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

We created a list of fun activities to do this weekend, June 30-July 2nd!

Friday Preschool Storytime
All summer, The Gunn Memorial Library is hosting a Friday Preschool Storytime! Open to preschoolers and their caregivers from 11:00-12:00 PM, Ms. Linda will read all different books, as well as give the children opportunities to connect with new friends. Stop by for even one of the days, and your children will have a great time amidst the books!

Gunn Memorial Library 
5 Wykeham Road, Washington, CT 06793, Washington

Music on the Washington Green
Friday, June 30th, from 6:30-8:00 PM, there will be family-friendly music on the Washington Green! Taking place outside of the First Congregational Church of Washington, it is a beautiful place to relax and enjoy a beautiful sunset. Bring a picnic, some chairs, and have the chance to listen to some amazing tunes with your family! 

First Congregational Church of Washington
6 Kirby Road 

Sunset Concert at the Litchfield Community Center
On Friday, June 30th, from 6:00-9:00 PM, the Litchfield Community Center will host a Sunset Concert! It is free to attend, and you are suggested to bring a lawn chair or a blanket. The grounds will be available to enter at exactly 6:00 PM, when the music of Dim Lights, Thick Smoke will begin playing under the tent.

Litchfield Community Center
421 Bantam Road, Litchfield, CT 06759 

Something Rotten
Friday, June 30th, from 7:00 to 9:30 PM, is a fantastic day to be at the Bobbie Olsen Theater at Sharon Playhouse, as they are putting on the musical comedy: Something Rotten. This show was created created by Grammy Award-winning songwriter Wayne Kirkpatrick, and successful screenwriters Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell. The show is set in the 1590s and follows brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom’s journey to create a hit play. Showcasing their victories as well as their struggles, the play will definitely bring a variety of emotions out from the audience!

 The Bobbie Olsen Theater at Sharon Playhouse
49 Amenia Road, Sharon, CT, 06069

David Reed Performance
On Saturday, July 1st, from 7:00 PM-10:00 PM, David Reed will be playing “Americana Groove Music from the Caribbean to the Delta!” Taking place at the 12 Moons Coffeehouse, the not-for-profit, all-volunteer event, will not be a debut you do not want to miss! With a cozy and inviting setting, drink an amazing cappuccino here with your friends while enjoying some music.   

12 Moons Coffeehouse
103 Main Street, Falls Village, CT 06031

New Black Eagle Jazz Band
If you love Chamber Music as well as jazz, mark your calendars for Saturday, July 1st, at 7:00 PM. Playing New Orleans style in Jazz, Gospel, and Blues, it will be a night of enjoyment! Even better, four of the members had previously been in the Black Eagle Jazz Band led by Tommy Sancton.  

Gordon Hall, Music Mountain Inc.
225 Music Mountain Road, Falls Village, CT 06031

Lake Waramaug Firework Show
This year’s fireworks display will take place on Saturday, July 1st at 9:30 PM and the rain date will be Sunday, July 2nd. We will also be encouraging participation in the Rim-the-Lake flare lighting tradition, which will begin at 9:00 PM. We will be distributing flares for free (while asking for a donation at the location), so be on the lookout for various tables around the Lake in the weeks leading up to the event.

Lake Waramaug
30 Lake Waramaug Road, New Preston

Jeff Summa and the Roasters
Come celebrate an early Independence Day in Kent on Saturday, July 1st, at 7:00 PM with Jeff Summa and the Roasters! With a variety of original songs highlighting the best parts of psychedelic rock music, come for a night of dancing and fun! 

Club Getaway
59 S Kent Road, Kent, CT 

New Milford Fireworks Show
On July 1st, from 6:30-10:00 PM, New Milford is hosting a fireworks celebration! It will be taking place on the Town Green at 10 Main Street, New Milford, but you have a variety of lookout points you can watch the show from. The Sound End of the Green, the bottom of Bank Street, as well as the Young’s Field Road & Patriot’s Way, will be a great view! Although this is just a pre-celebration for the 4th of July, it is a great way to kickstart the beginning of July’s activities. 

