Live Music & Food Trucks at Saltwater Farm Vineyard
Live Music & Food Trucks at Saltwater Farm Vineyard pairs a relatively new local country duo with wood-fired pizza and Stonington wine on Sunday, September 13. Violet Theory performs from 3 to 5 p.m., while Fire in the Kitchen Pizza Truck fires up its mobile oven at the vineyard.
Violet Theory may be a new name on the southeastern Connecticut music scene, but the musicians behind it aren’t approaching the project casually. Victoria White and Chris Cofoni formed the duo in 2025, began writing together, and headed to Nashville in March to record their first original songs.
Their Sunday afternoon set at Saltwater Farm will mix that developing catalog with country, rock and pop covers, all against one of the more unusual backdrops on the Connecticut Wine Trail: a vineyard built around a preserved airplane hangar.
Meet Violet Theory
Violet Theory began with a chance meeting at Westerly’s Thirsty Beaver.
Chris Cofoni was performing there with another band in 2025 when he was introduced to vocalist Victoria White. The two discovered a musical connection, began performing together later that fall and developed Violet Theory around White’s vocals and Cofoni’s playing, songwriting, and production.
Country provides the foundation, but their repertoire isn’t restricted to it.
The duo covers music ranging from Johnny Cash to Morgan Wallen while pulling rock and pop into its live sets. Depending on the engagement, Violet Theory can expand from the core duo into a trio or full band.
For the September 13 Saltwater Farm appearance, the act is scheduled as the Violet Theory duo, putting the emphasis on White and Cofoni and the vocal-and-instrumental chemistry that started the project.
The pair has spent much of 2026 building an audience around southeastern Connecticut and Rhode Island, appearing at vineyards, breweries, restaurants and outdoor events including Stonington Vineyards, Preston Ridge Vineyard, Grey Sail Brewing, Gooseneck Vineyards, the Breachway Grill and Westerly’s Sunday Funday in Wilcox Park.
Saltwater Farm has become a particularly regular stop. Violet Theory has several dates at the vineyard during its 2026 schedule, including performances in May, July and September, with another scheduled for October.
From Local Stages to a Nashville Studio
Violet Theory is also beginning to move beyond covers.
White and Cofoni have written three original songs together: Country Golden, Half As Mean and To the Old Me. All three were recorded at Country Q Studios in Nashville in March 2026.
The songs offer an early look at what the duo wants Violet Theory to become.
Country Golden tells the story of a woman who finds companionship and emotional rescue through her “Country Golden” companion. Half As Mean takes a lighter approach to adult relationships and learning to live with one another’s faults, while To the Old Me looks backward, with a young woman addressing younger versions of herself.
That mix of storytelling and contemporary production reflects the duo’s stated goal: country-influenced music rooted in traditional songwriting without trying to sound as though it came from another era.
For a group formed only last year, 2026 has essentially been Violet Theory’s first full season of taking that sound on the road.
Pizza Straight From a Wood-Fired Oven
Sunday’s food truck is almost as mobile as the musicians.
Fire in the Kitchen Pizza is the creation of husband-and-wife team Matt and Kristen Griffin, who turned Matt’s longtime obsession with making pizza into a traveling wood-fired business.
It started small. Very small.
Kristen bought Matt his first wood-fired pizza oven, with a cooking surface measuring only about 12 by 14 inches. After Matt refined his dough and the couple decided to pursue the idea further, the little oven was replaced by a larger wood-burning model.
Then came a commercial oven mounted to a trailer.
Today, Fire in the Kitchen operates from a full-size box truck and brings its wood-fired setup to events around Connecticut and neighboring states. Unlike a mobile operation that sends employees out to work events, Matt and Kristen say they’re the chefs customers will actually find behind the truck.
Their sample menu goes considerably beyond cheese and pepperoni.
The Lemon Boy combines garlic, smoked mozzarella, sliced lemon, Aleppo pepper and honey. Gettin Figgy adds prosciutto, caramelized onion, fig, arugula and balsamic reduction, while the Tater uses mashed potato, bacon and chives.
