About CT Dish

About CT DishAt CT Dish, we give you the straight dish about Connecticut restaurants. We cover the entire Nutmeg State. Our mission is to uncover the best dishes in Connecticut restaurants and tell you where to get them.

Our food porn is the real deal. We know you don’t like to be teased with photographs of food you can’t actually enjoy. We photograph food as it comes to the table, not specially prepped for a professional shoot.

Because we’re foodies from way back, we know what kind of food coverage you want—and no one else is offering it. You want the unvarnished truth from us at all times, even when magazines, newspapers and food websites might tiptoe around it.

You work hard for your money and you want to spend it as well as possible. You want reliable guidance about which restaurants to patronize, and to this end we offer the CT Dish Gold Seal of Approval, symbolized by an applauding golden seal. You want to know which are the top restaurants in each cuisine you might crave, and even where to find the best individual dishes, and to this end we offer our CT Bests.

You want to read about our dining experiences and be able to weigh in with your own fair, intelligent, respectful feedback because you recognize, just as we do, that the restaurant business, especially in these uncertain times, is a trying one—and just about everyone in it really is trying. The opinions expressed on this website, of course, are wholly our opinions (and the many smart people who agree with us).

At CT Dish, we give you the straight dish about Connecticut restaurants. We cover the entire Nutmeg State. Our mission is to uncover the best dishes in Connecticut restaurants and tell you where to get them.

Our food porn is the real deal. We know you don’t like to be teased with photographs of food you can’t actually enjoy. We photograph food as it comes to the table, not specially prepped for a professional shoot.

Because we’re foodies from way back, we know what kind of food coverage you want—and no one else is offering it. You want the unvarnished truth from us at all times, even when magazines, newspapers and food websites might tiptoe around it.

You work hard for your money and you want to spend it as well as possible. You want reliable guidance about which restaurants to patronize, and to this end we offer the CT Dish Gold Seal of Approval, symbolized by an applauding golden seal. You want to know which are the top restaurants in each cuisine you might crave, and even where to find the best individual dishes, and to this end we offer our CT Bests.

You want to read about our dining experiences and be able to weigh in with your own fair, intelligent, respectful feedback because you recognize, just as we do, that the restaurant business, especially in these uncertain times, is a trying one—and just about everyone in it really is trying. The opinions expressed on this website, of course, are wholly our opinions (and the many smart people who agree with us).

About Me

My name is Frank Cohen and I am the founder of CT Dish. I am an award-winning, Connecticut-based restaurant critic and food & wine writer of 26 years. Since 1995, I have written thousands of restaurant reviews for more than two dozen media, most recently and prominently for Hartford Magazine and New Haven Living. Besides using my given name, I have authored restaurant reviews under pen names Spencer Caldwell, Jonathan Braverman, Philip Innes, Philippe Montblanc and Ellis Parker (and wine reviews as Gil Walker).

I have always encouraged discussion about restaurant reviewing and the standards that should be expected. If restaurants should be held accountable, so should their critics. In the late 1990s, writing as Philip Innes, I came up with the groundbreaking idea of critiquing other restaurant critics. I trained my lens on Connecticut and New York reviewers, evaluating and ranking them based on four criteria: writing ability, food knowledge, fairness and liveliness. This project was picked up by national food industry publication SLAMMED magazine, for which I wrote a well-received series expounding upon what should be expected of restaurant critics and then rating dozens of critics in separate pieces on the New York, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago metropolitan areas. (For those interested, this seminal work is archived on this site.)

In addition to a quarter of a century of uninterrupted coverage of the Connecticut dining scene, I reviewed Westchester County restaurants for more than a decade, serving as the critic for two different publications (plus as the Westchester editor for Zagat Survey for a couple of years). I have also reviewed restaurants in New York City, Massachusetts and Rhode Island now and then. Connecticut diners are sophisticated and they move about.

At a minimum, a restaurant critic should be an engaging writer and possess exceptional food knowledge. But I come at restaurant reviewing from a number of beneficial angles. In addition to being a writer, I have been an editor of a number of print publications, managing a stable of freelance writers. I was also the editor of RestaurantsCT.com, for years Connecticut’s top restaurant website.

In addition to writing and editing, I have worked in restaurants. I helped open a chain of empanada restaurants in New York City as the director of quality control & product development. My wife and daughter work in highly regarded New Haven-area eateries. I have consulted with top New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts restaurants (and a leading hotel chain). I have interviewed, tested and hired executive chefs for busy restaurateurs. I have provided “mystery shopping” services to restaurants.

