Rosie

You are right. There were other tables that received their desserts with candles and it was all done very quietly.

Dominique Payraudeau is the chef/owner of Chez Dominique.

I stick them in the freezer and nibble on them when I'm hungry. They don't last too long though!

I dined there when they first opened. The posting is someplace on eGullet. They did not know who I was then. When I made this reservation I told them it was our anniversary and my husband's birthday and I gave them my name-- Rosalie Saferstein. I asked that they put a candle in my husband's dessert but not to sing HB etc.--to keep it low keyed. Everyone at Restaurant Nicholas is treated specially. We were not treated any different than anyone around us. Also, I do not see my posting as a review but a description of my experience at the restaurant. This place has received rave reviews from NJ restaurant reviewers. David Corcoran gave it an excellent, Cody Kendall gave it 4 stars, and Valerie Sinclaire gave it 4 stars.

To celebrate our anniversary and Lowell's birthday we had an extraordinary dinner at Restaurant Nicholas, 160 Route 35 South, Middletown. Chef/owner Nicholas Harary and his wife Melissa are passionate about food and service and have put their extensive experience to work at this sophisticated establishment which serves New American Cuisine. He trained at the Culinary Institute of America and was sommelier at Jean Georges, New York City while Melissa was the former dining room manager and sommelier at Tabla, New York City. The mid-summer menu offers two courses for $38; three courses for $55; a three course vegetarian menu for $55 and a six plus course tasting menu for $75. We opted for the multi-course tasting menu which gives the patron two choices within each course. We told the waiter to bring us one of each course and this way we were able to taste a lot of dishes. The wine list is made up of small producers that Chef Nicholas hand picked while traveling the world and has enough selections that you will be able to find something in your price range. We told Chef Harary what type of wine we wanted (Pinot Noir), what country (American) and the price range (not crazy). He recommended two wines, described them and the wine we picked was excellent (1999 Lemelson). We started with an amuse bouche of watermelon juice with black sesame seeds served in a vodka shot glass. It was followed by a yellow fin tuna tart with fennel puree and sherry soy vinaigrette and a chilled cantaloupe and tomato soup with seared shrimp and basil. The bowl of soup was presented with composed shrimp, cantaloupe and pear drop tomatoes and then the soup was ladled into the bowl. The cold soup contrasted beautifully with the spicy shrimp. The second course was a supurb poached Hudson Valley foie gras, "pot au feu" and duck consommé. The foie gras since it was poached didn't have a heavy butter taste. This dish was presented in a bowl with baby root vegetables and the broth which was in a teapot was poured over the foie gras at the table. Beautiful! The other course was citrus dusted seared scallops, with orange confit and purslane greens. The greens unlike the weeds in my backyard were very good. The third course was perfectly cooked fish. One dish was Maine Arctic Char, fingerling potatoes, and black mustard seed creamy dressing and the other was an almond and hazelnut crusted red snapper with salsify and banyuls (wine) broth. As with many of the dishes that were presented in a bowl with broth I found myself with a soup spoon scooping up every drop of the delectable sauce. Next we had an amazing braised tender suckling pig, with quince and cinnamon jus and a Moroccan spiced loin of lamb with cous-cous and a cucumber mint relish. Each dish was so good with a delicate use of herbs and seasonings that we were swooning aloud and angry with ourselves for not bringing a camera to take pictures of the dishes. Also, the dishes that aren't finished at the table come with silver domes that the waiter's lift off in unison. The artisinal cheese course should not be missed. Each cheese is explained thoroughly and we picked five perfectly ripe cheeses that were served with walnut bread. We had two hard cheeses and three soft ones with each one being creamier than the next. I don't remember the names. At this point of our dinner we were in "foodie heaven" and were served a refreshing lip puckering lime ice with a ring of cream. Next was a dessert tasting and the presentation was very impressive. Each plate had a semi circle cookie banner on the rim; one read happy anniversary and one read happy birthday. Each had a candle sitting in a plump raspberry. This is what I remember--an outrageously delicious apricot tart with almond ice cream and white pepper that I dreamed about all night; a warm Valrhona chocolate cake with a pineapple chip and vanilla ice cream; a crème brulee trio (ginger, pistachio and vanilla); and a mille-feuille with fresh berries and cream. We had coffee and were then served a small plate of miniature cookies and sweets. As a parting gift as it was our anniversary and birthday we were given a small box of chocolates. Portions were quite generous for a tasting menu and the meal was perfectly paced. We dined for over 3 hours. Every dish was perfection. Service was flawless. It is no surprise that Restaurant Nicholas won Best of the Best in the New Jersey Monthly Reader's Choice Poll and received 4 stars from Valerie Sinclaire when she reviewed it last year. Phone 732-345-9977.

We recently revisted Origin and our second visit was just as impressive as the first. This restaurant is very popular. We called for a 5:30 reservation on a Sunday night and by 6 PM the restaurant was turning away patrons without reservations. We shared a marinated seared tuna with a sesame soy mustard dressing for an appetizer. Entrees were sautéed flat rice noodles with Asian broccoli and shrimp and duck with a tamarind sauce and tempura style Asian eggplant. Both were delicious. We passed on dessert. Dinner was in the low 40's with tax and tip. Phone: 908-685-1344.

You can buy those fabulous bread sticks that they serve at Soho to take home.

I was there when it was Chez Madeleine and didn't care for the layout of the room. Tables were close together and chairs were uncomfortable. Let us know how Chez Dominique is.

Brother's Moon. Yummmm! Tell us about your dinner there.

Which BYO?

