"That's good, that's good," he said. "You've learned not to break the egg (on the bowl) because when you do that, the shell goes inside and breaks the yolk."
Food & Wine: F&W Star Chef Bill Taibe
RESTAURANTS: LeFarm, The Whelk (Westport, CT)
EDUCATION: Baltimore International Culinary College
WHAT ARE YOU FAMOUS FOR?
My food is known as being aggressive, punch-you-in-the-face, almost overseasoned. I combine salty, sweet, sour, bitter flavors with really simple ingredients. We had one dish that created craziness around here called The Wicked. It’s a foie gras cake that we just made like a regular white cake, but with foie gras fat instead of butter. We served it toasted for dessert in the late summer with warm foie gras caramel and a velvety local peach gelato melting over the top....
LeFarm's Signature Dish: Chef Arik Bensimon & Bill Taibe Talk Poutine
Would Bensimom consider an encore of LePoutine for our readers? You bet! He’s putting the dish back on the LeFarm menu for a limited run, January 23 -25. Not to be missed. (If bacon ate, it would eat Poutine)...
40 under 40: Class of 2014-Conneticut Magazine-Connecticut
Bill Taibe, 37, Weston
Chef, LeFarm, The Whelk
Bill Taibe’s been on our radar since he signed on as executive chef of G/R/A/N/D in 2001 at the tender age of 25. He’s been wowing us ever since, first at Relish Food & Wine in SoNo (2003), then at Napa & Co. in Stamford (2006), and now at his two Westport stunners LeFarm (2009) and The Whelk (2012), which critic Elise Maclay called “a thrill-seeker’s paradise for been-there-done-that foodies.” Taibe has been a semifinalist for Best Chef: Northeast at the James Beard House the last three years running, and has appeared on “The Martha Stewart Show” and “Today.”
Souterrain #6: Bill Taibe's Team recreates Little Italy @ Stanziato's
Team Bill Taibe brought Arthur Avenue to Danbury CT, at the 6th Souterrain (a.k.a. Underground Dinner). The venue was Stanziato's Wood Fired Pizza, and the restaurant swap allowed diners to enjoy not only a little piece of Little Italy, but some unique dishes and flavors made possible by the wood fired oven prominently featured in Matt Stanczak's kitchen.
"CELEBRATING THE HARVEST BENEFIT" November 12th, 2013
Chefs and committee members met on September 11th to discuss the upcoming “Celebrating the Harvest” Benefit event at the Greenwich Country Club on Tuesday, November 12th. The event will include five chefs who will present elegant farm to plate cuisine, paired with wines.
VOTE FOR LEFARM!! BEST GREEN RESTAURANT!!
Vote here!
Alan Richman's Trophy Dishes of 2013
GQ's eminent food critic on the best things you can put in your mouth this year
BY ALAN RICHMAN August 2013
See the 50 Best Things to Eat Right Now
Green-Goddess Deviled Eggs
The Whelk, Westport, CT
This has been the breakout year for deviled eggs, forgotten except in southern and midwestern kitchens. I ate them across the country, but none came
close to this complex and captivating variation: yolks mashed and mixed with a homemade green-goddess dressing (creamy, tangy, and once as beloved as ranch), then stuffed into egg-white halves. The dish gets better. The eggs are topped with two elements similar in texture but opposite in character—crunchy, sweet pickled onions and crunchy, sweet baconlike guanciale. Or you can have your deviled eggs with fried oysters on top. Both are right.
The Sun WineFest 2014: Bill Taibe
Mohegan Sun Friday, Januray 24th-Sunday, January 26th, 2014
PBS show pops up at Wilton farm
Jacques Pepin smiled approvingly as his granddaughter, Shorey, cracked an egg on the counter and let the bright yellow contents spill into a metal bowl.
Big News at Le Farm & The Whelk: Chef Changes & More
CTbites has some big news for fans of James Beard nominated chef Bill Taibe and his Westport restaurants, Le Farm and The Whelk. Guests to both will find exciting changes and a couple of new faces in the kitchen at both of these Westport hot spots. Chef Arik Bensimon (The Spread, Napa) has already settled into Le Farm’s cozy chef's quarters, and Geoff Lazlo (Le Farm, Gramercy Tavern, Blue Hill Stone Barns) has moved from his post at Le Farm to head the busy kitchen at The Whelk.
