Business

‘Taj Indian Cuisine’ Restaurant Coming to South Avenue

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An Indian restaurant with locations in Stamford, Westport and Fairfield is coming to South Avenue in downtown New Canaan. The owners of Taj Indian Cuisine on Wednesday received approval to create the restaurant at 9 South Ave., formerly Mackenzie’s and vacant for four years. The Planning & Zoning Commission during a regular meeting held at Town Hall and via videoconference granted site plan approval to the restaurant’s owners, as per the New Canaan Zoning Regulations. (An audio problem with the Zoom broadcast of the meeting prevented attendees from hearing P&Z’s discussion or vote, though the town planner confirmed the approval, with no conditions, via email.)

The new restaurant is the second provider of Indian food in town, following Chef Prasad Chirnomula’s eponymous restaurant on Main Street. According to the Taj website, the new restaurant uses “traditional Indian cooking techniques along with unexpected ingredient combinations, forward-thinking flavor profiles, contemporary plating and impressive table service.

Business

New Canaan Firefighter Launches ‘OBG Mobile Tire Services’

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Michael Jackson, a career firefighter with the New Canaan Fire Department, has always been a car guy. “I’ve always loved older BMWs,” the St. Luke’s School graduate, 39, recalled on a recent morning. “I’ve always worked. I started to work on them when I was in college.”

That was at North Carolina State University, where Jackson took a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Business

Best Pizza Shop on Main Street ‘Permanently Closed’

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The Detroit-style pizza shop that opened in the former Vicolo space about one year ago has closed. Best Pizza Shop is “permanently closed,” according to its Google listing. Though no notice has been posted to the business’s door, website or social media channels since Jan. 1, Best Pizza Shop is not taking online orders and its space appeared vacant Tuesday during regular business hours. Its owner, John Parlatore, did not immediately respond to requests for information sent by phone and email.

Business

‘A More Flavorful Life’: Spice & Tea Exchange on Track for Spring Opening on Main Street

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The Robinsons fell in love with The Spice & Tea Exchange long before they planned a New Canaan franchise. John Robinson, known to locals as the friendly face of Stewart’s Wine & Spirits for 26 years, had entered the Newport, R.I. store in the summer of 2017 while attending the annual folk festival there. 

“One of my friends said, ‘You’ve got to check this place out—you love cooking, they’ve got everything, spices, and teas, and everything you could ever imagine,’ ” he recalled. “I walked in and I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ ”

Pam Robinson visited the same store in May of 2021. She recalled, “It was just completely overwhelming, in a good way. The smells, the vibrancy, the colors, it just welcomed you all in.

Who Knew: Time to Try the Donuts!

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‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. Scientists recently suggested that the universe is shaped like a donut, not the pancake shape we all believed it to be for decades. Light waves leftover from the Big Bang, once thought to run parallel, were observed converging. While we wait for further evidence to determine what carb we most closely resemble, we can’t sit idle. If the universe is but a donut, who am I not to chase that shape down a highly caloric, Homer Simpson-style rabbit hole of dough, glaze, and filling?