I am knowledgeable not only about food but about drinks. Restaurant critics often lack the knowledge to discuss restaurant wine lists and drinks menus cogently. I have worked in high-end wine sales, both wholesale and retail. I penned a monthly column called “Wishful Drinking” in Hartford Magazine and New Haven Living. I started my own wine review website called Cambridge Wine Review. I worked as the wine steward of a contemporary Spanish restaurant in White Plains, NY. I have taken great pleasure in creating Wine Spectator Award-winning wine lists for restaurants, unearthing real treasures for oenophiles.

In April 2018, in what was the latest round of budget cuts, I was laid off from my full-time Hartford Courant journalist position of many years. A condition of my Tribune Company severance package was not doing any kind of work for the company, so I couldn’t even continue to write my popular Hartford Magazine restaurant review column on a freelance basis. I had to stand by as it was passed off to a freelancer.

The ultimate irony was that, a month after I was laid off, I was honored to receive a journalism award for my work in what was one of the broadest and most competitive categories: First Place, Leisure Writing in a Magazine, 2017 Excellence in Journalism Awards Competition, Society of Professional Journalists, Connecticut Chapter, for Hartford Magazine article “Southern Comfort Dishes from Dixie Whistle Their Way onto Local Menus.”

Tougher than 9/11 or the 2008 recession, the restaurant business is undergoing its greatest challenge since World War II. It needs a champion—not a sycophant but someone whose praises are meaningful—and CT Dish is my effort to give it one.

My name is Frank Cohen and I am the founder of CT Dish. I am an award-winning, Connecticut-based restaurant critic and food & wine writer of 26 years. Since 1995, I have written thousands of restaurant reviews for more than two dozen media, most recently and prominently for Hartford Magazine and New Haven Living. Besides using my given name, I have authored restaurant reviews under pen names Spencer Caldwell, Jonathan Braverman, Philip Innes, Philippe Montblanc and Ellis Parker (and wine reviews as Gil Walker).

I have always encouraged discussion about restaurant reviewing and the standards that should be expected. If restaurants should be held accountable, so should their critics. In the late 1990s, writing as Philip Innes, I came up with the groundbreaking idea of critiquing other restaurant critics. I trained my lens on Connecticut and New York reviewers, evaluating and ranking them based on four criteria: writing ability, food knowledge, fairness and liveliness. This project was picked up by national food industry publication SLAMMED magazine, for which I wrote a well-received series expounding upon what should be expected of restaurant critics and then rating dozens of critics in separate pieces on the New York, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago metropolitan areas. (For those interested, this seminal work is archived on this site.)

In addition to a quarter of a century of uninterrupted coverage of the Connecticut dining scene, I reviewed Westchester County restaurants for more than a decade, serving as the critic for two different publications (plus as the Westchester editor for Zagat Survey for a couple of years). I have also reviewed restaurants in New York City, Massachusetts and Rhode Island now and then. Connecticut diners are sophisticated and they move about.

At a minimum, a restaurant critic should be an engaging writer and possess exceptional food knowledge. But I come at restaurant reviewing from a number of beneficial angles. In addition to being a writer, I have been an editor of a number of print publications, managing a stable of freelance writers. I was also the editor of RestaurantsCT.com, for years Connecticut’s top restaurant website.

In addition to writing and editing, I have worked in restaurants. I helped open a chain of empanada restaurants in New York City as the director of quality control & product development. My wife and daughter work in highly regarded New Haven-area eateries. I have consulted with top New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts restaurants (and a leading hotel chain). I have interviewed, tested and hired executive chefs for busy restaurateurs. I have provided “mystery shopping” services to restaurants.

I am knowledgeable not only about food but about drinks. Restaurant critics often lack the knowledge to discuss restaurant wine lists and drinks menus cogently. I have worked in high-end wine sales, both wholesale and retail. I penned a monthly column called “Wishful Drinking” in Hartford Magazine and New Haven Living. I started my own wine review website called Cambridge Wine Review. I worked as the wine steward of a contemporary Spanish restaurant in White Plains, NY. I have taken great pleasure in creating Wine Spectator Award-winning wine lists for restaurants, unearthing real treasures for oenophiles.

In April 2018, in what was the latest round of budget cuts, I was laid off from my full-time Hartford Courant journalist position of many years. A condition of my Tribune Company severance package was not doing any kind of work for the company, so I couldn’t even continue to write my popular Hartford Magazine restaurant review column on a freelance basis. I had to stand by as it was passed off to a freelancer.

