Sweet'N Up with Jeff Spencer

Joe Attonito is the founder and owner of jjstacks a dive restaurant located in Brookfield, CT on Federal Road complete with not only food that is to die for, especially his famous wings, but a mini golf course as well! Joe was the previous owner of Tigers Den Sports Bar in Ridgefield, CT and has worked with some of the great chefs of our state. Food has been a passion of Joe’s for a long time and...

Chef Dan Kardos is a CT legend and the owner of Oar & Oak and Oar and Oak Birdhouse in Stratford as well as Oar & Oak Birdhouse in Milford and Oar and Oak Creamery as well as the Oar and Oak food truck! Basically Dan Kardos has all your bases covered. He is known as the chicken sandwich KING, the co-founder of Liberty Rock Tavern and the absolute pride of Stratford, CT. He has worked with...

Chef Vanessa Sena is the founder & owner of My Local Chefs a new Hartford-based food-delivery service that wants to be thought of as the “anti-GrubHub or anti-Uber Eats. My Local Chefs launched on July 5th, 2021 with 11 Hartford-area culinary talents ranging from restaurateurs, meal-prep chefs, caterers, food-truck owners, farmers, condiment makers, wellness coaches and shop owners. Deliveries...

Paul Mannion is the owner of the Green Grunion Food Truck, Mannion has wowed foodies at breweries across Connecticut and at his home base at 100 Mill Plain Road not too far from our studio in Danbury slingin his critically acclaimed San Diego-style burritos. A few years back Paul joined forces with Lisa Tassone (owner of La Zingara and Ecco in Bethel), Chris Sanzeni and Kevin Arrington to open Bro...

Paul Mannion is the owner of the Green Grunion Food Truck, one of Connecticut's hottest food trucks! Mannion has wowed foodies at breweries across Connecticut and at his home base at 100 Mill Plain Road not too far from our studio in Danbury slingin his critically acclaimed San Diego-style burritos.  A few years back Paul joined forces with Lisa Tassone (owner of La Zingara and Vesta Rooftop in Be...

Lora and Bev are the duo that make up Unlocking Connecticut, one of the hottest blogs and Instagram pages covering all things happening in our state. Whether it’s food, coffee, spas, hotels, events, boutiques or anything else - you name it, they cover it! Through their countless adventures, stories and experiences, Lora and Bev are responsible for shining a light on many hidden gems across Connect...

David Kaye is founding partner and operations manager of Nod Hill Brewery located off Route 7 in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Since opening in 2017 Nod Hill has been thriving, churning out some of the most delectable offerings of beers in the state.  Chef Jeff Taibe is a friend of the show and returning guest from episode #46. Jeff is the owner of Taproot Restaurant in Bethel, CT as well On the Fly Fo...

This episode of the show is part number 2, a continuation of my conversation from last week with my good friend, the always wonderful, Lisa Nichols!! Lisa Nichols is the founder and owner of Bread & Beast Food Photography. She has covered food photography for the biggest chefs in the state as well as Hearst Media, CT Magazine and numerous other publications. Lisa also came to my hometown of Ne...

Lisa Nichols is the founder and owner of Bread & Beast Food Photography. She has covered food photography for the biggest chefs in the state as well as Hearst Media, CT Magazine and numerous other publications. Lisa also came to my hometown of Newtown and took the photos for Sweet’N Up Podcast. Lisa and I had such a fun and wide-ranging chat that the episode has been broken up into two parts! In P...

Emily Mingrone is a seasoned chef and co-owner of Tavern on State a beautiful restaurant located on State Street in New Haven, CT. A culinary school graduate, Emily has worked at some of the best restaurants in Connecticut such as ZINC in New Haven, Match in South Norwalk & Jessup Hall in Westport working under goats such as Chef Matt Storch (a friend of the show), Chef Bill Taibe, and Chef Denise...

Scott Rosenberg is a seasoned restauranteur and chef as well as a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. Previously Scott co-owned the infamous Il Bariloto on Main Street in Fishkill Ny for 19 years and is now the new owner of a brand new restaurant located in Fishkills Main Street Plaza, Il Figlio Enoteca. It was so nice to catch up with Scott & learn about his passion for the industr...

Lisa & Glen are the co-owners of Catch A Healthy Habit Cafe located in Fairfield, Connecticut. Catch A Healthy Habit is a vegan cafe that has been a mainstay in the state having been around now for 10 years. Lisa Storch faced off against her younger brother, Chef Matt Storch ( a friend of the show) last year on the Food Network and not only did she defeat him, but Bobby Flay as well on his sho...

