Your guide to the heart of Litchfield County:
Discover local stories, hidden gems, and must-know events.

Curds of Love

By Michelle Madden

Photos by Ryan Lavine

 Look for the old factory, around the back, keep going, up the fire escape, second floor, and you’ll find it. To the Gills (the fish shop) and New Curds on the Block (the cheese shop) share a bright, lofty space, so tucked away that you’re sure you’re the first to discover it. (You’re not).

Fish and cheese are not known to “go together” but when the fishmonger falls in love with the cheesemonger, what do you expect. Zachary Redin and Kate Truini worked at neighboring shops in Greenwich and soon discovered many shared loves­­. As Redin admits, “I found myself going in and buying a lot of cheese I didn’t want.”

What distinguishes Redin and Truini is their devotion to transparency. “Would you like to see what the salmon eat?” Redin walks over with a bottle of brown pellets (from ground-up plants and fish) and pours them into my hand––like a sommelier pouring wine into your glass to smell. “The question should not be––is wild better than farmed? Farmed salmon can be equally nutritious if it’s farmed sustainably.” Redin’s are farmed on the Faroe Islands, halfway between Iceland and Norway, and kept on ice (never frozen) for the voyage to America. He taught me about pen density (lower is better), corn-free feed (good), and red dyes in feed (bad). Turns out devotion to quality, though, is at odds with a good night’s sleep. “I apologize if I seem tired,” Redin said, lifting a 12-pound salmon by the tail. “I’ve been up since 1 am to get to the fish market.” He does this weekly.

 Two feet from Redin’s counter is Truini’s. She is a self-proclaimed “taste diagnostician.” If you tell her you love Parmesan, you may walk out with Moosalamoo from Blue Ledge Farm. All her cheeses are from the Northeast, and her goal is to open your mind to new ones. “In Europe, cheese is part of daily life,” Truini explains. “It’s not just for special occasions. If a hard cheese blooms [“gets moldy” in non-cheese speak] just scrape it off. Cheese is mold!” Truini declares.

Connoisseurship is a cornerstone of Truini’s mission. “You want to eat cheese at ‘peak deliciousness,’” she says, squeezing rounds of High Lawn Queen, a semi-soft cheese from High Lawn Farm, to see whether they’re soft enough or need time to ripen. “My personal favorite,” Truini muses, after being pressed to choose a favorite child: “I’d have to go with Ewe’s Blue, a young sheep’s-milk cheese from Old Chatham Creamery. It really should be a controlled substance.”

When you spend time with Redin and Truini you can’t imagine their businesses––not to mention their lives––not coexisting. They’re the kind of people you’d hope would drive by if your car ran out of gas. They also share a keen sense of humor: A sign on an emergency exit shows a mouse holding a flag with a diamond ring on it, which Truini drew on the one-year anniversary of their shop, and the day they got engaged.

They got married this summer.

 —tothegillsseafood.com

(203) 940-3528

—newcurdsontheblock.com

(203) 318-4520

900 Main St., Watertown, and the Farmers Market in Washington Depot (Saturdays)

Through Oceana, Sam Waterston Makes Waves

By Elizabeth Maker

As District Attorney Jack McCoy in “Law & Order,” the actor Sam Waterston is aggressively persuasive in proving his cases. As Sol Bergstein in “Grace and Frankie,” he’s the gentle, comforting gay husband of actor Martin Sheen, sometimes giddy, sometimes nearing tears when discussing an important issue.

Both personas were displayed on stage at the Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village last summer, only this time Waterston wasn’t acting. This was his real-life role as board chairman of Oceana, the largest global organization working to restore and protect the world’s oceans.

“It’s really the most important thing that I or any of us can do to change the course of climate history and preserve life on Earth,” Waterston says, urging everyone to join the nonprofit Oceana that was started in 1991 in large part by his close friend Ted Danson, the actor from “Cheers.” Danson, who graduated from Kent School in 1966, was “called to help the oceans,” Waterston says, when he was at a beach and his children emerged from the water with their feet covered in tar from the offshore oil wells. “That’s what led him to start Oceana, which he sees as his greatest achievement.”

