Lutece

LOL!! I'm always in training---for eating that is. ← Give us some hints...I'm still full from Wednesday night! Dana ← Welcome to the neighborhood....I agree about Bernies bagels, love the veggie ones! It is hard to find a good place in Allendale to eat but here's my take on all the places I've tried... The pasta place in the middle of town is no better than diner food...avoid. Flirt has a more interesting menu on the whole than Masa. We had sushi at Masa that was not the freshest and they played the worst loud music The little asian place next to the A & p had very good chinese food I think...and that is hard to come by here in NJ. I'm a native NY er. The mexican place in that same shopping center used to be good, great guacomole they make at the table!! Haven't been in awhile though but try it. Savini is ok, nothing I would run to although they get quite a crowd that obviously love it. Maybe its the atmosphere. Well, you've been here since the summer so maybe you've gotten to try all these by now.

The key to both Dim Sum Dynasty and Silver Pond is getting there at the right time. You don't to go Silver Pond, for example, after 1:30PM -- and you never, ever want to take anything off a "Mixed" tray. Ever. You follow that rule, you will never get cold fried items at Silver Pond again. At Dim Sum Dynasty, they told us the best time to be there is at 12 noon, because then a lot of stuff is just getting out of the steamers and the fryers and they are putting them in the oven to keep warm. ← You are so right about that. I think we might have been sitting right above your table on sat between 1and 2!! I really wanted some of the stuff u were having. Were you sitting at a round table, with a couple, eyeing your food above you?? That was me!! I wanted those pan fried noodles, but we couldn't eat anymore. Thats why its better to go with a group. I convinced my girlfriend to go with me again on Sun and she was slow and we didn't get there till after 1 30 and nothing was as good as sat Except, the chinese broccoli, must have been freshly prepared it was so good, but the selection of dim sum was limited. I love those snow pea greens, all the veggies in fact. I bet they're stealing a lot of business from the rest of the chinese places i used to go to in ridgewood. I hated that yin yang place by the way.

Hunan Villa in Ridgewood has the best chinese around. Very fresh, and not overly salty. Too bad its only take out but we love it DimSum Dynasty has great dimsum, but ...some of the regular lunch dishes during the week were a disappointment. Stopped going there after getting a shrimp with veggie dish , with veiny small shrimp which was a big turn off. Went today for dim sum and everything was excellent. We especially loved the dumplings with snow pea greens and shrimp. But, everything was as good if not better than silver pond and we've been going to silver pond since we lived in queens, many moons ago. The service was great and so was the tea. Jason's pix just about cover all that we ate. Its a great addition to Ridgewood and very authentic indeed! Has anyone tried the newest Thai that opened next to ivangie yet?

Well i know this chain doesn't compare to White Castle, but why hasn't anyone mentioned 'HOUSTONS' I think their food is consistently great, fresh and creative. Their salads, fish, veggie burgers and every thing else is top notch! Just wondering why I haven't seen it mentioned.

I live in bergen county and teach healthy cooking. Gourmet, farm fresh food. I have fit up to 15 people in my kitchen for my classes.

Once you do find it (my house currently holds 70 plus cans for emergencies!) you won't use anything else. This is the sweetest canned tomato I've ever had. When I'm away on business, my wife sautees some garlic and oil and dumps in the 6 in 1 for a perfect and quick sauce. I do prefer to mix the San Marzanos in for texture and enhanced flavor along with fresh basil from our herb garden or parsely. Suggest you look at restaurant wholesalers as this is not typically a retail item. I had to drive about 40 minutes to Chalfont PA to find Bova Food Distributors. I was getting them in Trenton at PJ Foods on Hudson just up from Delorenzos until they stopped carrying the small cans. The #10's are a hassle for small quantities. Let me know how you make out, and failing that, if you're in the neighborhood, I can certainly get you some. Jeff ← I never have seen these and I will now look for them! Sound great , and so does your recipe. Lately I've been roasting split n.j. plum tomatoes, with a splash of aged balsamic and chopped thyme, chopping them up and mixing with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and lots of basil from my garden. I love this time of year for that!

