menton1

Wow, I haven't seen these automated machines in NJ yet; very disturbing if they come here. You would think they could come up with a beter solution. Carpal tunnel???!!! What about all the secretaries that get that condition? And yes, they are all-powerful. I've seen them just come into a neighborhood and raise the average rent of all the businesses, because they will pay 1/3 more if they want a location. And then the landlords get greedy with the other tenants. I've also noticed that Dunkin Donuts coffee (ugh) is now priced equally with Starbucks. So the idea that Starbucks coffee is expensive is a myth.

Actually, in the interests of accuracy, I would love for someone with all the details of the sauce operation to chime in here. If this is a totally owned factory, I stand corrected. However, hoovers.com says that Rao's sauce operations are out of lower Manhattan, 9 employees. The sauce production is outsourced to a factory elsewhere, according to the website. Are they in error? It also says that they import pasta made in Italy, by a different 3rd party.

Actually, there is parking on the residential street around the corner, and in the Fairway lot if Fairway is closed. However, IMHO, don't bother. BRT is just like any other "red sauce" Italian that you see on every corner in Northern NJ. Ordinary and unexceptional. Certainly not worth the long drive from River Vale.

$2.75/lb.!!?? Arrgh. That's up there with gasoline!!!

I think some folks are getting caught up in the semantics of the word "licensing". Does a separate, independent company actually manufacture the product? Albeit, under the specifications and supervision of Rao? Most licensees are just like that. Unless the Rao family itself has full ownership of the manufacturing company, hires all employees, and is in total control of all operations, I would call this a licensee-manufactured product. Of course there is advice and consent and a degree of control, but it is still a license, by my definition. As far as being a good value, I think we addressed this issue at length on a bottled-sauce thread a while ago. I suppose they have done their market research and many folks think that $8-$10 bucks is not too much for a bottled sauce, but I am not one of those folks.

Depending on the rainfall that year, they usually appear around the 1st week of August and hang around until the end of September. Still a little early. I love 'em just plain with a little Brittany fleur de sel. Yum!

Frankly, I think that you can get much better food of the same ilk (70s Italian-American cuisine) on Arthur Ave in the Bronx. But none of those places have the cache of saying "I got in to Rao's and hob-nobbed with the VIPs". And, IMHO, to put Ducasse and Raos in the same sentence for any reason is pure madness. Just apples and oranges, apples and crawfish. P.S. Rao's food products is a licensee, nothing much to do with the restaurant at all, except that they get a piece of the action of everything sold.

I think categorizing Rao's in the same breath as Ducasse and Jean Georges is quite a stretch, IMHO. These are 2 of the most acclaimed chefs in the world. Rao's is just a bit of pop culture, urban legend, folklore, and Hollywood. I don't think too many folks are going to Rao's for the cuisine.

Hasn't foie gras been banned in California, the nation's largest state, since 2004? Led by an unlikely hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger? I think the main issue to some is that they don't give a hoot whether it's cruel or not; it tastes good, and "dammit, I want to eat it!"

I vote for Tang Tang, 3rd Ave and 76th. Sauce is light and used sparingly. The noodles are thin and al dente, and the raw julienned cucumber is sublime. Nice. These days most places just drench the noodles with an overwhelming tasteless sauce covering soggy noodles.

Oh, well... it was a close game, and one team had to lose. But yes, Amélie won, and today's Tour de France stage was won by a big margin by Salvati (a Frenchman). Actually, cuisses and lapin are not overly popular in France; a more ubiquitous dish would probably be Steack frites. For the Italy win, I vote for the Carbonara, authentic style, (no cream!!) that we spoke of recently on another thread.

Well, in the US, particularly this area, there will be a lot more people rooting for Italy, particularly those with Italian ancestry. I would bet that most of those folks have never been to Italy nor France, so they have never tasted "real" Italian cuisine... My ideal pipe dream is to watch the game from Menton, France, right smack on the Italian border, on the Riviera. (My name sake). If France wins, stay there and celebrate, with some local tarte au citron. If Italy wins, just take a 10 minute drive to Ventimiglia, and immerse in the festivities, partaking in pesto and gelato!!

Ah, well, I only wish I was financially affiliated with Cafe Angelique, it is quite a successful place, busy busy busy from morning until night. Of course, this is not a "fine dining" experience, but IMHO in these 2 towns there are only pretenders in that category anyway. Angelique is just a pleasant, fun place for lunch or a snack or coffee and a fabulous pastry. It's good, it's attractive, it's in a relatively quiet area of a quiet town, and parking is doable. I like the place, it's not an important dining experience, but a relaxing one. And it's certainly not worth getting all worked up into a huge debate over.

