Dana329

Definitely Blu! (Although Fortunato and TF are great.) Dana

I , as a female arriving alone, did not feel at all uncomfortable. (Of course I lived in the East Village in the 70's ) Parking was easy and the waterfront park is nice. The area is obviously heading up with lots of new construction. Of course the usual urban precautions, but those things are second nature if you enjoy exploring the city or have lived there. I am trying to get down there again this weekend with my sons, who had my leftovers for lunch (there was that much!) and are really looking to trying FSS first hand. Really, try this place. We need to support them to make sure they stay around! Dana

I'm not waiting for Eric's pictures to put in my two cents...WOW! and WOW! Go now. This place is fantastic. I've never been to Elisabeth, but it was easy to find and easy to park. Right opposite a nice park on the waterfront (but too chilly for a stroll today). The inside is gorgeous and cozy. When I arrived alone, Bruce made me feel welcome at the bar until everyone else arrived. A group of 3 egulleters was just leaving and we were 4 adults and 2 children, and met up with another egullet couple. Bloody Mary and "pigtinis" to start (Absolut, Absolut raspberry and lemonade-yum). A basket of delicious corn muffins and a bowl of pickles. We ordered the Fred Flintstone as an appetizer - oh my god! BBQ heaven with pitchers of warm vinegar style sauce. There was also a black bean and pork quesadilla, but the beef rib was the star. Four of us ordered the "Pig out" (guaranteed leftovers) which was a 1/2 slab of ribs and choice of 3 meats (brisket, pulled pork, sausage or chicken drumstick) and 2 sides (coleslaw, BBQ black beans, mac and cheese, fries, sweetpotato fries, spanich rice and ????something else) We mostly got coleslaw and beans with one mac and cheese and ordered a basket of sweet potato fires for the table. The only meat we didn't get was the chicken. Everything was delicious. The rub on the brisket and ribs was great, the sausage were spicy and full of flavor. The beans had chunks of pork in them and the coleslaw was made with rough cut red cabbage which disappeared quickly. The house sauce was great on everything including the fries! We all left full and carrying enough leftovers for another full meal (plus the Flintstone bone for my dog!). Another group of egulleters arrived as we were finishing up. The place is very kid friendly with a full kids menu. I will definitely be bringing my two there in the near future. This is the real deal. Dana

Actually, they do eat healthy foods most of the time. Manly Man Nights are a treat. In fact, the same son who went though the "all white food" phase, came home after his first lunch in the cafeteria in high school and told me I was going to have to make their lunches because "they have nothing but fried junk at school". And the bodily noises? you're right, they love them no matter the source. Dana

I"m a single mother with two teenaged boys. They regularly ask for a night of "Manly Man Food" which means nachos, wings, pizza. mozzarella sticks, basically anything fried with lots of cheese (beans and meat a bonus). This must be eaten in front of the television with lots of soda and bodily noises. Must be their reaction to being raised by a woman and fed healthy food! So I indulge them now and then and they revel in their man feast. Me, I was raised in a serious meat and potatoes family, so I'm not big on desserts but throw any meat on the grill, put a potato on the plate and I'm a happy camper. Dana

As I mentioned earllier, I grew up eating great Sloppy JOe's in Bergen County, and the sandwich at The 2nd Ave. Deli matched or beat it. They too used only the best ingredients and living in the city, I could get a satisfying fix without making a run to NJ. Unfortuanately, the 2nd Ave. Deli is no more, and anyway I'm back in Bergen county, so I can still get a great Sloppy Joe without a road trip. Dana

Sure, tease us like that! Pretty soon you're gonna have a bunch of egulleters show up at your door clamoring for Amazings. It's 8 am and I want one already. Can't wait til AHD reopens! Dana

I never realized oh-so-many years ago what a find I had when I subscribed to the Time-Life Foods of the World series. And I moved several times before I got rid of the big texts, but I still have all 17 of the little spiral recipe books I received. I used to use them alot, I think I need to revisit them! My 'How to Cook and Eat in Chinese" is well worn and a friend gave me the 'Microwave Gourmet" in the 80's because I was the only person he knew who used my microwave for more than reheating leftover chinese takeout! I just remembered a great green bean recipe from that book! I love yard sales, but reading this thread has reminded me to do some'shopping' in my own bookshelves at home! Dana

