Kape

And let's not forget Carve, the sandwich place on 47th Street and Eighth Avenue.

We have been on the lookout for good thin-crust pizza in our neck of Bergen County, and in the past three months or so have tried Kinchley's in Ramsey; Burke's, a tavern/restaurant in Westwood; and the Emerson Hotel, in Emerson. We went to Lido's one night too, but didn't want to wait. We liked the Emerson Hotel's pizza a lot, and it seems to be under the radar. Not greasy, no grease pond in the center; tasty sauce, everything on the cheese pizza spread out uniformly; crackerlike crust; nicely cooked. Talking to a waiter I learned that they buy the dough but make the sauce on-site. The dough is put through a machine akin to a pasta maker that makes it very flat, the dough is trimmed into circles and cooked on screens, which is obvious from the pattern on the bottom of the crust. The pizza is then run through one of those moving ovens. The result is simple and very good. While Kinchley's seems old and worn in a good way, the Emerson Hotel, from the comments here, seems old and dated in a not-so-good way. We had some rude diners near us, both talking on cellphones at the same time. The restaurant has a band called the Willies (they play a lot of Traveling Wilburys, The Band, Paul Simon) there on some weekend nights, and they're trying for younger, I guess. KenP

The 2007 farmers' market season has a few good weeks left, I imagine. I've been to a bunch this year: Montclair, Ridgewood, Rivervale, Teaneck and Boonton. I didn't make it up to Nyack or Hackensack. It was a great summer. There is always room to improve. Some observations: While buying local is a noble goal, for me driving an hour to Boonton is probably not the best way to achieve this goal. In June, a friend of mine observed greenhouse tomatoes from Canada at a NJ stand, which didn't seem right either. Plastic bags are ubiquitous at farmers' markets. A better idea, observed in Teaneck, is to keep the bags behind the counter. Customers bring fruit and vegetables to the cashier, and the cashier bags the produce, often using only a bag or two instead of six or seven (for those who don't bring their own).

I can't imagine any wine store close by that is bigger than the Total Wine right off Route 4 in River Edge. I would guess it is about 6 to 8 miles from Fort Lee. From Route 4 East Make a right at Hackensack Ave/River Edge exit. Go over Route 4 stay to right past Riverside Square. Go past Staples, make left on Main St. at corner using the jug handle. Store will be straight ahead at second light at the corner of Kinderkamack and Main.

The Five Guys in Hackensack, in the Pathmark/Staples/Home Depot strip mall, has been open since last Saturday, June 30. The burger was excellent, there was a generous serving of fries. Randi said they were fresh cut. They were about 1/4-inch with skin on some of them. Well salted. I went today, a Sunday, betw. lunch and dinner hours. The mall was empty because of Bergen Co.'s blue laws and there weren't that many people in the restaurant because of that and the odd hour, though there were some. I had a regular burger with the works, which was two patties with all the toppings printed on the menu in purple. There are other toppings and all were free. There is something on the menu called a Little Burger; I didn't ask but it may be a single patty, which is what I'd get next time. Very limited, we-do-only-this-but-do-it-right menu: burgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, fries (regular and cajun), Coke and water. Refills on Cokes. No onion rings or chkn nuggets. Not that kind of place. I hope they make it. It's a great place to have around. Very clean and spacious. (Or just new?) They had eight people behind the counter and a manager working today, and it seemed slow. It was funny to see a crowd around my burger today, as if they were mad scientists in a lab or something. Price point for lunch seems to be betw. $8 and $10 for a hamburger, fries and drink (there's an Applebee's in the mall, and the Quiznos might still be open there; and there's the Chinese restaurant Lotus and a pizza place. TGIF's is across the street, across a very wide avenue). A welcome addition to the area.

Lima, you should probably clarify your post because Hot Dog Heaven is in Emerson; Amazing Hot Dog is in Verona. Are you confusing the two?

Let the burger chains AND the chef-owners who are more into food come! There's room. (The home of the future won't even have a kitchen.) Really, I was wondering why the burger mania in NYC hadn't crossed the river. TO me this is good news, and it means that in about one square mile there will be this burger joint, Lotus, then over at Riverside Square Houston's, Morton's, McCormick & Schmick's, Thai Chef, Cheesecake Factory, etc., and the three new ones. OK, most of these are chains, but of the chains out there, this is a good collection/selection. Not too far from there, Whole Foods and Fairway Market are on the drawing board to join Trader Joe's and the terrific Maywood markets on the retail side. It seems like a good time to be an omnivore in this area. kape

http://njmg.typepad.com/foodblog/

Now the sign says, "Grand Opening, March 12." They appear to be ready.

Jason, Pictures?