Actually the best time to go there would be a Sunday so you don't have to deal with the horrendous traffic. The only problem for me is that I really don't like to eat seafood on Sunday and that would eliminate most of the menu at Legal Seafoods and I imagine some interesting dishes at NVG.

Were they busy? I've been to Legal Seafoods at that Mall but never NVG. Thanks for the report.

We walked a very short portion of the rail line in New Paltz. I think it goes 12 miles. We had lunch at Main St. Bisto in New Paltz and it was quite good with large portions. I had hummus with vegetables and Lowell had a grilled chicken sandwich.

Do they still ask you to pay the tip in cash?

No airconditioning but that wasn't a problem. It was cool at night and not muggy during the day. Since we were hiking the woods were cool. The "formal" dining room is AC. The main one is not. The butter came from another table but it hadn't been touched. The butter still held it's shape but when you put your knife to it the butter became a small puddle. The only way you could get butter on your bread was to dip your bread into it. We didn't realize that New Paltz was just 1 1/2 hours from us so we could actually drive there for the day and hike in Mohonk Preserve. Anyone hike there?

De Lorenzo, 530 Hudson St, Trenton. Karla Cook gave it a very good.

We spent a few days at Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY. This hotel is quite impressive from the outside and has gorgeous grounds, gardens and fabulous hiking paths lined with rustic gazebos. The hotel faces a lake formed by a glacier where one can boat, swim and fish. We loved the hiking, nothing else. Our problems started with our room which contained a double bed, a single bed and a bed upright against the closet door. We had requested a queen or king when we made the reservation. After calling the front desk we were shown a much, much smaller room that had a king size bed but because the room was so small we also found it unacceptable. We were told that there were absolutely no other rooms so we unhappily stayed with the first room. Two calls to housekeeping were made to remove the upright bed. Finally, when our luggage came the bellhop removed the bed. Dinner that night was awful with inattentive service. When seated we were not asked if we wanted wine or the wine list. Since Quakers own the hotel there is no bar but you can get a drink in the dining room. We had to ask for water which was never refilled. We figured we were suppose to have bread as there were bread plates on the table and we asked for that also. The bread was brought. We asked for butter. The butter was taken off of a nearby table and had melted. When we finished our salad the waitress put our salad fork back on the table but did bring us fresh forks when we requested them. Lowell was given an old looking flimsy knife for his pork chop. Meanwhile this formal dining room where jackets are required for men was full of children, some of whom were crying. These children should have been in the large informal dining room where they would not disturb a formal atmosphere. We didn't like the food as it was overcooked and dry. Lowell's ice tea was warm and didn't have any ice in it. His coffee was not refilled. A sign outside of the dining room said that the food is cooked to order and expect to be in the dining room two hours. We were finished in an hour. We went upstairs to see what was on the buffet. Surprise! Surprise! The food that we had for dinner was on the buffet. We had a choice of having a buffet lunch the next day in the main dining room, or at the grange which is a bbq, or a sandwich at a hikers lodge. We opted for the lodge but were told that we would have to sign up very early in the morning because once they get filled up that's it. At this point we were quite disgusted with the whole evening and questioned the dining room captain about this procedure and why would we have to get up early to sign up for a sandwich. Her reply was "this is the way we do it and don't worry you'll get your sandwich." She then saw how annoyed we were and offered to put our name on the list for us. Breakfast the next morning was a buffet. We came into the cavernous dining room and were seated in the back of the room a.k.a. purgatory. I asked for a window seat. It was 8 AM and the dining room was empty. We were seated by the window with a lovely view and still can't understand why we weren't initially seated at the one of the window seats all of which were empty. Our tablecloth was wrinkled, we had to ask for water but we did find enough on the buffet to eat. Lunch (our sandwich) was fine and the service there was friendly. Dinner the second night was much better. We were in a different formal dining room which had no children and the staff were professional. One of the problems is that many waiters/waitresses were college students who get their tips from the 15% service charge which is added to the room rate. They get their tips whether they are efficient or not. We would recommend this place for it's hiking trails and certainly if you don't care about the quality of the food there are many family oriented activities that you can participate in.

Never been.

Thanks for your posting. We have also been to Tangerine in Philly and it was outstanding. No comparison to Medina. I think the Italian restaurant is La Reggia in Secaucus.

We returned to Bella Rosa last night and as always had a very good dinner. Started with an escarole and bean soup; sautéed escarole with extra garlic; mussels with a tomato sauce; and a mixed green salad. We had shrimp and arugula over pasta; salmon with a side of pasta alio olio; chicken giambotti on the bone; and a veal Marsala. Desserts are homemade and I don't know where we found the room but we had a peach/mango/apple cobbler and a warm chocolate melting cake. The cappuccino ice cream that came with both desserts was delicious. Phone: 973-428-8611 And how about you? Where have you dined recently?

There is a review of this restaurant in the Sun. NY Times which stated that this restaurant does not have a bathroom. Isn't that illegal and/or against the health code? I never heard of a restaurant not having a bathroom.

Thai Elephant has closed.

I don't think the ABC fines the store for serving liquor. I think it is the municipality and that fine is probably different from city to city.

I have been to IL MONDO VECCHIO more times than I have fingers and toes and it is consistantly good. BYO. I prefer to dine there during the week when it is not so noisy and busy. Scalini Fedeli in Chatham which is also owned by Michael Cetrulo is also excellent.

Thai Elephant was at 504 Millburn Ave. Enhanced Thai Cuisine has been open for 2 years and they are at 321 Millburn Ave. It is illegal to charge corkage fee at a BYO.