EDITOR’S LETTER

JULY/AUGUST 2022 / DIANE TALBOT SEMBROT

SCAN TO VISIT US

HOW TO SCAN: OPEN, AIM & TAP

TA-DAH!

Iwould like a summer without any surprises. Not good, not bad—I just want to coast. I think that’s one of the reasons I always look forward to this season. It’s a time when we all seem to be able to enjoy life. We slow down and soak in the sun at the beach. If we’re lucky, we jump on a friend’s boat and head out for a sail on Long Island Sound. We sit on a park bench and sip an iced tea while watching a river flowing by. Summer, in short, is the season of bliss—not surprises.

Funny then that the issue you hold in your hands includes well over 170 surprises. This is our issue that reveals the winners of our annual readers’ poll: Best of the Gold Coast Connecticut. If you’ve been reading us over the years, you know about this program. Each year we ask you, our readers, to vote for your favorite businesses, including restaurants, shops, salons, gyms and even car washes (and who doesn’t need a good car wash in the summer?). We love this editorial feature because it brings us all together. These pages are a collaboration among readers, local business owners and our creative team. And we really go for it—we list more than 170 winners! Actually, we list even more, because along with our Best of the Gold Coast winners, covering towns along Fairfield County’s coastline, we also present the winners of the Best of Stamford. These are the places close to home; the ones you visit regularly; the ones that are, more likely than not, owned and run by a local person or family. As a family-owned local business ourselves, that means a lot to us.

Aside from those happy surprises for the owners, there are bound to be a few surprises for you, too—I mean, after all, it would be astonishing if you agreed with all of the wins. That’s just how it is. Sometimes the places we love don’t get the win that we thought was a sure thing. It never it is. All wins depend on the readers who voted on our website over the winter. We encouraged voting online and through our pages; the more, the merrier. Now that all the votes are in, we see that we did hear from a fair amount of you. In fact, we tallied more than 106,000 votes. That number shows how very loyal and supportive you are about your favorite places. And that should be no surprise to them.

Now that the issue is done and printed, I hope you can find a moment to sit back and simply enjoy it. Check out the winners, as well as the other stories inside, and if you don’t agree with any wins, perhaps go check out who did take the gold. You never know, you might just find a new favorite; and, more likely than not, you’ll enjoy the pleasure of trying something new.

Enjoy these warm days and breezy nights with alluring promise of taking it easy for bit. Start by turning the page.

Happy summer reading!