging sport. Several coaches at SNA have also competed on “American Ninja Warrior.”

“You don’t really know it’s real,” Frattaroli said.

Business

‘I Love This Community’: Dashing Diva Beauty Launches on Cherry Street

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One of New Canaan’s hottest salons has a new owner. Gianna Parente has been with the salon formerly known as “Divaz,” now Dashing Diva Beauty, since she was 17. Taking over the business’s lease in August, after the previous owner decided not to renew, the native New Yorker formed a connection to New Canaan through her years of working here. “Truthfully, I feel like I grew up here,” Parente told the New Canaanite. “I’ve been here since I was very young, and when my boss was not going to re-sign, I kind of was like, oh my god, I can’t see us all not being together, I can’t see our clients leaving.