Chef Bill Taibe will be "Outstanding in the Field"-North American Tour
Thursday September 5, 2013
The Hickories, Ridgefield, CT
PRICE: $220.00
HOST FARMER: Dina Brewster, The Hickories
GUEST CHEF: Bill Taibe, LeFarm, Westport & The Whelk, Westport
TIME: 3 PM
Chef Bill Taibe is working hard and having fun. This is truly what a chef's life should be. One restaurant inspired by the land (LeFarm), one inspired by the sea (The Whelk) and a pop up restaurant (Souterrain) inspired by whatever the hell he feels like. All this freedom and creativity has paid off as Chef Bill was recently named a James Beard award Best Chef Northeast semi-finalist. The Hickories Farm was recommended to us by an OITF regular. Farmer Dina Brewster raises vegetables, chickens, goats, pigs and sheep. We are looking forward to taking a good look around Dina's farm and setting the table.
2013 James Beard Foundation Awards Semifinalists: Chefs Bill Taibe & Bun Lai
Congratulations to Chefs Bill Taibe and Bun Lai on their nominations for Best Chef: Northeast for the 2013 James Beard Foundation Awards Semifinalists. For the complete list visit: http://www.jamesbeard.org.
"The Sunday Sauce: a.k.a. Family Meal"-Fairfield County Foodie
Chef Bill Taibe and his new Chef de Cuisine at Le Farm, Geoff Lazlo, have launched a scintillating new monthly dinner series called the The Sunday Sauce aka. Family Meal. Traditionally, it is the meal shared by the restaurant staff before the dinner service begins. A simple family style meal shared by the team in a friendly and relaxed setting. Sounds fascinating, doesn’t it? How fabulous that the team at Le Farm is now willing to share that experience with all of us!
The Sunday Sauce: a.k.a. Family Meal @ LeFarm
This just in from Le Farm:
In the restaurant business, "Family Meal" is the staff's meal right before service starts. It's when we all gather together around a big table...just like many families do on Sundays...and eat what the Chef has created for us. We pass around huge platters of food and enjoy each other's company.
SOUTERRAIN 5
It’s been over a year, but Chef Bill Taibe and his team from leFarm/Whelk are finally back with a new Souterrain!
As always, the evening began with a cocktail. This one was bourbon-based.
Details, details… Yes, I love slow-melting, giant ice cubes!...
***VOTE-CHEF BILL TAIBE Connecticut Restaurant Association Awards, "Chef of the Year"!!
Click on the link below to Vote for Chef Taibe
Chef Bill Taibe Fan :)
Wakeman Farm to Table Event Photos
Take a quick look at Westport's Wakeman Farm's first Farm to Table Event featuring top local chefs....
"Foodies" Exhibit Opens At The Westport Arts Center
This mouth watering new exhibition features artwork in all media, created Westport Arts Center member artists. From painting and photography to sculpture and video, "Foodies" is sure to leave you feeling hungry for more art and also for a bite to eat.
"Foodies" is juried by Pat Callaghan of Pepperidge Farms, Stew Leonard from “The World’s Largest Dairy Store,” Michel Nischan of The Dressing Room, and Bill Taibe, owner of Le Farm and The Whelk.
The exhibit runs every day through Nov. 4. Gallery hours are:
Monday through Thursday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Friday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: Noon to 4 p.m.
Come See Chef Bill Taibe @ The Greenwich Food & Wine Fest
Oct. 4th-Oct. 6th
JOIN US for the second annual Greenwich 2012 FOOD+WINE FESTIVAL.
Fairfield and Westchester Counties’ Culinary Best come together for this 6.3 Acre Gourmet Festival!
Westport Patch-LeFarm Earns "Best Burger" Honors
Westport Patch readers and users have posted their ratings in the online directory and cast their votes in a poll to declare the “Readers’ Choice: Best Burger” winner and it is: LeFarm The Post Road restaurant garnered 52 percent of all votes, and received praise in the contest article comment thread, including:
Grub Street NY Magazine-50 State Dinners, 2012: Food Pilgrimages You Must Make This Summer
The Destination: Souterrain Pop-up Dinners #8 Connecticut
How to Get There: The events change locations but they're generally in the Westport and Norwalk areas, under an hour ride on the Metro-North from New York City.
When to Go: Sign up for the Souterrain newsletter and jump on reservations as soon as they send out their impromptu events (spots book up fast).
