tommy

Why would Josh Wesson be mentioned in the same breath as Amma? Where is mention of Bikky? i suppose that was kinda my question as well. unless josh has worked as a wine consultant at the place, which would seem to be the implication.

one of those websites mentions "A Tale of Two Manna", from Weird NJ. you can order the old issue for 6 bucks, or buy the book i suppose. i'm tempted to stop at a bookstore tonight to have a quick read.

rickster brings up something that i was going to mention. when comparing montclair and ridgewood, specifically, i'd say that overall montclair is a "younger" town. this, i think, partly drives the restaurant scene.

oh man. that's when i would get my best drinking done. my roommate and i would make an afternoon out of it: drop off the laundry. go to the pub next door to shoot pool and have some beers. forget the laundry. go back to find it on the table, wet. dry it. more beers and pool. bring the whole lot to another bar in a huge duffle bag. drink and eat. walk home, forgetting the laundry at the bar. Hey, that's a good idea! as you might imagine, we chose the laundromat because of its proximity to the bar.

yeah, but if one bottle of beer turns out to be 1.5 servings, or something silly like that, it'll be a lot harder to keep track of how many "drinks" you had the night before. no one likes math the morning after.

jeesh. this is weird. i'm making bolognese tonight. looking forward to comments.

oh man. that's when i would get my best drinking done. my roommate and i would make an afternoon out of it: drop off the laundry. go to the pub next door to shoot pool and have some beers. forget the laundry. go back to find it on the table, wet. dry it. more beers and pool. bring the whole lot to another bar in a huge duffle bag. drink and eat. walk home, forgetting the laundry at the bar.

cool. more young people will no doubt be drawn into food and travel.

all good points. thanks guys.

i'm surprised they're not already labeled with this information. i've had discussions with several people, some right here on egullet, about the caloric and carbohydrate content of white wine vs red wine vs beer, etc. i would think that anything that informs the public is inherently good. a lot of people are making decisions based on hearsay and plain bad information. not good. as far as not drinking if you're on a diet, well that just doesn't sound reasonable. and i don't think it's necessary.

i don't know, but aren't tastings pretty much standard, even with young wines? I'm not sure I understand your point, Tommy. no point. question. i'm asking if the wine tasting community routinely samples wines that are young. i would think so, so i wouldn't think that this tasting at which the corked bottle was discovered wasn't so much a bad decision or "waste" of wine, but rather routine. (my comment, although i quoted you, wasn't pointed towards your statement, but rather i was asking you - and others - the awkwardly phrased question. )

i don't know, but aren't tastings pretty much standard, even with young wines?

bubbles and acid to work with the avocado and acid. as suggested, cava, or prosecco. or champagne, which i know little about.

chef, you can even see how the school looked when rosie attended here.

Sorry, but I love White Rose! I think their burgers are better than White Manna and White Diamond. and White Diamond too!!!! (i was just kinda pointing out that there are a few "clones" of the great Manna around. not sure which came first, though, although Clark's White Diamond has been there for some years now). (and i actually meant to say White Diamond, but White Rose came out. it's all so very confusing.)

and let's not even get started on White Rose.

chef, are you referring to the White Mana on rt 9/tonnele? this thread is actually about the White Manna (not affiliated as far as i know) in Hackensack...although i've always been curious about the one in JC!

who is the wine consultant "Josh Wesson" they mention?

i don't think there's much demographic difference btwn the ridgewood area, for example, and the montclair area. given that both have been known has "restaurant capitals", i think it's just a matter of luck: montclair got luckier with certain types of restaurants (whereas ridgewood, one might agrue, has montclair beat in upscale dining with the likes of La Tour, Zarole, and 28 Oak, not to mention bergen overall with Cafe Panache and HoHokus Inn).

i have to apologize for being part of a discussion that i really didn't intend to be a part of. i just wanted to point out that not every american, and maybe even most americans, has access, within reason, to what is commonly accepted as the "best".

it was also meant to make a point: bergen county is filled with families who might very well prefer a Sicilian Sun experience over a Babbo experience.

i know *where* to get them. but they're not in the 20 supermarkets that are closer to my house. jaymes points out that her supermarket does have them. i don't think we have any conclusion based on this other than you can get them some places, and other places you cannot. i'm betting the latter is more the case over the country as a whole.

it should be noted that it's not very easy finding canned san marzano tomatoes in northern NJ even. the supermarkets carry 20 brands, none of which are san marzano. so yeah, i end up eating second-rate canned tomatoes most of the time.

the scene is tremendously dull because tremendously dull is the current market in bergen, and i'd guess all over the country generally speaking. people just don't want Babbo and Lupa. families are much more willing to spend 10 dollars on "veal parm" with a side of pasta then they would 25 bucks on beef cheeks. one of the more creative italian restaurants in bergen, la carbonaria (sp?) in ho-ho-kus lasted only a few short years, if that, and closed over a year ago. the red sauce joint across the street is still, presumably, doing a booming business. they probably even have crayons so kids can draw on the placemats.

and if they have, they've probably enjoyed them with white zinfandel, which up until very recently was the biggest selling wine in the US (only now surpassed by chardonnay, and i don't think we're talking burgundy here).