Oceangroveguy

I like David's Kosher salt - the taste is fine, but the big attraction is that it comes in a 40 oz plastic bottle that's a lot easier to store, and keeps the contents a lot drier, than the boxes that Morton's and other brands come in. I have found it in New Jersey at Wegman's and Foodtown.

Novita at 425 South Elmer in Westfield (it's off South Ave, just East of Central), byob, and pricey but very good Mona Lisa at 157 E. Westfield Ave in Roselle Park just reopened - there's a fine dining side and a more casual bbq pub food side. We've done the latter and the food was good (not byob) Great burgers and such at the Cellar Grill in the Cranford Hotel on South Union ave in Cranford (not byob) Thailand, in an old diner on Central Ave in Clark (about a half mile north of exit 135) byob Haven't been there in a long time, but Pecos Grill on North Ave in GArwood wasn't bad (byob)

Brussel Sprouts

The lysergic certainly is...it helped keep the best minds of my generation.....

We walked into Balthazar yesterday (Sunday) at about 11 am and lucked into a table for 5 with no wait. The place was packed. We all had eggs of one sort or another, except for one order of the day's special crepe, a buckwheat item filled with ham, gruyere and scrambled egg. The egg people had poached with polenta and pancetta, eggs benedict and an egg dish with smoked salmon. No one drank anything stronger than coffee. The food was great, the service was wonderful, the cafe au lait just what we needed after a long visit with the Gates in Central Park. Two of our 5 had always wanted to try the place but had never been - they loved it, and so did we. I've never had anything but a great time there.

Total Wines also has a store on Springfield Road in Union, just off of Route 22 East - website is here: http://www.wineaccess.com/store/totalwine-union

I went to the Garwood ShopRite at about 7 am on Saturday morning. The store opens at 7, and on a normal saturday there'd be 6 or 8 cars in the parking lot waiting for the opening. There must have been 50 cars the other day, and there were 25 people ahead of me when I took a number at the deli counter. I definitely observed the 'end of the world is nigh' approach to what was in people's shopping carts - comfort food, staples, and a lot of snack items. To their credit, they had called in extra staff, so that while the check out lines were pretty long, they had more open than on a usual saturday morning, and some lines had packers working with the cashiers. I waited 5, maybe 10 minutes to check out. I skipped the deli in favor of presliced turkey for lunches, bought shrimp and little necks for pasta saturday night, and a chicken and yams to roast for last night. I went out for the Times yesterday at about 10 and stopped at the Elizabeth shop rite (because it was near the newspaper place, and it was open) - the produce section was unkempt, but the meat and poultry coolers were full, the fish guys were all set up and dairy was well stocked, too. There weren't many people in the store and, given the conditions of the side streets, I doubt many people ventured out if they didn't have to.

White Castle cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches and onion rings.

I'd never seen it on another list in New Jersey, for sure. I think La Griglia was charging about $90. The only NJ retail store I've seen Turley was the Spring Lake Bottle Shop (Shoppe?). They had one or two bottles about 6 months ago - don't remember the price

Last time we were there, they had a Turley zin on the winelist........

I was told that Chef Toni left some time before the Raspberry Cafe closed.

The taste of the sea, the slippery-ness of the meat. Cold and fresh, they make me think of the outdoors. They are comforting, in a non-heavy kind of way. Delicious. What s/he said sez it all!!!

Have you tried Sipan on Amsterdam in - I think - the 90's? Street address is 702 AMsterdam, phone 212 665 9929. I've only had fish there, but the chicken looked might good.....

Top them with a shmeer of crunchy peanut butter and 2 slices of your best bacon, and broil until the bacon is crisp??

Heard in the car this morning the indelible words of the English poet George Harrison: Everywhere there's lots of piggies Living piggy lives You can see them out for dinner With their piggy wives Clutching forks and knives To eat the bacon!

Got an email about holiday events at Le Rendez-vous in Kenilworth, and then checked their website. It has new owners, and I was wondering if anyone had been there since the place was sold and what that experience was like. Haven't been there in a couple of years, but it was a big favorite for a long time. Thanks.

It's a bit of a hike from the Hoboken train station to 14th and Washington, folks.....

Looking at the quoted section of the law on suspended establishments, I think (and this is just one man's opinion) that if you had a liquor license, and it was suspended, you couldn't even cook with booze unless it had been properly salted and rendered undrinkable. But if you don't have a liquor license, or have one that was not impaired due to prior misconduct, there is nothing in that section that I would interpret to prohibit the use of alcoholic beverages in cooking at a restaurant Whoever noted that many menus list wine sauces and similar items probably was on to something. One last thought - as inane and aggressive as some gov't agency inspectors can be, I seriously doubt there'd be trouble over legitimate use of wine or booze in cooking. I can see trouble if the pork loin in Jack Daniels sauce had 4 ounces of booze and was being sold as a take out item to junior high students, but .......

I go to Elmora Bagels all the time. They are the best I have had in NJ (although I can't claim to have done a lot of comparative shopping - it's my local bagel place) Someone probably knows the real story, but I seem to remember that Elmora and the other "Bagels 4 U" stores are related to the Sonny Amster bakery...

call Casa di Trevi in Roselle Park - 908 259 9000 website is (I think) www.casaditrevi.com I've bought fresh pasta and wild mushroom ravioli from them - very high quality.

The adobo (all flavors), pico de gallo, and the canned hominy. When I am especially lazy or under the weather, the flavored rices can be the basis of an easy meal

Ajian on Route 22 in Watchung is very, very good. If you want to spend a day at the beach and will settle for good but not grat sushi, you could try Osaka at the Station on Main St in Bradley Beach.

Brussell Sprouts - FEH!

I've been to one good Portugese restaurant in Monmouth county, if that's of interest. It's Pearl of the Sea on South Broadway off Ocean in Long Branch - 732-263-1050

Roaches, gaaaaah! They were the end of long love affairs with the Mexican Gardens on Waverly Place, and Tennessee Mountain in Soho (although I confess I was so enamored of the sausage enchiladas at MG that I might have gone back once after first seeing roaches...but not twice). This was back in the early 80's.