menton1

"Celebrity Chef"??? Aaaarrrgh....

The problem is, we only have 2 or 3 opportunities to grace ourselves with food daily. With such limited chances, why would anyone that cares go to a chain? In the Princeton area, there just HAS to be a better choice. These chains are ALL formula, I've heard of chefs getting FIRED for daring to add an herb or a nice little touch that wasn't on the spec.

Lobster rolls are supposed to be served on grilled top split hot dog rolls. When I make the change to the balthazar rolls, my customers complain. A real lobster roll sits on a hot dog roll. Grilled. ← I wouldn't complain--- give me a great peasant roll, or crispy hero anytime. Hot dog bun??? Blecchhhhh! (Very pasty and gooey)

It's a little hole in the wall in an unlikely place-- Dumont. (Not Bergenfoeld). I haven't tried the whole live lobsters, which he has sitting in picnic chests--- The featured lobster roll, however, is quite unremarkable, served on an A&P hot dog bun, and costs $14 bucks. The bun really kills anything that's good about the lobster salad inside; Hopefully, the live lobsters are unadulterated and a better value...

Looks like there is another imminent opening of Zeytinia in Englewood. I was over to the Oakland store a couple of weeks ago and was very underwhelmed. The place was not very busy on a Sunday at 11:30AM. I always worry about a deli that doesn't do enough turnover to keep the foods at their freshest. That was true of the Spanish ham, it was very very dry. Also the deli clerk did not know how to slice it properly. The olive bar was fair, a small selection. The produce is boilerplate. The hot buffet table looked OK, but some of the tastings proved greasy and oversauced. Not a place I would hurry back to. Let me also say that I think the Market Basket is no big deal either. They are very overpriced on a lot of standard items, the deli is standard Boars Head fare, the produce is displayed nicely but grossly overpriced. But MB is always jammed, lots of turnover here. Now Maywood Marketplace, there's a great place for cheese. Tremendous variety, very good pricing. A winner.

Wild Ginger has opened in Ridgewood. Most NJ-ites won't know Alan Lee. But if you happen over to Westchester or nearby Ct, Alan Lee rocks. A unique style of Pan Asian food, and a very favorable experience. No, it's not "authentic". But it's creative, they use extremely fresh, wonderful ingredients, and it's a far cry from the ubiquitous New Jersey Chinese resto. It's not greasy, sticky, or sweet; it has a unique blend of flavors, spices, and ingredients to make for a mouth-watering dining experience. The best dishes are the ones that you choose by sauce and meat (of seafood). The chef chooses the appropriate veggies to go along with the dish. The sushi bar is top notch, but it is the Pan Asian hot dishes that make the place shine. Over in Westchester, they have Wild Ginger in Bronxville and WaterMoon in Rye. In Ct, they have Penang in Greenwich and Ching's Table in New Canaan. (Among others) Welcome, Alan Lee, to New Jersey. If you haven't been to an Alan Lee place, you are in for a great experience.

BTW, that is the CORRECT spelling in French... wonder if it was intentional?

It's amazing the disrespect Starbucks gets, yet the lines at most of them are continual throughout the hours they are open. Their till is quite full. I wonder why McDonald's doesn't get the same lashing that Starbucks gets among foodies... McDonalds is pure garbage; SB is more than coffee, it is a culture, a place to relax that didn't exist in the US before its proliferation...

Here's an interesting article from Money Mag--- chronicling the stupidity of Stew Sr.'s tax skimming evasion scheme. (He wasn't rich enough?) http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb_arc...31999/index.htm I con't find any report, though, of the short-weighing somebody reported above. To me, this would be far more despicable than his tax evasion attempt...

Stew Leonard's can be fun. It can also be daunting, the crowding and the flow of people through the store can be slow. You need a lot of time there. I don't know who invented it first, but they use the same merchandising system as IKEA. You MUST go through the entire store, even if you are looking for one or two items. They flow you through every department, and force you to look at every item of merchandise that they sell. Stews is not the place to pick up a couple of items quickly. A while back we were at the Norwalk store and they had at their outside food bar some whole steamed lobsters for $4.99/each!! It was quite a bargain, and we slobbered through one each. But I haven't been back since, and the Westchester store doesn't weem to do such things... Didn't Stew have some legal troubles a few years ago?

A person seeking "good local independent spots" is someone aftrer my own heart. This is the first quality that I look for in a restaurant. This is a rather obscure area for this type of restaurant; however, in Newton, about 15 minutes away, is a gem, Andre's. The menu changes every 2 weeks, and its a BYOB but they have a wine shop adjacent to the restaurant, and their menu has a suggestion next to each entree as to what to pair with the dish. Really creative, and an excellent choice in this culinary wasteland. http://www.andresrestaurant.com/ Another rec I must tell you about is approx 30 minutes away. But this place is worth a journey! This is one of the VERY BEST restaurants in a 100 mile radius. It is due west on Rte 80 just over the Pa Border. Antelao, in the sleepy hamlet of Delaware Water Gap, Pa. Only 8 tables in a restored Victorian house, this is the fruit of the labor of a very hard working couple. He cooks, she waits on tables. She is always smiling and upbeat, unlike many waitresses, and tells a story and a cooking scheme for most of the entrees. The cooking is absolutely wonderful, interesting, and for the most part, equivalent to places charging 3x the price in NYC. It's that good. Reservations essential, but if I lived 30 minutes from this place, I would eat there weekly. GO! http://www.antelaorestaurant.com/

