dbrociner

There is no shame in attending a Jets exhibition game

A word of caution: do not, under any circumstances, have the steak sandwich. I realize that this won't be a problem for those of you who have already scoffed at the mere suggestion of having something other than a ripper but let me explain. Last summer, before a Jets exhibition game, I ended up at Rutts after having hot dogs for lunch. I probably should have just made it a 6 dog day but on the menu board they mention their steak sandwich as a specialty. Sure, I should have known better. Sure, most of you know better. But just in case someone wants to have something that goes better with their Turley and is tempted to get the steak sandwich please think again. Mine was so bad that I took two bites and threw the thing away. Burned on the outside and still raw on the inside. Now I grant you that is a culinary feat but not one worth eating. Have a great time. I'd like to join you all but Wednesday's are the worst for me with Tuesdays following close behind. So I was out of the mix before this even started.

Taboni, thanks for the info. I will report back when I hear the results.

A friend of mine is going on a date tomorrow night in Red Bank. He has heard that either Ashes or Echo would be a good place to go for a quiet drink. I know nothing about Red Bank but I told him that I would post and that those of you in the know would help him out. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.

the recipe on the jar of the Batali fennel sauce for chicken thighs is an excellent use for the sauce. I haven't had it as a pasta sauce so I can't comment. I have used the Patsy's Marinara doctored way up with onions, pancetta and parmigano regg and I like it. I have to admit that canned tomatoes doctored with onions, pancetta and parm would probably be just as good and a lot less money. Kings had the Patsy's line on sale at 50% off a few weeks ago, now its back to being $8 or $9 a bottle depending on the variety.

Just an update: dinner last Saturday night was excellent. I started with spice coated tuna served very rare with a lime aioli and garnished with caramalized onions, seaweed salad and red peppers. Great combination, the lime aioli really added to the flavor of the tuna. My wife started with the Santa Fe Firecracker Calamari which was fried calamari with olives in a spicey sauce-I'm not as up on what she ate. For main course I had a stuffed pork tenderloin with sausage stuffing and granny smith apples. The wife had surf and turf. Neither one of of us were able to finish the main course after the big appetizers and also a plate of delicious fried zucchini that we had in between. Chocolate mousse for desert with a raspberry (strawberry?) sauce was also excellent. All this and a good bottle of champagne. Thanks again Lou, we'll definately be back!

I think that pickelicious had a table at the Milburn farmer's market on Fridays last year. The day I was there they told me they were opening a store the next week. Sounds like the same outfit to me. Pickels, sour tomatoes and pickled red peppers were all excellent.

First meal I ever had in New Jersey was on Elmora Ave at Goodman's deli back in 1967! The restaurants I remember on and around Elmora Ave were Goodman's, Superior (also a deli) Elmora Bagels, the Pathmark Hut (Pathmark's attempt at a fast food restaurant), White Castle which was on the corner of Elmora and Westfield Ave and has migrated into the back of its parking lot so that now it is only on Westfield Ave. I learned to eat Catonese at the Sun and Moon also on Westfield Ave but only doors away from Elmora. Through the haze of memory the Sun and Moon had great pedestrian Chinese food: egg rolls, roast pork fried rice, lo mein, shrimp in lobster sauce: all the stars of the Jewish-Chinese hit parade. It was gone by the early 80's around the same time I was. I can't remember the last time I had something to eat in Elmora. I guess its time to go back.

Just wanted to let Lou know that I'm coming to his restaurant for dinner on Saturday night and I'm shamelessly pandering for special treatment. Actually, after the great egullet lunch we had there I'm sure I'll have a great evening.

Is Fantastico now out of business? I know that the owner had changed the name to Gabe's Grille and tried to emphasize family dining but when I had lunch there the Fantastico lunch menu was still there just with some additions. For instance, there was now a burger on the menu but you could still get the grilled tuna with asian style noodles, etc. The owners at Fantastico/Gabe's also own the Florham Park deli. I talked with the woman one day at the deli and she was lamenting the lack of business at Fantastico's especially during the weeknights when the restaurant was almost always empty. I told her that I thought that the weeknight business was the hardest part of running a suburban restaurant. "They do it all the time in Montclair" she said. I guess Florham Park just isn't Montclair.

I had brunch at Aqua Grill in lower Manhattan last Sunday and they had Escolar as a special. I didn't have it, but the waiter was reccomending it served medium rare. Sounds like side effect city if the rumour is to be believed.

I'll echo Pete's sentiments. I was underwhelmed by Jocelyn's. Maybe it was all the build up. I had a meal almost identical to one described by Rosie and I left feeling that it was no big deal. I guess I'll go back one day, too bad it isn't the kind of place we could have a group dinner at.

