Ryderpond

Has anyone been to Axia Restaurant, the new Greek one in Tenafly? I heard an interview with Alex Gorant, head chef, and Diane Kochilas, the restaurant's food consultant yesterday on WOR's Food Talk. Sue

Steve, If you have time, try the ginger ice cream at Nauset Ice Cream, Rt 6, Eastham. It's on the left as you drive up Cape (towards Orleans) before the light at Brackett Rd. With such a short stay you won't be able to get to the best restaurant I've found on the Cape, 902 Main, Rt. 28 in Yarmouth. Actually, it may be South Yarmouth or one of the other directionals. Even after spending 35 summers on the Lower Cape, I get confused with them. I like the lobster rolls at Rock Harbor in Orleans and the ones at the Methodist Church in Wellfleet on some Fridays aren't bad. Sue Englewood, NJ and Truro, MA

Thanks for the suggestions. Keep them coming! I have a few months to sample your suggestions before I have to book the December party. Grand Grille, The Restaurant and Morton's are too pricey for the club's budget ($40 per person, tax and gratuity included) and we have to stay in Bergen County because of its central location to our membership base. Sue

One of my club's is looking for a restaurant to hold their December, 2005 holiday dinner for 25 people on a weekday evening within the first two weeks of that month. Some of the parameters include a private or semi private room in Bergen County, moderate cost and ample parking. Type of cuisine is open as long as meat, fish and chicken entrees are available . I'm looking for suggestions from the egullet gang. Sue

Enticed by Jason's latest photo shot from Dragonel, we headed off Thursday night, 2/10, to sample the cuisine. The food (Corn Pepper Salt, Dragon's Fire, Chicken Manchurian and Drunken Pig) was spicy and an interesting blend of flavors but not a cuisine I would want to eat on a regular basis. Maybe that is one reason why the restaurant was empty when we arrived at 7 and had only one other couple come in while we were there though they seemed to either know or be guests of the person in charge who sat at the table with them. Street parking was difficult to find as it always is in the library area. I managed to snag a spot in the library lot and thought myself lucky because I could see the signs for both Dragonel and Dhaaba on the rear of their building. However, the rear entrance was for employees only. A curious thing is that the building backs up onto a large gated parking lot which was virtually empty. I wonder if negotiating evening parking privileges and providing restaurant access from it would increase business. Dhaaba, by the way, was empty when we arrived and when we left. Would I go back? That depends on how the restaurants fare over the next few months. Without seeing tables filled and turning over, I begin to question the freshness of the ingredients. Sue