One of the best parts of doing endurance sports is that short window after a race when you feel completely justified in eating whatever you want, whenever you want it. “Who cares, I just burned a few thousand calories!” you say to yourself, while scarfing down fattening food without a second thought. The window doesn’t last very long — maybe a few of days — but during that time… oh, it’s on, it’s on like Donkey Kong.
So what does a person eat after finishing the Westchester Triathlon? Hint: It ain’t salad (unless we’re talking potato salad).
This was my plate, thanks to the Team in Training post-race party. Doesn’t it look good? I was ecstatic to eat a cheeseburger, and up top you can see the beautiful hot dog (with sauerkraut!). A perfect way to end a great day. Congratulations to everyone who finished the race!
Afterwards I came home and took a much needed nap. By late afternoon, my stomach started growling again. I immediately knew what I wanted: pizza. Not a slice, but a whole pie. Not topped with veggies, but meat. I texted Jose — “Want to go get some pizza?” He called right back — I guess he was in the pizza mood too. ”Let’s go to Colony Grill,” I said.
According to most Connecticut residents, the state’s pizza discussion begins and ends in New Haven (Connecticutans will argue to the death that New Haven pizza is the best in the land. They’re so damn adamant about the issue that I’m inclined to believe them). Stamford’s a cut below New Haven, but Colony Grill gets a lot of pub for being the real deal.
Jose and I had barely sat down when a server crouched down at our table. ”So are you ready order?”
“We could use some menus,” Jose said nicely.
“We only serve pizza.” She rattled off the different toppings; my ears perked up when she told us their specialty was hot oil with sausage.
“What are the sizes?” I asked.
“There’s only one. They’re individual-sized.”
Could this place make things any easier? They serve one dish and they’re all the same size! I liked the simplicity.
Jose ordered a pie with extra cheese and hot oil. I got half meatball and half sausage with hot oil (I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted meat).
I’m guessing this was about a 14″ pie. The crust is super-thin and crispy, but there’s no puffed up edge like a regular pizza — it’s uniform in thickness throughout. And amazingly, even with the toppings (and hot oil) loaded on, it stays crispy, as if somehow the toppings don’t penetrate the crust. The jalapeno and hot oil gave off a fragrant warmth and made my lips tingle.
“Damn, this is oily. I feel like I’m going to break out,” Jose said. I nodded in agreement as hot oil dripped down and completely enveloped my right hand. This was a good pizza… a five napkin pizza.
I’m not embarrassed to say that I ate the whole thing. Hey, I’m allowed to, I just did a race. At least, that’s what I’ll keep telling myself through Tuesday.
GRADE: A-
Colony Grill
172 Myrtle Ave.
Stamford, CT 06902
203-359-2184
Hot Oil and Sausage at Colony Grill
One of the best parts of doing endurance sports is that short window after a race when you feel completely justified in eating whatever you want, whenever you want it. “Who cares, I just burned a few thousand calories!” you say to yourself, while scarfing down fattening food without a second thought. The window doesn’t last very long — maybe a few of days — but during that time… oh, it’s on, it’s on like Donkey Kong.
So what does a person eat after finishing the Westchester Triathlon? Hint: It ain’t salad (unless we’re talking potato salad).
This was my plate, thanks to the Team in Training post-race party. Doesn’t it look good? I was ecstatic to eat a cheeseburger, and up top you can see the beautiful hot dog (with sauerkraut!). A perfect way to end a great day. Congratulations to everyone who finished the race!
Afterwards I came home and took a much needed nap. By late afternoon, my stomach started growling again. I immediately knew what I wanted: pizza. Not a slice, but a whole pie. Not topped with veggies, but meat. I texted Jose — “Want to go get some pizza?” He called right back — I guess he was in the pizza mood too. ”Let’s go to Colony Grill,” I said.
According to most Connecticut residents, the state’s pizza discussion begins and ends in New Haven (Connecticutans will argue to the death that New Haven pizza is the best in the land. They’re so damn adamant about the issue that I’m inclined to believe them). Stamford’s a cut below New Haven, but Colony Grill gets a lot of pub for being the real deal.
Jose and I had barely sat down when a server crouched down at our table. ”So are you ready order?”
“We could use some menus,” Jose said nicely.
“We only serve pizza.” She rattled off the different toppings; my ears perked up when she told us their specialty was hot oil with sausage.
“What are the sizes?” I asked.
“There’s only one. They’re individual-sized.”
Could this place make things any easier? They serve one dish and they’re all the same size! I liked the simplicity.
Jose ordered a pie with extra cheese and hot oil. I got half meatball and half sausage with hot oil (I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted meat).
I’m guessing this was about a 14″ pie. The crust is super-thin and crispy, but there’s no puffed up edge like a regular pizza — it’s uniform in thickness throughout. And amazingly, even with the toppings (and hot oil) loaded on, it stays crispy, as if somehow the toppings don’t penetrate the crust. The jalapeno and hot oil gave off a fragrant warmth and made my lips tingle.
“Damn, this is oily. I feel like I’m going to break out,” Jose said. I nodded in agreement as hot oil dripped down and completely enveloped my right hand. This was a good pizza… a five napkin pizza.
I’m not embarrassed to say that I ate the whole thing. Hey, I’m allowed to, I just did a race. At least, that’s what I’ll keep telling myself through Tuesday.
GRADE: A-
Colony Grill
172 Myrtle Ave.
Stamford, CT 06902
203-359-2184