Hank

Will gladly do that, Rosie. My friends in the Montclair area are raving about this place. By the way, we took our 16 year old grandson to Fascino last Saturday and he absolutely loved the place. Since he was 12 we have taken him to every major rest. in NY and are now introducing him to our NJ favorites. He thought that his short ribs over mashed potatoes with red wine and truffle sauce went great with my last bottle of 97 Turley. Yes, I thought of you and asked Anthony if you were there but unfortunately you were not so we had to drink it all ourselves. ← YOUR LAST BOTTLE OF TURLEY! Hmmm. I have about 6 bottles in the basement if you want to be my friend! Fascino is consistly excellent. ← Rosie, for a Turley I would even be your lover. LOL

"Destination" restaurants were another contentious topic here a couple of months ago. People got caught up in what exactly that term may mean. I don't think there are many in the entire State. It just seemed that Tenafly restaurants seem to have a higher failure rate than those in the surrounding towns, and I was puzzled as to the reasons; As far as your 2 choices above, I would disagree with those as meeting my criteria for this label. My destination choices in Northeast Bergen would be Xaviars, in Piermont, and Harvest Bistro in Closter, which, in spite of the puzzling disinterest about here on Egullet, has a filled parking lot every night, got raves from Corcoran at the NYTimes, and is attracting folks from far away. ← I went on your post of April 26, 2004 and I quote you from that post: "Corcoran gave it an overall GOOD rating." That sir, is a far cry from a "rave revue". Your memory seems to have failed you just as mine does too often. Last evening I spoke to both my daughters once again about the Harvest Bistro and their consensus was to save my money. The food and and the prices of their wines are just not good enough for what they charge. Neither they nor any of their friends have anything good to say about it and they live in Closter and Demarest respectively and would love to have a very good restaurant near by. Fortunately money is no object to deter them from any restaurants and they and their friends do drive to both Montclair and Ridgewood and New York for special food. So just maybe that is the answer to your puzzle. Per Se, Jean Georges, Daniel, etc. etc. are over the top expensive but are full every night and not just corporate accounts. Could it be that they serve fabulous food? I do believe so and that is the bottom line to the success of most restaurants.

Will gladly do that, Rosie. My friends in the Montclair area are raving about this place. By the way, we took our 16 year old grandson to Fascino last Saturday and he absolutely loved the place. Since he was 12 we have taken him to every major rest. in NY and are now introducing him to our NJ favorites. He thought that his short ribs over mashed potatoes with red wine and truffle sauce went great with my last bottle of 97 Turley. Yes, I thought of you and asked Anthony if you were there but unfortunately you were not so we had to drink it all ourselves.

Andiamo and Ciao Bella which I would put in the same class of restaurant certainly fill a need for families. The kids can have Pizza and a half portion of pasta (no sauce or anything green on it, please) and parents and grandparents can have a decent salad and a pasta course. Their veal is just so so and their fish is most times horrendous. So stick to the very simple and let the kids have a good time. Samdam has not changed its menu nor added anything to it from day one. Can you believe not even a shrimp dish after all these years and I go back with them to Cliffside Park. Their fish dishes, either salmon or tuna is at times inedible, it is so overdone,even when we plead for medium rare. How do they remain packed even after after expanding beats the heck out of me. My guess would be that the price is right and they cater to an older crowd that enjoys very simply prepared food. (No sauce on my plate, please) Give me Bennies in Englewood a hundred times over. We go there quite often and they always have something new to try and it is always delicious. We had a scallop dish the other night that was to die for. IMHO nobody makes a better hummus. Rachel and Jason recommended this place a long time ago and I am ever grateful to them for that, along with China 46. Too bad I don't see them there anymore. They are missing out on some good stuff and the bank account doesn't get slammed.

Rosie, would you please explain what you mean by, "they were slammed." We have a res. for March 15th and with all the wonderful revues we are very excited about trying this rest.

Well, that's a debate for another thread; However, Xaviar's is an iconic resto well known all over the Northeast. Fascino is not in the same league. Nothing outside of Manhattan or in NJ can compare to it... ← The Northeast? That is very cute.

