Rail Paul

Steaming is a very CT treatment of the burger. There's a place in Middletown CT which also does the steamed cheeseburger deal. Old time diner on the doublewide main drag (trolley used to go down the center) White's is the name, I think. Looks like the clock stopped in 1955, lots of chrome, formica topped tables, seats at the counter.

Rail Paul - I've been meaning to try this place! Have you sampled the food enough to have formulated an opinion of it? Have just been there once, for the buffet. Liked it, will definitely go back again on a non-show night to order off the menu. I vaguely recall it may be a BYO on non-show nights due to the limited purpose liquor license, like the Carriage House in Millburn. Also, re: Clam Hut. I was told the place has been sold to the Ferry people, but will remain in business for dinner and weekends. Lunch time weekday service is apparently no longer offered.

Many of the early (dot) com website names were registered for two or three years, often by speculators and squatters. As the bloom comes off the internet rose, many are not being renewed, and open up again. There's also a "(dot) US" suffix just out of sunrise status which may be of interest

FoodTV is part of the Scripps enterprise, which operates many US newspapers, a network of over the air TV stations, several magazines, and a series of cable/web enterprises. This last group includes FoodTV, DIY (Do IT Yourself), Fin Living, and Home & Garden TV (HGTV). FTV and HGTV generate the cash flow for the web/cable side. Revenue was up 19%. cash flow up 24%, helped by the popularity of Martha Stewart. While FTV programming cost isn't exorbitantly expensive (like Friends $5mn per episode stars), it's not dirt cheap compared to repeats of previously run work or imports, to which it has migrated. I wouldn't be surprised to see Scripps package its web/cable property with Meredith Corp (Better Homes & Gardens) or Hearst (a minority owner of E! which is controlled by Viacom) and an investor in HGTV.

Alexander - thanks for posting. Would you describe this sausage? It sounds interesting, and I've been previously unaware that Manitoba made a distinctive sausage. The Wall Street Journal ran an article this past week on the blowout of the US bison industry. An explosion of supply (lots of bison) and an implosion of demand (few buyers) has led to widespread bankruptcies among farmers. I hope the Manitoba growers escape this trend.

I'll also add Calda, at the Newark Performing Arts Center, delightful, outdoor patio with tenting. They had a buffet last year on some show nights, I believe there's a menu on non-show nights. One drawback is the parking fee ($12 on show nights IIRC) which is waived on non-show nights.

Is Clam Hut still in business? I heard they sold their land and slips to the Ferry people. Definitely a nice place to dine on the water. Dee and I had our first date there.

Palisades Park actually went so far as to pass a law requiring that all signs contain 50% English by size and words. Many long time residents objected to the profusion of Korean signs. I think Fairview looked at the same law. I suspect this is probably the same reaction as locals had in the 1850s, when they burned down the German catholic church in Newark (damned furrniers), confined many Italians, Jews, and Greeks to US ghettos in the 1880s and 1890s, authorized anti Asian immigrations laws in 1906, and posted their NINA signs (No Irish Need Apply) in the 1920s. Each of these groups are proud and contributing Americans. I have no doubt that recent Korean immigrants will be in the same position within a generation. However, if they are found to be serving dogs and cats in their restaurants, all bets are off...

Rooney's is also open all year, making it a pleasant destination for that february drive to the share. I wouldn't describe the people at Seaside in quite those terms. Some of those folks wear less than the legal minimum of coverage, which is also shrinking each year...

I would like to point out that Lord Baltimore managed to hit three distinct hot buttons which have been discussed here, maybe even ad nauseam: 1) The Bergen Record and its many reviewers who aren't always consistent with each other in what they describe, and the stars they award. Ms Perry herself alluded to this in her comments on an earlier thread. 2) The NY Times NJ section's interest in reviewing NY state restaurants, which some NJ residents see as condescending. Orangeburg is within sptting distance of the line on a good day, but Cold Spring, etc are 20 miles away. 3) The ongoing thread of whether a chef or pastry chef deserves recognition by name. Several food professionals believe they should, and the NYT was taken to task on it when one chef alleged they botched the interview in the review. That said, I'd like to welcome you, Lord Baltimore, to eGullet, and invite you to send over some crabs we can hammer and consume. BTW, please assure us you aren't Flynn, talented one, etc...

The first eGullet NJ dinner was rodizio at the Seabra's Mediterranean manor on Jefferson street in Newark. I think the consensus was OK to good, but way too salty. I've had the rodizio at Seabra's 21, I think the Jeff was better. I'd be interesed in hauling some omnivore friends to Iberia and Brasilia to test...

I'm not sure I'd interpret American as "white" based on the context provided. My dry cleaner is of Korean background, and uses the term American to describe his clientele ("mostly American, a few Chinese and Filipino"). With its location adjacent to Essex county jail, I've observed a widely diverse population in the shop. Many of the clothes on the revolving chain are uniforms, and I've observed guards of many backgrounds (and genders) bringing or taking their uniforms. My sense is that it's just as wrong for people to impute racism to Koreans as it is to any other group. Many Koreans will immdiately inform you they are not "Asians," Chinese or Japanese, if you ask.

Good onion rings? OK, three stars sounds about right. How big were the burgers? Dancing car-hops might make it four stars... Dodge, you've again reminded us why reviews don't mean horsefeathers, which is why I rarely pay much attention to them. In fairness to Marge, she probably knows more about food than 99% of the servers and 50% of the chefs.