New Milford Green
10 Main Street, New Milford, CT, 06776

Broadway Rhapsody ft. Liz Callaway
July 1st, at 7:00 PM, the Canterbury School will host Broadway Rhapsody ft. Liz Callaway. Callaway is a Tony nominee and Emmy Award-winning actress, as well as a recording artist! She is the singing voice of Kiara in The Lion King II, Princess Jasmine in The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves, and Anya in the Oscar-nominated film Anastasia. Concert seating is 45/person, but there are more options that provide reserved seating, as well as an invited to the pre-concert celebration, starting at 6:00.  

Canterbury School Auditorium New Milford
101 Aspetuck Ave, New Milford, CT 06776

Arianna String Quartet & Judith Gordon, Piano
On July 2nd, at 7:30 PM, Arianna String Quartet & Judith Gordon, Piano will play at the Music Mountain Summer Festival! The concert is free for anyone under 18 years old, $55 for adults to sit in the front rows, but the cost goes down to $45 as you move back through the chairs. Come for a night of lovely music and strong talent!

Gordon Hall, Music Mountain Inc.
225 Music Mountain Road, Falls Village, CT 06031

Connecticut Chef Rediscovers His Roots

By Constantine “Dino” Kolitsas

For many travelers, Greece’s soul is found in the ancient rocks that tell stories of its past glory. For others it is found in its sun-drenched islands, where the glorious light bounces from whitewashed buildings carved into mountain sides to its sea-splashed beaches. For me, the soul of Greece sings from its kitchens; traditionally from the hands of the grandmothers and more recently from the hands of talented chefs that have been taking the country’s cuisine to new, unexpected heights. On a recent visit to Greece (the first in over two decades; don’t ask, it’s a sore subject), I spent most of my time reconnecting to that part of Greece’s essence; dining in restaurants from Athens to Andros, and from Kaisariani to Kavalla. What I found along the way is a cuisine that knows its rich history while simultaneously carving out new epicurean frontiers.

What struck me most about the new gastro-Greek cuisine whose origins are in pre-2004 Athens and has spread throughout the country (thanks to a talented cadre of telegenic celebrity chefs in the vein of the Food Network), is that even the most trend-forward dishes utilize ingredients that are time-honored and sacred. Traditional cheeses from the four corners of the country’s map are finding their ways out from their provincial homes and onto plates for which they are as foreign as Pad Thai and Plokkfiskur. Metsovone from Epirus (semi-hard smoked cheese) as well as Volaki from Andros (semi-soft salted cow’s milk cheese) can be found anywhere; while Sepia with Spanaki (cuttlefish and spinach stew), a staple of the city of Trikala, is reinvented on menus in Athens and beyond. 

With Greca Mediterranean Kitchen + Bar in New Milford receiving multiple statewide and countywide awards, my own claim-to-fame in the gastro Greek movement is not insignificant (our crabcake kataifi wrapped in crispy shredded phyllo and topped with feta mousse and a drizzle of truffle honey is a hint to that pedigree). Throughout my stay, I was wonderfully surprised with several revelatory gastronomic experiences. First among them, is kritamo, a wild plant that grows along the coastlines of the Mediterranean. Blanched, lightly pickled and salted, kritamo has a wonderful sea-washed flavor that brightens salads and, in one case, pasta. Another surprise was the appearance of beef cheeks on menus throughout the Greek capital. As with Michelin-star restaurants, this wonderfully tasty cut has gained popularity and is slow-braised and served up in a number of ways, most prominently over a bed of eggplant mousse, or, in one memorable case, with pureed celeriac (the bulb root of the celery plant).

And while gastro Greek is a trend that is being embraced throughout the country, it has not displaced what most people have come to associate with Greek cuisine: simple elegance. Witness: gorgeously grilled presentations of local fish such as koutsomoura (relative to red mullet) and lavraki (bronzino). Borrowing from the old, and braving the new, it’s an exciting time for Greek cuisine.

Constantine “Dino” Kolitsas is the chef/owner of Greca Mediterranean Kitchen + Bar in New Milford, Connecticut.