Waterston has lived with his wife, Lynn, in Litchfield County since 1978, and they own a 250-acre Galloway cattle and Icelandic sheep farm in West Cornwall called Birdseye & Tanner Brooks Farm. While preserving land and raising organic livestock is important, nothing is more crucial for human survival than saving our oceans, Waterston stresses.

At his presentation, which was sponsored by the nonprofit Salisbury Forum, Waterston said his concern for oceans began when he learned that codfish were becoming extinct off the shores of Massachusetts, his native state. “The collapse of the cod fishery was the beginning of my own awakening,” he says, explaining that overfishing and oil drilling contributed to their decline. He spoke of New York’s Hudson River, which “held more oysters than all of the rest of the world put together,” until it was used as a dumping ground for garbage, sewage, and subway cars. He shared videos of the devastation humans have caused through careless disrespect of our greatest natural resource. “Each year, 33 billion pounds of plastic wash into the ocean. Sea turtles, birds, fish, and other marine life confuse it for food, or are entangled by it, and die.”

But Waterston went on to share the group’s success stories. With 275 policy victories around the world, including regulating commercial boats to stop overfishing, Oceana has protected 4 million square miles of ocean.

Many countries and American states have enacted bold plastic reduction policies, he says, reminding listeners to curb their use of single-use plastics. Even the Atlantic codfish is making a comeback, thanks to Oceana-influencing laws. “For the first time in 20 years, we have seen a successful year of cod, and they seem to be growing at a very good rate,” says Kevin Stokesbury, dean of marine science & technology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. “Thanks, in a big way, to Oceana.”

Waterston asks that climate activists switch their focus to the oceans and become a “Wave Maker” at Oceana.org. “The oceans deserve our attention. They are 70 percent of the earth’s surface. They produce 50 percent of the earth’s oxygen. When well managed, they can produce enough wild-caught fish to feed a billion people a healthy protein meal every day of the week for the rest of time! You can tell I’m super-psyched about this! Oceana is a moving train, please come aboard.” —oceana.org 

Warren’s Award-winning Hopkins Vineyard

By Charles Dubow

On a beautiful summer day there are few more pleasant ways to spend an afternoon than sitting outside at a table at Hopkins Vineyard in Warren overlooking Lake Waramaug, listening to live music, and sipping a glass of their estate-bottled Chardonnay. 

“We welcome visitors every day,” says owner Hilary Hopkins Criollo, whose ancestor Revolutionary War veteran Elijah Hopkins first purchased this historic farm back in 1787. “We also host weddings, anniversaries, reunions. It’s such a beautiful place, and we are so lucky to be able to share it.”

Originally a dairy farm, Hilary’s father, Bill, converted the land to a winery in 1979, when the Connecticut Legislature passed the Farm Winery Act. which permitted the growth and sale of wine. 

“My dad was a real pioneer,” says Hilary, who today runs the vineyard with her husband, George, and winemaker Jim Baker. “We are now the oldest family-owned and operated winery in the state.” 

Today they produce up to 17 different wines, depending on the season. In addition to their Chardonnay, other popular wines include their semi-sweet red Sachem’s Picnic, a semi-sweet white Westwind, a peach wine, a Riesling, a sparkling, a rosé, and a Cabernet Franc. Visitors can also purchase local craft beers from Kent Falls, as well as cheese platters and other snacks. All their products are available for sale in their shop or online.—hopkinsvineyard.com

Connecticut’s rivers lose a friend 

A native of New York City who grew up in The Dakota and graduated from the Brearley School and New York University, Margaret Miner went on to become one of the outstanding protectors of the environment in her adopted home of Connecticut. She passed away at 86 on May 5. Her loss will be felt deeply, not just in her home community of Roxbury but throughout the state. Miner’s environmental efforts, accomplishments, and awards are too numerous to list here. 

Her primary focus was on the waters that run through the state. Among her accomplishments,  she helped pass legislation requiring a statewide water plan. She was executive director of the Rivers Alliance of Connecticut for 18 years, and continued her stewardship of the waters after stepping down. She was executive director of the Roxbury Land Trust; and was a vocal advocate for affordable housing and human rights, here and abroad. She helped protect funding for the state Council of Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Geological Survey. 

