Darien Soundings

Dear Darien,

The Darien Board of REALTORS^®, Inc. has unanimously awarded Deb Brennan, a Realtor^® with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England Properties, as the “2021 REALTOR^® OF THE YEAR”.

A panel of past presidents reviewed submissions from members of the Darien Board and chose Deb based on her dedication and commitment to the Darien Board and Darien MLS. According to her peers, Deb has gone above and beyond to represent Darien REALTORS^® at the local, state and national levels. As a true REALTOR® leader, Deb is a dedicated advocate of protecting the rights of property buyers and sellers.

Deb has been a REALTOR® for more than 17 years working at the Darien office of Berkshire Hathaway servicing Darien and surrounding towns. She currently serves as president of the Darien Board of REALTORS^® having served as vice president the previous year. She also serves as a director of the CT REALTORS^®, has served on the CT REALTORS^® Gates Scholarship Committee, and is a member of the Greenwich Association of REALTORS^® MLS, the SMART MLS, and the National Association of REALTORS^®.

FACES

In need of the perfect local establishment to complete all of your holiday food shopping? We have just the solution for you. Meet Darien native, chef, and owner of the Darien Butcher Shop; Peter Crawford. Peter has an abundance of experience in the culinary industry, having attended The New England Culinary Institute in Vermont and has many years of professional experience among countless high-profile clients and restaurants in New York.

Peter has since brought his experience, training, expertise, and the long lasting relationships he formed with top-notch suppliers from New York, and returned it to his hometown here in Darien. In doing so, Peter opened the Darien Butcher Shop, a place where residents can go for the highest quality meats, poultry, and other gourmet foods.

Whether you head to the Darien Butcher Shop in need of a pork chop, steak, or other cut of meat, you can be sure that Peter and the rest of the Darien Butcher Shop’s staff will offer you exactly what you need, as well as the likely addition of a brand new recipe. Be sure to check out Peter and the Darien Butcher Shop at 13 Grove Street or check out their website.

PLACES

If you are ever in need of a quick, convenient, fresh, and delicious bite to eat, then you must check out Roost Darien. Roost offers an expansive variety of coffees, grab-and-go items, smoothies, sandwiches, salads, and more. Roost is the perfect eatery for any time of day or time of year.

Owner Mike Pietrafeso was born in Greenwich, CT, and has bountiful culinary experience. Pietrafeso has been involved with many restaurants across Fairfield Country including; Le Farm, Bar Rosso, and Napa & Co. among others. Pietrafeso and Roost’s combined mission is to create food from scratch that has been sourced from and created using the freshest local ingredients possible.

Roost first opened in Darien in 2018 and has been proudly serving the town since. Roost is located on 1950 Post Road between Julia’s Salon & Co. and Danny's Cycles. Make sure to check them out, or visit their website to see all they have to offer!

HIGHLIGHTS

On Saturday, October 16th, Darien welcomed back the Tokeneke Pumpkin Carnival for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The event offered an incredible assortment of carnival rides for kids of all ages. The event included a variety of art activities, lawn games, face painting, and even some fun prizes.

Additionally, this year’s carnival was sponsored by Dance on the DL, Darien’s only hip-hop and breakdancing focused studio, and it was there to share some amazing and spooky dance moves.

Funds raised by the carnival each year go to Tokeneke Elementary School's enrichment program, which helps bring in guests to speak to and work with the students of Tokeneke. We are so glad the Tokeneke Pumpkin Carnival was able to be brought back for the 2021 Halloween season, and are looking forward to many more!

For more information, visit their website.