Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. I’ve never been able to understand more than six words of Marcel Proust, but from what I can gather, Remembrance of Things Past is 4,200 pages of inscrutable French about a cookie.
I can relate. I spend an impractical amount of time contemplating my Platonic ideals of food. Ice cream: Arethusa Farm coffee. Tomato: garden-grown, mid-September, still hot from the sun.
One remarkable thing about our community is that, with very few exceptions, we made it through two years of a global pandemic without seeing any of our beloved restaurants close. You can attribute that to the hard work of restaurant and food service teams, as well as the dogged generosity of our town’s restaurant patrons. In my case, I was often just completely unwilling to make my own lunch in the middle of a long workday, or too lazy at night to cook. Either way, in appreciation of a restaurant scene we’re incredibly lucky to have, here are five dishes I kept going back for this past year. 1. Greens on the Go’s Butternut Squash Toast
As a society, we don’t talk enough about the magic of Unidentified Crunchy Things and why they need official designation as a food group.
For the third year in a row, New Canaan and Darien will face-off to see which town can capture the title of “Most Generous Town” by raising the most funds for either the New Canaan Community Foundation or The Community Fund of Darien. The New Canaan Community Foundation will host a guest bartending event at Gates Restaurant on Thursday, November 21st at 6:30pm to celebrate the kick-off of the week long giving competition. The event is free to attend, and a portion of the bar proceeds raised will be donated to NCCF.
Gates Restaurant invite you to drink pink and enjoy local, award winning comedian – Carolyn Paine debut her stand-up show on Thursday, October 10th 7-9pm. Carolyn’s shorts have been recognized by the Women in Comedy Festival, New Haven International Film Festival and she won at the International Comedy Festival in CA! She herself has been affected by breast cancer having lost both of her grandmothers to the disease. Gates have created a cocktail called ‘The Pink Warrior’ to honor Breast Cancer Awareness during the month of October. Its vibrant color is complimented with Tequila infused with blood orange, grilled pineapple, grilled jalapeños, and cactus pear.
A favorite chef among local diners, Luis Lopez, on Monday returned to New Canaan to start his new job running the kitchen at Gates. Formerly of his popular ‘Chef Luis’ restaurant on Elm Street—which changed names and hands following his departure more than one year ago, and finally closed—Lopez said he is “thankful for the opportunity.” “I feel like I never left. All my customers and friends came to see me when I went to Ridgefield,” Lopez said, referring to his most recent position. “New Canaan is my home.”
Asked how he felt about cheffing at Gates, Lopez said, “I am excited.