“Our Kitchen, Your Table”

By Clementina Verge

What’s for dinner at the end of a long summer day? Just about anything your taste buds crave because The Local Gourmet Kitchen & Market in Southbury prides itself on providing customers with a large selection of fresh, high-quality homemade food. 

Garlic herb roasted salmon? Eggplant parmesan? Penne alla vodka? Displays are always stocked with deliciousness. 

“We rotate our menu daily so our selection is always fresh,” declares owner Christy (Buso) Greco. “I am extremely hands on, spending most of my days at my table cooking in the kitchen. I am on site cooking in Southbury five days a week and I spend one day at our sister store, The Local Gourmet Cafe in Middlebury. I have a great support team behind me, but all of the food that comes out of this kitchen are my recipes or recipes I have adapted over the years from different cookbooks, magazines, and social media. I like to challenge myself every day.”

The result is a variety of foods that ensure exciting options, but also traditional comfort foods. When one dish sells out, Greco and her staff prepare another, while fan-favorites like sauteed shrimp, chicken pot pies, and macaroni & cheese are always on standby.

Brimming with locally-made and gourmet grocery items, including ice cream, chocolates, cheeses, honey and dips, the market is a desired destination for prepared dinners, soups, assorted sandwiches, grab & go salads, and a large variety of gluten-free options, including homemade meatballs and lasagnas. From beef stew gnocchi or bourbon glazed chicken, to vegetarian cuisine such as new grain bowls or shiitake noodles, Greco and her staff cook up something for truly everyone.

“When I see customers out at the case, I always enjoy hearing what their favorites are, or if there is something they are looking for that we haven’t had in a while. We rotate a lot of items based on seasonality, as well. It gives me great pleasure to know that we truly do feed the community,” explains Greco, whose store partners with the Southbury Food Bank every Thanksgiving, providing meals for Southbury community members who are in need.

Greco’s journey in the food industry started as a register clerk at age 15. She worked her way up from a server to a new restaurant opening trainer and corporate intern for a larger restaurant chain. To date, she has opened three successful food businesses of her own, and together with co-owner and General Manager Ashley Bugnacki, she is proud to have grown them through natural disasters, power outages, and most recently a pandemic, and continue sharing her love of food and passion for cooking.

“The Local Gourmet is a culmination of everything I have learned over my years in food service,” Greco states. “Every step has been a lesson that led me here. I couldn’t be happier with what this store and our sister store in Middlebury have become, and I look forward to serving everyone delicious food made with love. ” —thelocalgourmetct.com

[SPONSORED]

Local Craft Beer Breweries Index Highly on Good Flavor and Good Times

By Zachary Schwartz

Whether you enjoy imbibing a malty farmhouse ale, a sour fruity gose, or a hoppy India pale ale (IPA), Litchfield County’s breweries offer a beer flavor for every palate. Not a beer drinker? No problem. We surveyed a selection of breweries that offer something extra special aside from their on tap brew.

Clocktown Brewing Company

Time is well spent at Clocktown Brewing Company in Thomaston. Situated in the former factory of the Seth Thomas Clock Company that famously designed Grand Central Terminal’s iconic four-faced clock, Clocktown Brewing Company opened in 2020 with a roster of lagers and time measurement memorabilia. Their beer menu offers a diverse set of flavors, ranging from German pilsner to tart sour beer to Belgian-style blonde ale. In keeping with the clock motif, beers have playful monikers like Time Flies, After Hours, and Double Time. Fastened to the walls of the brewery are clocks crafted in the 20th century by the Seth Thomas Clock Company, as well as other design nods to the horological heritage of the factory. Clocktown Brewing Company has a full food menu featuring pub fare and wood-fired pizzas, a rarity in the brewery scene. Come for a good meal and beer. Stay for a good time.

Great Falls Brewing Company

On the border of Connecticut and Massachusetts in the town of Canaan sits Great Falls Brewing Company, a beer brewery in a historic train station dating back to 1872. As is often true, not everything on the outside matches what lies within. The refurbished Victorian era train depot has a distinct yellow façade with decorative green and red detailing, and is now home to a brewery, train museum, and accordion museum. The locomotive exterior conceals a laid back taproom that welcomes a cast of regulars for happy hour, a nightcap on the way home from dinner in the Berkshires, or a lowkey outing to throw darts and watch a sports game. Great Falls Brewing Company’s beers, which are brewed downstairs in the basement, range from a sour raspberry cheesecake ale to a dark lager to an IPA brewed with fresh spruce tips, all of which yield recipes for success.

