Turns out this freaky stretch of warm weather wasn’t just responsible for early patio dining and ahead-of-season crop flowering. It’s apparently triggered an extra-early debut for Chesapeake-area soft-shelled crabs, too.
Fun With Carbs
food rules everything around me
Max Burger's "Miss Daisy," with bacon and brie on brioche
The “better burger” craze has been going on in greater Hartford for a good six or seven years. You can’t turn around without seeing a new burger joint.
Plan B, Max Burger and Corey’s Catsup & Mustard started to anchor the scene between 2006 and 2008. More recently, Burger Baby and BGR Burger Joint have popped up, and chains Five Guys and Jake’s Wayback Burgers have been proliferating all over Connecticut.
That’s all well and good – if you live in a Hartford suburb. But when you live as far north as I do, and you want one of these upscale burgers on a Friday night, you have to drive at least 30 minutes. And that’s before rush-hour traffic on I-91 and I-84.
I must have been putting good burger vibes out into the universe. Last year, I heard rumblings of a new Max Burger location in Longmeadow, just one town over from us. The rumors were true; it’s scheduled to open in June. And today, more ecstatic burger news: Plan B Burger Bar is planning a Springfield restaurant, next to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Suddenly, the Pioneer Valley, with its dearth of designer burgers, is awash in beefy options. It’s going to be a good summer.
This freaky wave of summer weather (80s this week!) means an early outdoor dining season in Connecticut. Dozens of restaurants rushed to open their patios, decks and tables to maximize the sunny warmth.
After putting together a list of restaurants with open outdoor seating, I got pulled into a longer story for Tuesday’s paper. And it made A1.
Admittedly, I didn’t realize it until 2 p.m. Tuesday, when a source mentioned it to me in an email. Clearly I don’t get the paper at home anymore.
But you can go ahead and blame me in advance if the weather tanks after this week. Remember, it snowed on April 1 last year. And I broke the forecast after writing about spring soups in March.
I’ve been a “beat reporter” long enough now to see many stories come full circle.
In late January, I learned that Doogie’s two-foot hot dog was disappearing – a casualty of supplier Grote & Weigel’s closing. And now, less than two months later, the big dog has risen like a phoenix from the ashes. (Or from the grill?)
Now that my home base is, well, home, I don’t travel to the capital city every day. But I was there for a story last week, and with about 45 minutes to kill between appointments, I stopped at Jojo’s on Pratt Street in Hartford for a quick coffee.
Starbucks is always easy to find when I’m on the road, but I love a good indie coffee shop. And though Starbucks makes a decent latte, they just don’t do this.
The Author
A La CarteArchives
Recent Comments
- Darcy commented on Ketchup On A Croque Madame?: That is a fine specimen of a Croque Madame....
- Elizabeth commented on New FTC Guidelines For Bloggers: Guidelines are good. There’s a real...
- Caitlin commented on Thomas Hooker Brewery Watermelon Ale: I tried this at Taste of Wethersfield...
- Dear @daowens: Coconut mocha coffee in my cup today. Commence your harassment.
- I wonder how many years HTML has taken off my life.
- Today's the 8th anniversary of same-sex marriages in Massachusetts (5/17/04.) You go, home state.
Fun With Carbs
Blogroll
- A Change of Eatery
- A La Carte: ctnow.com
- Connecticut Day Trips
- CT Beer Trail
- CT Bites
- CT Museum Quest: Ingest
- Dave's Cupboard
- Fix Me A Snack
- MassLive.com: Western Mass. Dining
- MotoAmy
- Om Nom CT
- Pointer Sisters
- Roadfood
- Slice
- The Clean Plate Club
- The Delicious Life of Holly Pinafore
- Twilight at Morningside
- Yelp Hartford
-
Leeanne Griffin is a freelance writer and food enthusiast.