Todays episode is Part #2, a continuation of episode 59 & my conversation with the great Robert Mars. Rob and I continued our conversation from where we left off, talking about Robs time with the band Crucial Youth, bands he was fortunate to share the stage with, legendary venues he got to perform at, our mutual love of baseball, what he enjoys doing in his free time, and so much more!

Robert Mars is a world-renowned contemporary American artist known for his Futurelics Pop-forms celebrating icons of the Golden Era of the 1950s and 1960s. However Rob has done so much more than that! In part 1 of this 2 part episode we had a such a great conversation chatting about how Rob got through the Covid-19 lockdown last year & how he’s managed since, being selected...

Corey Phillip Paris is an American politician serving as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 145th district. Elected in an April 29, 2021 special election, he assumed office on May 4, 2021. Paris was the president of the Connecticut Young Democrats. He also worked for People for the American Way .

Leeanne Griffin is the food and consumer reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media, handling coverage of restaurant openings and closings, trends, events and general news about CT food and beverage businesses. She's been working in Connecticut news for more than 15 years, most recently as the food and dining reporter for the Hartford Courant. We had a fun and wide ranging conversation covering Leeanne...

Brendan Smialowski is a photojournalist for Agence France-Presse since 2012. He has been covering Washington, D.C. politics and events since 2003 including 4 presidents and 2 wars. Many of his works have gone viral, most recently his photo of Bernie Sanders wearing mittens at Joe Biden’s Presidential Inauguration this past January. We had a fun and wide ranging conversation covering Brendans start...

Andrew Denicola is a jazz composer and multi instrumentalist based in the New York Metro Area. A graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Andrew spent 4 years honing his craft with veteran jazz performers & composers including Bill Pierce, George Garzone and Greg Hopkins of The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Gladys Knight. Now, post Berklee Andrew is taking the jazz world by storm,...

George Psarofagis is the owner of the New Holiday Diner which has been a staple of Danbury Since 1947. George and his family purchased the diner back in August of 2000 and gave it a new updated look back in 2014. Holiday Diner has been a main stay ever since due to its amazing food and loyal customer base. On top of that the Holiday Diner is on Instagram, where George will post some of the funnies...

Calin Sauvron is the Executive Chef of Note Kitchen & Bar in Bethel, Connecticut and Executive Chef and Partner of the somewhat new, Notch 8 also located in Bethel, Connecticut. Calin was invited to compete on Season 46 of Food Networks Chopped where she went on to smoke the competition and became a Chopped Champion. Her passion for perfection and focus on seasonal, locally sourced food allows...

Zac Ross was previously head brewer at Kent Falls Brewing Company here in Connecticut before moving to Virginia to head the barrel program at Aslin Beer Co. In 2019, Zac came back to Connecticut to become head brewer at Twelve Percent's new production brewery in North Haven, CT. Twelve Percent produces beer on a contract basis for Stillwater, Evil Twin, Omnipollo, Dugges, Hoof Hearted, and Zac's n...

Peter Le Floch is an incredible artist originally from Brewster, NY now living in Bethel, CT! You may have seen some of his works either live on Instagram with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, driving around Bethel, CT or when you are visiting Good Old Days Pizzeria & Cocktail Den in Newtown, CT. We had a fantastic, wide-ranging conversation live in my new apartment here in Danbury talking about Peter’s start...

Joseph Cavo is the current Mayor of Danbury, CT having taken over for previous Mayor Mark Boughton in December of 2020. Mayor Joe has called Danbury his home for over 35 years and has been a member of the Danbury City Council since 2003, of which he had been President since 2006. We had a fantastic conversation live via ZOOM video conferencing covering Mayor Joe’s time as Mayor since December of l...

Dave Ackert is the Chief Maple Officer of Maple Craft Foods Based out of Sandy Hook CT, Dave & his family began harvesting maple sap from trees at family homes in Connecticut and Vermont in 2001. He did this because he loved maple syrup and wanted kids to develop a healthy connection with natural food and where it comes from. After unthinkable tragedy struck our community in Sandy Hook, CT, he re-...

Miguel Rivas, who many consider the 'Anthony Bourdain of Craft Beer' is a Brooklyn-based photographer. His background in photography comes from his passion for live music shows, traveling, and the artistry of craft beers. He's the founder and curator of The BeerTrekker project, a photographic journey and storytelling project about beer culture and the people behind it. Over the last 4 years, Migue...