MisterJoe

Thanks, AES, for the list. I went to Nini's with a group of 6 last week, and we had a great time. The food and the room are a little more upscale than most BYO places. I have three modest additions to the list: Pazzo, in Glastonbury (80 Hebron Ave). This is a small, casual Italian place. I think it's pretty well known in the Hartford area as a BYO option. The food is fine, not spectacular, but good and fairly priced. It gets really crowded. Half Moon Cafe, in Wallingford (Main and Center). This is an even more casual place - you order at the counter and find yourself a table. The menu leans towards Italian, with some really nice house-made pastas, and some surprisingly fresh seafood, as well as non standard pizzas and sandwiches. I think it's an underrated place to taste some wines with a group, because you can order big or small, and share easily. Although the food can be inconsistent, at its best it's darn good. House of Chao, in New Haven (890 Whalley Ave). This isn't a real classic wine place, because the best dishes go better with beer, but I haven't seen it mentioned in any of the discussions here on CT chinese places, so I'm slipping it in here. It's been around a while (at least since the mid 70's), and the menu hasn't changed at all, so it loses innovation points, but the food is consistently good. The steamed dumplings are legendary.

My wife and I were in Northhampton yesterday, and stopped by Holy Smokes for a Saturday lunch. What a great little place! Thanks, VivreManager, for getting the word out here. We started with a lemonade and unsweetened ice tea, both of which tasted house-made. The sides were very impressive. We had mac and cheese (really awesome), coleslaw (handcut), tuscan beans (garlic and rosemary), and some roasted green/yellow squash (also really awesome). Hey, I know how inarticulate it sounds to say "really awesome" all the time, but I, like, really mean it. Our bbq, pork ribs and pulled pork, were darn respectable. They don't do beef ribs at lunch (presumably because they take so much longer to smoke), so we didn't get top try those. The pork was just as VivreManager described it. I didn't think to ask for my sauce on the side, so my ribs were finished in the oven (not on a grill). They were very smoky and came cleanly off the bone, although they were not as tender as some. Since we got there at around 2:30, the place was virtually empty. As a result (I assume), our service was, uh, really awesome. The owner came up to talk to us and brought out pictures of the kitchen, showed us the whole-hog rig, and talked bbq for a good 15 minutes. Out waiter came by a few times and talked with genuine enthusiasm about the specifics of their ingredients and techniques, and the midweek specials of whole hog and smoked prime rib. He also brough out small samples of chopped beef and collard greens for us to try, just because we seemed so interested. Both were good, the collards especially. We finished with a corn pudding that was topped with fresh blueberries and whipped cream, which was, well, you know. How could anything topped with fresh blueberries and whipped cream be anything but really awesome? The owner mentioned that they have a web site, which I didn't find when I googled the place last week, so here's the link: http://www.holysmokesbbq.com/ By the way, VivreManager, we also stopped at Hungry Ghost bakery, which you had noted at about the same time. We tried the french batard, the country, and raisin breads. On first taste, all three are excellent and distinctive examples of their types. Hungry Ghost is also a cool little place, with two large wood-fired ovens. It's a lot like a smaller Berkshire Bakery. So, thanks, you got two good deeds on one day. Much appreciated.

There's no disputing it was tough out there Saturday afternoon. Moving the food booths to the compass points, and allowing beer in the lines would have helped a lot. The one thing that would have helped the most is the establishment of clear starting points for the lines. In three and a half hours, I made it through 2 lines. For about the first 45 minutes, those of us in the nether regions of the line were constantly reassuring each other that we were indeed in a line, and that we would eventually get some barbecue. There had to be a lot of unintentional line-jumping, although I didn't see anymyself. It was just so hard to tell where the lines were, and until you got close the line moved so slow, it doesn't make sense that people weren't morphing in to the middle of the line. The food was really good, and the people working the booths were as efficient and nice as they could be. I'm sure things will get better now that the organizers have a better sense of the crowd. It's a worthwhile event, for sure, but it's not for the faint of heart. Good luck to all the Sunday gang.