coughy

Baumgart's is coming to the new town center in Livingston.

We went to the movies on Christmas eve for the first time this year and it was packed. We followed the crowd after the movie right to the Chinese restaurant. It was great!

This is the former Mulberry Street/La Giada spot.

Welcome to West Orange. Try Trattoria Fresca on Bloomfield Avenue in Caldwell. they had prix fixe during the week and the food is very good.

We were lucky enough to get to Saratoga last weekend and had a truly wonderful dinner at Chez Sophie.

Don't miss the Inn at Castle Hill. It is a magnificent setting overlooking the water. The food is very good but I recommend drinks at sunset and then go back into town for dinner. P.S. - The Breakers is the nicest of the Mansions.

I was looking for someone who delivers in my area. We were told about Villa Victoria in Montclair. We ordered a thin crust shrimp pizza that we thought was very good. I will definitely order from them again.

I love to sit outside on the water at Gosmans. The food is consistently good and it is great watching the action on the water. In East Hampton the Palm is great as is Nick and Tonys and Della Femina.

We really like Tony daCaneca which is also on Elm Street. The food is delicious as is the sangria. Service is very friendly.

Every summer for years we have gone to Manchester, Vermont for a long weekend and drove - about an hour - to Saratoga for a day of racing. We were fortunate enough to be able to sit upstairs overloking the finish line in what I believe is called the Directors room. The food was expensive, massed produced and mediocre at best. After the racing was over we would go back to Manchester for dinner. This year our plans have changed and we will be going home to NJ after the races and dinner as I was lucky enough to get a reservation at Chez Sophie. I was shocked when I called hotels to get a room as we were thinking of staying over. $400 for a room at a Marriott Courtyard???

How are we Comcast subscribers who do not get the Travel channel supposed to view this?

It is funny you should bring up this topic. Last night we went to Seabra's in Newark with friends who have been there many times. The restaurant is very large and it was very HOT. We asked the manager to turn up the air conditioner and he said he did but it never cooled off. The salad bar was good although there was not one thing on it that was great. The rodizio was okay, not too salty but they were not very generous with their meats. We were offered sausage, chicken, 2 kinds of steak and beef ribs. We had to ask for pineapple. As we were just about finishing I noticed the largest cockroach I had ever seen crawling up the wall. That was it for us, check please, no dessert.

My husband is El Exijente- he has been in the coffee business his entire career. I was very happy with my Braun coffeemaker but he brought me home a Techni Vorm which I really love. It makes a great, HOT, pot of coffee and is easy to use and keep clean. Last week he brought me home a Keurig machine which I hated at first because it is so big and takes up a lot of room on my counter. I am learning to love it because it makes a great, hot cup of coffee in about 30 seconds with nothing to clean.

What about Lalezar for Turkish?

Try the back room - pizzeria - at Calabria in Livingston. The food is good and the pizzeria is very casual but they serve the same menu that they do in the front. Fortissimo in West Orange has decent food as does Bella Gente on Bloomfield Avenue in Verona and they are all child friendly.

We had a most wonderful dinner last night. We were with friends that we hadn't seen in a while and we did not feel rushed at all. We wound up being there over three hours and the service and food were the best. We all ate different things so we could taste and my favorite was the whole branzino that came with braised fennel and a lemon tarragon sauce. I cannot wait to go back!

I am so excited that I am going to Babbo tomorrow night for the first time. I have been to so many wonderful restaurants but never had the opportunity to get a table at Babbo. What should we eat?

We are going to the theater next week and plan to eat at Bond 45.

My husband came home with tickets for the LPGA for this weekend. I am looking for a place to have a nice dinner in the Gladstone area. Price is not an issue. Any suggestions? Thanks

There is always the Tick Tock!

I went to the Beacon a few years ago to see Meatloaf - dragged by my husband but I loved every minute of it. He was terrific. We happened to go with a big group of friends and ate at Nikos on Broadway - by all means not "special" but the food was good it was very close and we had great time.

Mark and Julies in West Orange has Only 8. Some flavors are good - others are vile - just ask, though, they'll give you a taste.

Our experience at Fuleen was that we made reservations for 24 people and when we arrived we were the only ones in the restaurant. We had two big tables in the back and the person who seated us was very nice. We looked over the menu and ordered soup for both tables, dumplings to share as well as main dishes to share. We probably ordered 9 main dishes for each table. The dumplings came up pretty fast, then the soup, but it took almost 2 hours to be served our main dishes. We were in a bind because there were so many of us and on Mother's Day where else could we go. The manager would not come anywhere near us and when he saw anyone from our table get up to inquire about our food he would run away. The worst part was that the entire restaurant filled up and we were the only table of non-Asians in the place. Everyone got served well before us and a few tables even turned over. We were outraged and WILL NEVER GO BACK!!! It is too bad for them because we go to Chinatown a lot and we would have brought them business. The kitchen was filthy - there was garbage all over and one man walked out of the bathroom without washing his hands and walked right back into the kitchen.

I would stay AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE from Fuleen. We were treated as poorly as one can possibly be treated in a restaurant. Plus when I went downstairs to the bathroom I got a look into the kitchen and what I saw disgusted me.

This is the place in the Westin - Governor Morris. We have not been there yet but have plans to go with friends who said the food and service were excellent - a bit pricey though. I will let you know what I think.