The First and Possibly Only Annual Who Knewies: A Very Subjective Compendium of What’s Best Around Here

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

This month, my husband and I will celebrate our tenth anniversary of calling New Canaan home. While it sometimes feels like it’s only been a week, this has been an action-packed decade. Like Junior Nutmeggers out to earn our advanced badges, we studiously spent our nights and weekends checking out tried-and-true local haunts, finding the best backroad shortcuts, and adopting the cares and cadences of a Fairfield County life. 

Like anyone who harbors secret dreams of being an ungodly hybrid of Oprah and Martha, flying between my stately homes in Montecito and Maine with a trunkful of Loro Piana and a terrified personal staff, I’ve been quietly collecting personal favorites, a definitive list of Approved Things™ to share with friends and visitors to our fair corner of the world. This month, I’m making that list public, so I can share something back with a community that’s given me so much to enjoy.

Am I an authority? Sure! (Although, to the friend who texted me surprisingly sharp dissent about a recent column, perhaps not?) However, I’m highly confident in my conclusions and always open to debate, especially when that debate gives me a new assignment to check out.

So please enjoy the First and Maybe Only Ever Annual Who Knewie Awards, celebrating a partial list of what’s truly remarkable about living here. Help me congratulate the winners by giving them your support. And if you’ve got any builds, I’m all ears. 

Best Breakfast: Farmer’s Grind Avocado Toast
Best Breakfast (hangover): Dolce Italian Café’s Portuguese Muffin with Egg, Cheese, and Sausage
Best Brunch: Rosie’s Superico burrito

Best Iced Coffee: Greenology Jack’s Stir Brew iced coffee
Best Hot Coffee: A cappuccino from Mercantile at GrayBarns, but don’t take it to go. Drink it there. It’s charming, cozy, sells excellent pastries, and you can poke around the elevated gift shop next door. Bring your houseguests here on a Sunday morning and let them believe your whole life is this Instagrammable.
Best Not Coffee: Barvida Superfood Golden Turmeric Latté. Grab one the next time you can’t possibly survive another 3 PM slump on a cold, gloomy day, and you’ll perk right up.

Best Green Juice: Healthy Green from the Pedal’s stand at the New Canaan Farmer’s Market

Best Dry Cleaner: This will surely be contentious, but I love the couple who owns Professional Touch Cleaners in Norwalk. They clean, tailor, and iron, and they turn it all around in a couple of days. For that extra drive, you save a lot of money. See also: New Canaan Discount. 

Best Hikes
For a quick morning loop with the dog: Watson-Symington Woodlands
For a more extended, contemplative afternoon: Mianus River Park
For a choose-your-own-adventure with views for miles: Ward Pound Ridge Reservation

Best Place to Take Visiting Friends You’re Trying to Convince to Move Here, Even if You Can’t Sufficiently Describe What the Place is or What Exactly One Does There: Grace Farms

Best Yoga: Sama Yoga, hands down. Any class with Amy Bilden or owner Rebekah Jacobs will be great (and very newbie-friendly), but I’ve never had a bad experience in this soul-warming, sacred space. 

Best Lunch Special, Leisurely: Ching’s Table’s, eat-in lunch special. For $14, you’ll get a two-course feast with enough leftovers to take home. As a bonus, the service is fast, the Vietnamese green papaya salad with grilled chicken is bright and snappy, and the dining room is usually mellow enough on a weekday afternoon that you can gossip, perhaps even emphatically, without fear of interception.

Best Lunch in a Hurry: Walter Stewart’s soup, obviously. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve witnessed the adorable local ritual of a husband calling his wife from the soup station at Stewart’s, reading the names of the soups aloud; you guys, I would have at least twenty dollars. In summer, get the gazpacho from the cold case. In winter, chicken rice, chicken dumpling, or that African one with chicken and peanuts.

Best Lunch on a Friday: Uncorked. You deserve a Banh Mi, a cocktail, and to watch sports with a gaggle of earnest, vest-wearing finance bros. 

Best Secret Free Parking Spot In Town: Let me know when you find it.

Meltiest Massage: The 90-minute CBD Deep-Tissue Massage at Restore Massage Studio. It’s calming and restorative, and as a healing modality, it sure beats trying to Theragun the knots out of your own shoulders. 