The ultimate irony was that, a month after I was laid off, I was honored to receive a journalism award for my work in what was one of the broadest and most competitive categories: First Place, Leisure Writing in a Magazine, 2017 Excellence in Journalism Awards Competition, Society of Professional Journalists, Connecticut Chapter, for Hartford Magazine article “Southern Comfort Dishes from Dixie Whistle Their Way onto Local Menus.”

Tougher than 9/11 or the 2008 recession, the restaurant business is undergoing its greatest challenge since World War II. It needs a champion—not a sycophant but someone whose praises are meaningful—and CT Dish is my effort to give it one.

About Our Restaurant Reviews

CT Dish may be the last remaining source of true restaurant reviews in Connecticut.

Don’t be fooled! With few if any exceptions, most publications these days appearing to offer restaurant reviews are actually foisting advertising-friendly profiles upon their hapless readers. Designed to stroke the egos of restaurateurs, such “reviews” are actually advertorial in nature. Restaurateurs with awareness and pride attach little value to these faux reviews—and readers should attach even less.

Just as deadly to true restaurant reviewing has been the coopting of the term in recent years to describe customer feedback on social media sites like Yelp, Trip Advisor and the like. With the “democracy” of the internet revolution and the decline of traditional news media, the word “review” has become terribly abused. A review should not be the fawning tribute of a friend of a restaurant, the narcissistic narrative of an unaccountable foodie, nor the personal screed of a dissatisfied customer with an axe to grind.

What makes a real restaurant review? A critique should be unbiased, thorough, informed, contextual, and unconcerned about advertising dollars. The critic should be knowledgeable, accountable, entertaining and fair. If these conditions are not met, a review is not worth the paper it is printed upon nor the internet bytes it consumes.

When I started writing restaurant reviews for a chain of alternative newsweeklies, I did some wonderfully fun, experimental things with the reviewing form, but at times I could be quite snarky. However, the more I came at the restaurant business from other angles, the more I realized what a difficult business it is and that it’s full of real people trying their hardest. Consequently, I focused more on the matchmaking aspect of restaurant reviewing (describing a restaurant well enough so the reader can tell if he or she is a good match for it) and on constructive critiquing (leaving a restaurant with a blueprint for improvement). Not being truthful does no one any favors, but how one conveys the truth about a restaurant affects the likelihood of it taking something valuable away.

So many chefs have reached out to me bemoaning the absence of meaningful restaurant coverage in our fair state. For these chefs, a restaurant review is the validation of their work by someone who understands it and has the highest standards. For the restaurant-going public, it’s guidance that can be trusted wholeheartedly. Read CT Dish for the unvarnished truth about the Connecticut dining scene!

CT Dish may be the last remaining source of true restaurant reviews in Connecticut.

Don’t be fooled! With few if any exceptions, most publications these days appearing to offer restaurant reviews are actually foisting advertising-friendly profiles upon their hapless readers. Designed to stroke the egos of restaurateurs, such “reviews” are actually advertorial in nature. Restaurateurs with awareness and pride attach little value to these faux reviews—and readers should attach even less.

Just as deadly to true restaurant reviewing has been the coopting of the term in recent years to describe customer feedback on social media sites like Yelp, Trip Advisor and the like. With the “democracy” of the internet revolution and the decline of traditional news media, the word “review” has become terribly abused. A review should not be the fawning tribute of a friend of a restaurant, the narcissistic narrative of an unaccountable foodie, nor the personal screed of a dissatisfied customer with an axe to grind.

What makes a real restaurant review? A critique should be unbiased, thorough, informed, contextual, and unconcerned about advertising dollars. The critic should be knowledgeable, accountable, entertaining and fair. If these conditions are not met, a review is not worth the paper it is printed upon nor the internet bytes it consumes.

When I started writing restaurant reviews for a chain of alternative newsweeklies, I did some wonderfully fun, experimental things with the reviewing form, but at times I could be quite snarky. However, the more I came at the restaurant business from other angles, the more I realized what a difficult business it is and that it’s full of real people trying their hardest. Consequently, I focused more on the matchmaking aspect of restaurant reviewing (describing a restaurant well enough so the reader can tell if he or she is a good match for it) and on constructive critiquing (leaving a restaurant with a blueprint for improvement). Not being truthful does no one any favors, but how one conveys the truth about a restaurant affects the likelihood of it taking something valuable away.

