Rosie

suzilightning--$100 a person? Your friends must have had an expensive bottle of wine. Apps run from $6 for soup to $16 for foie gras. Entrees run $19 for salmon to $27 for filet mignon. We had 3 apps, 3 desserts, 4 entrees, one wine $35, 2 coffees and 1 cappucino and it came to $65 per person. There are no entrees for $30. In the summer the view will be lovely and they will have outside dining.I heard that the lake will be back!

Be sure to give us a report and tell the hostess you read about it on eGullet!

Glenn--Honey pie--the Flamingo??? Never heard of it. Where in JC is it located? I used to go to a diner on Rt 440 in my teens. And then to the Weequehic in Newark. Wasn't there a Miss America diner in JC also?

Glenn--Honey---Please be patient. There will be an article about 95 Greene on Table Hopping With Rosie 1/29. There's alot happening in Jersey City these days and many restaurants are opening up. This is an incomplete list of JC restaurants. If you know of any more let me know. Brazilian Grill 116 Franklin St. Café Brand World Bistro 611 Jersey Ave. Cafe Garcia 332 2nd Ave J Cafe Newport 500 Washington Blvd. Casa Dante 737 Newark Ave. Casablanca Grove St. Chow Patty 809 Newark Ave. Chris’s Grill West Side Ave Cosimo’s Brick Oven 30 Mall Drive West C-side,Harborside Financial Center, Atrium Level, 34 Exchange Place Dong Won 774 West Side Ave Family Tree 150 West Side Ave. 15 Fox, 15 Fox Place Grand Banks Cafe, 75 Montgomery St, Hard Grove Cafe 319 Grove St. Ilvento’s West Side Ave. Iron Monkey York and Green Streets Just Sonny’s 169 Sterling Ave. Laico’s 67 Terhune Ave. Liberty Grille 499 Washington Blvd. Liberty House 76 Audrey Zapp Dr Madame Claude 364 1/2 Fourth St Marco and Pepe, 289 Grove St, Markers Harborside Nicco’s 247 Wington St. 95 Greene, 95 Greene St Pho Thanh Hoai 247-249 Newark Ave. Presto’s 199 Warren Street Pronto Cena 87 Sussex Street Puccini’s 1064 West Side Ave. Rita & Joes 142 Broadway Subito 131 Erie St Tania's Restaurant 348 Grove Street The Lighthorse Tavern, 199 Washington St. The Point at Port Liberte, 2 Chapel Ave, The Vu, , 2 Exchange Pl, Hyatt Regency

I will give you the directions on how to get to Zoe's by the Lake, 112 Tomahawk Trail, Sparta after I tell you about the wonderful meal we had at this new restaurant owned by the charming Jean-Charles Saben and his delightful wife, Marla. And yes there is a Zoe--she's their 2 1/2 year old daughter. The kitchen under the direction of executive chef Scott Jay Jacobson, a CIA graduate, formerly of FireBird and Rene Pujol, both in New York City and the sous-chef Greg Farrell, prepares well executed food with impeccable flavors. For appetizers we started off with a stomach warming sweet potato and apple soup; fabulous jumbo sea scallops wrapped in prosciutto with a lobster cream sauce that I would love to see as an entrée; and a rum cured salmon served with a horseradish creme fraiche. The salmon was stacked between sweet potato cakes which reminded me of potato pancakes. All of the entrees were excellent but the winner was the tender, bursting with flavor braised short ribs with braised roast shallots and truffle mashed potatoes. I dreamt about them they were so good. We sampled two specials: a skate with whipped turnips that was better than anything I had in Paris; and a pork loin with a perfect complement of an apple smoked bacon red cabbage. Lowell had a moist roast breast of free range chicken with wild mushrooms, quinoa, crispy onions and roast garlic jus. Zoe's has a liquor license and we drank a Saintsbury 'Garnet' 2001 priced at $35. We were very full but managed to share three desserts: a warm upside down chocolate souffle, toffee bread pudding, and an apple custard tart with pistachio crust. Next time I want to try the cheese tasting, crème brulee and mixed berry napoleon. We were also brought a plate of addictive almond macaroons. Chef Jacobson--package these and sell them. They were memorable. And I am happy to report that both the coffee and cappuccino were delicious. Service was attentive and professional. With 3 drinks, wine, tax and tip the bill was $65 a person. Worth every penny. Do try this place. Zoe's is a most welcome addition to the NJ dining scene. For reservations call 973-726-7226. Here are the directions! From Rt 80 take 15 North to Sparta/Lake Mohawk Business District exit. Bear right on exit. Make left onto 181 South. Make first right onto Sawmill Road. Take to the end (stop sign). Make left and quick right onto Tomahawk Trail. 1/2 mile on right side.

Yes, same owner as 3 Central.

Only about 25% of reviewed restaurants are advertisers.

Now you can vote online for your favorite New Jersey restaurants on the New Jersey Monthly annual Readers' Choice Restaurant Poll. Just click here: New Jersey Monthly Reader's Choice Restaurant Poll to take part in this survey. The entry deadline is March 14, 2003 and the results will be posted in the August New Jersey Monthly magazine and online. Three regions are being represented: North: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Union, and Warren counties Central: Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Somerset counties South: Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, and Salem counties The Readers' Choice Restaurant Poll is your chance to decide which are the best dining spots in the Garden State. By submitting a ballot you also become eligible for a prize to be awarded by random drawing: dinner for two at the restaurant named Best of the Best in your region. All responses are confidential. Your name, street address, e-mail address, and phone number are required for your ballot to be counted, and this information will be used to notify you if you win the drawing. New Jersey Monthly does not hold onto the names for other use, they strictly help with fraud control. Restaurants assisting in the submission of poll ballots and restaurants distributing ballots or magazines containing them will be disqualified. New Jersey Monthly reserves the right to reject ballots that appear to have been submitted improperly. Every vote in the Readers' Choice Restaurant Poll counts. An outside auditing firm is used to ensure that all votes are counted and treated fairly. The auditing team also inspects the ballots for signs of ballot stuffing and other fraud. So please vote!

