A Change of Eatery

A few nights ago, I went to dinner with my sisters at the Tavern Downtown in Hartford. Located on Allyn Street, the Tavern provides a sophisticated, comfortable atmosphere and serves an extensive menu of American bar/grill food– your typical wings, sliders, gourmet burgers, sandwiches- and a range of salads and tasty looking entrees (lobster mac n’ cheese, steaks, “New England clambake”, that sort of thing)- ultimately, a fantastic selection.

I hate to say that I have mixed feelings about the Tavern, only because I seem to have made the wrong entrée choice. I decided on the mushroom risotto ($16.95) slow cooked Arborio rice with mushrooms, mixed fresh herbs, peas, shaved parmesan cheese and truffle oil…sounds incredible. And I was a little bummed- because, you see, I absolutely love mushroom risotto. And although the dish looked gorgeous, it was much blander than I expected. Of all my descriptors, I’ll have to call it “meh”. Ah well. I’ll still probably return one of these days to try something else on the menu.

However, the bright side: sisters chose the lighter sandwiches/wraps and were incredibly impressed- both were delicious!

So, we’ll go ahead and recommend the Summer Harvest: grilled portabella mushroom, zucchini, roasted peppers, cucumber, fresh mozzarella topped with pesto & served on grilled focaccia.

The New England Melt was another hit: flaked salmon with onion and celery on grilled country bread with tomato and cheddar, toasted under the broiler (both sandwiches $7.95).

Service was wonderful. The tavern also features an impressive variety of domestic and imported beers bottled and on tap, daily food and drink specials, an excellent happy hour (so I’ve heard) and live music.

The Tavern Downtown

100 Allyn Street
Hartford, CT 06107
(860) 524-9990

I started to write a post about Firebox Restaurant but couldn’t adequately do that without first writing about Billings Forge Community Works, since Firebox is under the umbrella of Billings Forge programs.

 What an awesome organization. The folks at Billings Forge utilize creative approaches to work to revitalize Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood and encourage community building and local participation in development efforts…they support a climate that “values diversity, rewards independence, nourishes creativity and brings people together”…Aaamen.

I encourage you to check out their website. Here’s what they’ve got going on:

• A weekly farmer’s market held on Thursdays from April through October. Great opportunity to purchase local, healthy & seasonal produce. http://www.hartfordfarmersmarket.org/

• The Kitchen @ Billings Forge is a wholesale bakery (with bread served at Firebox) which also functions as teaching kitchen with farm-to-table cooking classes.

• The Garden @ Billings Forge is the creation of a sustainable vegetable garden, which involves the local community in farming the garden and preparing, serving, and eating the food. The food is used in cooking classes at the Kitchen, for sale at the Farmers Market and at Firebox.

• The Studio @ Billings Forge is a multi-purpose community space that offers classes in movement, music and art, and provides space for community meetings and educational workshops.  http://studio.billingsforgeworks.org/ They’ve also got a relatively new workshop program that provides studio space for 5 artists in a rotating residency program.

And of course, we can’t forget about the award winning Firebox Restaurant…to be raved about in my next post…

Cupcake blog research was 100% necessary today. I figured I’d written about The Cupcake Brake already so I might as well try one of its creations! Love that yellow truck.

Around 1:30, Beth & I caught up with The Cupcake Brake on Weston Street and joined the (entirely female) line to gaze happily at the menu of daily offerings. 

Beth opted for the Charter Oak Chocolate cupcake with brown sugar buttercream frosting. I chose the Capital: moist vanilla cake with pecans, pineapple, & banana… I also selected the brown sugar buttercream & asked to have the cupcake filled with Boston Cream.

To. Die. For.

I will not even try to describe the cupcake I enjoyed today.

I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Move out the WAY, New Haven…Cupcake trucks are no longer just a thing of the coast.

Yesterday, I caught word through the Twitter mill that there just might be a new kid on the block. Today I found out that the tweet-based rumors are true indeed! Hartford’s got a new treat truck in town- The Cupcake Brake. This sweet discovery is sure to lure us all into sugary indulgence (& possibly overdose), since we won’t have to wait months & months for New Haven’s mobile bakeshop to grace us with its presence.

Ok, here’s the scoop: Hartford’s truck is similar to its NH counterpart in some ways: the cupcakes are still frosted to order, but the Brake’s embellishments aren’t as glitzy as New Haven’s (so don’t go looking for edible gold & fleur de sol)…instead of fretting over fancy toppings, try one of the Brake’s mouthwatering cupcake fillings: Marshmallow, Chocolate Ganache, Peanut Butter, Boston Crème…ohhh my.

Almost as good as the custom cupcakes are their clever CT inspired names: Plain Twain, Mohegan Mocha, Charter Oak Chocolate, Colony Carrot, Yankee Lemon & more. Keep in mind- different flavors are available on different days.

Check out the website for their schedule, menu, FB/Twitter info & more: http://www.thecupcakebrake.com/

I love everything about Hartford to begin with but THIS just takes the (cup)cake…(har har)…Let me know if you successfully track down the truck before I do!

This morning, the sweetest little tweet in the entire Twittersphere popped into my work inbox (thanks Becca!) with a magnificent bit of news. The Cupcake Truck, which normally meanders around the streets of New Haven, will be parking its cute little caboose in Hartford tomorrow near the 288 Trumbull St entrance of the XL center.

I’ll back up. The Cupcake Truck is a little mobile bakeshop in the New Haven area that spreads sugar and sweet cheer in an old-fashioned bakery truck brimming with freshly baked cupcakes. The flavors sound incredible- salted caramel, chocolate, red velvet, a GUINNESS cupcake (March special), coconut, sweet potato pecan, lemon meringue, and more. The offerings change daily– check out the menu here.

If that doesn’t impress you, you can even order individual shots of frosting if that’s more your style. YES, frosting- clouds and clouds of buttercream!

Beyond the scope of cupcake flavors, the gorgeous toppings cost little extra and range from sprinkles to fleur de sel, candied flowers and 23kt edible gold.

All day I’ve been agonizing over whether it’s worth it to stand in an unruly mob of sugar crazed Hartfordians and basketball fans for a simple cupcake. Around 9:30 tonight I realized- of course it’s worth it. It’s NOT just a cupcake. It comes out of a truck. And it’s gracing Hartford with its presence for the first time in months.

Also- to make matters even better, The Cupcake Truck plans to donate a portion of this week’s Hartford sales to the Big East, which helps promote breast cancer awareness.

So join me and the hoards of other enthusiastic fans (ok, they are probably basketball fans first and foremost. I’m the sugar devotee) in our quest for some of the most talked about cupcakes in Connecticut.

5-7 PM. Tuesday, March 9.

http://followthatcupcake.com/

The rest of February will be sweet and on the cheap.

This means local chocolatiers, coffee shops, donut delights and a search for the best breakfast in the area. (With the occasional event thrown in to keep you in the know.)

You’ll see what I mean.

I’ll leave you with a picture of my favorite recent discovery by way of another local blog:

It’s called Tastease and it’s in Hartford. The gourmini donut are brilliant sugary little works of art. The above image has been sitting in my mind for the past few days– so, needless to say, I can’t wait to check this place out.

Has anyone been here before?