glenn

For those of us egluttons that are health conscientious [my former life], putting the bacon in between towels with a plate on top and bottom and nuking about 4 minutes depending on the amount and thickness of the bacon, gets rid of a good portion of the fat. For those not so conscientious, the NY Times raved about Thielen Meats in Minnesota a few months ago. They've got pepper bacon, garlic (fresh) bacon and double smoked, not to mention sausages, beef jerky, etc. It's probably the best bacon I ever had. However, when I tried ordering again about 6 weeks ago, they were unable to deliver out of state because they needed some sort of certification from the FDA. They probably have it by now. 320-468-6616

A personal plumber for my wife who forgets that our sink does not have a garbage disposal installed.

Wow, that was parsnips!! Best parsnip I ever had :). I thought the lamb was a moroccan lamb with cous cous, but I could be wrong. I only took one bite... frankly, it paled in comparison to the pig and I didn't have much interest in it. I'm at MEET.

Dave, you are a master! I thought the pig was perfect and wouldn't change a thing. I do recall the nutmeg but it was definitely not overbearing. I've never eaten pig prepared like that. The sides of mashed potatoes and spinach were also excellent, though please don't tell me how much butter and cream were used. Anabelle had the lamb - spicy moroccan with cous cous? - it was cooked perfectly and also excellent. The foie gras was also prepared uniquely -- I never had it poached nor with duck consomme poured over it. I thought it was fantastic. Yes, it was Donna who waited on us, and she suggested eating the foie gras with a spoon --- I love being told how to eat my food! Seriously! I couldn't find the wine on your site -- Donna mentioned it was new to Nicholas. But she wrote down all the info including the distributor. I had to do a little detective work to find the distributor (I couldn't make out Donna's writing), but I talked to them yesterday and ordered a case. I might add it was a barrelful of loot cheaper than I paid at Nicholas, not that I'm criticizing :)). [i also got a good price since I ordered it in the name of our restaurant.] The only criticism I have -- and it's minor -- was that a portable wait station was set up next to our table which infringed on our privacy at times. We ate in the small room (very intimate!) and I guess there was no alternative.

Yes, I reluctantly wore a jacket to Nicholas, but a tie is where I draw the line. And if the truth be known, except for special occasions I rarely if ever go to places that have dress requirements other than no bare feet or bare midruff.

Aren't there loads of those dastardly places, or do I misunderstand the question? There's Ryland Inn, Nicholas and Benards Inn to name a few.

Ditto if you you're not truthful about the amount of alcohol sales.

There goes the one reason for hiding out on the Jersey board.

No, I didn't ask as I'm sure he had his hands full. Nicholas was roaming around and chatting though.

We dined at Nicholas in Middletown last night. This is truly a superb restaurant in every sense and our evening was flawless. We sat at the early seating (6:30) and the place was full. That didn't seem to make a difference as the seating is spacious and the service was top notch. It was $75 pp for a 5 course meal, very reasonable for NY Eve. I think the later seating was considerably more expensive, but you got free hats, whooppee :)). We started out with a small portion of tuna tartare (no choice), not one of my favorite dishes, but this was an exception. For the appetizer I had the foie gras & duck consomme and Anabelle had lobster bisque. I had the braised suckling pig for the entree -- you ain't tasted pig until you've tried this dish. 2 desserts followed, a tiny prailine ice cream cone followed by a choice off their regular menu. The chocolate souffle was the best I ever had. Our server was extremely knowledgeable, professional and communicative. We mentioned that it was our first time there and we followed her recommendations throughout. They had a great selection of wines by the half bottle, always a concern to me, as well as an extensive wine list. We followed her wine recommendation and couldn't have been more pleased. Now I gotta find this wine --- anyone familiar with Nuits-St-George Clos des Forets Domaine de L'Arlot and where to get it (ny or nj)?

Btw, Anthony mentioned he was negotiating to open another place in Hoboken. Then we got interrupted and I didn't get the full low down. Rosie, go do your job please. tia.

Negative on steak and boneless chicken. They do have a free range chicken. As I mentioned, I had pork last night and previously had the lamb chops, which are fantastic. The selection of entrees is somewhat limited and about half are fish. No specials. They do have a nice variety of pasta dishes, though they're not really a main course. I had the pasta with veal bolognese previously which was excellent. I also think you can have a fine experience w/o ordering an entree. I decided next time I go I'm just gonna order cheese and a pasta dish.