Why the trip? When I lived in the city , I got turkey. coleslaw and Russian on rye at the 2nd ave. Deli . Different name, same sandwich. Dana

Linens N Things or Bed Bath and Beyond has a toothpaste tube squeezer. About a 1 x 3 inch piece of plastic with a sllit down the middle and flanges on the slit. You slide it on the end of the tube and push it up as you use the toothpaste. It works great and no twisting. I used to roll the tube and clamp the rolled end with a binder clip. This is much better and looks nicer. I think I got 2 for a ridiculously low price. They should work for any tube. And yes, I put the last sliver of soap on the new bar and I have lots of upside down bottles in the kitchen and bathroom. I can get another week out of an "empty " shampoo bottle. Oh, and I slice fresh cucumber into the leftover pickle juice (Mrs. Fannings Bread and Butter are my fav) and have fresh pickles! I think I learned this as a single mother with 2 young kids and not much money, so I really had to squeeze that dollar. Now it allows me to splurge now and then (of course the boys are teenagers now and more expensive to keep) Dana

Actually , its pretty ubiquitous at Northern Bergen county catered events, particularly by the Market Basket in Franklin Lakes (theirs are great!) Also Wilkes Deli on Forest Road in Mahway. All their specialty sandwiches are wonderful and they make an awesome bacon egg and cheese on a roll! Yum, should have stopped on my way to work this morning...heart attack on a roll! Dana

TGI Fridays has a GOld Points card that gets credited each time you eat there and then you can trade in the points for appies or gifts. This is helpful with teenagers. Dana

Omelets, lo mein, tacos.burritos/quesadillas. And if its prepared food, i.e. a serving of mac n' cheese, one chicken cutlet, various veggies, a doggie bag or two, my teenage sons like Left Over NIght, where it all gets heated and you take what you want. Sort of like a dinner buffet. Easy on the cook and those little bits don't get tossed. Dana

They had these a few weeks ago at my SHoprite. Tasted good, they apparently added garlic and lemon and were not over cooked. No decernible taste of a "glue". When he cut them they fell apart, so maybe its just the shrimp juices under pressure? WHo knows but I couldn't see the use of them packed this way. However, that shrimp sandwich sounds good, Jason. Dana

OH, my god I'm still full! Yes, there were chicken hearts, also pork sausage, chicken sausage, sirloin, sirloin wrapped in bacon, pork, salmon, chicken legs, chicken wings, ribs, leg of lamb (which came out after we were done) and lots of other beef that I couldn't identify, but everything was delicious. We tried not to fill up on the buffet to leave room for the meat, but there were black beans and rice and rice with chicken, greens, okra, fried bananas, fish filet, cheese rolls, breaded/fried brocoli (unbelieveable) and all the usual salad bar item. Plus changing platters at the end of the buffet with marinated mussels, calamari salad, the pictured asparagus with ham and more, more, more. The desserts tray had flan, chocolate cake, coconut flan, puddings...more....all served in HUGE portions. Plus all the beer, wine and sangria you could drink, and coffee, tea, expresso, etc etc. All for $34. WOW! The servers were friendly and accomodating. And the Ironbound is a fascinating part of the City of Newark that feels like another world. Would love to explore all the various bakeries, meat markets, ice cream shops and other restaurants. Seems like a great place to stroll before and/or after diner. It was terrific meeting many of the Phila egulleters. So many made the trip that there were people at the other end of the table I never saw! All in all a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Dana

Sometime during the last week, Paula Deen on the Food Network did a chocolate bread pudding that looked awesome. She does have that Southern advantage. I think I'll find the recipe online. Dana

Sorry to hear about this, Eric and Matt. WIll be there with bells on when you are up and running again. Dana