Honors and awards for her came from organizations as diverse as the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. Miner was passionate about her causes, but was also known for her wit and her sense of fun. Up to the end of her life, she “enjoyed playing poker whenever possible,” says her son, Nathaniel Rawson. 

The Secret to Sweet Chocolate?
By Clementina Verge

Hidden away on a rural road in Goshen, Thorncrest Farm is a prime destination for chocolate lovers. 

The Thorn family—Kimberly, Clint, and sons Garret and Lyndon—steward a meticulously maintained barn that provides a comfortable, relaxing environment (the secret to sweet milk) for their dairy herd. Open doors allow cross-breezes and encourage greetings from visitors.

“The most important thing we do here is care for our cows,” explains Kimberly. “We are farmers who happen to make chocolate and hay, but these ladies give the milk and cream, and our main goal is to treat them and the land right.”  

Adjacent to the barn, a small shop grand in charm and creativity showcases bespoke selections handmade by Kimberly. Famous for its vanilla milk and repeatedly voted “Best Chocolates in Connecticut,” Thorncrest exceeds 170 varieties throughout the year, rotated based on season and the cows milking at any given time; each bovine creates  uniquely flavored milk geared for specific chocolates.
Crafted in small batches, confectionaries exclude preservatives or unpronounceable ingredients. Fair Trade cocoa nibs, pasteurized milk, sweet cream, and butter are complemented by nuts, fruits, and spices that create unique and complex textures and flavors. 

Whether it incorporates fresh mint from the Thorncrest gardens, citrus peels, ginger, hazelnuts, or organic almonds, every bar and truffle is a labor of love, sure to leave a decadent memory.—milkhousechocolates.net

Boardman Bridge Butchers Make the Cut
By Charles Dubow
Photos by KTC Marketing,

So you’re having a few friends over for a cookout this coming weekend, but don’t have time to get to the butcher. What do you do? You call Boardman Bridge Butchers and, whether you are looking for T-bones or Tomahawks, they will deliver.

Recently opened on Kent Road in New Milford, across from Boardman Bridge, the shop was founded by two jovial veterans of the profession, Marc Rohlsberger and Donald “The Sausage King” Feiler. Rohlsberger has been in the business for 38 years, including serving as head butcher of Lespinasse at Manhattan’s St. Regis Hotel, and as general manager of all the DeCicco & Sons gourmet markets. That’s where he met Feiler, who was managing the DeCicco branch in Somers and has been a butcher since high school.“We have contacts all over the industry,” says Rohlsberger. “We can get prime aged beef from suppliers in Hunts Point as well as organic meat from local farms.” 

And they’re selling more than beef.  “We are working with two fish vendors to get the highest–quality fish, and are also cooking and selling our own dry aged beef and prepared meals, such as chicken parm and handmade sausages. We want to provide the area with the best meat, pork, poultry, and seafood at affordable prices. We want to serve the whole town.”—boardmanbridgebutchers.com

A service every home cook needs
By Michelle Madden

 Slicing into an onion, knife gliding like hot metal on butter, the vegetable submitting to its master… This is the feeling you can only get when your knives are sharp. “Most people’s aren’t,” says Cristobal Aguirre, owner of Cuchillos. “And they have no idea. It seems counterintuitive, but a sharp knife––one that won’t slip–– is also a safe knife.”

Aguirre was born in Spain, and came to Washington when he was two. Working in food service and using beautiful knives is what led him to his vocation. He is largely self-taught, and picked up the trade by watching chefs who cared for their instruments like a violinist caring for their Stradivarius. “I know as soon as I pick up a knife what needs to be done to it,” says Aguirre. On a given knife, he uses five pieces of equipment, including a diamond stone, three different ceramic stones of varying grit, and a leather strop to polish.

What began in his garage has now moved to Watertown, where he shares space with To the Gills Seafood and New Curds on the Block. The business is still young, but he’s already picked up restaurant clients in addition to home cooks. 

Could you just do this on your own? Sure, but if you’re using the steel rod that came with your knife set, that’s not for sharpening––it just straightens the metal fibers. Buy a whetstone, and then practice. A lot. Or hand your blade over to the pro: $2 per blade-inch is a small price to pay for serenity.

 900 Main St., Watertown, or Saturday Farmers Market in Washington Depot—@cuchillossharpening