"Destination" restaurants were another contentious topic here a couple of months ago. People got caught up in what exactly that term may mean. I don't think there are many in the entire State. It just seemed that Tenafly restaurants seem to have a higher failure rate than those in the surrounding towns, and I was puzzled as to the reasons; As far as your 2 choices above, I would disagree with those as meeting my criteria for this label. My destination choices in Northeast Bergen would be Xaviars, in Piermont, and Harvest Bistro in Closter, which, in spite of the puzzling disinterest about here on Egullet, has a filled parking lot every night, got raves from Corcoran at the NYTimes, and is attracting folks from far away. ← You could argue about many restaurants in NJ not being a destination but if you do not believe that Fascino is a destination then you would be the very first person I have ever heard from (including everyone on this forum) that did not think that this is one of the best restaurants in NJ. May I remind you that they recently doubled their space (beautifully) and it is still difficult to get a table and Montclair has many choices. The reason that I have not gone to Harvest Bistro is that all my friends and family that have gone say it is very expensive, very noisy, is not BYOB with a $25.00 corkage fee and overall very pretentious with many dishes just so-so.

To me the real problem is how many "destination" restaurants does the area in question (Fort Lee, Englewood, Tenafly, Cresskill, Closter, Demarest.etc.) have as compared to Ridgewood and Montclair and now even Hoboken which have quite a few. If you believe that there are any I personally would love to hear which ones you would categorize as "destinations", as in places you would recommend friends to come to with at least a 30/40 minute car ride. As an example, Fascino and Latour have many customers coming to them from afar.

← That is all very good but the bottom line and the law is still that if a restaurant or deli sells only kosher products they can call themselves a kosher establishment and it is up to the individual customers to decide for themselves if they want to eat or purchase food there because they are open on Saturday. Your insinuation is that they are doing something illegal by calling themselves kosher instead of kosher style but I respectfully disagree. They are within the law.

Didn't this restaurant get a new owner less than 2 years ago after the original owner passed away? Guess he didn't like the resto biz!! I vote for another change-- Sunday opening! It seems to make so much more sense to close on Mondays and open Sundays... ← First, the selling owner is a "she", not a "he". She owned the restaurant when the old chef passed away. At that point (after a period of mourning), she hired a new chef and joined him in the kitchen. ← I happen to know quite a few chefs and they look very much forward to spending Sundays with their children which they cannot do on school days as per Mondays.

First of all these are not kosher "style" deli's but are kosher deli's. The difference is that a kosher deli must serve only kosher food while a kosher style deli does not serve kosher food. Ofcourse they sell corn beef, pastrami, dairy products,etc. so it becomes "style" which IMHO means nothing. So, Jews who do observe kosher laws do in fact go to kosher deli's and restaurants, even on Saturdays unless they are very religous. There are ultra observant Jews though who will go only to "glatt" kosher deli's and restaurants who are closed on Saturdays and all Jewish holidays but I believe that that should be a thread of its own. In all fairness it is wrong to label a deli or rest. as kosher style if it advertises itself as and is kosher. In fact they would have every reason to be quite angry with you unless you can prove that they sell non-kosher products.

Al's Kosher Deli on Main St. in Fort Lee has closed. It was only a matter of time since very few people went there any more. Between a large Korean population in Fort Lee and surrounding towns(they don't eat deli) and very indifferent food killed their business. The nearest kosher deli now is Sol and Sol in Englewood on E. Palisades Ave. across the street from Baumgart's.

Mike, I have been to your restaurant twice now and the bottom line for me is that the food is very, very good and the service most friendly and competent. But, for my pleasure and comfort I would rather read about the specials and also know what I am paying and agree fully with Rosie. With that said nothing you change or do not change will keep me from returning to your restaurant. I love the preparation and taste of the food. At Silver Oak Bistro I dine and savor. I do not just eat. There is a big difference. Period.

