Curlz

Barolo, I had GREAT fun showing this site to people over the weekend! Quite possible one of the best "You've GOT to be kidding me" items I've seen in a long time! Thanks for sharing.

I didn't see much about Tinga in the NJ forum, so I thought I'd start a new topic about it...my bro went to the Upper Montclair location yesterday, and had great things to say about it! Background: Bro and s-i-l lived in San Francisco for 5+ years, and have lamented the lack of any decent Mexican food since their return to NJ. So when I told them I had heard good things about TT, they were happy to try it out! Verdict: Very FRESH and tasty food here. My bro spent some time chatting with the owner, an learned that he spent a month in SF before opening, exploring the Mission district's numerous taquerias. He was surprised that the restaurant didn't have an authentic Bay-area component--a salsa bar with different salsa and other fixings (i.e. hot peppers, hot salsas, etc.), and when he mentioned it to the owner, he was told that it's a space issue more than anything. But he was also promptly given a small bowl of hot (temp and spice) Tinga Salsa, which he said was excellent. He had a chicken burrito that he had to eat with a knife and fork (which surprised him), my s-i-l had shrimp tacos that she said were good, and my niece ate a kid burrito (beef and beans) that she was happy with--and they all had plenty of food. Chips (house-made) and regular salsa are complimentary, and the place is BYO and definitely family friendly. He said they will definitely go back, and I'm certainly anxious to give it a try! Tinga Taqueria 215 Bellevue Avenue Upper Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey (973) 509-8226

Potentially at the following, but check with the restaurants... Fascino in Montclair Village Green in Ridgewood The Ryland Inn The Frog and the Peach in New Brunswick

In my experience... WF: Full-blown grocery store where everything is made without fake ingredients, 'tho they offer both conventional and organic produce (usually stunning, btw). Includes bakery, deli, butcher, cheese depts, etc. TJ: Smaller (not in CA) stores, far fewer selections within each category, lots of frozen (and I'm told good) foods--some prepared, others flash-frozen meats and treats. Minimal produce and dairy sections. Wegmans: Beats 'em all. AND I WANT ONE NEARBY, IF ANYONE IS LISTENING...

Sorry, kids, but I without even knowing about this thread, I think I found the winner just last night in a catalog...L K HERE! I do believe it's the end of the world.

Glenn-- Does JC have one of those Road Runner-type delivery services? If so, do people use it? Don't know if they're expensive, but that would be another place where you could get your menu out. How about some promos at area festivals, farmers markets, concerts in the park, etc.? Sometimes all it takes is a buy one/get one at half off coupon to get someone through the door the first time... Ev

I wish I could remember the reason behind it, but somewhere on eG there's a thread that mentions mixing ground meat in one direction when making...meatballs? Meatloaf? I'll try to find it... Andie, YOU WIN!

GREAT idea, Azlee! And Glenn, if there are any law firms down there, they do the same thing; they keep lists (and sometimes have accounts) with restaurants b/c there are people working laaaaaate. Of course, this still boils down to your getting 'in' somehow... Think it's worth it to collect business cards in the restaurant and do a free lunch drawing so you can at least get some names/email addresses of some of your current customers? You probably only need a couple to break through...

I've always thought you needed a tag line, Glenn! Without thinking too hard about it... Melt: Grilled cheese for big kids or Grilled cheese for grown-up kids Melt: Sophisticated grilled cheese Melt: Grilled cheese that's far better than mom's! Melt: Because grilled cheese is good for you Edit: I think this is a great idea, especially if you can do it SOON. I'm assuming that people do get outside at lunchtime; capture them now while the weather is still in your favor! I also like the idea of a tasting cart if you can do it; nothing like knowing that the food is good before you order from a new place.

Park & Orchard certainly has an impressive wine list, but I can't say I've ever been impressed by the food; it's fine, but it's not going to knock you out (unless you're a vegetarian). It would, however, be an excellent place to go for drinks after dinner! A few other nearby recommendations: Indian Chef in Lodi for terrific food in a completely casual and unusual setting; the owners have also just opened a full-scale restaurant nearby, and there is info about it in that thread. Mignon in Rutherford (steakhouse, BYO) And Hoboken, which is full of some terrific restaurants, is within 10 miles as well. My favorite is The Jefferson, but if you do a search for Hoboken in the NJ forum, you'll find lots of places. Most especially if you're travelling with others, Newark's Ironbound section is a great spot for Spanish, Portuguese and Brazilian food and is close by as well. Please don't let the fact that it's Newark scare you. Seriously. Holler if you have other questions! Curlz

In response to the op, I've sent an email to the corporate office and of course, will let you all know what they say!

Interestingly enough, they don't list the sf for the Montclair store on the site, although they do for some of the other stores. For reference: Madison is 21K, and the Columbus Circle (NYC) location is 59K. Looks like I'm going to be spending a LOT of time in Paramus...

According to the Stores in Development page of their web site, there are TWO NJ locations coming: Paramus Whole Foods Market Paramus, NJ 77,000 sq. ft. Opening date to be announced. West Orange Whole Foods Market Mt. Prospect & Eagle Rock West Orange, NJ 55,430 sq. ft. Opening date to be announced. Of course, now I want to know where in Paramus they're getting 77K sf! Hopefully it's not what's being squeezed in to the intersection of 17 and 4...anyone know?

I prefer the do-my-research-on-eG-before-I-go method! Seriously. Ask people who care about food, and you'll usually end up at the best local places!