Best Facial: I’m told that Calie Crolla is the best in the biz, but because her calendar is now booking out for 2025, Mallory at Blue Mercury’s revamped new spa is AMAZING. Said a friend recently: “Blue Mercury? That’s a little lowbrow for you, Mulloy.” And, sure, the price can’t be beaten, but good ol’ Blue Merc has recently undergone a somewhat over-the-top glow-up and doubled down on their highest-end skincare and fragrance lines. Mallory has a gentle touch, and you leave looking glowy and serene, not like a sweaty, oily witch. 

Best Nail Salon: Natural Nail Belle Visage is peaceful, quiet, offers a great chair massage, and every surface sparkles.

Best Gifts

For your adult male friends: Adirondack Store. It’s got such a specific, midcentury Lake Placid aesthetic; it’d be completely impossible to duplicate with crap from Amazon. You can find something here for anyone, from your impossibly chic gay bestie to the bro-y-est college bro-in-law. Horn-handled pewter tankards, Pendleton everything, Cire Trudon… it’s a luxe, masculine vibe. Pro tip: visitors from the West Coast will adore visiting this store.  

For Your Preppy Friends’ Children: Little Whitney. Personalized rollnecks, smocked Italian dresses, and smart little sailor suits curated by someone with a clearly infallible eye for exquisite kids’ looks. 

For Your Not Preppy Friends’ Children: Groove. If unicorns were real and had jobs in retail strategy, it’d look a lot like this riotous explosion of fun. Lipgloss packaging technology has progressed at such a dazzling rate since I was a little girl that it takes a lot of self-restraint not to be jealous. Where my generation had naught but Dr. Pepper Bonne Bell, kids now have light-up, sparkle, emoji-themed everything. 

For Food People, And If Your Friends Aren’t Food People, Why Are They Even Your Friends: Plum Plums! It’s just so considered, so earthy, so Ruth Reichl, it’s hard to contain oneself. The former owners packed the place with tasteful Scandinavian textiles and design-forward, hard-to-find tableware, and the new owners have continued in this tradition while adding a few lines of lovely, bespoke kitchen items. 

For Your Friend the New Homeowner: The Linen Shop. I was an early Linen Shop die-hard, and a big part of the fun was plunging headlong through owner Liz King’s packed-to-the-rafters inventory to outfit our house with a profusion of textiles in joyful color schemes. Expect a smart combination of fun seasonable tableware and tried-and-true bedding from Matouk and Sferra. Don’t look at price tags. I once bought two throw pillows there, with my in-laws in tow, and when the salesperson told us the total, I thought my Midwestern father-in-law might suggest I be institutionalized. He recovered admirably, and we never spoke of it again. I still have and still love that particular $640 worth of pillows.

For Anyone: Design Solutions in Pound Ridge. Formerly on Elm Street, this satisfying little shop serves up goods for aesthetes, arty bookworms, Francophiles, competitive tablescapers, and even babies. Love it. 

Best Florist: Earth Garden on South Avenue for husbands looking to score a few brownie points. Pro tip: return your vases to the florist when you’re done with them. Also, Dana Worlock’s Hedgerow in Pound Ridge is a go-to for holidays and events. 

Best Christmas Everything: Copia Home & Garden. Their trees are great (and seem to have staying power), and their indoor Christmas ornaments & decor market is a magical wonderland. If Christmas decorations were a high school sport, I’d play varsity. Copia helps me top my own personal records, year over year. 

Best Gas Station: Gulf. It’s cheaper, and they didn’t sue the library. 

Best Special Occasion Restaurant: 29 Markle Court. Chef Damon Daye Sawyer’s fine dining spot in Bridgeport is many paces ahead of your standard Fairfield County fare, and that’s a good thing. The Spiced & Smoked Half Bird is literally why god made chickens. 

Best “It’s Tuesday, Why Not” Restaurant: Solé—all day. 

