Liz and Duo Dickinson of Madison report that Zinc, 964 Chapel Street, New Haven is open. They recently had a fabulous outdoor dinner of smoked duck nachos and Saigon beef lettuce wraps as appetizers, and a main course of charred Vietnamese chicken and Korean pork bowl. My friends Deb and Wayne Rigney, also of Madison, tried a new-to-them place, September in Bangkok, 754 State Street, New Haven, after picking their daughter up at the train station. They enjoyed the tempura appetizer, several noodle dishes, and the gra pow kai dow ground pork. And Brian Slattery writes in the New Haven Independent about a new coffee shop about to open in the Lotta Studio space, 909-911 Whalley Avenue, in the Westville section of New Haven, called Pistachio. Visit www.newhavenindependent.org and search on Pistachio and see why I’m excited to check that out as well. All that great food? It’s going to be a good fall.

—Pem McNerney