Kent Falls Brewing Co.

Located in Kent around the corner from Lake Waramaug is Kent Falls Brewing Co., Connecticut’s first farm brewery. The brewery is embedded within a series of red barns on Camps Road Farm, a 50-acre diversified farm that sells pasture-raised poultry and pork, plus grows hops for their own beer production. One of the red barns is the brewery’s ethereal tasting room, where draft beer is served alongside takeaway bottles and cans with creative minimalist labels. Guests can sip farmhouse ales, lagers, and pilsners under a ceiling of dried flowers hung from the rafters, while the beer is being brewed in large kettles next door. Beer flavor profiles vary from sweet to bitter, funky to mellow, and tropical to roasted. Importantly, Kent Falls Brewing Co. adheres to an environmentally-friendly mission. It strives to be as energy-efficient as possible, leveraging composted ingredients, recycled materials, solar panels, and well water.

Bad Dog Brewing Company

Downtown Torrington is home to a historic 1901 brick firehouse turned small batch brewer called Bad Dog Brewing Company. The father and son run brewery offers live music, games, private party spaces, local art for sale, and a particularly Instagrammable ambiance. The brewery owners leaned in heavily to the fireman aesthetic, decorating the renovated firehouse with antique automobiles and firefighting equipment, including a vintage 1940s Katonah fire truck, police motorcycle, derby racecar, and phone booth. Visiting tipplers can sample a flight of hazy New England IPAs or oatmeal stout on the long tables made of reclaimed firehouse floorboards. Bad Dog Brewing Company doesn’t entirely stay true to its name; the owners’ adopted husky apparently isn’t bad at all. On the contrary, this craft brewery is dog-friendly, offering treats and water bowls at the ready, and has previously sponsored fundraisers for animal welfare organizations.

Norbrook Farm Brewery

Up a farmland driveway past tractors and green-trimmed farm buildings lies Norbrook Farm Brewery, nestled on nearly 500 acres of sprawling grounds in Colebrook. This craft brewer is a one-stop-shop for a day filled with activities, where a loyal customer base pledges allegiance to homemade lager, saison, porter, and stout. The taproom employs informed staff who speak eloquently to the craft beers’ notes and aromas, plus recommend a host of activities on the grounds. From food trucks to farm animals to fire pits, Norbrook Farm Brewery offers far beyond what’s on tap. Aside from the farmhouse ales that pay homage to regional landmarks and are brewed using hops from their own yard, the brewery has an 18-hole disc golf course as well as several miles of forested mountain biking and hiking trails. Norbrook Farm Brewery is ideal for an afternoon spent with friends in any season. Play disc golf (and drink) responsibly. 

Photos by Soph and Drew Photography

On the evening of Saturday, June 3rd, 250 guests walked through a vibrant, larger-than-life installation spelling “JOY” on their way into the ASAP! Celebrates Joy annual fundraising event hosted at the Frederick Gunn School. The event was held in support of ASAP!’s arts-infused programs, and their 2023 theme ‘the joy in learning is doing.’ Before dinner and dancing, guests experienced powerful poetry and drumming performances by ASAP! students, and cheered to Congresswoman Jahana Hayes’ reflection on the meaningful impact of arts education on young lives. ASAP! is immensely grateful for their supporters who enable them to continue providing impactful programs to youth throughout the state.

By Karen Silk

Come with me into the garden

see especially the peony buds

where tiny ants crawl,

an opening.

And over here the feathery nepeta

attracts butterflies and bees.

Earlier, crows everywhere.

I wonder about the lives of crows

how their intelligent, ambitious hearts

get them into paintings, novels

and poems, even the garden 

at Howards End, calling from 

the gate post to other crows

close by in fields.

