Deals in Norwalk

While a person might wear clothes ranging from basic tees and pants to slinky cocktail dresses, they can't lump everything together when it comes time to do laundry. That’s why the technicians at Fabricare Cleaners offer laundering services in addition to their three styles of dry cleaning: one for basic items, one for fragile items needing special care, and one using biodegradable, eco-friendly detergents. They have a reciprocal relationship with the Fashion Institute of Technology, in which they teach the school how to service garments and the school teaches them how to understand construction. This training enables them to immediately recognize stains and fabric type, allowing them to accurately protect and clean clothes by using fabric-friendly chemicals and buttons previously worn by secret-service agents.

After more than 30 years in the business, the owners recently upgraded the facilities to incorporate green technology and use less energy during their processes. In their upgraded facility, the staff can efficiently clean clothes, furs, house decor, and shoes, which can be dropped off in one of the 24-hour kiosks and are returned with the shop’s free delivery service. They also provide reusable garment bags, helping cut down on plastic waste and large cat nests found in the closet corner.

Giant copper kettles overlook the dining room at Sono Brewhouse Restaurant, glinting in the light that shines over ornate railings, exposed brick walls, and a colorful collection of flags. Shipped to the United States from a brewery in Germany, these kettles infuse the restaurant with a sense of history and spark visitors? curiosity about the world?s many beer-brewing nations. Bartenders fan these flames of intrigue by serving drafts of Paulaner Hefe-Weizen from Germany and bottles of Rochefort Trappist ale from Belgium and Innis & Gunn oak-aged ale from Scotland.

To complement these globe-trekking brews, chefs forge hearty New England-style and international entrees, such as lobster pot pie, Argentine gaucho steak with chimichurri, and wiener schnitzel accompanied by potato pancakes. They explore even more of the world?s finest during Sunday brunch, which teems with Italian chicken picatta, Chinese dim sum, and Viennese treats crafted by pastry chef Fran Schuelke. For private events, guests can choose from a variety of buffets, meat-carving stations, and raw bars brimming with freshly shucked oysters and clams.

With a shared exuberance for the sport of rowing, Yan and Olga Vengerovskiy founded the Maritime Rowing Club in 1996. Yan honed his skills with the Ukrainian National Rowing Team, and Olga sharpened her oars with the Russian National Team, where she won a championship. After achieving their individual and team goals in the sport, Yan took to coaching the Soviet Union Junior Women's National Team from 1973 to 1991 and Olga shared her knowledge with students at the Specialized School of Olympic Reserves in the Ukraine. To bring the Maritime Rowing Club to fruition, the couple gathered a team of experienced rowers to help them share the experience of recreational and competitive rowing with their new community in Norwalk. The squad trains interested parties of all ages through programs covering both rowing styles of sweep and sculling along the dark blue waters of the Norwalk River. In recognition of their excellence in promoting the sport, USRowing honored Yan and Olga with the John J. Carlin service award in December of 2011.

At Jerry’s Artarama, resident artists draw on personal experience and channel the shop's four decades in business to help create works in nearly any medium. Shelves bravely bear the weight of multitudinous tubes of paint ranging from traditional oil paints made from 150-year-old processes, to easy-to-use acrylic pigments. Artists can wield a Mejillo TruColor palette to serve as a launching pad for paints, or take up PrismaColor colored pencils to add vivid pigmentation to sketches. For more specialized projects, customers can stock up on the store's street-art supplies and screen-printing kits.

Meanwhile, the framing professionals at Jerry’s Artarama navigate a bounty of glass, mats, mounting, and moulding options to personalize the framing of photos, watercolor landscapes, and napping bats. Frame options include the warm whorls of wooden frames as well as silver, black, or gold aluminum frames to complement any work's color scheme.

Since 1986, wine experts at GrapesWine.com have meticulously tasted and compiled a handpicked selection of domestic and imported fine wines. The easy to navigate website aids patrons with recommendations. Proprietor John Caplan hand-selects wines of the week, choosing a vast selection of reds, whites, ros?s, ports, and dessert and sparkling wines, all of which hail from across the globe, from California to South Africa. Aspiring connoisseurs attend popular and highly-acclaimed wine tastings, led by knowledgeable tasters Jim Winston and Jay Boland as they recount the flavorful notes and fragrant bouquets of countless varieties. Customers can create a case of favorites and pick up at a later date or have wines conveniently delivered to their homes or office within days.

Avocados, jalapeños, and tomatillos. These staples of traditional Mexican cuisine take center stage at Tacos Mexico, where the dishes’ rustic simplicity lets their flavors shine through. Chefs nestle tender morsels of steak, carnitas, or chorizo into corn tortillas to create their signature tacos, and they also turn out more complex entrees, such as cubes of pork loin blanketed in a rich mole sauce or vegetarian options that spotlight portabella mushrooms and cacti.

As guest conclude their meals with sweet nibbles of tres leches cake or coconut flan, they can listen to the ebb and flow of a soccer match broadcast on the flat-screen television hanging over the bar. Nearby, a belt of cornflower blue wraps around the dining room’s bright, yellow walls, which bear paintings of traditional Mexican pueblos rather than Mexico’s newest moon colonies.