Saturday night, a group of 14 of us braved the heat and went in with the goal of eating our collective weight in meat at GFC. We went on the early side (6pm) to accommodate some folks who had to head home to Massachusetts that evening, but that meant that everything was fresh and the meats were just starting to come off of the grill. There is an enormous buffet area which included an unusual mix of cuisines...things I recall seeing: cajun rice, white rice, mac 'n cheese, vodka hoisin chicken (fried and I'm told, VERY dry and "not good"), beans with sausage, collard greens ('tho the sign said collar greens, which amused us), fried bananas (not plantains), undercooked fries, chicken stroganoff (yep), a ton of sushi rolls, shrimp shumai, stuffed mushrooms (stuffed, btw, with meat and vegetables), spring rolls, decent pork dumplings, shrimp cocktail, hearts of palm, artichokes, an excellent string bean salad, broccoli rabe salad, an asian-inspired fruit/cucumber/pepper salad, fruit salads and melon, and a bowl of Jello that we agreed was the oddest colored Jello we'd ever seen. Not quite orange, not quite yellow. What flavor, we wondered? A number of suggestions that I won't mention were thrown out, but we settled on either pineapple or an old box of orange or lemon. I told you it was an unusual combination of foods! The meats: chicken, turkey wrapped in bacon, sausage, prime rib, tenderloin, skirt steak, "shish kabob," short ribs and at least one more that I'm forgetting. I asked for ostrich and was told that they no longer carry it. The waiter said "I don't think enough people liked it." AAAAACK! Of course, that was the one meat I was looking forward to. Nobody wanted to try the chicken hearts or quail, which you have to request when you first arrive. My favorite was definitely the skirt steak, which was flavorful, juicy and served in generous portions. The last (3rd?) time he came around with it, I asked for a small piece, and three of us shared it. One of the hosts kept raving about the tenderloin, but I can't lie--I didn't think it was as good as many of the other cuts. Overall, my biggest complaint was that the meat was either too well done or completely raw; they don't seem to have anything resembling medium rare or even medium. But trust me--nobody left hungry! For dessert, thanks to recs on here, I asked for pineapple for the table. It was already on the fire, and we only had to wait five minutes or so for it. And it was FABULOUS. Grilled pineapple, sliced fairly thinly, with cinnamon sprinkled on top. It's always the simple stuff that's the best, isn't it? YUM. Everyone loved it--even a couple of people who said they don't normally like pineapple all that much. There is also a van/choc self-serve soft serve machine, so of course, we all had ice cream too. With chocolate sprinkles. The place is big; think Minado, although not THAT big (at least the Morris Plains location. I did note the fire restriction sign said they could only have a max of 440 in the place, fwiw. They have a full bar, but I was told by one of the group to steer clear of the (red) sangria; she had a glass and was very disappointed. Our hosts also mentioned that they have a decent bottle of reasonably priced pinot noir on the list, but we never went that route, so I didn't find out what it is. This is definitely a fun place to go with a big group, the food was decent, and imo, the price reasonable. For $36pp (including gratuity, which they added and we added to), we ate and drank (a ton of water + 2 pitchers of caipirinhas) for almost 2 hours--and I think the heat kept us from really eating. Edit: Just realized that I forgot to mention one important thing...if you have issues with salt, this is NOT the place for you. Every meat we had was a tad too salty, imo, but this also seems to be the case at every rodizio I've been to. Then again, my friend the salt freak would love it...

Glenn- How accessible is a directory listing of the companies in those buildings you're targeting? Have you considered getting on line and finding a contact person in HR or PR or customer relations (you get the idea) within each of the major companies within those buildings? An email that has something in the subject line that says Jersey City lunch discount might get their attention; I'd then make the body of the email very simple, so if they just glance at it, they'd see 15% off (or whatever) your first (three?) lunch delivery(ies) from Melt. Something like that can be easily shared with a LOT of employees. Whatever you do, don't send attachments, as many servers will kick those out as spam. Of course, you could also try to find dept numbers and call in to ask who w/could disseminate the info--basically asking if you can email the same info I just mentioned. Receptionists can sometimes be the biggest help, and may actually give you the name or email address for an office manager--you never know. Basically, you just need to find the company bigmouth who will share the info. You know...someone like me!

Sorry; I should have clarified--they are still open, as he's going there tonight. But as a longtime customer, he was notified by the restaurant that they're closing. He got the impression that it won't be open much longer (i.e., maybe at the end of this month).

Rosie-- Maybe I missed it in an earlier column, but a friend just told me that La Tartuferia (Hoboken) is closing. Soon. He speculates that they own the building and someone made them a good offer b/c that part of town is starting to get built up. Wondered if you knew more...? I've never been, but have only heard good things about the place!

Yeesh. Just dealt with this last weekend! Took my almost 4 year-old niece to the local pizzeria for a slice; she sat staring at (GAAAACK) America's Top Model. Why? Because that's what was on the giant flat screen, and since there's no tv in their house, she's GLUED whenever she sees one. You heard me...

Melt got some nice press today in The Hudson Current. Congrats, Glenn!

Glad you like Saffron, Waves! If it wasn't for eG, I certainly never would have known about it... Have you been for the lunch buffet yet? It will really blow your mind; I still don't know of another Indian restaurant with that many offerings for so little $$!

Article in today's NY Times on this very topic!

According to the email I just received, DD is on Open Table.

The other place you could try (on Sundays--they're closed Mondays) is Indian Chef in Lodi...it's right up Rt 17 and you could just keep going to Rt 4 and take the GWB back to NYC if you don't want to backtrack the few miles to Rt. 3.

Wow--you beat me to it, Scott! It's probably been 5 years since my last visit, but I agree about Las Palmas!! The bisteca was hanging off the plate... Gotta get over there now that you've put it back in my brain!