Glenn--Your apology is accepted but you should have written sorry in CAPITALS. That would have been more meaninful to me. NJM is pretty much up to the minute in technology, as is their printer. Monthly magazines go to press about a month before the issue date. Every story is fact checked as close to the end of the cycle as possible.

Glenn-- Alot of time is spent on checking facts. As YOU know in the restaurant business things can change overnight. The restaurant closed in Jan. The magazine came out this week. Today is Jan. 24. The restaurant closed after the magazine was printed. Be nice!

Because of publication deadlines NJ Monthly reviewers often have to review a restaurant about 5 months in advance. Jacqui's closed in January. These things can happen even when a reviewer is writing a weekly review for a restaurant. When I was reviewing on a weekly basis I luckily called a restaurant for a fact check and found out that they had closed. Also, chefs change jobs often. By the time a reviewer sends in the review a new chef can be in place.

The reviewer, Anthony Giglio, wrote about his experiences when he dined at The Dining Room at Anthony David's. He may have been there early on as NJM reviewers usually work 4-5 months ahead of time because of publishing deadlines. The Dining Room at Anthony David's is one of my favorite NJ restaurants. It's hard for me to get back to a restaurant that I love and I have mananged to return there many times. The only problem I have is the parking in Hoboken. I have always had professional service there and outstanding meals. I am not in favor of the "star" system when rating restaurants but my experiences there have been 3 1/2.

Went to Argyle once many many years ago. Was not impressed.

Thanks bearstew. You are 150% correct. BTW--I once had bear stew at the Perona Farm game dinner. Never need to have it again!

Thanks for the information Cathy. I haven't been to American Fare in the last year and have not tasted Phil's cooking. I am glad that you clarified all of this. Sounds like the restaurant is worth a return visit. This also points out why it is important for restaurateurs to let me know when they have a new chef so I can post the information on Table Hopping With Rosie.

You're doing a good job Nick and I officially appoint you link master for David Corcoran's reviews! Thanks for posting.

I'm confused. If the "the chef/owner was typically chained to the stove, " then why would the food be bad?

There are some very good Polish delis in Bayonne. One is on Broadway and 34 and one is on Broadway and 36th. Sorry, I don't know the names. For Jewish deli I like Jack Cooper's in Edison.

I live in NJ--12 miles from NYC.

Have you noticed that more and more restaurants are offering vegetarian tasting menus? Is this a trend or just the practice of high end restaurants? Should an all vegetarian tasting menu be less money than one with meat? Can you recommend any restaurants that have tasting menus?

Week of Jan. 20. OUCH!! There's more than one familiar name. http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=e...UVFeXk2MzMwMjgx

Welcome Rene and thanks for posting. Don't be a stranger. Happy to have you on eGullet.

"excellent 1995 Nardi Brunello." Is the restaurant BYO or did you purchase this wine there?

3 West-Fire/Wine/Jazz This beautiful new restaurant at 665 Martinsville Rd, Basking Ridge has a few rooms. The bar area allows smoking and gets very crowded on a Saturday night. The other large dining room gives the diner a great view of the kitchen but is extremely noisy. Luckily we sat in a side room where we could have a conversation. There is beautiful woodwork on the walls, padded chairs and clothless tables. Our waitress recited the specials without the prices and after I asked her twice for the price of an item she got the idea and gave us the prices with her recitation. Wines are very expensive here. I counted 123 wines on the wine list. Sixteen were $30 or under. Thirty two were $50 or under. That leaves a lot of wines in the $50 and over range. We ordered a Rutz Cellars' 00 that was $48 after we were told that they were out of our first choice which was a less expensive wine. They were also out of Sambuca which a friend ordered after dinner. We all loved our appetizers which were beautifully presented on different shaped white plates. We had a pureed white bean soup with sage pesto, and a Parmesan Reggiano crisp; an excellent arugula salad with tremendous walnuts, blue cheese, shaved Granny Smith apple and a cider vinaigrette; a $12.95 Maryland lump crab cake which my friend said was worth the price; and perfectly cooked sauteed squid with a tomato, onion, and roasted Spanish pouquillo pepper salsa. Entrees were hit and miss. The 12 ounce grilled pork chop had to be sent back because it was served well down rather than medium rare as requested. The grilled sirloin steak with rutabaga puree, roasted Vidalia onion and red wine veal sauce was fine. Lowell had the duck breast which I thought was chewy. It came with black pepper spaetzle and seared apple dice with honey. Lowell said the duck was not the best or even near the best that he has ever had. I had a special of halibut which I liked. For dessert we shared a butterscotch ganache tart and we all enjoyed the butterscotch/chocolate combination. A plate of house-made cookies were tasty and could easily be shared by the table. Coffee was fine but we had to ask for refills. Phone: 908-647-3000.

give me a holler if you're in the neighborhood. Who were you talking to? Me or Nockerl or both?