Rosie

If you find yourself in the Miami area be sure to try Norman's. It certainly was worth the hour ride from Coconut Creek. We started off with champagne and a few amuse bouches and proceeded to have a very fine dinner. The tasting menu looked very interesting but we wanted to try as many dishes as possible so we opted for an a la carte dinner. Appetizers: A round stacked Caesar salad that was perhaps a good eight inches tall with the chopped dressed salad separated by tomato rings. Perfectly spiced large yuca stuffed crispy shrimp with sour orange mojo, torn greens and habanero tartar salsa. Chef Van Aken's signature dish of French toast with Curacao scented foie gras, and a passion fruit caramel and gingery candied lime zest. This was accompanied with a glass of Deinhard Beerenauslese, Rheinhessen, '94. I will never be able to eat plain French toast again! Entrees: Meaty soft shell crab pad Thai with a stir fry of shrimp, snow peas, carrots, cabbage and Shanghai noodles. Mongolian barbequed marinated and grilled veal chop with grilled Chinese eggplant and Thai fried rice. Loved the spicing on this dish. Roasted rack of lamb with red mole, hearts of palm slaw and an addictive savory Latino styled cobbler that we couldn't stop eating. Dessert: We had a three cheese tasting that in hindsight was a mistake and we should have opted for something "chocolate" and a scoop of ice cream containing had hazelnuts and chocolate. We found it to be too sweet. Coffee was delicious. Steven--You sure know how to pick 'em! Where are you going next?

I think it was on Rt. 9 D and not far from West Point. If the brunch was $35 in '94 then I would assume it has to be much higher now.

So sorry. We can't make the 18th.

Let's see how much interest there is for this, what month people would be interested in having this event and if the NY crowd would come!! :wow:

If that's the case, why do I have to travel from Monmouth County to Woodbridge to find a decent one? I didn't say they were all decent!

Be sure to give us a report. I am also looking forward to returning to Rat's.

Thanks Rail Paul. Montclair has also been called the other Park Slope.

I didn't know how long I was going to be on. Thanks for offer of tape. I made a copy and I'll check to see if it came out ok and will let you know if I need to borrow yours.

Wow! Rachel did I say all of that??? :wow: Thanks for the note taking. You're hired! It was alot of fun and the hour went so fast. I want to publicly thank Arthur for having me on the show.

What's with the new avatar? Where is the real portrait of Jason? It's Arthur's show. I'll go with the flow.

It's a round serving of fois gras on a stick. Delicious. You just pop them in your mouth. I think David also has a smoked salmon lollipop.

32 East Atlantic Delray Beach Norman's in Coral Gables-it's a drive but worth it

Steve--Did you ever get to The Ryland Inn?

I asked a chef who works at Wegman's in Bridgewater and she was not aware of any of Pierre Herme's pastries being sold there.

It's a telephone interview and I don't know how long it will be. Shenanigans on eGullet??? Where and when???

All interesting. Where have you been that your reservation hasn't been honored? I can't remember the last time this happened to me. Credit cards? Off hand I can think of one place. Have you had to give a credit card for a Sat. night reservation? Wine? Do you like the concept of having wine listed on the menu? We have three new topics here!

I've been playing phone tag with his assistant. Any suggestions? What would you like to hear?

Mark your calendar! I am scheduled to be interviewed by telephone by Arthur Schwartz on April 17 sometime between 12 and 1 PM. WOR radio 710 AM. Rosie

We ate there once and enjoyed it. I posted to try a search. Everythign is a la carte so don't miss the biscuits and corn bread and $1 each. Casual and BYO. Would go back to try other menu items. No reservations.

You usually need to make reservations at Origins a few weeks in advance. If you feel like Cuban try Martino's in Somerville. Casual and BYO.

What's on your agenda this weekend?

Do you have the address of Gigi's? Would we need a reservation during the week or on a Sunday? Also, Do you know the name of the new restaurant that is opening on Steven's Ave. in Little Falls?

Dinner last night was at Bella Rosa located in the Castle Ridge Plaza, Rt 10 W, East Hanover. I was surprised that even on a Monday night there were quite a few tables filled. Three of us shared two salads for appetizers: a Wow salad containing spring mix of greens with pickled cucumber, shiitake mushrooms, goat cheese and crunchy peas; and a traditional Caesar with shaved asiago cheese and house made croutons. Both were very good with the Wow salad having a sweetish dressing and the Caesar being tart. They complimented each other and we couldn’t decide which one we liked the best. For my entree I had grilled salmon with a dill cream sauce on the side. The fish was perfectly cooked and the accompanying roasted potatoes were addictive. Another fish entrée was just as good. Blackened tuna over sautéed broccoli rabe with a fresh tomato alio olio was cooked rare as requested. Another entrée was the penne Bella Rosa with grilled eggplant, arugula, fresh plum tomatoes and fresh mozzarella tossed in a roasted garlic olive oil sauce. This dish needed more garlic or a generous sprinkling of pepper. Bella Rosa always has a fruit cobbler for dessert and I haven’t had one that I haven’t liked. We had a peach, apple pear cobbler last night that was so delicious we were sorry we only ordered one. BYO. The restaurant is open for lunch and they have a new menu. Phone: 973-428-8611

What Tommy failed to tell you is that I have to give him a Turley in exchange for letting me borrow his wine. I think he has come out ahead. And I even brought an extra bottle of wine to give him so he could share. The fact that I kept it on my table has nothing to do with the fact that he didn't offer it to anyone. It was a wonderful evening and a very special thank you to Rachel for planning this event. My favorite dishes were the soup dumplings which no one at our sophisticated table dropped or tore. The ruby pork and tofu,ground pork, chive mixture that we stuffed into baked sesame buns were also fabulous. I never need to taste fish maw or sea cucumber again. Not that they were bad but they were more nondescript. Otherwise--we also couldn't believe that we dined for four hours. And before I forget I don't think my Turley order will be in until next Fall!

Epernay--Montclair Sofia's--North Caldwell Basilico--Millburn All BYO. These are in addition to Blue Sky and Corso 98.