CTBites & Westport Museum Launch Video Series

Press release from the Westport Museum for History & Culture:

April 15 2020

WESTPORT, CT—Westport Museum for History & Culture and popular restaurant review site CTBites have partnered to create The History Happy Hour, a video series that features local bartenders giving tutorials on vintage drinks. The project, which creators have dubbed “History You Can Drink To!”, uses fun cocktail recipes to share interesting stories about different eras of the past.

“Folks are home looking for interesting things to do and we thought this series which combines a cooking show-type tutorial and some fun facts would be appealing,” said Westport Museum Director, Ramin Ganeshram. “It’s gratifying to work with CTBites, and its founder Stephanie Webster, on this project. CTBites has a long history of supporting local restaurants, chefs and bartenders—and that support is needed now more than ever during the Corona Virus crisis.”

Webster and the CTBites team are also the force behind Food for the Frontlines, an initiative in which local restaurateurs make and volunteers deliver meals to healthcare and other front line workers battling COVID 19.

History Happy Hour is a way to support the “hard-hit Connecticut Restaurant industry by showcasing the talents of local mixologists. The first episode, featuring Branden Hahn, from Chef Bill Taibe’s Jesup Hall Restaurant demonstrated The Buzzed Bee, is a take on the Prohibition Era cocktail The Bee’s Knees. In Episode 2, Dimitrios “The Cocktail Chemist” Zahariadis makes The Lucien Gaudin, a Parisian favorite of the 1920s. Episode 3 will feature bartender Craig Ventrice, formerly of The Whelk making The Flip, an 18th century tavern quaff.

Each week the series also include a Spotify playlist with era-appropriate music so that DIY bartenders can create an immersive historical experience at home. That can be found by following Westport Museum’s channel on Spotify and editing and voice over for the History Happy Hour is being provided by professional actor and video producer, Westport's, Greg Porretta, who is also on the Museum’s Board.

“This a wonderful way to give a voice to our hard hit local bartending community in a virtual outlet that allows them to continue to create,” said CTBites founder, Stephanie Webster. “Their talent and enthusiasm for this project benefits the Connecticut community, and serves as a point of connection in this difficult time.”

History Happy Hour streams Saturdays at 5pm on Westport Museum’s Facebook page @westporthistory and on both ctbites.com and virtualhistorywestport.org. Watch the first episode here.

ABOUT WESTPORT MUSEUM FOR HISTORY & CULTURE: The award-winning Westport Museum for History & Culture is a cultural center devoted to providing engaging, interactive interpretation of local history inclusive of all stories and all people. Since the beginning of the Corona Virus social distancing period, the Museum has moved operations online, creating new content suitable for a virtual platform including videos and original teleplays produced under its new WMHC Network brand.

ABOUT CT BITES: Founded in 2009 by Stephanie Webster, CT Bites is a web-based community built by and for people who love food in Connecticut. Working with the community “CTBites” helps visitors get the most out of living in Connecticut and making each bite count. Launched in Fairfield County, CT Bites includes a dozen contributors and thousands of enthusiastic eaters across the entire state of Connecticut.

This press release was produced by the Westport Museum for History & Culture. The views expressed here are the author’s own.