There’s also a Pulled Pickle with pulled pork, dill pickles, Monterey Jack and cheddar, barbecue sauce and ranch; a Street Corn pie with corn, cilantro, jalapeños, cotija and chipotle-lime aioli; and the meat-heavy Carnivore with pepperoni, bacon, sausage and hot cherry peppers.
The exact selection at Saltwater Farm can vary. Fire in the Kitchen says its menu changes seasonally and it generally brings a mix of core pizzas and seasonal specialties to events.
A Vineyard Inside an Old Airfield
Saltwater Farm Vineyard’s history goes back considerably further than its vines.
The property traces its agricultural roots to the 17th century, when Walter Palmer established a farm on roughly 230 acres surrounding Wequetequock Cove in 1653. Portions of that land continued operating as farmland for generations.
Then airplanes arrived.
In the late 1930s, William J. Foster established a small community airport on the property. Architect and engineer John W. Lincoln designed its hangar, and Foster Field, also known as Westone Airport, operated until restrictions surrounding World War II ended its use as a public airport.
Commercial aviation briefly returned after the war, but the property eventually fell into other uses. Over the decades, the old hangar served at various times as a warehouse, restaurant and manufacturing space.
Michael Connery purchased the long-dormant property in 2001 as part of 108 acres and began transforming the former airfield into a vineyard.
Rather than demolishing the hangar, the project made it the centerpiece.
Architect Stephen Lloyd helped transform the historic structure into the winery visitors see today, retaining its massive timber trusses and original wood sheathing while incorporating a milled aluminum exterior and an open interior beneath the building’s high roof.
Even the old airfield hasn’t entirely disappeared. A grassy landing strip remains on the property.
Connecticut Grapes With a French Connection
Saltwater Farm’s wines are overseen by consulting winemaker Gilles Martin, whose résumé stretches from France to Australia, California, Virginia and Long Island.
Martin grew up near France’s Champagne region and earned degrees in biology, food science and oenology from the University of Montpellier. His master’s thesis on wine ultrafiltration received a national award presented by future French president Jacques Chirac.
His career then took him through wineries in Germany and Australia before bringing him to the United States.
From 1990 through 1996, Martin worked as assistant winemaker at Roederer Estate in California’s Anderson Valley, the American sparkling-wine operation established by Champagne Louis Roederer. He later returned to France to make Viognier and Syrah for Delas-Frères in the Rhône Valley.
By the late 1990s, he was working on Long Island’s North Fork, where he helped develop several wineries before becoming a consulting winemaker.
Today, Martin works with both Saltwater Farm and its sister property, Kingdom of the Hawk Vineyard in North Stonington.
The combination gives Saltwater Farm an unusual identity: Connecticut-grown wine shaped by a winemaker with Old World training, served inside a restored aviation landmark overlooking vines and coastal marshland.
An Easy Sunday Afternoon
There isn’t much structure required for this one, and that’s part of its appeal.
Arrive at Saltwater Farm, order a glass of wine, grab a wood-fired pizza and find a spot to hear Violet Theory.
The music begins at 3 p.m. and continues until 5. It’s part of Saltwater Farm’s seasonal live music and food truck schedule, which extends into October with performers including Colin Van Pelt, James Harris, Nick Bosse and Brad Bensko.
Violet Theory itself returns October 25.
For September 13, however, it’s the duo configuration: Victoria White and Chris Cofoni, two hours of country-influenced music, a mobile wood-fired oven and an old Connecticut airfield that found a second life growing grapes.
Details
Event: Live Music & Food Trucks at Saltwater Farm Vineyard
Date: Sunday, September 13, 2026
Time: 3–5 p.m.
Performer: Violet Theory
Violet Theory Lineup: Victoria White and Chris Cofoni, duo performance
Music: Country-influenced originals plus country, rock and pop covers
Food Truck: Fire in the Kitchen Pizza
Food: Wood-fired pizza; exact event menu may vary
Venue: Saltwater Farm Vineyard
Address: 349 Elm Street, Stonington, CT 06378
Vineyard Phone: 860-415-9072
Winemaker: Gilles Martin
Upcoming Saltwater Farm Music:
Colin Van Pelt Sept. 20;
Luke & Mike Sept. 27;
additional music continues into October
Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.