if you're saying that you don't like the sauce they use well then there's simply no debating that. alhtough, i've never picked up a tinny flavor in the sauce or any sort of overwhelming "canned" taste. it should be noted that Hunts tomato sauce contains no additives. it's basically tomatoes and water. if you're saying that by virtue of using canned sauces Kinchley's is producing a somehow inferior product then i'd ask what places use fresh tomatoes instead of canned. i'm guessing there aren't many. ← I was just going to say, Hunt's is a pretty straightforward crushed tomato and tomato paste product that for the most part, comes from California tomatoes. Fundamentally, there's nothing wrong with using this (and I beleive Kinchleys uses Redpack, which is a perfectly suitable product as well) for pasta sauce or even pizza. Sure, its not San Marzano from the Campanian coast, but I find that even domestic canned tomatoes are better than using some of the so-called "fresh" tomatoes that end up in the supermarket, even during the summer. At least with canned tomatoes you're talking about tomatoes that have been picked when they are ripe and then canned in a single day process. I know plenty of respectable restaurants that used canned tomatoes. 90 percent of your typical mom and pop red sauce Italian places in Jersey use them. I for one, really like Kinchley's pizza. And as another said here, they are bar pies, which are of their own genre. ← You're right, maybe they don't use Hunts. It just isn't a very good sauce I don't think. I haven't been there in a long , long time because I wasn't impressed. I think you have misunderstood me. I think there is nothing wrong with using canned tomatoes, I, myself, being a gourmet cook and healthy cooking teacher would not use any canned sauces in my food except for Muir Glen organic tomato sauce. My daughter loves that one. I cook all my tomato sauces with canned tomatoes and use either san marzano or muir glen products. My fresh tomatoes I travel to farms for, and they have to be red or they don't make it to my house. I am simply stating that I don't like Kinchley's and I don't think they use the best ingredients. I would never expect a pizza place to use fresh tomatoes, thats crazy!

For a great slice try LA GONDOLA in Ramsey...... Best around here.

RIGHT ON...KINCHLEYS IS 2 MINUTES FROM ME AND I WOULDN'T GO THERE IF IT WERE FREE I think what u meant is what they use is cans of hunts tomato sauce. The idea of san marzano tomatoes vs the reg tomatoes is not even a subject worth talking about in reference to Kinchleys.... UG UG UG

I was just gonna adamantly add Bear Cafe and New World after noticing the thread. The Bear Cafe is one of the best restaurants anywhere. Can't find a better salad anywhere in NYC, everything is fantastic including the atmosphere. The place sits on a stream , with big windows, lovely views and around halloween they set up jack o lanterns up and down the stream. Lit at night its quite a nice sight. The main room has a wood burning fireplace. My favorite restaurant , anywhere. New World is very off beat, funky and like no other place. If you like spicy, go here,if you don't , still go here...! Yes, its that good!\ Also, in Phoenicia for breakfast you must try Sweet Sues, if you want the best pancakes, and home baked stuff ever. Real little country breakfast place in a small town upstate. Oh, and for a great lunch in Woodstock, the Sunflower farm stand has a juice bar/lunch menu with the best cut fresh in front of you fruit and vegetable salads, guacamole, and mozzarella and tomato sandwiches. And fresh made soups.

I can't understand how anyone likes Kinchleys. The crust is good, like matzah or something, but the quality of the sauce is so can like. Hunts, i suspect? The cheese is not good either...well to each his own I have to agree that Brooklyn coal burning in hackensack and ridgewood is the BEST . The freshest ingredients make a real big difference. I don't even think Kinchleys knows what fresh basil is? Its 5 minutes from my house and i wouldn't ever go there... By the way, if you keep driving up Franklin turnpike a bit on the left side there's a new restaurant used to be the famous 'Nobodys inn" Now its Roxanne's and they have great brick oven pizza as well as decent food for that area....much better than kinchleys ← Yes, I see what you're saying but their sauce is bad too.