We went back AGAIN again tonight, our 3rd visit. I have very little to add as it has all been said. I guess we now reached ROSIE STATUS and qualify as near VIPs and got the same comps she did last week, which she described far better than I could. For the appetizer, we shared the pasta with lobster which was out of this world. For entrees, Anabelle had the salmon and I had pork tenderloins. Everything about the place is incredible, not just the food. The service is fitting a **** establishment, while the ambience remains casual. I only pray the reviewers stay away for a while so you don't have to make reservations a month in advance. My only complaint is that everything is so good that I can never find room to try the incredible selection of cheeses.

No. I was being my usual stupid facetious self. The day a Jersey City restaurant gets a review above "good" will be the day the rest of NJ ceases to exist.

It was so nice to see Jersey City restaurants get the recognition they deserved. :))

Yep, you'd be amazed how far $80 gets you at this joint. Since it was such a long trip, I figured I'd stock up. For the rest of the day at least. Does 17 miles from JC make it a destination restaurant? Actually, I was on my way back from the city. [go see 25th hour!]. Man, I love the ribs. And the hamburger. And the cottage fries. And, well, much too much.

How 'bout today? The tourists have started mobbing the place. Well, not quite mobbing, but there were no seats when this tourist paid his first visit there this afternoon. I walked out of there with my arms full and $80 lighter. But it was worth every pound.

[i'm not clear, was the original intent of the post to talk about pizza? I thought it was about apple pie and such??] But anyway thereuare, lemme take a wild guess, Benny Tudino's? Jersey City, not quite the culinary capital of the world, doesn't have one place I know of that serves fresh slices. If it does, I wish someone would clue me in.

Bernards Inn in for dinner and overnight. It's our anniversary too. We're at table #52 to receive your champagne contributions.

How important is the type of vodka used in vodka cocktails? I've been told that most people won't know the difference if you use Fleischman's as opposed to a better brand. Is that true? Our establishment presently uses Absolut or Stoli depending on who's having a promotion. Comparatively, we charge a lot of money for our drinks and I wouldn't want to switch to a cheaper brand unless it makes no difference. What is expected of an upscale bar?

Many many times. Now I know no one reads anything I say, not that anything I say is worth reading. I mentioned this place a number of times. [see my comment in recent post glenn's long-winded post which no one read and which he wasted 4 hours typing, boo-hoo, but I digress. They opened a year or so ago and have been constantly improving. Very strange place for JC. Good strange, that is. It's sort of a Spanish tapas bistro with an Italian influence. They've got an enormous hard-to-find beer selection as well as a nice selection of wines by the glass. Marco and Pepe are Ralph the owners' dogs. It's especially nice in the warm weather to sit outside. Very laid back and European.

Can we please confine this discussion to the past 100 years?

Well, I overdid it. Just got back from Korin and got a Nenox -- I had 2 knives in my hands that were about $100 each. I liked both of them, but then stooopidly I asked to compare it [for the helluvit] to a more high end knife, and guess what I bought. :))

The owner said that MY idea of signing up with opentable is the only good idea I've ever had :)). Seriously, it's been fabulous. We've also gotten a lot more hits on our website since we direct people (on our answering system) to make reservations on opentable through a link on our site. We take advantages of all the promos they offer, like recently offering 1000 points making a reservation on a Tuesday. Tuesdays are normally dismal, but we had a pretty decent crowd that evening. How much $$ do you end up saving between idine and opentable? I think for the most part the points are a gimmick, but people seem to love it. After all, the usual 100 points offered is only worth $1. Opentable doesn't come cheap to the restaurant. In addition to the sign up fee and hefty monthly fee, they charge us $1 per reservation (now that adds up!) and a hefty charge on the promos... the 1000 point promo cost us $15/reservation. At this point, it's impossible to say how many reservations were as a result of opentable, and I don't know if we'll ever know. I started having our reservationists ask online customers when confirming reservations, whether they would have eaten at our place w/o opentable. Probably not the best idea as it's a little intrusive. How 'bout you, are there places you've made reservations using opentable that you would not have dined at otherwise? Would you mind if you were asked by the restaurant about using opentable?