Well, according to Yahoo! maps, downtown Tenafly is 1.8 miles from the Englewood Hospital, and downtown Englewood is 1.4 miles. I don't think the political borders of the towns (no border checks!) is a factor in making a restaurant suggestion. Also, the parking in Englewood is quite daunting, parking would be much easier with lots of angle parking around the old Tenafly RR station. (No trains anymore, just one freight car spur about once/biweekly.) There is also an imminent opening of a new Asian restaurant on River Edge Rd and Tenafly road, nice picture windows and plenty of parking. Name escapes me at the moment.

Almost nobody eats inside at Cafe Angelique. As mentioned in my post, the outdoor seating is lovely, wrapped around 3 sides of an historic building, with a view of the downtown park. 5 minutes from Englewood Hospital.

Englewood Hospital is about halfway between downtown Tenafly and Englewood. For a wonderful lunch, outdoor seating in the park, you can try Cafe Angelique in Tenafly. EGullet Cafe Angelique discussion

That's against the FDA regulations, you might contact these companies for an explanation, along with a promise to contact the FDA. Which brands were these?

According to TJ employees in Westwood, the Paramus store is a "go", probably early September opening. They said that TJs expects it to be one of their highest volume locations in the Northeast. They will be able to open on Sunday, even with the strict Paramus regulations. So when this location does open, expect big crowds and long lines!

The only problem with Cresskill is that Butch sold the place about 7 years ago, and the recipes have changed greatly. Lots of exotic flavors now, and the bagels are just too big, too soft and too doughy for my taste, each bagel must weight 6-7 ounces! Closter isn't bad, but the best bagel IMHO in this area now is Kinderkamack Bagels, on KKM Road and Midland Avenue, in River Edge. Nice balance of size and texture, not too big and not too soft. Basic too, no exotic flavors.

You see we in NJ use a special mix of chemical waste, biological waste, various toxins such as toluene, radon gas by-products and dead folk's (see the legend of Jimmy Hoffa!) to create that special NJ tomato taste that you mentioned. You should try the NJ sweet corn as well... toxic waste goes a long way these days to make food tastier! I wonder if one day someone will market this mix as a special "plant additive"?! In the mean time I have 2 more days to go before I hit the Farmer's Market! ← Well, New Jersey bashing is a popular sport for folks that don't know better, but, living in NJ, it is not any worse that most other States in the country. Sussex county, Hunterdon, Warren, have some goregous pristine countryside. The world is polluted, this is not a New Jersey problem, let's not add to the foolishness of "what exit" or the smokestacks near Exit 13. New Jersey is a great state!!

Well, absolutely, that would be silly; but, based on your deductions here, are folks who love steak tartare in Mensa??!!

menton1 (and others), where would you send someone reading this thread looking for good seafood in greater Boston? I'd say moderately expensive, except that fisherman's platter I had was over $20. ← A recent trip to Boston uncovered the Barking Crab, a wonderful fun place on the waterfront just across from the "big dig". If you are at the airport, the place is about 8 minutes away off the Airport Highway. This place absolutely blows away Legal, IMHO. Wonderful, fresh seafood, steamers, clams, oysters, and a blackboard of about 10-12 varieties of what's fresh that day. This is an all paper plate and plastic cup establishment, but you can dig in to that top quality seafood with your hands, it's perfectly acceptable! Barking Crab Web Site

Wow, this is for me, molto e!!! Yes, it somehow always seems that the Europeans are light years ahead of the Americans in their free thinking and spirit. I too, would love this dish, as I love steak and most meats cooked rare, or "bleu" as the French call it. Any chef refusing to cook pork this way is a living anachronism, not aware that the trichinosis threat disappeared about 25 years ago. This is really a matter of personal taste. If I like it rare, I should be able to have it prepared that way! Now, in some fine restaurants in France (and the US) I have heard of chefs refusing to cook meats well done. But refusing a "rare" request is bizarre, IMHO.

Well, I respectfully disagree. The food here I have found to be consistently excellent, and the ambience is superb. This is a chef that cares about food. A nice dining experience.

Tomatoes??!! Hmmm. Any tomato plants up this way have fruit now that is hard and green. That's what I dislike about some of these vendors, they just are allowed to sell anything, whether they grow it or not. Something of the order of the "Italian" olive oils in the supermarket that really are from Spain. Shame.