Montclairite

Yep, Gimme Jimmy's certainly was poorly run after the new owners took over; stopped going there after tasting the "improved" baked goods offerings. I'm not surprised the went out of business; it's just the way all the fixtures disappeared overnight that I found so peculiar. I really liked it under previous management.

Within the past month, two eating establishments have disappeared overnight; open one day and closed the next. One is Gimmee Jimmy's on Church Street in Montclair; the other is Mr Chu's Vegetarian Chinese at Broadway Square (Bloomfield & Passaic Aves) in West Caldwell. Anyone with any clue about either?

TOPPING No one been to Southern Puglia aka the Salento?

I'm in the midst of planning a trip to a part of Italy I've never visited, Puglia. The trip would be in late October through first week in November. More specifically, after about a week in Rome, I plan to drive down to Matera (Basilicata) and spend a couple of nights, then spend a week based in the city of Lecce (the Salento peninsula). No recent recommendations here. Any ideas for great vegetarian meals? (Fish to, but not seafood.) I may head to Gallipoli, etc.

Does anyone know if Gina's Bakery on Walnut Street in Montclair has changed hands? Ever since their recent renovation, I see different people behind the counter.

I haven't been to Blu, but I did try Next Door a few weeks ago for lunch. I had ok pasta, somewhat bland. I live in the neighborhood, and Iwouldn't say I would avoid the place, but I wouldn't choose to have lunch there again unless the person I was with specifically wanted to try it.

The Whole Foods in West Orange has a nice selection of soups in their huge takeout section. Also, Sandwich Theory (formerly the Cheese Shop) on Valley Road in Upper Montclair has two or three soups every day.

Terrible service at Toast is putting it mildly; not just slow but chaotic. The food is adequate, as long as you don't want a breakfast pastry. Coffee orders confused them. That's about it. But then again, I love the sandwiches at Cianci, and you get the feeling that someone is actually running that restaurant. That would be one of my choices for lunch if the limited Raymond's weekend brunch menu doesn't suit. I don't think Bluestone is open for lunch weekends.

Raymond's serves their brunch menu until about 2:30. Then they close and re-open for dinner several hours later.

I was there last night for the first time in at least a year, and do not plan to return. The food is decent, not great, but the service is amateurish. Just a few examples: No one greeted us at the door, the waiter asked us if we were ready to order nearly immediately, as my friend had put her menu down momentarily to put on her glasses. Our waiter, clearly overworked, never volunteered to refill my water glass, and so on. This waiter really needed roller skates as he was taking orders, bringing food, making espresso drinks, and so on. A female employee seemed to have no other job than slowly walking around (NOT looking at the tables to see if anything was needed) and folding silverware into napkins. After waiting some time for someone to notice our signals that we wanted our check and finally give us our check, we waited 20 minutes for someone to take our check and credit card. The owner needs to train his/her staff, get a few busboys, maybe take the espresso responsibility away from the wait staff, get a greeter at the door, etc. And of course the layout (very long service counter running from front to back of restaurant) does not help.

IMHO, Holsten's is a million times better (roughly) than Applegate, and I've been eating both for a hundred years (smoothly). Applegate has wonderful flavors, but Holsten's ice cream is much creamier. Their chocolate chocolate chunk is amazing.

Thanks, all. Curlz, I'll try Angelbeck's first, as it's just a few blocks from home. I've seen that s tore through various stages in it's life .Haven't tried Amato yet, I know they're good but I like a liquor store that's a bit more crowded with bottles. As for the spritzer --- think it's made with Aperol and prosecco. And least that's what I'm aiming for.

I understand that Aperol, an Italian aperitivo with low alcohol content, is now available in the US. Anyone know where it can be bought in the general Essex or Passaic county area? Thanks

Evergreen was vegetarian friendly, at least originally. But they've been out of business for a couple of years. An Italian restaurant now occupies that space.

I have to say that I stopped going there years ago because the food was often not hot (when it was supposed to be) and the service was lackadaisical. (But as I said, I've not been there in years and years.)