I totally agree that a list of specials be printed out and added to the menu, with prices ofcourse. How often have we all wondered what were those first few specials after listening to 5/6 or more. Sometimes it becomes a game with us trying to remember. We always seem to lose. Also, the time it takes for the waitpersons to stand at each table reciting the specials could be put to much better use by taking orders and serving. (More turnovers). Also, more than once we or a table near us were not told about one of the specials because the waitperson forgot to mention it and then were not happy when we saw that special heading for another table that we might very well would have ordered. To my mind it is a lose,lose situation that can be so easily rectified. Unfortunately there are so many restaurants guilty of this practice that I would love to know if there is a reason behind it. I am truly puzzled. More than two should be the absolute limit. I have begged Cecil of China 46 to do away with his specials menus as you walk into the restaurant. There must be at least 30 or more and we hate standing there trying to read them while other diners are coming or going by. PLEASE, Cecil and all the other restauranters. Print them out, attach them to your menus and you will sell a lot more of them. I promise that it will be a win,win.

Jason, Over time I have often disagreed with your assessments of restaurants and I must fully agree with Menton1 about Baumgart's. IMHO it caters to no one that knows anything about Chinese food (Think China 46) or for that matter to any of the other items on their menu besides possibly a hamburger or grilled cheese sandwich. Even their ice cream is a far cry from what it was years ago. As far as your statement about Chinese, Jewish I count that as totally idiotic and refuse even to debate that with you. You say that Menton1 could not understand what you were trying to say. Neither, I believe, can anyone else and many people will find it insulting.

We went to Silver Oak Bistro last night and it more than made up for a couple of, IMHO, clunkers that were highly recommended lately on this site. From the most courtious welcome to Chef Gary coming to say hello to us at the end of our dinner we had a most enjoyable and rewarding evening. The food was truly fabulous and I hope and pray that they will do well enough to remain open for a long time. We also had a chance to meet and speak with Helen and Mike Feygin who are a most gracious couple. Rosie, another NJ winner, without doubt. My wife ordered their pasta special for the evening and it was truly a gem. Very wide noodles in a mushroom and fungus sauce that could not have been improved upon. I ordered the shrimp with grits (less the Kentcky ham as I do not eat any meat) and it too was excellent. We then ordered the two fish specials and we are still discussing which we liked better. To me a toss-up. My wife had the blackened grouper on top of a spicy risotto and I had wild salmon in a most beautiful, green horseradish sauce on top of asparagus I have ever come across. It came from the kitchen medium rare, exactly as I had ordered it and that alone scored a lot of points with me. Some chefs just don't know what medium rare means. I absolutely agree with the posters, and a big bravo to them, who fell in love with and recommended this restaurant and I for one will be going back shortly (and hopefully often) for the exciting food served here. It was a 40 minute ride for us but well worth the effort.

Finally made it to Venue last evening and was I ever glad. My first reaction was, Hoboken, you have come a long way baby. I remember this town when every other store was a bar. My comments absolutely mirror both BryanZ and dRock. We had some outstanding food and also loved the presentations with all the different plates. The service was excellent. Whatever question we asked our waiters was immediately answered. They never needed to tell us that they would go in the kitchen and ask the chef. Not the case at WD-50. High points for that, in my book. As far as enough people in the area to support this restaurant I have little hope. Quite possibly towns like Ridgewood or Montclair, but Hoboken? I don't think so. When we left there was one other couple besides a small private party upstairs. In conclusion, will we go back. Absolutely. We actually had a lot of fun, enjoyed most of what we ordered (4courses for $65.00 with dessert gratis) and can't wait to bring my family and friends. To say the least, it is special and exciting. P.S. I ordered the chocolate soup for desert and it was fabulous. Better than anything I ever had at the Soup Nazi. LOL

Absolutely agree with Graphicguru. This is still IMO the best restaurant in that area by a long shot, including wonderful service and most blessedly never overly noisy.

No Yes ← We have been twice in the last month and were not asked to leave the tip in cash. As I understand it from Rebecca herself it was only a suggestion (which I never agreed with) and you can leave your tip, if you wish to do so, on your cc, as I have always done.

