coughy

I just had my birthday dinner at Fascino and it was WONDERFUL!!!

We ate here Saturday also. We were 6 people and my husband went way overboard in ordering. We got to sample and share 8 different appetizers including a cheese plate with 9 different cheeses. My main dish was fluke piccata and lemon risotto. It was really delicious. We also tried many desserts, my favorite being the bread pudding. With wine, many drinks and a lot of food the bill was only $450 for the 6 of us. We were even lucky to have gotten a parking spot right in front of the restaurant.

We had dinner here on Friday night and really enjoyed ourselves. My entree was a mahimahi special that was delicious. I was surprised that the restaurant was relatively empty. I hope business picks up for them very soon as I think this is an asset to our town.

Gifted Gourmet - you make your menu sound so delicious. This year I am serving to an audience of 26: Chicken Soup with Matza Balls - hold the parsley Gefilite fish terrine chopped liver meatballs - sweet and sour roast turkey brisket salmon - haven't decided how I will make it yet - either grilled or baked grilled asparagus cucumber and red onion salad matzah apple kugel vegetable kugel sweet potato kugel potato kugel - that I made and froze yesterday and it is delicious! fresh fruit assorted cakes and cookies I wish you all a happy and healthy Passover.

Well, we finally made it to Fascino and I am only sorry we didn't go sooner. Yesterday was my birthday and my husband offered ANY restaurant. I opted for Fascino as it is close to home and I really wanted to try it. We loved the food, the service was excellent and friendly. Cynthia came over to our table and we loved her. What a terrific lady. Needless to say we will be back!

JP Lees in Millburn is Mongolian Barbeque but also have a Chinese buffet. I always say it is quantity over quality but the food is decent and the place is clean. The Mongolian side is actually good because you put your own meal together. Price is about $14 pp.

Your guide was really great. I took over doing Passover from my mother-in-law five years ago when it became too much for her. I had no probelm cooking as I am lucky enough to have someone helping me at home and I love to cook. My problem was the seder. For many years my father-in-law just read - in Hebrew- straight from the Manishewitz Haggadah - HOW BORING!!! When my son and nieces and nephews were old enough to participate I put an end to that tradition. The purpose of Passover is to tell the story. As English is our primary language we now tell the story, interspersed with songs and jokes and Passover is a fun holiday. Chag Sameach!

A place that we go to that is very reasonable and can handle a large party is Solano's on Forest Street in Orange. The food is good, Southern Italian, the service is friendly and the price is right.

I love Epernay but I also think a good choice is Trattoria Fresco in Caldwell.

Veggie Heaven in Parsippany and Teaneck are popular kosher locations as everything is made with tofu.

The Ritz Diner in Livingston sells baked goods and their apple pie is very good. You can also go to Costco and get a tremendous pie for around $7.00.

My mother's chopped liver was the best. Chicken livers, fried onions and hard boiled eggs. Her secret was toboil a few onions when she hard boiled eggs. She used a meat grinder and every once in a while she put a boiled onion in more for consistency than flavor. It was so moist and delicious. I happen to like Zabar's liver the best.

The Tick Tock Diner!

Mrs. Stahl's knishes were in Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. We used to go visit my grandfather every Sunday and walk around the corner for a knish. My favorite was cabbage. Zabar's has delicious knishes too. Just heat them in your oven.

I know there were plans to raze the existing Pathmark building and move it to the other side of the parking lot replacing the STS tire center but was not approved because of the proximity to all the new houses. What about the Rag Shop and Staples?

I had dinner with friends recently and one of the dishes we ordered was Chicken Scarpariello. This was at the advice of our waiter when we requested a dish with no flour or bread crumbs as my friend has a wheat allergy. He informed us that this was their only chicken dish without flour. It was delicious. I have been looking for recipes and everyone I have seen is vastly different and most include flour. Any recipes? Thanks

The Russian restaurant has been closed for quite some time. There was some kind of violation and they lost their liquor license for a while. It was opened by people who didn't really have restaurant experience and they just couldn't make a go of it.

Yes and Ground Round before it.

I forgot about Bonvini. When we first moved to West Orange we would eat there all the time. They catered all of our parties.

We went to Joy Luck for the first time on Friday night. My husband is a Chinese food lover and we usually go to Sesame in Montclair or to Chinatown when we have time. I suggested giving this place a try. We enjoyed our dinner but were not bowled over. I was surprised that there were only a few tables occupied at 7:30PM on a Friday night. The service was friendly and efficient. I had hot and sour soup which was okay. My husband had boneless spare ribs as an appetizer and these were very good. My son had Chicken Lo Mein, no vegetables - he eats nothing else- and proclaimed it delicious. We had a seafood dish with shrimp, scallops and vegetables that was very good and a beef and chicken in a birds nest which were both off the "other menu". We enjoyed our dinner and will go back. I also was excited that they deliver.

Before the restaurant became Bice it was a very good Italian restaurant called Bel Mondo. BelMondo was razed and Bice was a brand new building. As I remember it took quite a while to re-build. I was not impressed by the food at Bice and never got the opportunity to try Northfield Steak house. We will definitely give EKKO a shot.

We went to DelFriscos in Las Vegas and loved it. We have not been to the one in NYC yet. Everytime we want steak we go to Mark Joseph's on Water Street.

We usually go into NYC to Mark Josephs for steak. We were at Primavera recently and a friend ordered steak and it was EXCELLENT!!

Don't count on Chatterly. Their Fairfield store is now a dry cleaner. Too bad though - their cakes were terrific and reasonable.

America - now that I think of it might have been called America Eats. It was on the site of the Claremont, New Claremont, Harolds, Bobby Rubinos... and it now the Acura dealership.