Lauren Schofield's Litchfield County, CT
The spots the pastry chef frequents all summer long + LINKS
East Coast Summer is a seasonal Saturday column that serves as an alternative to Plugs. It’s where someone of note (with great taste) shares their go-to spots in the town or region where they summer. ECS will run every Saturday through mid-August (save for monthly L.A. editions of Plugs), featuring destinations such as Amagansett and Cape Cod. It’s for paid subscribers of The Angel only; upgrade your subscription for all-access!
That said, this issue of ECS is free for all to read because it’s sponsored by Postcard, a smarter map for deciding where to go and what to do. You can save places from anywhere, find exactly what you need, and share your lists. Download Postcard here.
#3 is Lauren Schofield, a pastry chef whose resume includes Flora Bar, King, and Marlow & Sons, and whose intricate and rustic, fruit-forward cakes have starred in stylish brand events, private dinners, and weddings across the city and its surrounding regions. As for her connection to Litchfield County, CT—with its charming towns including Washington, Kent, and Cornwall—here’s Lauren in her own words: “I love Connecticut. I’ve been going up to my fiancé’s family’s place there since we started dating, and whenever we have a few days to escape the city, we’re there. What I love about Litchfield County, in particular, is that there are so many little towns, each with its own unique identity. We love cruising between towns, always taking the scenic route to see as many pretty roads and houses as we can, and stopping in at favorite shops, cafes, and restaurants along the way.” These are her go-to spots for eating, drinking, shopping, and nature-ing in the bucolic region of northwest Connecticut — and here’s her Litchfield, CT map on Postcard.
The shops of New Preston
New Preston is a little village in the greater town of Washington, and the main street is full of treasures — there’s a strip of homewares, clothing, and jewelry stores that are all worth visiting, even if you’re just window shopping. The move is to get lunch (or breakfast!) at my beloved Smithy Cafe and then take your time moseying in and out of the adjacent shops. Plain Goods, which sells gorgeous antiques and both vintage and new clothing, is one of the most beautifully merchandised stores I’ve ever been inside. I could spend hours in there.
Clamp’s
Go to Clamp’s if you’re eager to experience some real nostalgia. It’s a roadside stand in New Milford that’s only open in the summertime, where they dish out burgers, grilled cheeses, and other American Summer Fare. The lemonade is really sweet and really excellent. The burgers remind me of the ones from my youth — simple, with only the classic array of condiments and fixings available. This is a fun place to take a big group or kids. Tastes like summer.
Hollister House Garden
Gorgeous English garden in Washington surrounding several classic New England buildings. Beautiful hedges and reflecting pools, and just a lovely way to spend an afternoon. You can tell the people who take care of this garden really love it.
Swyft
Swyft is a restaurant in downtown Kent known for its pizza, but they also serve a lovely array of non-pizza dishes. This is a real go-to for us — we usually wind up here for dinner when we get into town on Friday evenings and sit at the bar. Love the Randy Savage pizza and the rigatoni. The smash burger is also fire.
R. Derwin
I love boutiques where you can see the owners’ vision! R. Derwin is a preppy and beautiful clothing store in the town of Litchfield, which has one of the larger downtowns in the county, and a lot of great shopping. The quality of everything here is excellent and luxe. Worth admiring even if you’re not there to purchase. I did buy a Madras bucket hat there earlier this summer, which has become my staple sunwear.
West Shore Seafood
I love Connecticut-style lobster rolls, and they have a very good one here (my mother-in-law makes the best ones, though). It’s a super casual spot off of Bantam Lake with a big menu, but it’s all about the lobster roll for me. Fun to sit at the picnic tables on the back lawn with a beer.
Community Table
This is a favorite special-occasion-y restaurant. The food is always delicious, and the menu changes seasonally. The dining rooms are lovely and really comfortable, the staff is so friendly, and they have great cocktails. Fun for a night out.
Arethusa a Mano
Arethusa Farm is a dairy farm that makes a bunch of different products, but they also have three spots in Bantam — a restaurant, an ice cream spot, and a cafe, Arethusa a Mano, which I like because they have a really good breakfast sandwich (egg and cheese on English muffin — very simple, I love an austere egg sandwich). I would describe this as a Connecticut spot for city slickers, and by that, I mean you can get Stumptown nitro cold brew here.
Bantam Bread Company
Next to Arethusa a Mano is Bantam Bread company, which is, in a word, charming. It’s a bakery that you enter through an ivy-covered door to the basement, and they sell delicious pastries in addition to bread. They don’t sell coffee, which I think is really cool. I love the fruit crostatas!
Mahira Rivers interviewed me for her Sweet City Roundtable series this week; you can read my dessert-related takes here. :) [Sweet City]
The paper of record tackled an all-important issue: ‘Welcome to West Village’? The ‘the’ Is Not Optional, Say Some New Yorkers. (When the “the” is dropped, my stomach curdles.) [NYT, gift link]
Austin Tedesco hit me up to help answer an epitome Bangers & Jams question: Where do hot people eat well? [Bangers & Jams]
I loved this investigation—and the idea behind the column—from Annie Armstrong: How Did That Joan Jonas Get There (the there being Houseman)? [Caper]
Brooks Reitz does Ojai (very well). [A Small & Simple Thing]