The store never closed. It did, as I said in my previous post change ownership. There is a difference. As for the the store being empty when you were there I can only say that I would love to have a dollar for every time I have gone into a wine shop over the past 40 years and found myself to be the only one there. And that goes for any retail store so your comment does not seem to be a fair barometer of a store's sales volume.

The Carlo Russo wine shop was sold a while back and it is definitely open. (They never closed) The new name is Smart Buy Wines and they have, IMHO an even better selection than before. The new owner, Doug, is extremely knowledgable and has been involved in wine for quite some time. He is a big Burgundy lover.

Tommy, After reading your post of this rest. we will definitely go. Sounds very interesting even if a bit over the top. My one question to you though is; would you please explain why a BYOB rest. should not receive an excellent rating. What has the wine list wine got to do with the preparation of the food? Thanks in advance for your answer which I am very interested to hear. Also, would you say that an Alsatian Getwurtz would go well with the sweeter style of food.

Went back to Table 8 last evening with my wife and friends and what a difference from the first time I went. The noise level was beyond anything you can imagine (Saturday night??) and we were so rushed that we became really upset. With our coffee came our check and 2 minutes later our waitress came over to remind us that the check was on the table. When we complained to Dimitri he told us that it was now 8:45 and we had been at the table since 6:30. After he looked at his reservation book he realized that we had a 7:15 res. So why rush us out at 8:45. I saw no fast food rest. sign anywhere and we were there for only 1 1/2 hours. He told us that they alotted 2 1/2 hours. Someone does not know his math. As for the food, we were very disappointed. A polenta based appetizer was as bland as a dish can get. Three people ordered the Sole with a cocoa topping. It sounded and read most interestingly but no one mentioned the fact that they added a significant amount of sugar to the cocoa which totally destroyed the fish and I must say that it tasted awful. All three plates were hardly touched. Don't you think that someone should have come to our table and inquire the reason why? I ordered the cod and it was terribly overcooked and swimming in a sauce that was so heavy it layed in my stomach for a long time. The only thing I really liked was my tuna tartar appetizer but at $11.00 a very stingy portion and I am not a fan of big plates of food. Over all the only excuse I can think of is that it was Saturday night and they became very busy but that is absolutely no excuse for poor executions and rude service. They will not see my money again nor my friends.

I certainly do not wish this to become a tit-for-tat posting but the issue has absolutely nothing to do with my "friends, your friends". To stop going to a restaurant that you repeatedly told us you liked so much because your Chinese friends did not like it is just plain wrong. You turned me onto a few restaurants that I now frequent all the time (Bennies and China 46 just to mention 2) and that should tell you that I respect your judgement. So what I am saying to you and everyone else on this site is to not stop going to a restaurant just because a friend did not like it. Your personal tastes and opinions do count for something also, so please, continue recommending your likes and not those of your friends who we do not have a clue about. And yes, a brunch has nothing to do with a meal chosen from a menu. The comparisons are nothing short of weak and to be honest should not be made. One more point. Hasn't your associate at the NYTimes made recomendations, good or bad, that many of us have made a big fuss over and he gets paid a lot of money to make judgements. But again, his personal tastes. Not his friends.

First of all, the concept that someone might be an authority on the food of a country they or their family comes from is IMHO complete hogwash. We have friends who were born and raised in France and whose opinions I will no longer take on a bet. Their choice of French restaurants in NYC is scarey. We also have Chinese friends born in China who think that Sally Ling is the best Chinese restaurant anywhere. To me the food there is Chinese/American at best and it is not good at all. I could add to the list. As far as comparing the Silver Pond in Fort Lee to China 46 is again, IMHO comparing quantity to quality. Talk about grease, cold food, poorly made sauces and presentaton, YUCK. They are a block from our office and would I love to have an occasional lunch there if they were even half as good as China 46. I cannot believe that anyone has not gone back to a particular restaurant because their friends have an issue with it, especially after having loved it for so long a time. Truly unfair to the owners who spoke so highly of them. Fat Guy. Great post. You certainly hit the nail on the head. Thanks.