Trap Rock's an interesting case, with a separate brewpub /bar menu, and a very pleasant main room with its own well chosen menu and wine list. Haven't been there in a year, so I don't feel competent to speak of it in the present tense, but would definitely go back for dinner. Huge glass wall facing west, with afternoon light streaming in, view of a woods behind the place. I think the same people own Huntley's in Summit.

I visited the Madison Market on Thursday afternoon. First incarnation this year. Alstede has ripe tomatoes, basil, peaches, lettuce. Lebanon Kitchen Garden (new this year) had a wide selection of aragula, several lettuces, basil, and promised a selection of heirloom tomatoes later in the season. Totally organic (NOFA-NJ). Greenwood Farms from Port Colden (the port comes from its location along the Morris Canal) had a wonderful smoked mozzarella ($7#), fresh mozz, sweet spring onions, basil, fingerling potatoes, etc. I understand they have a selection of smoked meats at the Sunday market in Morristown. There will likely be more vendors as the season progresses. I didn't see Ted Blew this year, maybe he'll be in later in the season.

Another excellent place for large burgers is (for today, at least) Cozy's on US 46 in Ledgewood. Texas burger is large, prob 10-12 oz, pie plate size paper plate. Price about $4.25 with fixings. For extra points, it may be delivered by a car-hop! Cozy's is going out of business today (Thursday), expect to see yet another Wendy's or Taco Bell on the site soon.

She didn't detail her charges, but she was irritated the staff took so long to realize a zero had been added to a tab when they had the item count in front of them. She reported on one location a few weeks ago where they had a motion sensor pad in the mini-bar. She took out each bottle to examine it, and they charged her for the whole assortment. Modern technology at work. When I die, I'd like to be reincarnated as her, at least in her current line of work.

Gaffer's in West Orange is OK, although I've encountered a few surly waitstaff there over the years. Big burgers, nicely done. Foot of the hill on Eagle Rock, opp the church. I also like the big burger at O'Neils in Verona. About eight oz, thick and six inches in diameter. Dominates the plate, with little room for fries and lettuce. Friendly place, on Bloomfield Avenue between Grove and Fairview. A little bit seedy, and on after-game nights, a little fragrant.

...and paying for it, too, I hope! I don't have the article in front of me, but I think she lodged at the Willard. She also barbed them for making her walk thru a raging stream in their porte cochere when she checked in, assigning her to a crummy room (they moved her), and various other slights. Her WSJ beat is checking out resorts, luxury hotels, and other upscale accomodations. Nothing escapes her attention, and she skewers some very sacred cows. Like I said, they were glad to see her pack and leave town...

One could argue the father of modern democracy in France is Bismarck. It was his destruction of Napoleon III which opened the gates of hell (the Commune) and showed the French the true face of anarchy. Although the Republics tottered, wandered, and whored for the Nazis, the democratic urge overcame the periodic lurches to the left and to the right.

Laura Landro, the Wall Street Journal's finicky traveler, descended on Washington recently, and wrote about it this past Friday. Galileo, described as a forgettable meal, took 45 minutes to seat her. It took them a half hour to let her know they had run out of the wine she ordered. Although the octopus "sausage" and baked sea bream were pretty good, the food took so long to arrive she didn't order dessert. As a New Yorker, she knows about good restaurants, and this wasn't one. The Willard didn't do well, either. They charged her $209 for two cokes and two waters from the mini-bar. Their "crab compression" surrounded by a runny avocado and rock hard tomato wasn't impressive, although the $23 lunch charge did get her attention. A soup was described as "a red oil slick" and tasted about the same. Slow service seemed to characterize each of her meals in DC. I'll bet they were happy to see her leave town...

There's also the issue of using modern borders to define mediaeval lands and passage thereover. At various times in history, protection of the English-Norman king, or the Duke of Burgundy, or the Moors would have been required to transit what is now modern day France. A resident of the Spanish lowlands (Benelux) would likely have travelled by sea to avoid the highwaymen and servants of a hostile monarch. Even the traveling English king found himself kidnapped and held for ransom in Austria at the dawn of the thirteenth century. In the 1500s, religion would have determined one's fate as a traveler, with free-lance heretic finders lurking in every quarter. Whether Jewish, or a member of any Christian flavor, death could be a result of the "wrong" answer to a theological inquiry. Much like Northern Ireland or parts of the Middle East today.

fitz - good to hear from you! Lots of good comments on the Texas food scene over in the Southwest board, hope you're getting some of that For fish I cook, I like stopping by the North American lobster in Parsippany (46 eastbound, just east of Vail Road). For fish they cook, the South City Grill in Mountain Lakes (convenient to Rockaway) has been pretty good. Paul

Nice review, sounds like a fun place. I like David Corcoran's reviews. I also noticed some tell-tale items which suggest Mr Corcoran has recognized the value of suggestions made on these boards and incorporated them into his work. Number of visits and whether on the weekend, a good, well detailed conversation with the owner, and exegesis of prior locations, richly documented comments on specific dishes, etc. For readers without access to the paper copy, it received the first rating above the median (Poor-Fair-Satisfactory-Good-VG-Excellent-Extraordinary)

Read 'em both. I think FG covered more of the food and the ambiance of the area than Reed did. I haven't done a line by line analysis of the two, but that could be interesting, too.