coughy

After going back and forth about where to have dinner after the races last week we decided on Chez Sophie. We gambled all day - why gamble with mediocre food. The restaurant space was lovely. We were seated in an alcove which almost made us feel like we were in a private space. The service was very friendly but the servers were "young." We had a veal dish, mahi-mahi, delmonico steak and pork loin. Our appetizers were escargot, crab cakes and salads. We all loved our dinners and decided that the chocolate mousse and cheesecake were definite winners for dessert. Sign me up for dinner again next year.

We are going to the races next week. Went to Chez Sophie last year and loved it. Our friends would like to try something different. I had made a reservation at Gotchya's but the review on this board was not very good. Help!!!

I can't wait to try Lorena's in Maplewood. I have only heard wonderful things about it.

We tend to go to Fortissimo when my son wants Italian food or we want something close and quick. It is not high end food but for the price and convenience we eat there. The food is good - my favorite is Cappellini Mona Lisa and my husband likes their Rock Shrimp appetizer.

Friends of mine were extremely turned off by a very rude hostess and they left. There are many other restaurants in the area to go to rather than being abused.

Trattoria Fresco in West Caldwell.

Try Ralph's on Livingston Avenue across from the Shop Rite in Livingston.

I just bought fresh corn and tomatoes at Mattarazzo's in North Caldwell. I'll let you know how they were after dinner.

We are just back from Las Vegas. We spent 4 fun filled days with two other couples. We decided since there were 3 dinners we should each pick a restaurant. We decided not to go "over the top" since we all live in or near big cities and fine dining is something we do fairly frequently. Night one - our friend picked Mon Ami Gabi because he heard you could see the dancing fountains at the Bellagio. The best view however, is from the outside patio. It was 105!! They did have misters outside but we opted to eat in because being damp is not fun. The onion soup was great as it should be at a French bistro. The rest of our food was mediocre at best. I had grilled salmon which was good with broccoli rabe that was very bitter and salty. It was inedible. Since there was an additional charge of $2.00 because I switched vegetables I told them to take it back which they did graciously. My husband had pork loin which was wrapped in underdone fatty bacon which he removed. He hated it. Everyone else seemed satisfied but not thrilled. Night two - We went to see KA, a Cirque du Soleil show, at the MGM so our friends thought it best to eat at the MGM hotel. They picked Seablue. I ate halibut that was very peppery but it was okay. The wonderful thing they had there was a choose your own salad. There were pencils on the table and you were able to write on a portion of the menu and choose 10 items to include. We all loved this. One friend had a fish I can't recall but wound up sending it back because there was so much salt on it he couldn't eat it. They took it back to "remove" salt but was still not good. They replaced it. We were totally not impressed and the prices were very high! Night three - after much thought I chose Osteria del Circo at the Bellagio hotel. A definite WINNER. We knew to ask for a table near the window for the best view. A generous tip to the maitre'd assured us of this and we had a beautiful dinner. I had seafood risotto and branzino. My husband had mozzarella and tomatoes and a rack of lamb. It ws the freshest mozzarella we ever ate. It was a definite first rate dinner. The service was friendly and professional. We all loved our dinner so much that I am the new designated chooser of restaurants.

We were fortunate enough to have dinner here again last night. I made the reservations when we left the last time, four weeks ago! Dinner last time was so good I decided to repeat it. This time our waiter - Fabrizio - with the "phony" accent wouldn't allow me to. He wouldn't even bother going back into the kitchen to ask. All I wanted to do was substitute salmon for black bass which I do not like. The bass was the special and came on a bed of spinach. I wanted salmon on spinach - NO he told me - salmon only comes with potatoes and escarole. What was the big deal??? Then at the end of the meal I asked for iced coffee which I had last time - again he told me NO! Other than the food being so good the evening was not great. The restaurant was very warm and unpleasant. I will wait a while to go back and hope they get some new waiters. By the way - I am still waiting for the milk for my coffee!!!!

We had a beautiful dinner recently at Trattoria Fresca in Caldwell. Osteria Giotta in Montclair is EXCELLENT. Blu in Montclair is really great. I also love Lalezar in Montclair. For lunch I like to go to Sweet Basil in West Orange. They have very nice salads and sandwiches. Welcome to our neighborhood.

We are home from graduation and I thank all of you who suggested Cafe Capriccio. The food was outrageous. We had many people with different dietary needs and they accomodated all of us. We had a private room that was very comfortable for 26 of us. The staff was efficient and extremely pleasant. Robin

What if we don't feel like eating Mexican food?

Trattoria Fresca in West Caldwell has them and they are DELICIOUS!!!

We are heading out to California in a few weeks and want to spend a day in Santa Barbara. Any suggestions for a place for lunch. Any wineries worth visiting?

Osteria Giotta had them and boy were they good!

We had dinner here tonight and were very happy. The restaurant is very comfortable and our waiter was very nice and attentive. There were 6 in our party and we shared a bunch of appetizers. The pizzas were OUTSTANDING as was the mozzarella wrapped in proscuitto. I ordered Orata fish and asked for it to be fileted. Whoever did it needs a few lessons. The taste, despite the bones, was very fresh. My husband had the 28 oz. steak which was good. The sides we ordered, broccoli rabe, string beans and parmigiana polenta were also very good. Desserts were good. The best part of the whole meal was the bread and ricotta. We decided that this would not be a restaurant to run back to.

Taking friends in from the midwest this weekend and would like some information. Thanks

primavera always owned the lease on the restaurant. the owner opened bella vita - which was very good and reasonably priced - but found running two restaurants was too much so he sold the lease. looking forward to trying reggiano who i believe now has a liquor license.

Thank you for your replies. We are coming from Northern New Jersey but eat in NYC quite frequently. Mexican, Thai and Indian are out but we are open to everything else.

My husband and I will be in Los Angeles for 3 nights in July. We will be staying in Beverly Hills and would like recommendations for 3 great memorable dinners.

You are right Mark - it is Union College. We are really looking for a casual restaurant and I think Italian is the way for us to go. Thanks for all your help.

My friend's daughter is graduating college in June in Schenectady. We will be about 20 people and are looking for a decent restaurant for a Saturday night dinner. We are staying in Albany so anywhere in between would be great.

I like Green Mountain coffee. They have many different blends. You can get it in Kings.

I have used Bite of Heaven out of Mt. Freedom for many parties. Rich is reliable, reasonable and so easy to work with.