The Record recently published a Q&A with one of the new owners: http://tinyurl.com/px3z9

For three years I've shopped exclusively at BJ's and Shop-Rite once a week, every week, but in the summer I also hit the farmers' markets and now I've incorporated Trader Joe's a bit. (This means I buy much less at SR, sometimes skipping weeks altogether.) The staples I get at BJ's are milk, eggs, whole-wheat bread, Cheerios, Skippy peanut butter, Elio's pizza, Gogurt, Yogurt, chicken nuggets, hummus, cheese slices. Even though I've read that if you're going to go organic for anything it should be dairy, the low price of milk at BJ's is a big draw for me ($2.20 or so a gallon). I buy four gallons of milk a week (three children), so the extra trip saves me about $4 a week in milk alone, thus paying the membership fee (instead of buying milk at Shop-Rite). If I went organic I'd be spending well over $20 a week just on milk. Perhaps, it's worth it; I'm still educating myself. I wouldn't mind better eggs. Likewise, just because BJ's is a warehouse store doesn't mean it always has the best prices. It often does, but I'll try to do a comparison as well and report the most interesting findings. ~ KenP

>>Or is there actually more variety (excluding the booze)? The Paramus TJ's, like the Westwood one, does not have beer and wine. ~ KenP

I was in the Office Depot in Paramus today and the Trader Joe's next door seemed ready to go: the shelves were all stocked. So Monday's opening appears to be a go, though the sign on the front door said only that it was "opening soon."

The Record reviewed Kinchley's Tavern on Friday, http://tinyurl.com/lyqdm. Can somebody comment here on whether the tip, mentioned in the final graf, was proper ... ~KenP

Excellent article, but I couldn't find it on their Web site either (maybe it'll be posted later today; it was in the Sunday paper -- ask a neighbor for it) ... the businesses' leases are up (including the pizza place, the pharmacy and the tax preparer), and the building's owners decided not to renew. I heard that they were being put out months ago, but still, it has to be very difficult for them. There is some "grand plan" in the works for Main Street in River Edge. The town and private developers see it as a future downtown (I guess think of Maywood's). I believe Total Wine is safe (and moves on to the next round!). But many buildings on Main Street from River Road to Route 4 are probably in play. ... In the article, the Babylon people said theyhad spent over $150,000 to convert the hardware store that was there into their restaurant. They also own the deli next door, and spent $$$ renovating that as well. Those long-term investments will not be recouped, obviously. As for the timeline, it went something like this: Huffman Koos goes bankrupt, sells the building to Levitz, which goes bankrupt a year later. That's how Huffman Koos is involved: the stores occupy one end of the Huffman Koos building, which was built in the 1940's, when Bergen County was apparently nothing but celery farms and a big furniture store. ~ KenP

The Chinese-Japanese restaurant that replaced Fink's in River Edge, Shogun Wok II (Shogun Wok I is in Fort Lee), has been replaced. Right now the only sign on the building says "Grand Opening." But the name of the new place is Ringo, and it will continue to serve Japanese and Chinese food. I haven't been in yet. Ringo, 626 Kinderkamack Rd., River Edge; same phone as old place: 201-265-3377.

After a few lobster rolls, a lobster salad and a Big Burp on Friday, Picnic has been elevated to "regional treasure" status in our household. But, you know, Best Takeout by NJ Monthly is an OK title too. ~ KenP

We had it on July 4, and everything was terrific. It was my first trip to the restaurant (which was closed for catering that day). kenp

>>>Did you try Jerry's in Fort Lee? Also the farmers market next to Staples, by BJ's on Rt 17 may have them. Which BJ's? The one near Garden State Plaza, or another one? kenp

You've got to know that you're speaking to the choir here and not a representative slice of your customer base in Bergen County. Also, there are so few details, how could anyone offer practical advice? Absent that, let the cheerleading begin!! If the expansion is to the left or the right of the current spot, I would think parking is a bit of a problem without a friendly parking deal with Hot Dog Heaven and revisions to the lot (so that the space in front of HDH and in front of Picnic are not divided). Parking is major, major. A nice benefit of extended hours at Picnic would be to introduce the shop to people who work in New York City. Along those lines, I think tasting dinners would have to start at a time when commuters can make it home. Are there any plans for small cooking classes? [With Chef Central on Route 17, a new Trader Joe's expected near Office Depot at the Midland Avenue exit of Route 17 North in Paramus, and a Whole Foods expected in the Bergen Mall area on Route 4, things are looking up for the area's food enthusiasts. It's a good time to be cooking and eating in this area.] ~ KenP

You might want to plant more to be safe. My parsley often returns for a second season, but it is usually leggy and the leaves look stringy. I've found that it is not very useful the second go-round, but if you have the space, I guess you can experiment with it and report the results. Cilantro is incredibly difficult to grow. It goes to seed quickly when the ground hits a certain temperature. ~ KenP

Let's not encourage her! ~ K

My two rosemary plants made it; one just barely. I have oregano, too, but don't use it so much because it doesn't taste as good as the dried bought kind. I guess the climate isn't great for it. I also do chives, sage, thyme, tarragon, basil, peppers, parsley and patio tomatoes. The thyme always comes back, the rosemary hardly ever. I have a real problem keeping basil from going to seed too quickly. Any suggestions would be appreciated. When they start to turn I try to pinch them off about three sets of leaves down. We planted a handful of pencil corn last year, and the stalks were as high as the tops of the first-floor windows. We wanted the stalks for halloween decorations. ~ Ken P.

My wife had the lobster roll yesterday at Picnic and said it was better than the one she had in 1993; in Ogunquit, Me.; sitting dockside; on our honeymoon; with our whole lives stretching out ahead of us. Isn't that a kick in the ribs? ~ Ken P. We also enjoyed the crab cakes, lobster salad and cheeses. It was a Great Friday round here.