I can't understand how anyone likes Kinchleys. The crust is good, like matzah or something, but the quality of the sauce is so can like. Hunts, i suspect? The cheese is not good either...well to each his own I have to agree that Brooklyn coal burning in hackensack and ridgewood is the BEST . The freshest ingredients make a real big difference. I don't even think Kinchleys knows what fresh basil is? Its 5 minutes from my house and i wouldn't ever go there... By the way, if you keep driving up Franklin turnpike a bit on the left side there's a new restaurant used to be the famous 'Nobodys inn" Now its Roxanne's and they have great brick oven pizza as well as decent food for that area....much better than kinchleys

ITS 2005 AND I WOULD LIKE TO TELL U MY FAVES, HOW COME THE MOST CURRENT IS 2003??? Love.....Giada De Laurentis When Bobby Flay grills Joanne Weir The show Christina COOKS, not on food network...on 133 create station she has a blues guy singing and playing while she cooks healthy, veg meals Jacque Pepin although he uses a lot of Tabasco? (french chef?) Lidia's show-although Felidia stinks, and becco is alright, nothing is like what she makes on tv... Martha Stewart-when is she coming back??? Dislike.....Rachel Ray she's cute alright..but she can't cook that good at all Paula Deen....too fattening Yan should be canned That blonde partly homemade lame girl-whats her name Sandra Dee? Like.... Barefoot contessa-she amazes me how unhealthy she cooks but i like her house, love the hamptons so i watch it Mario...he cooks pretty good italian, too much weird stuff i wouldn't eat like tongues and other organs Oh, that new spanish chicky Daisy is real good, i could love her maybe

what did you think? just so i'm clear, i've based my comments on only 2 meals, which is not enough for me to really say that this place is excellent. they might have problems with consistency or a variety of other issues that i've yet to uncover. it could be luck so far. it could get worse when the summer's gone and kids (servers) go back to college. a lot of things could happen. but i think the chef can cook, and he's put together a menu that reads great, especially for this area. i should also mention that the pasta dish from my first meal didn't have cinghiale as i reported, but rather guanciale, which bacon from hog jowls. it wasn't pancetta as far as i could tell. ← Went there sat nt with another couple Service was not too professional but acceptable Nice atmosphere Food was good but not the best I ever had. The seafood salad appetizer was the best of everything we ordered. Very fresh, a huge portion , mostly calamari though a few shrimp. The dressing was just light and perfect The scallop entree was so strange...almost like a vanilla scallop creme brulee with these fancy greens all over it so you couldn't even see the scallops. Nice presentation the sweetness of the vanilla overpowered the taste of scallops I liked the homemade pasta but the sauce was a little salty and made of probably sun dried tomatoes, had the eggplant and fresh mozzarella dish. It was good but not great. Friend had the mussels he seemed to love and devour them. All and all , it was good. Not the greatest...

I just have to tell you how jealous I am that you have a Yemenese place by you. I haven't had yemenese food since I lived in Bklyn Hts in the 70's. I'm wondering if those places are still there. There was a family the Almontaser's that had a few restaurants, 2 on Atlantic, Atlantic House and Adnan and then there was Near East on Court st. Are any of those still there?? It was the best babaghanosh ever, I'll never forget their seafood pie or many of their dishes served with vegetables and great rice all for like 8 bucks. Please tell me if any of those places are still there and if you don't go you should!!

I'm new to e gullet and was happy to see this post about one of my fave chefs for sure. I find her so inspiring and try to read everything I can about her. There are so many chefs out there that I've just had enough of...Her, I wish I could have more of!! I wish she had a tv show. Her food philosophy is one that I try to live by. I wonder if she looks 10 yrs younger than her age because of the way she eats or ...did she go for a lil nip and tuck??? LOL Anyhow, thanks for the spread on her and you're a lucky guy to have gotten this opportunity

We live in this area too and are forever looking for great asian food. Our fave being Thai house in Nyack for that, Wasabi for Japanese in Nyack, Henry's place in Ridgewood for good Chinese and a few great Vietnamese and Malasian places throughout NYC. Having read your review off we went to Ginger and Spice for just lunch. I agree the wonton soup was good, but Henry's wontons are better, the menu needed more vegetable dishes I think, the dumplings were filled with pork , would have been better with less pork and more veggies or a combo. The noodles and chicken dish to us, was oversalted and the curry sauce just was not evident at all. We love curry too. We complained and he took it back and gave us Pad Thai instead. This was better but nothing outstanding. Based on your pix , we will go back again for dinner and order differently. The atmosphere was nice, the service was great they are very nice people and I hope they take this criticism constructively and improve on a few things for us very picky foodies. I'm new to this and am glad to be here. I love all your posts