Rosie

We had a pleasant dinner at Osteria Giotto. Started out with a bowl of addictive olives and herbed olive oil for dipping. Unfortunately the bread was not worth dipping into anything. Appetizers were a very good and my generous spinach salad with walnuts, pancetta and shaved Parmigiana with a balsamic vinaigrette was refreshing. The slow cooked parmigiana soufflé with a wild mushroom sauce was also a worthy starter. Although a special of whole branzino was moist and delicious it was full of bones and inedible because it was not properly filleted in the kitchen. The waiter did offer to replace the dish and this entrée was taken off the bill. My salmon was excellent. I ordered it simply grilled and it was perfectly cooked medium rare. We shared a ricotta cheesecake for dessert, which was fine. This restaurant gets crowded so do not go here without a reservation.

Check out Cafe Eclectic 444 Bloomfield Ave.Montclair and Gina’s Panificio 110 Walnut St Montclair.

No. Thanks for reminding me about this restaurant. I've been wanting to try their food. What do you recommend there?

Any suggestions for a place in North or Central NJ for "grown-ups" (age 35-45) to go dining and dancing?

We had dinner at Nori tonight. Started off with seaweed salad which was very good. Lowell is on the quest for the best udon and had Nabe-Yaki Udon which was swimming with seafood. We liked the ingredients better than the broth and although it was good the Udon we had at Monster Sushi in Summit is the best we have had so far. I ordered three different rolls: a Titanic with tempura shrimp and spicy tuna; Zen Zen with tofu and asparagus; and spicy salmon. Loved the Titanic. The others were fine but not worth ordering again. Dinner was $47 with tax and tip. I thought the sushi was better tonight than at the eGullet lunch that we had there recently. Bottom line. We’re still shopping around for the best sushi in the area.

Welcome to eGullet MikeyMike and thanks for the report. How long has this restaurant been open?

David Drake is opening a restaurant in Rahway.

Happy Anniversary. Be sure to give us a report about your dinner.

Ouch! This place is suppose to be able to handle up to 1.000 people.

Where have you been dining for the holidays? Did you have an office party? Are you cooking Christmas Eve or Christmas Day or are you dining out? Give us a report and let us know of places that you have enjoyed or warn us about places to stay away from.

12/12: Click Here: http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=e...UVFeXk2NjI1Mjc0

If you park at Whole Foods and are not shopping there you risk having your car towed. I am disappointed to hear that they are not serving the same bread. It was worth the carbs.

The regular menu has a daily whole fish special and the type of fish changes with what is available.

For a list of NJ restaurants that are open on Monday click here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=8096&hl=Monday

Would be happy to try either.

MichaelB--Was the Ryland Inn busy? Were you there on a weekday or weekend?

Yes. I've been to Lawrenceville Inn. It is much more casual than Rat's.

Tommy--there is a parking lot by the hospital. I think it's 4th and Clinton. We actually got parking on the street.

Had a delicious dinner at Cucharamama. Started of with potatoes in a creamy sauce of cheese, roasted pepper, mint and peanuts; crunchy calamari with a tamarillo sauce; beef empanadas with a chimichurri sauce; and a duck braised tamale. All were great but I could have made a meal out of the tamales. Entrees were braised short ribs in a red wine sauce with stir fried quinoa and Swiss chard; shrimp in a spicy Peruvian pepper sauce with white rice and canary beans; pork belly with mussels and potatoes; and a half roasted chicken. We didn’t care for the chicken as it was dry and overcooked nor the mussels which lacked the zippiness of the other dishes we had. Also, there were many more mussels and potatoes in this dish than pieces of pork belly. For dessert we had the chocolate bread pudding with raisins and cashew nuts surrounded by a warm café con leche sauce and cacao nibs. I liked the sauce more than the bread pudding which didn’t have an intense chocolate taste. There are many small dishes to try at this restaurant and next time we will stay with the small plates. The different spices used here are refreshing and a very pleasant change from other cuisines. We had a bottle of Malbec from Argentina. Bill was about $50 per person with tax and tip.

If you are still looking for a place to dine on Tuesday I wanted to recommend Cucharamama, Hoboken. They have a bar with some interesting wines.

Ouch! Seems like they are suffering from becoming too popular too fast and can't handle the crowds.

I am so sorry to hear that they are not serving the bread that we loved. Perhaps they were out of it for the evening. Did you ask if they are just going to be serving the pita bread from now on?

Eric Martin who was the Executive Chef at Rat's has recently left. I haven't been there since he left so I can't comment on the food. It is a beautiful restaurant and the Grounds For Sculpture are gorgeous. More info is here with a very recent posting. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=23001

December 5, 2004 http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=e...Xl5NjYyMjE2Mw==

Don't like Come Back Cafe. Sounds like a Mae West line. So--what did you decide on?