Souterrain is the extremely of-the-moment, underground dining experience created and executed by the folks at Westport's hottest two restaurants: leFarm and the Whelk. A different location is chosen for each dinner (past spots have included abandoned warehouses and retail stores) and announced 48 hours prior to the event. The price fluctuates and reservations are only taken by e-mail, but the pedigree and the raves diners issue make these must-try meals. Souterrain, location is always TBD, sign up for e-mails and alerts.
CT Bites
Congratulations to Bill Taibe and Kara Brooks as the only two Connecticut nominees in the "Best Chef: Northeast" category. The James Beard Foundation Awards have been deemed “the Oscars of the food world,” by Time magazine, and are the country’s most coveted honor for chefs, as well as food and beverage professionals. Final nominees will be announced at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland and simultaneously live via the Foundation's Twitter page, @beardfoundation.
NY Times The Local Approach, Applied to Seafood A Review of the Whelk, in Westport
ONLY a gutsy and independent chef would name a restaurant after a mollusk better known in Europe than here, as Bill Taibe has done with his new place, the Whelk in Westport. But, as he said in a telephone interview, “I enjoy sharing my knowledge about food with others.” Calling the new place Le Mer, as a bookend to his other Westport restaurant, Le Farm, would have been, in his words, “too obvious, like hanging lifesavers or anchors on the walls.”
"Fork it Over" for the Westport, CT Farmers' Market!
On Saturday evening, I was invited to a really fun and delicious event in Westport, Connecticut, the town where I resided for many years. It was called “Fork it Over” and was a benefit for the Westport Farmers’ Market, which was founded in 2006 by the late Paul Newman and his Dressing Room Restaurant partner, Chef Michael Nischan, with a total of 14 vendors. Today, that number has more than doubled. The market, a non-profit organization, is open year-round and works with farmers, vendors, and community groups to promote local, sustainable food. “Fork it Over” was organized to raise proceeds to help support various outreach and education programs and food programs that Westport Farmers’ Market is involved with.
My friend, Sal Gilbertie, of Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens, offered a large greenhouse for the occasion. Guests at this sold-out event were treated to foods prepared by five of the area’s finest chefs – Michel Nischan of Dressing Room, Matt Storch of Match, Bill Taibe of leFarm and The Whelk, Tim LaBant of the Schoolhouse at Cannondale, and John Barricelli of SoNo Baking Co. & Café. And, Fountainhead Wines & Distillations poured carefully selected French and California wines to pair with the delectable bites.
06880
Farmers like to grow things. They don’t like to market, advertise and transport them. Bill Taibe likes to cook. He loves using local ingredients — the fresher the better. The convergence of area farmers and Taibe is good news for diners — and not just fans of Le Farm, Taibe’s Colonial Green restaurant that earns raves for showcasing market-based food cooked and presented in a homey, comfortable and very sustainable atmosphere. ...
Chow N Chat
This past week I got to be a fly on the wall in chef Bill Taibe's kitchen. Well it is actually my (work) kitchen, but Bill's rules. One of the perks of my job is helping out with a dinner where Bill donates his time and food to support the JDRF in a dinner that is auctioned off to raise money to find a cure. If you have not been to le Farm his Westport, CT restaurant I highly recommend going and be sure to book a table in advance because the space is intimate. ...
CT Bites
Some meals need no words. The recent "Family Meal" at leFarm was one such event. On the final Tuesday of each month, the restaurant opens up for a single seating and several courses based on the whim of Chef Bill Taibe and his team. This past month featured a down-home family meal based around LeFarm's playful interpretation of pub grub carefully paired with a selection of beers chosen by Saugatuck Grain & Grape. Warning ... the following photos may make you drool on your keyboard. ...
CT Magazine
LeFarm ★★★ ½ (Superior-Extraordinary)
When chef Bill Taibe opened his new restaurant, LeFarm in Westport last fall, he and some friends also acquired 12 acres of land in northern Fairfield County, an acre of which was quickly turned and sowed. Not that chef Taibe lacked small-farm sources—he’s been establishing unique relationships with local growers and artisans for years and building menus around what they produced, even when he was top toque at Napa in the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Stamford....
CT Post
One of the most celebrated and "followed" chefs in Fairfield County is Bill Taibe. After opening and serving as head chef in several notable local restaurants, he has finally opened his very own place. Being the owner allows a chef to finally do exactly as he pleases, and in Taibe's case this means presenting a small, carefully crafted menu that changes daily depending upon what is in the market and what is on Taibe's mind to cook.