So many chefs have reached out to me bemoaning the absence of meaningful restaurant coverage in our fair state. For these chefs, a restaurant review is the validation of their work by someone who understands it and has the highest standards. For the restaurant-going public, it’s guidance that can be trusted wholeheartedly. Read CT Dish for the unvarnished truth about the Connecticut dining scene!

Heartfelt Thanks For Support

I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks for the support I have received in my restaurant reviewing and food & wine writing endeavors over the past 26 years. First and foremost, I’d like to thank my lovely wife Ann, who has supported me enthusiastically and unreservedly in everything and who happens to possess the best palate I have ever encountered.

I would like also to thank my children, Rebecca, Jyreh and Tala, for their support and participation in food (and life’s) adventures.

I would also like to thank my mother, Catherine, for sharing with me her love of cooking and enjoyment of all foods—domestic and foreign—at a very young age.

Also my younger siblings—Linn, Sarah and Sam—all of whom are passing the family love of food and cooking on to another generation.

Special thanks are due to my friend, Robert Bailin, a companion in so many adventures, whose expert assistance and incredible perseverance were essential in getting CT Dish up and running.

Further thanks also must go to Elise Maclay, the Connecticut Magazine restaurant critic for roughly a quarter of a century, a dear friend who has become family and who has combined with me in so many adventures, culinary and otherwise.

Further thanks must go to “adopted family” Angela DiGioia and Lynn Cone.

I would also like to credit two members of my sophomore year Ecology House cooking group—Iva Hilton and Paul Singer—who remain friends.

I would also like to thank John & Martha Simpson, longtime friends who, 30 years ago, kept telling me I should become a restaurant critic. They were right.

I would like to thank restaurant publicist and good friend Linda Kavanagh. Also, my best wine friend, Juan Carlos Rodriguez, and best beer buddy, Gregg Glaser.

There are so many other folks deserving of thanks that I must apologize in advance if I miss any. For their willingness to dine with me at the drop of a hat, let me thank my oldest and greatest friend, Mark Collins, as well as Carrol D’Sa, Monica Roy, Aurore Henry, Mike Brotherton, Harry Miller, Emma Marianetti & Ronnie Curry, John & Tess Herbst, Tony Izzo & Heidi Gervais, Irene & Howard Dixon, Fides & Eric Cutiongco, Rose Simpson, Nicholas Simpson, Gail Gilman-Elansky & David Elansky, Jessica Griswold-Pierson, Michael Guinan, Jeanette Punsoni Dardenne, Kristen Fritz, Carol Riordan, Olivia Briffault, Jillian Philbrick, Amy Torbert, Linda Simms, Frank Suraci, Ashly Cruz and Doan Halleck.

Other folks with whom I shared a love of food and drink would include Alessandro Peirano, Alexis Ann, Allie Linkiewicz, Amy Kundrat, Andrew Poulos, Barbara Medoff & Ed McGeary, Bill & Mona Haseltine, Bob DeZinno, Dave Sitar, Dominic Nocerino, Frank Keyes, Gaudi Quiballo, Jason Probyn & Del Nano, Jeff & Linda Firman, John Mariani, Judith & Tani Distal, Mariel Gepiga, Nancy Dudchik, Nick Caito & Emily Cahill, Nick Cretella, Nick Hadfield, Renee DiNino, Richard Ramaya, Rosie Bienz & Derek Law, Scott Jackson, Stephanie Webster, Todd Lyon and Wendy Logan.

Special thanks are also due to so many restaurateurs and chefs, but I’ll at least mention Angelo Marini, Arturo Franco-Camacho, Bill Rizzuto, Billy Grant, Bryan Malcarney, Bun Lai, Carlos Hernandez, Chris Prosperi & Courtney Febbroriello, Chu Ngo, Claire Criscuolo, David Borselle Jr. & Heidi Voight, Dorjan & Mira Puka, Fico & Zumra Cecunjanin, Grace Lee & Tom Ke, Ignacio Blanco, Jacques Larsen, Jamie McDonald, Jared Cohen, Jeffrey Lizotte, Jeffrey Renkl, Joseph Tesone, Juan Carlos & Maria Gonzalez, Kate Colan, Kevin Cottle, Luis Bollo, Manuel & Andrea Romero, Mario Cirikovic, Matt Storch, Mickey Joseph, Noel Jones, Pepe Feijoo, Peter Eco, Prasad Chirnomula, Rafael Palomino, Richard Rosenthal, Robert Bolduc, Roy Ip & Winnie Lui, Sam Devellis, Scott Miller, Steve Abrams, Tadahiro “Haya” Hayasaka, Tyler Anderson, Valentino Stakaj, Van Hurd, and last but far from least, Viron Rondos.

