For a number of years, I have worked in support of the annual Flavors of Connecticut dinner to benefit the American Liver Foundation. This year, in addition to helping organize this important charity event held on March 31 at The Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville, I was fortunate to be a guest at the table of Backstage of Torrington, one of 35 tables sponsored by noteworthy Nutmeg restaurants.
Backstage, located next to the Warner Theatre, is one of Connecticut’s leading gastropubs and arguably Torrington’s top eatery. It offers a menu of creative American comfort foods, a spectacular selection of draft and bottled beers, and even a great Sunday brunch.
For drinks, Backstage featured the beers of Black Hog Brewing Company in Oxford, Connecticut. (Wine was available for non-beer-drinkers.) For food, Backstage featured a menu in which bacon, or some form of pork, made an appearance in every dish, even dessert. The hors d’oeuvre passed around before dinner included pulled pork tacos with pineapple-jalapeño salsa as well as double-smoked candied bacon.
For the dinner itself, Backstage prepared a first course of cured meats and regional cheeses; a second course of candied pork belly with maple gastrique, sweet pea purée and white asparagus; a third course of wilted spinach salad with warm bacon vinaigrette, blue cheese and mushrooms; a fourth course of pan-seared pork tenderloin medallions with sweet potato hash and a corn-and-black-bean salsa; and finally, a dessert course of olive oil and bacon cake served with sweet-corn-and-bacon ice cream. It was a wonderfully creative meal—just as long as one was a pork eater.
THE VERDICT: Backstage in Torrington is one of Connecticut’s top gastropubs. Flavors of Connecticut is one of the Nutmeg State’s most important and heartfelt charitable efforts—please do what you can to support it.
FEEDBACK: Tell us about your experiences at either Backstage or at the Flavors. Tell us what you do to support the good work of the American Liver Foundation.
CONTACT INFO: Backstage, 84 Main Street, Torrington; 860-489-8900; www.backstageeatdrinklive.com
American Liver Foundation, 127 Washington Avenue #9, North Haven, 203-234-2022; www.liverfoundation.org