Taste of Hartford is back again for 2012

And so it returns in full force, the Taste of Hartford 2012! This much anticipated event begins on Monday, January 23rd and ends Sunday, Feb 5th. It is suggested that interested diners make their reservations early as these places tend to fill up quickly, especially for the weekend. All of the menus for the participating restaurants can be seen on the website listed below. Some of the participating restaurants this year are; Barca, Bin 228, the newly opened Burger Baby (which I just visited and have to say it's certainly worthy of stopping in for a bite); the re-opened Casona; Firebox, La Kerencya, Salute and Vivo.



Website: http://www.tastehartford.com/

Thai Pongal feast at Naatiya Restaurant

Thai Pongal is a harvest festival celebrated which is celebrated by Tamils. Unlike other South Indian Hindu festivals, this event is marked by the winter solstice and is traditionally dedicated to the Sun God Surya, which marks the beginning of the northward journey of the Sun from its southernmost-limit, a movement traditionally referred to as uttarayana. Pongal Tamils celebrate by thanking the Sun god for the good harvest and consecrate the first grain to him.They adorn their homes with banana and mango leaves and decorate the floor with colorful patterns drawn using rice flour. The dish that is identified with the event, named Pongal is prepared at outdoors at sunrise. It is a mixture of milk, rice and jaggery (whole cane sugar) that is set to a boil in clay pots. It is later topped with brown sugar, ghee, cashew nuts and raisins. At the moment when the milk boils over and bubbles out of the pot, revelers shout "Pongalo Pongal!", introduce some of the freshly harvested rice and blow a conchshell. Waiting for the milk to spillover represents good luck and prosperity.

Naatiya Restaurant in Bloomfield is offering a special dinner buffet in honor of this festival on January 14th. I have had the pleasure of being introduced to Naatiya by my friend Marc, who is not one to be scared away by spicy foods. The menu is South Indian cuisine and appeals to a large audience including vegetarians, vegans, muslims and jain. The meat and poultry that is served are all halal, which means that they adhere to the strict Muslim restrictions. We ordered a sampling of dishes and enjoyed the flavorfulness of the dishes. One item in particular that won me over was the coconut stuffed paratha. What a wonderful creation! The only slightly odd thing about my dining experience there was the complimentary puffy "chips" that are brought out before the meal. They don't fill you up, nor taste like anything, so it just seems like a waste of time and effort to consume them, other than the reason that they are free!

Bottom line: if you haven't been to Naatiya yet, then a festival sounds like a good reason to explore.

Address: 8 Mountain Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002
Ph. 860-726-0126      Website: http://www.naatiyarestaurant.com/

TONIGHT = Grand Opening of Burger Baby!

If you are not tired yet of the "burger phenomenon" that has taken dominated over the last few years, then why not try out the latest addition to the cast of characters? Actually, all sarcasm put aside, I am actually excited about Burger Baby's emergence onto the Hartford restaurant scene. Though I haven't gotten around to checking it out for you yet, I have heard from a reliable source that the burgers will not fail to impress. Most notably, my source has reported that the vegetarian burgers are the most inspiring and that he as a devout carnivour says his favorite might just be the veggie, as it deviates from the usually drab mixed bean concoctions that are huge, messy, and encased in grease. Yeah, no thanks to those.

According to the Hartford Courant, the meat burgers (five- or seven-ounce patties) are ground from a blend of Porterhouse, Angus and chuck, served on grilled brioche buns with organic Boston bibb lettuce and marinated tomatoes.

So, do yourself a favor and stop downtown today at 6pm and support their grand opening and the arrival of a better burger! There are cocktails, hor d' oeuvres and complimentary food samples.

Address: Burger Baby, 283 Asylum Street, Hartford, CT 06103
Open Monday to Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. (It's only open Sundays for special events.) The bar is open untl 1 a.m. weeknights and 2 a.m. weekends.
Phone: 860-728-7437 / Website: burgerbabyct.com.

Check out the full menu on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/burgerbaby?sk=info