 

Best Mexican: Taco Guy. This Norwalk charmer is unassuming, but man, is it mighty. What began as a Stamford taco truck during the pandemic is now a brick-and-mortar destination with a badass Mezcal selection that’s become a once-a-week treat for us. It’s definitely about the tacos on housemade, hand-pressed nixtamalized corn tortillas here, but it’s ALSO about everything beyond the tacos–a rotating, seasonal cast of do-not-miss appetizers and mains. Think: a fiery pork tlayuda, creamy esquites, whole fish served Veracruz-style, and wings and ribs that are… not Mexican in origin but the most satisfyingly-sauced bar snacks you’ll ever know. I openly enthuse about the Thursday pizzas in winter and the birria quesadilla (serves 4, readily) in the spring. Whether you’re vegan or not, get the vegan papas al pastor. If you do one thing out of your routine of go-tos this summer, go to Taco Guy.
But I really like another Mexican place: Go to Taco Guy.
But I don’t like spicy: Go to Taco Guy and tell them that.
But: Go to Taco Guy. 

Best Red Sauce Italian That Feels Like A Long-Kept Locals-Only Secret: Cafe Silvium. Handmade pastas, daily specials, a hearty pour. Good god. 

 

Best Red Sauce Italian That Feels Like A Swanky Throwback to Sinatra’s Day But With A Fire Playlist That Feeds my Gen-X Soul: Josie & Tony’s in Norwalk. Get the tableside Caesar, the Carbonara, and the Zeppole today. Make an appointment with your treadmill tomorrow. 

Best Vegetarian Sandwich, Possibly Ever, in the History of Humanity: Greens on the Go

Best Sushi: Get the Omakase at Hashi Sushi. Sit at the counter. You don’t need the full omakase (it comes with a salad, ten nigiri a handroll) and can probably make do with the mini, but where’s the fun in that?  

Best Izakaya: Haruki Ramen & Izakaya. Norwalk is kinda killing it with restaurants lately.

Best Asian Feast Where You Have to Go With A Lot of People So You Can Get All The Things: This one’s a tie. Bill Taibe’s Westport stalwart Kawa Ni (a thousand thank yous to our neighbors who first introduced us to this glorious spot many years ago) is where wishes are granted in lime-salted Crab Rangoon form. It’s a triumph of knowing menu design and flawless execution. And lately, Taibe’s brother Jeff has been knocking it out of the park at Norwalk’s Next Door at Taproot, a lively alternate menu to his already-fabulous Taproot in Sono’s former Bruxelles space. The smoked mushroom spring rolls are earthy, umami-rich, and your table might need a second order right quick. 

 

Best Japanese Restaurant Where Everyone Seems To Think They’re on Real Housewives: Oko. The food is downright phenomenal, and the service is exceptional, but on weekend nights, dining in Westport and Greenwich can be a bit rich for my blood. Everyone seems to be less interested in enjoying their companions than they are in performing their wealth. Last time we ate there, a man a few stools down from us was wearing a trucker cap (indoors, the horrors) that proudly proclaimed, “I Will Make You Rich.” I have a hard enough time getting past adults wearing… hats… in a place where a single nigiri can set you back $24. It’s disrespectful. And the message? Inexcusably tacky. But he did enrich my life with scorn, so… promise kept?

Best Cocktails

Ladies’ Night: Gold Dust Woman at Elm
Swanky Time: The Clarified Caprese (gin, tomato water, basil, bianco vermouth, lactose) at Josie & Tony’s. Trust me.
Martini: The Roger Sherman Inn in December (I’m a gin lady, but do you)

 

Best Jewelry Store: Brad and Vandy Reh have a charming selection of jewelry: some new, some estate, all unified by their sense of classic good taste. The couple in charge are friendly, helpful, and it’s a great spot to have on your walkabout rotation. Whether you’re on the buy side or the wear side with jewelry, it’s an inimitable small-town resource that can help you find your next favorite bracelet or help you fix a family heirloom. 

Best Carbohydrates: I can wax poetic about carbs, so I’ll be quick.
Muffins: Rosie FOREVER AND EVER
Bread: Flour Water Salt
Donuts: Rise
Cookies: Miyuki
Croissants: Breads N Bakes
Bagels: Badass at the Farmer’s Market & Liz Sue
Those Little French Baguette Sandwiches With Salami & Cornichons: Raphaël’s in Greenwich (while there, pick up a cannelé for the person you love the most)

As you might guess, I have no shortage of favorites and opinions in other areas–piano tuners, carpenters, plumbers, sandwiches, airport limos, how to park at the grocery store, why zipper merging on the freeway is essential to our survival as a species, and how to get a luggage tag monogrammed properly. I could do this all day. But because you probably don’t want to, I’ll leave us here.

Thank you for ten incredible years, Fairfield County. I’m looking forward to ten more.