Sorry to be so late in getting back to you all. The lunch was great but I should have had the hot peppers because starting last Tuesday I went down with the flu and I'm only just back to the office today. As for the Titans jersey, like I told Lou if the Giants had won I'd have worn my Giants one. Titans are my second favorite NFL team, Giants are first. I guess its an Eddie George thing, I'm also an Ohio St. fan. So Lou, let me know which people I need to talk to cause I can always use an extra $50. Thanks again, it was a great time. David

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Bagels 4 You chain. Almost all the locations have some seating, though you wouldn't really call this restaurant seating. Traditional bagels are excellent here, I have an onion bagel with either lox spread or scallion cream cheese 3 or 4 times a week from the Warren location. Bagels are not big and puffy however, there are too many specialty, non traditional, bagels ie: strawberry, blueberry, peanut butter etc. I guess people buy these things so who am I to complain? Tuna fish and whitefish spread are also very good. Service is ok, most of the people speak Spanish which is sort of weird. Nice Jewish boy like me buying his bagels from someone from Equador or Costa Rica. Then again on Elmora Ave in Elizabeth the bagel store is owned by an Italian and the Pizzaria by orthodox Jews.

Count me in (if thats ok). I'm looking forward to putting some faces to some names and I have off on Mondays.

I work up the street, on Rt 10 in East Hanover, and we are always looking for a new lunch place as we're all burned out on the restaurants in the area. We've done Cosi take out a few times. It's a riot. The place is so noisey that they can't hear you. You end up screaming your order, and then screaming it again. I wanted to substitute American cheese for Swiss on a "Cosi Melt", I was told that the only kind of American cheese they had was cheddar. I screamed back that this was ok. The food is good, not great, and I'm not expecting that much. Ice tea and lemonade could both be better, especially for the price. Place is as you all have described but its filled with the Livingston crowd so I think they'll be around for a while. Don't know if anyone has mentioned this but David Alan's just off Rt. 10 in East Hanover is better. They've had a catering business for a long time and just recently opened a retail shop. I tend to order normal deli sandwiches, ie: ham and cheese or roast beef and not the fancy sandwiches they have on the board. You get more meat for less money. I can't explain but I've got lots of experience. We eat there at least twice a week. Soup is good too, expensive at $3.00 a cup but good.

Pick, pick, pick. Whats the difference between French and Continental? I've always had a thing about this...pick, pick, pick.

An update: wife was ill, reservation canceled. I will post when we do go, who knows when.

Do you know where they went? Is the Park better or worse for his departure?

Rosie, can't agree about Sammies. Perhaps the most over-rated restaurant in all of NJ, imho. I once went to the Park, on your recommendation-btw, and while it was good it wasn't worth the drive from Union county. I could have been at Sparks or Peter Luger in less time discounting time lost in traffic. Now I know that RS has a Peter Luger horror story which would make an exterminator grin and the rest of us run for cover but I've been back there and they gotten the better of the bug population, at least in the dinning room. They haven't figured out how to seat 5 people comfortably but thats another story. You can get a great steak at Arthur's in Mo Plains, you can also get a 24 oz piece of fat, so its dine at your own risk there. Same is true for Outback, I can't believe I had the courage to write that. I've learned how to make steak at home the way I like it and rarely go out for it. I do recommend the Palm in Las Vegas if anyone is going to be out there. This restaurant would get my vote for the best steakhouse in the country. So much better than the one on the west side in Manhattan that you'd have a hard time believing its the same restaurant.

I've read good things about Dish in Passaic(?). I'd appreciate hearing some of your thoughts. Have a Friday night reservation. Thanks. David

Famous Dave's in Mountainside. I can't believe that people don't bring this place up. Best "St. Louis" style ribs I've had in NJ. Caveats: restaurant is part of a chain and everything inside is prefabed. Wait staff is young, eager to please but too inept to do so on several occassions. Food makes up for these complaints, brisket is excellent, chopped pork (what they call their pulled pork) is good and I've already given the ribs my stamp of approval. Potato salad is also very good but the other sides left my dissappointed. As with most chains sodas and ice tea come in a bottomless cup. Place is very crowded at dinner so plan accordingly. Rt 22 east in Mountainside.

Yes, its on the street with the movie theater-train station and yes its in the spot that used to be Tiffany's. I've eaten there several times and its good for lunch or a quick bite. I've had the pulled pork sandwhich, the jumbalaya, the shrimp po boy. All were good. The owner may have worked with Emeril but this isn't going to be like eating at NOLA. He's a nice guy, I talked with him a few times. They share the dinning room with Romanelli's next door which should tell you everything you need to know about the ambiance in the place. Only let downs were the corn bread (dry as dust) and the lemonade but I'll eat there again in the next ten days. Hope this helps, David.

had lunch here again today. I started with shrimp bisque which was rich, creamy, loaded with shrimp and worth every calorie. Ordered the "hotsy totsy pizza" (hot peppers and baby shrimp) but was so full from the shrimp that i took 2/3rds of it back to my desk (it was gone 2 hours later). Excellent thin crust pizza. The peppers gave it a nice zing but did not overpower the tomato sauce or the shrimp. I said something to the waiter about needing to get out in under an hour and they came through this time. People I was with had a spinach, mushroom and quail risotto and spinach ravioli in a vodka sauce respectively. Risotto was good and a great value at Ű. As for a discount in regards to the shameless plug for my carpet store, I would be glad to work out a special egullet sale price for anyone who asks for me, David.

RS, not a bad idea, but do you think I should have to? It isn't unreasonable to expect a restaurant to be able to serve 2 courses to 3 people and get them out the door in 55 minutes. Or is it? Maybe I'm just being a p-i-t-a. Anyway, food is good here and that is the most important thing. Lord knows we have enough bad restaurants on Rt. 10.