tommy

that's very true. and it's important to remember that neither is necessarily incorrect.

it's probably a french thing, as in: not everyone speaks it. anyone know if this is Jack's first foree into the restaurant business, speaking of butchering french?

i agree that there are several demographics in hoboken, and the people in their 30-50 have quite a bit of disposable income. but, i don't notice a whole lot of them going out when compared to the 20 something set. perhaps they have kids, perhaps they go out in the city, perhaps they spend their money on travel and other things. whatever it is, if you're not winning over the 20 somethings, you're losing out on a lot of business. (i should note that my anecdote above was meant purely for entertainment, and not for any real and accurate comment on the state of the restaurant business in hoboken) i lived in hoboken for 15 years and still have ties there. friends of mine have said the Jeff is often dead. but, that's not a very scientific survey, and i wouldn't begin to guess why're they're packing up. i'd love to know, though.

what a loss. The Jeff was outstanding, and unlike anything else in the area. It was my Lupa, as far as I was concerned. I was talking to a NYC bartender the other day, who lives in hoboken and was probably about 24 or 26 and likely very representative of the average Hobokenite. She said she lives "in the Shipyard, where all the cool people are moving, with the pool" (yikes. in the old days, it was cool to live in a railroad back on Monroe), and that she likes the City Bistro "because it has a rooftop deck" (the cool people used to go to maxwell's and red heads and Louise and Jerry's and...). When I mentioned the Jeff, she said "oh that's horrible. I'm a real italian so I know italian food" (no, you don't, you're italian-american, and you know nothing about italian food). She did qualify that by saying that "every time I go there, they aren't serving dinner." Turns out she was going late at night, for the late-night menu, which is nothing like what they're doing during dinner service. so yeah, that's what you're dealing with in hoboken when you open a restaurant.

i'm not sure what "other" you thought, but i thought it was the one by me. i'm guessing not. damn you NJ and all of your Washingtons!

Sounds to me like a ready market exists for hot italian beef sammies. They really are good when done right with a little horseradish cream sauce on top of the au jus, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. ← i agree. the hot dog may very well not even make a dent, given they're making a go of it in what might very well be the hot dog capital of the world. but a beef sandwich is unlike anything NJ has to offer. hopefully people other than crazed foodies will enjoy it as well. it's a tough sell though, i'd think.

a little green somewhat hot pickled pepper found seemingly only in chicago at bars and on hot dogs: http://images.google.com/images?q=chicago%...lr=&sa=N&tab=wi

Tommy, 5? Do you realize the exposure this site has? At least 15 I'd say and I'd be one of them if it weren't so damned far! ← 5 people who post. a very small percentage of members post on egullet, and even less of that number are from NJ/NY/PA. since egullet is extremely "googe-able", it's certainly not going to hurt to have the place mentioned here. dollars to donuts people will start googling when they drive past it or hear about it, and they'll be reading these words right here. but yes, i was being a bit conservative with 5. but the 3 day limit is pretty tight, you must admit. over the next few weeks, we'll be seeing, i'm thinking, me, jason and rachel perlow, holly, hitmanoo, curlz, nuge, dbroc, ejebud and beth, all heading down. damn, that's way over 5 already. john the hot dog guy, any word on the giardiniera? it's my understanding that this is a very important part of the beef experience, and can make or break the thing. i suppose it's not hard to "source" this from wherever they get it in chicago, though. by the way, the website.

something tells me at least 5 egulleters will be hitting this place within the next, oh, i'm guessing 3 days.

chef, please please please come back and keep us posted on where you land. i know a lot of people will be very interested. hoboken must have been a tough sell. next to impossible to my mind. i hope you don't let the experience get you down, but rather you take some valuable experience away from it.

ludja, thanks for the feedback. i'll add that it's hard for a poster to be repetitious on a board with 30k users and billions of posts. what i've done is search thread titles with "santa". there are only a handful (most of which you post on). feel free to review some of your thoughts here. in my experience, when someone asks for recs on the NY board, for example, and it's met with "search on pre-theater for ideas", for example, it would be much more helpful to the person seeking the info to just post some random thoughts from the top of one's mind, rather than telling them to "search". ya know? maybe it's just me. but please do, if you could, throw out a few random ideas regarding hotels and such. i promise you won't be accused of being repetitive, boring, or unhelpful of you do.

one word: service. they drop the ball, and for me, it's not even worth the hassle anymore. and this coming from a guy who was perhaps their original proponent when they lived in Nutley. what a shame.

and...what should i eat and where should i eat it and where should i stay? those are the questions. i searched through the forum here, which was currently untapped by me other than the occasional Vegas discussion, and i'm still wondering on specifics. this santa fe thing is all new to me. any thoughts on what a guy from NYC might want to look for/avoid? we like spicy and indigenous.

On our visit to Babbo I would say The Maitre'd was the only unpleasant part of the whole experience. ← if it's the guy i think it is, he's famous for being that guy.

njduchess, i'm glad you enjoyed Oceanos! i love greek white wines. they've very crisp and bright, and to my mind a great compliment to simply prepared fish dishes. the owners are Peter and his son, Nick. they are, as you say, very affable and gracious, and they're the type of people who are truly grateful for your business. Peter has had a restaurant at that location for years (Peter's Whale) and before that elsewhere in the Glen Rock/Fair Lawn area. it's a family business that has been around for quite some time. you don't find that very often.

wondee's in hackensack usually has them (basil and chili...yum-oh). and then they continue to have them well after june. methinks they use frozen soft shells. but then is that really a horrible thing? i'm not even sure i can tell the difference most of the time. China 46 has them as well.

as if the pictures weren't enviable enough i'm also wondering how you have the time to travel all over the damned place for all of these meals!

Any idea what is going to take up this space in Hoboken? ← i'm probably a little out of line with my guess that they're gone, and i'll apologize right now if i'm wrong. but i have no info other than the fact that their phone is apparently disconnected and the are no longer on opentable.com.

all indications suggest: all gone. not sure what happened, but that's a big loss.

Legal Sea Foods. my thoughts, of course, here. edited to correct typo in URL.

i don't see any rice, but chirashi or chirashi-sushi is essentially, by definition, fish with rice, generally below.

Not on the website menu; I assume it's a seasonal/special. Do they have steamers, by any chance? ← i would certainly hope it's seasonal! not sure about the steamers. had the soft shell crab at Dim Sum Dynasty. thought it was overcooked and dry.

Babbo is far from a bad restaurant. But isn't it clear that it gets so much play because of the chef's celebrity, for reasons that have little to do with cooking? ← i'm sure they get their share of tourists and people there because Mario is one of the most recognizable entertainers in america, but, i'm pretty sure it would be filled up with people who love that food even if he weren't a star. i know i'd still go. most restaurants at that level of popularity hold tables for VIPs. that's just the way it is. the VIPs are often the only ones not bothered by the practice.

you've clearly never met my guests. i'm looking for the least possible work for my guests. i don't mind doing work beforehand. ← i had pretty good success this weekend with the following: mint/rum/lime juice in a blender along with the juice/oils that come from muddling limes with a little sugar/simple syrup, and then the whole works back into a big bottle. i then just topped them off with soda as i made them, or made sure my guests knew to do the same. easy peasy. thanks for the suggestions. the muddling was certainly the hardest part.

while minado certainly has a few items worth eating, they sure aren't serving dim sum. and i can only imagine what goes on in that kitchen.