Last night, A Taste of Wilton returned, sponsored by the Wilton Chamber of Commerce, with restaurants and vendors displaying their foods for tasting in the lobby of the very new Riverside apartment building at 141 Danbury Rd. (We swear it wasn’t there yesterday!)

We took quite a passel of pictures of most of the exhibits, and you can see all of them here. There was no printed program or guide and since the exhibits stretched around the outdoor pool area, it would have been easy to miss some of them if you didn’t see people carrying foods you hadn’t seen yet.

We found that there were a number of out of town vendors with really interesting offerings. The one that impressed us the most was Tucker’s Pie Company, a Bridgeport company that makes savory pies (quiches, chicken pot pie, and so forth) for pick up or delivery. They are located just off the Black Rock turnpike at 2931 Fairfield Ave.

The pie that impressed us the most was their Steak and Guinness Pie, and their Caramelized Apple and Fennel Pork Sausage Roll. You need to order a couple of days in advance, but they are worth it. If you are having a larger event, they will ship you boxed frozen pies as well.

 Two Roads brewery (from Stratford) was there with several of their beers. We tried their Summer Heaven IPA and found it delicious. Not to be outdone, the Little Pub was also offering their own branded beers.

 

 One big surprise was Mama Hu’s Baked sushi. It is basically packaged sushi you can heat and eat. We tried their spicy salmon and were quite impressed. They have commercial kitchens in Norwalk and Brooklyn, and their products are available at Village Market, Walter Stewarts and Nature’s Temptation (Ridgefield).

  

 Jacob’s Pickles (from the Sono Collection) was offering build your own chicken biscuit sliders, with some tasty looking fried chicken.

  

 

 But the culminating surprise entry was the appearance of the new Sly Bandit Brew Pub at 14 Danbury Rd. Their display was just a menu and the opportunity for them to prepare a plate for you. But imagine! A Brew pub in South Wilton and we didn’t know it had opened!

Desserts were cookies from The Painted Cookie, Banana pudding from Pressburger (who were offering full single burgers as well) and carrot cake from Marly’s.

  

You will quickly note that there were far more vendors from outside Wilton that within. Where were our favorite restaurants like Bianco Rosso, Craft 14 and Aranci 67? Not to mention Athithi, Ren Noodle and Dumpling, Cactus Rose and the Red Rooster? Well, it was a great night for those who attended, and while the Chamber said it was sold out, we think they could have sold more tickets as it was never crowded. See you there next year and at the brew pub much sooner!

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