New Flavors to Lineup:
Cinch Gourmet Market and
The Stand Juice Company
open in Fairfield center
By Mike Lauterborn
© 2011. All Rights Reserved.
9/19/11
Fairfield, CT – If Sportsplex of Fairfield wasn’t already a great convenience for parents-on-the-go who have kids with diverse sports interests, now the center features a juice bar for refreshing juice drinks and a gourmet market where a nutritious tasteful dinner can be grabbed on the way home.
With wine glasses clinking, live music, balloons and local folks milling about and visiting with each other, Cinch Gourmet Market and The Stand, which are located side-by-side in the 85 Mill Plain Road complex, celebrated their debuts Saturday evening in what has become one of the hottest multi-use destinations in Fairfield.
Technically, The Stand already opened – a soft opening on Thursday, Sept. 8 – and Cinch doesn’t officially open until Tuesday, Sept. 20, with a ribbon cutting ceremony planned for 10 a.m. But that didn’t stop the two food establishments from throwing open their doors to Fairfielders to give them a chance to sample and gain information about their various products and services.
Sporting a flirty yellow cocktail dress, The Stand owner Carissa Dellicicchi, a Stratford resident, buzzed about her space being the accommodating host, passing off brochures and making sure all that visited had a shot of her delicious organic juice concoctions. These sported names like the Greenie (kale, collards, celery, cucumber), The Nasty (all greens, garlic, ginger, cayenne) and the Freshie (cucumber, apple, lemon). They were served up by staffers like bubbly Mae Farrell, who manages this location, and Amy Holomakoff, who manages the original sister location at 31 Wall Street in Norwalk.
In addition to the juices, The Stand offers milks (strawberry, almond, chocolate), salads, smoothies, some baked goods, soup and sandwiches that satisfy. The juice company also provides a five-day all-liquid detox cleanse program, to awaken the body and flush the intestines.
Anabella Duca, enjoying wraps with friend Sweta Patel, was especially glad to welcome The Stand. “I work in the pilates studio in this complex, heard about the opening and came over. I live this food lifestyle. This is beyond great for Fairfield!”
Next door, Cinch had taken on the appearance of a neighborhood block party and, indeed, many of the attendees were acquainted. They wore a path to the wine bar, rocked in place to tunes laid down by the New England Brewery Band, noshed on passed hors d’oeuvres and inspected the meals-to-go tucked neatly in refrigerator cases inside.
In one case, there were 16-ounce containers of cheese tortellini, gnocchi, cavatelli and ravioli. In another, packages of marinated chicken, chicken marsala and chicken sorrentina. Sauces – marinara, Bolognese, roasted tomato – filled another case.
The star of the evening was Shawn Russell, head chef and owner, who said Cinch was a “dream realized.” He explained that he had owned a parking and security company for 20 years and decided to go to culinary school, at the Institute for Culinary Education in New York. At the same time, he freelanced with TV food personality Rachel Ray. Cinch was the culmination of his efforts.
“The selling point of Cinch is meals to go for busy parents who want good quality, fairly priced, healthy products,” he said. “We make everything on premise.”
Sharing the spotlight with Russell was Hal Fischel, the owner and developer of the Sportsplex complex. Without his vision and keen business sense, the site may have remained a disused former rubber factory – the eyesore that it had once been, instead of a vibrant center of town life.
“With all the activity that the place had generated, a food element was needed,” Fischel said. “This and The Stand round out the facility. They meet the needs of kids and busy moms… very complementary businesses. All we need now is a bigger parking lot.”
The Stand: 203-873-0414, Hours - M to F 8am-7pm, Sat. 9am-7pm
Cinch: 203-256-1156, Hours – Tues to F, 10am-7pm, Sat. 10am-5pm
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