All mocktails are mock cocktails, but only a few, in my experience, are good enough to mock cocktails. Three of those can be found in downtown New Haven (more…)
Well Done
Though it has a good name for a dive bar, The Well is not a dive bar. It’s a wine (and beer) bar with dive bar prices, a circular pad burrowed into the lower level of Yale’s still-new Schwarzman Center. (more…)
Natural Selection
Being natural is messy. B-Natural eats clean. The restaurant offers bowls, sandwiches, wraps, salads, smoothies, juices and all-day breakfast, with an open kitchen in back where, during a recent visit, made-to-order components sizzled and simmered. As I placed my order, the cafe’s calm, cool playlist shifted to a smooth Latin cover of Madonna’s “Like A […]
Like Fine Wine
I trust the proprietors of Hamden’s Mt. Carmel Wine & Spirits Co. more than I trust my doctor. In decades of frequenting the store, the suggestions I’ve gotten, no matter the price, have never disappointed. The staff—currently including Bob Feinn, the owner for more than 50 years; his nephew Fred, son of Bob’s late brother […]
Airport Bar
For our vacation this week, we’re traveling back to some favorite recent stories, including this grounded flight experience. (more…)
Merry Time
There’s a bar I’ve really fallen for. She’s beautiful, confident and an expert in her field. Though Michelin guides tend to give me a terrible case of the eye rolls, I’ve always secretly appreciated their 3-star standard: “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.” Which, in my opinion, is the most economical way to describe The […]
Airport Bar
There’s a handsome and desolate stretch of road between downtown Stratford and its coastal neighborhood of Lordship. It’s bounded on either side by protected wetlands and runways for the largely forgotten Sikorsky Memorial Airport. And though untold airfields have similar adjacencies, few if any can boast about being neighbors with the likes of the Windsock […]
Sip ’n’ Slide
Good places to drink usually give you something to set your eyes on—an interesting crowd or a view of the water. They also tend to privilege conversation—a quiet booth to catch up with an old friend, the comforting din of others doing the same. More romantically, they offer possibility, the potential for something unexpected. There’s […]