<Actually, in Northeast Bergen, Tenafly is the most recognizable name to people that are not from this area. "Near Tenafly" always gets an "Oh, OK." when describing where you live to folks not familiar with the area. > People know where Tenafly is? I grew up in Bergen county and I don't really know where it is-I always confuse it with Teaneck (even though I know where that is) Now Paramus, EVERYONE knows where Paramus is! Dana

I grew up in Ridgewood and Sakura bana has been there forever. My oldest son learned about GOOD sushi there. I always wondered why I never saw it mentioned on eG. Besides being fresh, everything is presented so beautifully. Very low key atmosphere. I hope the new place 2 doors down doesn't hurt their business. Dana

Even my teenage boys were too full for dessert! Dana

while i agree that there's no excuse for crappy bread, i don't think that bread should be warm. bread should be warm shortly after it comes out of the oven. but i don't think restaurants are baking their own bread (though some do). when bread is warm it means that it was heated up which does nothing to my mind other than accelerate the drying-out/staling process. i can't think of many top restaurants that heat up their bread. thankfully. ← Tommy, that last piece was cold, as in had been refrigerated. Agreed that bread, unless it is fresh-baked, should be room temperature. Dana

Well, I'm late getting my 2 cents in , but the dinner at Fortunato was superb. Every course was exceptional, and, like Scarlet Knight I am not much of a tilapia fan, but I ate every bite and mopped up the sauce with the bread. Bread...I'm surprised no one mentioned it, since we discussed it there but for such careful preparation and presentation of terrific ingredients, the bread was not up to par. A supermarket Italian loaf, sliced and the last piece I had was cold. Northern NJ is not lacking for good Italian bakeries...maybe a trip to Calandra's is in order! But the food....the pumpkin ravioli was my favorite which is saying a lot because I loved everything. There was not a misstep. The wine Chef Anthony chose to pair with the first courses was perfect and those wine glasses that we've heard so much about! I found the service to be attentive and friendly, and the prices to be reasonable for the quality of the meal. I would definitely go back and it was a 45 minute drive for me. Of course the company made the experience even better. Thanks CUrlz for letting us know about this place. Next time we have to go to a place 2 minutes from MY house. Dana

This is true (unless maybe you have teenaged boy metabolisms...)! The two of us (gasp) didn't finish our order--I'd say we got through 90% of them. ← I brought my 2 teenagers so we had to get another order of fries after we finished the first 2! Anyway, WOW! I drove down from Bergen County with my kids. Easy to get to. We had studied the menu ahead of time in anticipation. The place is bright and clean and the fun starts with the strange hot dog related stuff in the window and continues with the tip box that cheers when you press to open it. The 14 yo Mexican food fanatic ( and notorius picky eater) got the Nacho-an Amazing with guac, salsa and sour cream and he "really, really" liked it. The 17 yo got the Smokey Joe-an Amazing with baked beans and BBQ sauce, downed it quickly and went back for a Hotburger-Hamdog with Cheese Whiz. I had the Classic Melt with Cheese Whiz (plus grilled onions). Everything was awesome. We also got an order of mini egg roll dogs, like pigs-in-a-blanket goes Chinese and these were great dunked in duck sauce. I tried the coelslaw, got to have good coleslaw and it was great, creamy, crunchy and great taste. Points for Pepsi intead of Coke! Both kids thought, though that the flavor of the bacon on the Amazing was not distinct next to the flavor of the dog, I'll have to try one the next time (and there will be many next times!) The fries were very tasty, but I would have like them crisper. Forgot to say my usual "well-done". Older son (6 foot, over 200lb wrestler)thought he could compete in the contest to eat 6 special dogs, a large fries and fountain soda in one hour to get a t-shirt, his pic on the website and glory. Half way through the first dog, he turned to his brother and said "No way". This is a solid, filling 1/4 pound of goodness. Congrats to Eric and Matt. As #2 son said on the way home "That place is gonna be busy!" Sorry we had to pass on the dessert trip. Nice to see all the egulleteers. Dana

From what I've seen on this site and people I've talked to offline, it's gonna be really crowded at AHD today. I'd better get their early! Best of lulck, Eric and Matt, and see you at lunch! Dana

Wow! Thanks for the warning. I guess a roadtrip to Newburgh is in order, though. Dana