Anna Valente-Krolikowski

Baskin-Robbins To Close; Longtime Owner Retiring

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Baskin-Robbins, a mainstay of downtown New Canaan for more than a half-century, will close Dec. 28, its owner said. A lease renewal on the Main Street commercial space has triggered a franchise agreement-required remodel that’s cost-prohibitive, according to Anna Valente-Krolikowski, owner of the popular ice cream shop since 1992. It’s a bittersweet moment for the town native, who said she’s looking forward to retiring (“I’m hanging up the scoop”) and starting a new chapter, though she’s “loved” forging lifelong relationships with workers and customers at Baskin-Robbins. “Listen, am I excited because I think I need a break?

Business

Hundreds Come to New Canaan’s Karl Chevrolet for 2020 Corvette Stingray Unveiling

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Hundreds of auto enthusiasts visited one of New Canaan’s best established local businesses Tuesday for a milestone unveiling of a new specialty car. 

Supported by New Canaan businesses and designed to support local charities, the all-day unveiling at Karl Chevrolet of the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray marked the first time that people could see the American sports car in Connecticut. 

“Everybody has been waiting for a mid-engine Corvette, including myself, and here it is,” Gary Trombly of East Granby said as dozens of people sat in and took photographs of an orange Stingray in Karl Chevy’s Elm Street showroom. Trombly traveled nearly two hours to attend. “Beautiful car,” he said. “It’s gorgeous. Well set up.

Business

State Officials Flag Fish-Packaging Method at Local Restaurant

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State officials last week flagged a restaurant group with a New Canaan location for packaging fish in a way that’s disallowed under Connecticut public health regulations. According to an epidemiologist in the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s Food Protection Program, a complaint led officials to the discovery that eight restaurants were using a vacuum packer for “reduced oxygen packaging” of fresh fish. Officials in the Westport Weston Health District found that a food service establishment “was receiving large pieces of tuna, cleaning and cutting it into individual portions and then placing in refrigeration,” Matthew Payne of the DPH wrote in a Nov. 13 email to a number of municipal health officials including in New Canaan. “The ownership of this business also owns or operates a location in each of your towns.

Andrew Ault

NewCanaanite.com Adds Two Editorial Advisory Council Members

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New Canaanite is pleased to announce that two town residents have joined the small council that advises Editor Michael Dinan on matters such as the news site’s coverage plan and opinion pieces. Andrew Ault and Michael Chen joined the Editorial Advisory Council after Election Day. New Canaan’s Laura Budd, Rob Mallozzi, Julia Stewart and Doug Zumbach, emeritus, are sitting Council members. Regular attendees of the New Canaanite monthly coffee—presented on the first Thursday of each month in partnership with New Canaan Library and featuring Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee—the advisors respond to a wide range of questions from Dinan regarding New Canaanite’s tone, voice, guidelines and business. A native of Minnesota’s Twin Cities, Ault and his wife, Laura, moved to New Canaan from New York City five years ago. He’s a 20-plus year veteran of advertising, entertainment and media who also has worked in public radio as a journalist for KFAI 90.3 FM in Minneapolis.

Business

‘Riverside Pediatrics’ Opens on Vitti Street

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Daughter of a cardiothoracic surgeon and a nurse, Dr. Karen Beckman thought early on that her career in medicine might lead to a specialty in psychiatry. 

The Guilford native double-majored in Spanish and psychology at Tufts University, and went on to enter Tufts University School of Medicine. In her third year there, Beckman began to try different fields and “loved OBGYN,” she recalled Tuesday. “I loved delivering babies, I loved working with young moms, and with babies, and I just thought the whole thing was fascinating. And then I did my pediatrics rotation and I loved the kids. I just thought they were so fun and with the job, you are working a lot of hours, it can be a grind when you are a resident because you are working 100 hours and getting no sleep—and I found that I didn’t mind it when I was working with kids.