Picnic Chef, the word is "NONE" not "FEW", in my book. Especially if you have traveled in Italy, most of the menus here are a joke. And beware of the menus that try to be in Italian, those are usually the worst. The other problem with these Ital-American places is that they are so so booorrrring. There certainly seems to be a demand for them, though; there is one of these on every corner, there are probably a couple of hundred of them just in Bergen...

Rumor has it that Angelo's, on Main St Flushing, near Jewel Ave, has been turning out some of the best steel deck pizza for 40 years. They have undergone about 3 or 4 renovations, (they started as a hole-in-the-wall for Queens College students) but I hear that they "fly under the radar" for having one of the best slice pizzas in NYC. Anyone been there recently and have some thoughts?

The fondest memories I have of Nedick's is the mustard/sweet relish combo condiment that they served. It was the first time I ever saw that condiment, and it worked so well on their hot dogs. Didn't Howard Johnson have a couple of hot dog stands serving a similar dog to Nedicks?

It's just another unspectaular, ubiquitous "red sauce" Italian-American place. For a creative, excellent dining experience, go 8 minutes across Old Hook Road eastbound to Harvest Bistro in Closter.

Not to worry, should be plenty of restaurants open both days. Do call ahead, as there will be some closings, but I would guess that 75% will be open on those days. Shopping, however, will be more daunting on the 1st and/or the 11th...

John, before you buy check out the SMEG Lave-vaisselle. A tremendous product. Wish one could get Smeg here in the US...

Pet peeve about Fairway: The Olive Bar. Why do they fully cover most of the olives in soybean oil? It's not only messy, but it gives a weird flavor to the olives. This is why, IMHO, Zabar's Olive bar BLOWS away Fairway's. No oil at Zabar's, only the curing brine.

We don't disagree, you did not read my posts carefully. I feel that WL is not worth the long drive, especially for a tourist. Total has a huge selection, and especially since this person intends to be in Manhattan, Morrell and Sherry blow away WL anyway.

Forget about Wine Library! Total Wine is about 6Km from your hotel, straight down Route 4. Total is a great place! Huge, huge selection of wines. If you want exotics, (price no object) as I mentioned above, Morrell and Sherry Lehmann in NYC are worlds better than WL. Morrell web site: http://morrellwine.com/ Sherry Lehmann site: http://www.sherry-lehmann.com/ (Edited to add websites)

Agree about Total Wine. Actually only about 4 miles straight down Route 4, and a very large selection with terrific prices. If you are looking for exotics, your trips to NYC could include Morrell and Sherry Lehman wine shops. As far as NJ restaurants, the very few decent ones are off the beaten track and will be difficult to find if you are not from this area, Bergen has lots of back roads. Better to stick to the NYC restaurants. P.S. Where are you going to drink this wine after you buy it?

According to the Bergen Record story it was not, however, called Fairway. It was called Cafasso's Market. It seems from the article that the Fairway name was adopted in 1961, around the time the market moved to Fort Lee. ← Are there Federal laws concerning the use of "Trade names", or is this strictly a state-by-state issue? (Ironically, a straight line between the Uptown Fairway and Cafasso's is probably less than 1 mile! But would a "Fairway" 400 miles away in Buffalo, NY be restricted?) A little insight into Trade Name law would be appreciated.

In my mind, the legality of the argument is not what has merit here; the business logic of the lawsuit is what is BAD. It's more than mileage, it's the logistics of this part of Bergen County. The Fort Lee Fairway has little to lose and a lot to gain from a store of the caliber of Fairway NY opening in Paramus. The one in Ft Lee, no matter how long it's been there, has a following mainly in the surrounding towns. Hardly anybody outside of a 5 mile distance has ever heard of the place! So, while the Ft Lee place may be well known and appreciated in Ft Lee, Cliffside, Pal Pk, and Leonia, that's about 95% of its customers. The residents of Bergen living outside of these towns rarely venture into them to shop because of congestion, poor roads, high traffic, little parking, and a much more urbanized environment than in the rest of the county. So any runoff from even a fallacious association with the 2 places would only benefit the Ft Lee place, not vice-versa. So they, IMHO, should save their money, forget about the lawyers and their fees, and chill.

Agree with the others, it should not make any difference who is cooking! The head chef will design a recipe, train his staff, and that is the way it should be made every time, whether or not the chef is present. If it does make a difference, that is a reflection on the chef and his training program. N.B. I've seen 18 year old kitchen staff in France, and they usually cook better than their 40-year old American counterparts! Training and desire are the key, not age.

What a statement about our culture. How different would our world be without McDonald's? After a couple of weeks, would anybody really miss the place?