Beth E.

remember you can do hotdogs for lunch and empanadas for dinner or the other way around.

I am so bummed that they are closed on Sundays -- guess where we were going to go to get some for dinner. Now I have to wait until leavened bread is okay to head on over there.

Keo Ku is not all you can eat. If you find one let me know.

I bought this as a gag gift for a friend's birthday -- but we really liked it. Bitch Barossa Grenache -- I bought it at Wine Legend in Livingston and I think it was under $10 a bottle.

You (collective meaning all) definitely need to check this place out. The pork ribs and the fried chicken were my favorites. I only had a bite of the mac and cheese -- couldn't get it away from my very picky youngest child. The greens are really good too -- we found a hidden treasure piece of the meat used to add flavoring to the pot liquor in ours. Older dd is already asking when we are getting food from there again.

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of Amazing Hot Dog. One year ago today they opened their doors for the first time! What a wild year its been. Congratulations to Eric and Matt!

Answered my own question. I called back and found out that they do serve lunch but they no longer have the lunch buffet. bummer.

Have they stopped serving lunch during the week? Their website is down and when I called their phone number their message didn't say they were opened. Did they get rid of lunch? Wahhh! When?

Eric just called me with an update -- he is at Whole Foods West Orange and they are putting shopping cart corrals in the parking lot.

The dinner Eric and I shared last night was amazing. I was staring at the menu trying to decide what to eat -- torn between a couple of different appetizers to start. The sashimi of tuna was an appetizer special that night. The tuna was great -- perfectly red, very fresh. The thin sliced pieces were resting on top of diced avocado and cucumber. The spicy ginger dressing was spicy, but not to spicy. The monkfish liver was very interesting. It had that liver consistancy, but not too heavy of a liver flavor. Yum! The nori broth was a little salty by itself, but it made a wonderful counterpoint to the liver and the slightly sweet radish on top. Another winner. The next course -- Monkfish braised in Black Olive oil was yummy again. Chef Zod has a way with fish -- it was perfectly cooked. Very moist. And I could eat the cauliflower puree that came with it all by itself. It was super creamy, rich and supple with that true cauliflower flavor. I want more now! Next course was the cod. This came with apricot yogurt puree. great blend of flavors. Then was the venison -- rare and beautiful. I really liked the chestnut/brussel sprout medley that came with it. And another puree -- this time butternut squash. Three dollops decorated the plate -- looked like a yummy little snowman. Then came dessert -- first Eric and I were both presented with a plate of Basil and fruit gelee with goat cheese. Now I have to say that when this first came out I was disappointe. Not a spot of chocolate to be seen! But then I tasted it. The basil "mousse" just burst with flavor in my mouth. The fruit on top of it was not too sweet but just sweet enough. In the center was a nugget of goat cheese. It was a wonderful dessert. As Eric and I were enjoying our coffee suddenly more desserts appeared. We shared a chocolate truffle terrine -- very intense chocolate flavor and a nice dollop of chocolate mousse on the plate too. The mocha-banana bread pudding gave me more chocolate goodness. Nice distinct banana flavor. The butternut squash ice cream was a taste surprise. Whooda thunk to make ice cream out of butternut squash? The final dessert was a peanut butter napoleon. the napoleon squares looked like thin peanut brittle, but they were not hard. Inside was banana icecream and peanut butter icecream. Needless to say my sweet tooth was satisfied. Chef Zod is a true talent. Do not walk -- run to Blu.

Oh sure -- dh is going to get to maybe meet you on Monday -- but I won't get to be there. NO fun!

At the pre opening party for Whole Foods West Orange NJ they were serving a square shot glass of Warm Vichyssoise with Truffle Essence from Chef Mitchell Altholz of the Highlawn Pavilion. It was delicious!

Eric forgot to mention that they were also serving Sushi last night. Looks like they will have a nice sized sushi area. The store was beautiful with lots of specialized areas of interest. There is a cantina, a hot food area, a big salad bar location, a hot soup area. There is also a nut roaster and a coffee roaster. I saw a sign that mentioned they would be smoking fish in house too.

I love to dip them in the Chipotle Mayo at Amazing Hot Dog. I'll sometimes alternate that with sour cream. Ok, sometimes I double dip. Elsewhere I'll go for brown gravy when it is available. My daughter (age 8) likes to dip her fries in vanilla shake.

Gee Curlz -- all you had to do was ask my mom. She's a regular at the market. Shopping not selling.

Wahhhh! I'm going to miss Nettie 0chs -- great cider and cider donuts. My apple of choice is the Macoun. It's the apple I'm willing to have an allergic reaction to eat.

Update: On Saturday, September 30, 2006 from 1 to 3pm Amazing Hot Dog will be doing a cooking demonstration at Bloomingdale's in the Willowbrook Mall, Wayne NJ. Eric will be there sampling goodies. If you are in the area stop on by to say hello.

There appears to be a second floor going up. I don't know what's going in up there.

I was over at Toys R Us today and I decided to cruise passed "Let's Eat." I was surprised to see it was dark. There was a sign in the window saying they were closed 9/11 and would reopen on 9/12, but this is 9/15. Then I noticed a couple of other signs -- one is a Warrent of Closure -- at least that's what I think it said. There was some type of official closure notice on the other door as well. Anyone have any info on what's going on there?

Glad to hear about the good dining experiences (sorry your service was off though!) I havent' been there in quite some time and this really makes me want to go.

Amazing Hot Dog was included in an article about hot dogs in today's Star Ledger. It's in the SAVOR section. The article is titled "What's in the tube -- Hot Dogs throughout history."

Thanks for the info Rosie! I'll be interested in seeing where Anthony is next. He is a talented chef.

Its been reported. I'm sure there's stuff going on that we never see at a host of chinese restaurants, but what we don't know we can't gag over.

Got this from a friend who knows I frequent Egullet. She wanted to get my opinion of what she should do. Now I'm sharing it here to get more opinions. I would call the health department just to give them the heads up. What do you think?

I drove past Julio's tonight and there were cars in the parking lot. People hanging around by the doors too. I haven't seen any grand opening signs so perhaps this was a soft opening. Also, the sign wasn't lit up -- so I'm not sure what's going on, but there was definitely something happening inside. I would have stopped to see if I could get a menu, but I had the younger kiddo in the car and she wanted to get home.