Who Knew: Wonder No More

‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. I never write bad reviews. If a restaurant isn’t for me, I say so privately and move on; taking public shots at a small local business seems cruel when umpteen other forces stand ready to shutter an eatery any given day. Today, though, I’m making an exception, because what has quietly arrived in Stamford, dressed in the language of convenience and community, is not a small local business. It just plays one on a screen near you.

Who Knew: The Most Important Meal of the Year

‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. Fairfield County is home to rolling lawns, sprawling mansions, and this brutal truth: right now, 34,000 children in our county are food insecure. Statewide, one in six kids doesn’t know where their next meal will come from. 

In October, when we learned that SNAP wouldn’t be funded during the government shutdown, the human reality of nutrition assistance bloomed in vivid color: a lot of people need help paying for food, and many of these people are our neighbors. To allow people to go hungry is horrifying, and there’s no credible political or religious doctrine that justifies it. Period.

Who Knew: A To-Do List for Summer’s Last Call

‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. Instagram, in its finite wisdom, recently informed me that “August is the Sunday of summer.” This proclamation struck an ominous chord. The author (okay, the meme-creating chatbot) may have intended to incite a cozy, churchy, Sunday kind of calm, but it gave me a little stab of panic and despair. Have I been to enough baseball games? Played enough Marco Polo?

Who Knew? An Hour Away, a World Apart

‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. Use a compass, if such a thing still exists, to draw a circle with a one-hour driving radius around New Canaan. You’ll find our little town sits squarely within striking distance of wildly divergent energies. With the traffic gods on your side, you can get to a Michelin-starred tasting menu in Midtown or a clam shack up the Connecticut coast. Yankees or Mets, Giants or Jets, New Haven apizza or a Central Park cart dog—the point is, our location is a prime launchpad for discovering the best of what’s out there.

Who Knew: Welcome to the Carb Boom

‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. * * *

Many years ago, when I self-identified as an idiot in my twenties, I put myself on a no-carb diet that was popular at the time and still makes the occasional rounds today. For two weeks, I embraced bunless hamburgers, crouton-less salads, beer-less baseball games, and a joyless existence. I probably lost four pounds before something innocuous–let’s be honest, it was the flour tortilla around a burrito–felled my willpower. Soon enough, I was mainlining Cheezits and Parker House rolls as I always had, and left others to their spiralized zucchini noodles and Ziploc bags full of snacking bacon.