Think about the care and thought 

it takes to make a garden,

about how knowing there are cool

pastures of grass and glade beyond

gives added sweetness to the bright

scent of a summer morning.

How the coyote prowling 

the meadow with its fierce dream

can will the heart to move.

Who does not remember the first garden. 
In the beginning, Eve, 

completely comfortable, stands naked

beside Adam enjoying the shade

of the considerable apple tree.  

They are innocent, unafraid, about 

to understand shame, what I 

sometimes feel when I cannot let

my mind run wild, knowing I am the bee, the butterfly, 

that I am the ant,

the blossoming. 

Beautiful tresses have a new address on the Litchfield Green, in one of historic Litchfield’s most distinguished buildings. 

“With a heavy heart, much gratitude, and an enormous amount of excitement and happiness, we will be moving from our home of six years in Washington Depot to our new space in Litchfield,” announces Scott Bond, salon founder and creative director.

The premier space at 43 West Street—next to the West Street Grill—features two floors of expanded haircare, skincare, retail, and contemporary art. 

Bond and his new partner, Danielle Torres, will be continuing long-standing relationships and welcoming new clients at the full-service, award-winning luxury salon, which offers an array of services, ranging from cutting, coloring, balayage, smoothing treatments, blow-outs, extensions, bridal makeup and hair, and men’s clipper and scissor cuts, along with hot shaves and beard shaping.

Ethically-sourced products that keep clients looking their best after they leave the salon include

Shu Uemura, derived from natural Japanese botanicals and manufactured with the latest cutting edge Japanese technologies, Olaplex with its patented bond building technology that works on a molecular level, and Byrde + the b’s own line.

“The talented team at Byrde + the b/BYRDEMAN looks forward to providing the excellent services clients have come to expect, in this incredible new space,” notes Bond.

Appointments may be scheduled by texting or calling 860-619-0422, or emailing info@byrdeandtheb.com —byrdeandtheb.com 

By Dee Salomon

Since its opening in 1930, Music Mountain has been home to riveting chamber music performances all summer long. The New Yorker described Music Mountain as “the summer shrine of the string quartet” and its more recent inclusion of jazz concerts is attracting, this season, such greats as performers Paul Winter and the Bill Charlap Trio.

The exceptional acoustics of air-conditioned Gordon Hall nestled in the wooded mountain top of Falls Village creates a luxuriously rustic experience combining nature and culture. It is the place to listen to world-class performers that come up after playing at Lincoln Center and to up-and-coming talent that delight in their exuberance. Chamber concerts are every Sunday at 3 pm from June 4 through September 17. Jazz concerts begin June 24. 

The 94th Season Opening Benefit Concert & Reception is on June 4, 2023, featuring Mozart & Bach Concerti with pianist Benjamin Hochman and Friends. Tickets begin at $15 and children under 18 are free. Concert program and more information can be found at musicmountain.org.

Lizzie Gill is a multimedia artist whose work explores themes of domesticity in a contemporary context. Her compositions encompass ornate objects with dynamic loops that flicker across their fragile surfaces, creating an enchanting visual rhythm. Inspired by the inheritance of heirlooms passed down through matriarchy, these works reconcile the artist’s relationship and stewardship of these objects in contemporary society.  Elements of psychedelic culture combined with surrealist assemblage, invite us to imagine an alternative reality where the perceptual reversal between object and place creates new, imagined landscapes.

Her delicate transferware vessels are archeological explorations, geographic and cultural, actual and mythical, that the artist has seen and re imagined, or imagined without having seen. Gill’s large-scale mixed media paintings are layered investigations of found imagery. Sourcing references from museum archives, vintage magazines & geotags, she utilizes collage as a metaphor for material improvisation & escapism. Inspired by mise en scene, objects are placed with careful purpose, a restricted color palette sets the tone, objects appearing like apparitions insist on being looked at anew.

Gill has had solo exhibitions in New York, Miami and San Francisco. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Elle, Wired & Vogue. She lives and works in Sharon.

Carol Corey Fine Art in Kent. Lizzie Gill: Atmospheric runs from July 15 – August 20, 2023. Reception: Saturday, July 15, 4 to 6 pm.