Weissman

From most of these descriptions, I think it should be called BLEW!! It is definately not worth the drive of the Tappan Zee from Northern Jersey. For me it is definately not just about decor! However, that does not mean food or service has to be perfection either.

I thought that the food at Rosemary and Sage was OK. The service and the atmosphere reminded me of the building itself: very white and square. The atmospere was very boring, and the service was rushed. What I mean was that the staff was not graceful in their movements. Very much like the Kentucky Derby. When I was last there, I ordered a dessert (forgot was it was, which means not memorable). The young waitress placed the dessert in front of me, then cleared it instantly , placed it on another table nearby . The maitre'd removed the plate from them and returned it back to me. That was very unprofessional!

The new New Jersey Zagat survey just came out. Nicholas just received the number one ratings for food and service (both 28), beating out the Ryland Inn. Nicholas to me was superb. The food, wine, and service were exceptional. The price of the 3 course prix fix was $55 with some supplements. The price tag is much less than a not so stellar meal at the Ryland Inn. The prix fix for one and wine was probably half the price of Ryland. Who are you kidding chef Shelton. Restaurant Nicholas got my vote. Congratulations to Nicholas and Melissa on this achievement!

There is a restaurant in ridgewood, nj where the bathroom is a topic of conversation. I shall keep the name a secret. You have to walk up a flight of stairs and half way up them, you have to open a door (yes!! on the stair case without a landing). The men's room is on the top of the stairs. However, the ladies room, you have to step off the stair case mid steps. In addition, the bathrooms are one at a time and are extremely small. I am slighlty heavy, and I found the men's room ridiculously small. As a was coming out of the bathroom, a woman was waiting for the ladies room to clear, said I was peeing to loudly!! She had to many cocktails!! I also heard a story from a friend of mine, that a child was sitting on the steps (to the bathroom), and a customer opened the door coming back down and whaled the child in the head. This is a restaurant where you don't want to have to many cocktails!! Don't even bother. Hold it in! I hope this was entertaining.

For employee meal one of my signature dishes in whole chicken poached in coconut milk, curry, lime zest and juice, cilantro, ginger, and garlic. Pull out the chicken when it is totally cooked through. Reduce the liquid and strain the sauce. I accompany the meal with steamed basmati rice on the side. I have also made meat lasagna using thinly sliced zucchini in place of lasagna sheets. It was pretty darn tasty too. I fooled all the staff with this Atkin's version. It wasn't intentional. I like being creative with staff meals, as to challenge myself and the rest of the crew with originality and on a budget too!

When it comes to eating at Esty Street, I would most of there dishes. They do quite well in their appetizers as well as their fish dishes. In my opinion, save room for dessert also. The appetizers range from $10-$17 and entrees are $22-$30. Most wines by the bottle are above $35. However, there are several selections of wines by the glass from $6-$14 or so. So dinner for two: appetizer each, entree, dessert, and a glass of wine averages around $55. Don't quote me on this, but I believe the do charge a $15 corkage fee for wines that they do not offer on their list: ie International wines. My suggestion is to call the restaurant before you dine for that kind of information.

The website is not up to date, however, you can get a better idea of their menu as well as their wine list on the website: www.ardore.com. I hope this will help all the readers out there. Still the information is somewhat outdated. The menus have since changed somewhat.

I'm sorry about the misunderstandings. I have been dining at Esty Street since 1999. By the way, I have not had a bad meal yet. It is also a place to also truly enjoy an interesting bottle of wine.

I heard that the 3.5 star review came from the bergen record a month ago.

Esty Street has been in business for thirteen years thanks to the longevity of the staff. All regular customers are greeted by name at the front door by Larry. Chef Jack Mistretta prepares great American contemporary cuisine. Owner Scott Tremble provides some hard to find wines on an exclusive California, Washington, and Oregon. Pastry Chef Adam whips up some interesting takes on American classsic desserts. The dining room is set in a quaint open room that looks as though Scott was back living on "Esty Street" in his Cornell days. They have been in business all these years, something must be going right. So what do you think??

I have not been to this restaurant yet. However, reading iheartoffal's menu descriptions, I had an orange sorbet course at per se on easter sunday that was paired with carmelized nicoise olives, finely chopped that matched perfectly with the sorbet and the accompanying yogurt creme. Where is this information of this restaurant. I have not heard of it before. Adam

I believe that the customer-waiter-chef relationship ends as soon as four letter curse words are shouted at each other to insult say the customer to the waiter. Then that person has every right to tell them to go to hell or something similar

I also went to Per Se this past Easter Sunday in celebration of my birthday. I went with a group of five. All but one had the chef's tasting, and would have to say that it was by far one of the best meals ever in my twenty-eight years. I was happy to finally get to taste oyster and pearls as well as macaroni and cheese. The entire meal was great. The only item I questioned was the smoked bittersweet chocolate on the chocolate tray. My mom's boyfriend had to have olive oil and balsalmic vinegar with his bread much to my dismay. The presentation of the three fine extra virgin olive oils was well demonstrated with a description of the tastes and areas from where they came. And the balsalmic vinegar was aged 25 years. They were presented in four different containers on one plate in order from least mild to intense by the size of their serving ramekin. I apologized to him later. However, I still preferred my salted butter with my bread: especially, the potato beer bread. Also it was cool to see Richard Belzer from Law & Order having dinner with a party of four.