I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks for the support I have received in my restaurant reviewing and food & wine writing endeavors over the past 26 years. First and foremost, I’d like to thank my lovely wife Ann, who has supported me enthusiastically and unreservedly in everything and who happens to possess the best palate I have ever encountered.

I would like also to thank my children, Rebecca, Jyreh and Tala, for their support and participation in food (and life’s) adventures.

I would also like to thank my mother, Catherine, for sharing with me her love of cooking and enjoyment of all foods—domestic and foreign—at a very young age.

Also my younger siblings—Linn, Sarah and Sam—all of whom are passing the family love of food and cooking on to another generation.

Special thanks are due to my friend, Robert Bailin, a companion in so many adventures, whose expert assistance and incredible perseverance were essential in getting CT Dish up and running.

Further thanks also must go to Elise Maclay, the Connecticut Magazine restaurant critic for roughly a quarter of a century, a dear friend who has become family and who has combined with me in so many adventures, culinary and otherwise.

Further thanks must go to “adopted family” Angela DiGioia and Lynn Cone.

I would also like to credit two members of my sophomore year Ecology House cooking group—Iva Hilton and Paul Singer—who remain friends.

I would also like to thank John & Martha Simpson, longtime friends who, 30 years ago, kept telling me I should become a restaurant critic. They were right.

I would like to thank restaurant publicist and good friend Linda Kavanagh. Also, my best wine friend, Juan Carlos Rodriguez, and best beer buddy, Gregg Glaser.

There are so many other folks deserving of thanks that I must apologize in advance if I miss any. For their willingness to dine with me at the drop of a hat, let me thank my oldest and greatest friend, Mark Collins, as well as Carrol D’Sa, Monica Roy, Aurore Henry, Mike Brotherton, Harry Miller, Emma Marianetti & Ronnie Curry, John & Tess Herbst, Tony Izzo & Heidi Gervais, Irene & Howard Dixon, Fides & Eric Cutiongco, Rose Simpson, Nicholas Simpson, Gail Gilman-Elansky & David Elansky, Jessica Griswold-Pierson, Michael Guinan, Jeanette Punsoni Dardenne, Kristen Fritz, Carol Riordan, Olivia Briffault, Jillian Philbrick, Amy Torbert, Linda Simms, Frank Suraci, Ashly Cruz and Doan Halleck.

Other folks with whom I shared a love of food and drink would include Alessandro Peirano, Alexis Ann, Allie Linkiewicz, Amy Kundrat, Andrew Poulos, Barbara Medoff & Ed McGeary, Bill & Mona Haseltine, Bob DeZinno, Dave Sitar, Dominic Nocerino, Frank Keyes, Gaudi Quiballo, Jason Probyn & Del Nano, Jeff & Linda Firman, John Mariani, Judith & Tani Distal, Mariel Gepiga, Nancy Dudchik, Nick Caito & Emily Cahill, Nick Cretella, Nick Hadfield, Renee DiNino, Richard Ramaya, Rosie Bienz & Derek Law, Scott Jackson, Stephanie Webster, Todd Lyon and Wendy Logan.

Special thanks are also due to so many restaurateurs and chefs, but I’ll at least mention Angelo Marini, Arturo Franco-Camacho, Bill Rizzuto, Billy Grant, Bryan Malcarney, Bun Lai, Carlos Hernandez, Chris Prosperi & Courtney Febbroriello, Chu Ngo, Claire Criscuolo, David Borselle Jr. & Heidi Voight, Dorjan & Mira Puka, Fico & Zumra Cecunjanin, Grace Lee & Tom Ke, Ignacio Blanco, Jacques Larsen, Jamie McDonald, Jared Cohen, Jeffrey Lizotte, Jeffrey Renkl, Joseph Tesone, Juan Carlos & Maria Gonzalez, Kate Colan, Kevin Cottle, Luis Bollo, Manuel & Andrea Romero, Mario Cirikovic, Matt Storch, Mickey Joseph, Noel Jones, Pepe Feijoo, Peter Eco, Prasad Chirnomula, Rafael Palomino, Richard Rosenthal, Robert Bolduc, Roy Ip & Winnie Lui, Sam Devellis, Scott Miller, Steve Abrams, Tadahiro “Haya” Hayasaka, Tyler Anderson, Valentino Stakaj, Van Hurd, and last but far from least, Viron Rondos.