After our pulling ourselves away from all things industrial at Get Back Inc, we decided to continue our road trip and spend the rest of the afternoon exploring Litchfield County.

First stop: lunch at Norimaki. This hidden gem was recommended by chef Joel Viehland. His restaurant, Community table only serves dinner and Sunday brunch, so I sought his guidance on a worthy alternative. Who would have guessed that you could find meticulously-prepared traditional Japanese food in Washington Depot, Connecticut? We had great quality sashimi (like O toro below) and few hot appetizers, but I cannot forget the gomadofu, a tofu I wish I could eat every day. If you’re serious about your sushi and don’t mind splurging for it, consider this your next destination. View the entire meal on flickr.

For all my initial excitement about Terrain’s arrival in Westport, I still have not visited.  Regardless, White Flower Farm will always be one of my favorite garden centers. There are faded photos of me visiting as a toddler and every Spring I seek inspiration on their grounds, though I hardly qualify as a green thumb gardener.

I know my posts end up on a rather erratic schedule, but believe it or not, I have a bucket list. On top of my wishlist for 2012, a tour of Arethusa Dairy. Fingers crossed, I hope to get that on the calendar this Fall. In the meantime, we managed a quick stop at Arethusa’s retail spot in Bantam. Here you can get your fill of milk, cheeses and yogurt.  Unfortunately, we also had to forgo the ice cream and homemade waffle cones as dinner was not far off. Next time, I will plan more carefully.

Like so many of our trips to this area, we were timing our afternoon around an early dinner at Community Table. After our visit, the no reservations policy was removed and you no longer have to race here at 4:50PM in order to guarantee a spot for dinner.  View our meal on Flickr.

There’s one final benefit of a 5 PM dinner in May: the remaining early evening light on our 40 mile drive home. I like to imagine this is Khaki Scout Sam Shakusky in his stolen Camp Ivanhoe canoe. If you guessed I just saw Moonrise Kingdom, you’d be spot on.

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