jsibley

This may seem like an odd request, but I told a friend that I would help him out. My friend is in charge of several vineyards in France and would like to host an American barbecue for about 250 people during Vinexpo in Bordeaux at the end of June. He's British and a bit of a contrarian. He's looking for someone with a lot of experience who would be interested in doing this. It would probably be amusing, might get some good publicity, and should be worth a few nice bottles of wine. Does anyone have any suggestions of someone who might be good for this? Thanks. Jonathan

The pies at Gina's are incredibly good. Definitely worth trying. They also have a Pan de Muertos (a mexican sweet bread with sugar on top) which is nice, and which can make a good French toast.

If you continue on Elmora towards Union and Kean College, you should get to Fritz's a nice German / Austrian butcher. I believe he closes at 4 pm on Saturdays. I haven't been in quite a while, but I hope it's still there.

Thank you all. We ended up at Sonoma in Manayunk. Not the best meal I've ever had, but nice atmosphere, and the food was above average. On Sunday, they serve brunch at Arroyo, which didn't interest me. However, we went for drinks after the Barnes Foundation, which also worked well. Next time, I'll try to leave more time to walk around Manayunk. Thanks again.

Hi. Can anyone suggest a place somewhat near the Barnes Foundation for lunch? I'll be driving from NJ, and don't plan to go through the center of Philadelphia. Good ethnic or other interesting, non-chain food, please. Many thanks. Jonathan

If you are willing to go there, Super Cellars in Paterson, on route 20, seems to have the best prices around. It is rare for Wine Library to have lower prices, although WL will sometimes match Super Cellars prices when an item is on sale. There are few case discounts at Super Cellars, but that's ok with me, as the per-bottle prices are lower than most other places case discount prices. In fact, a friend and I turned a French sommelier at a high-end NYC restaurant on to Super Cellars, and he drives out to NJ to shop there. They have a website at www.supercellars.com, and send out emails prior to the NYT ads they put out some Wednesdays. That said, they don't have a huge champagne selection, but it's still worth a trip, IMO.

John's Meat Market in Scotch Plains is quite good, at least for beef (the only thing I've tried there). They have dry-aged prime beef. You can find them at http://www.johnsmarket.com/

I drove by the strip mall on the Belleville Turnpike in Belleville yesterday and noticed what appears to be a Vietnamese restaurant that hasn't opened yet. The supermarket, East-West, in the mall isn't particularly good, but the restaurant looked like it might be authentic. No idea when it will open, and I don't remember the name (Viet something?).

I remember parking on a side street quite near it. I don't know if I just got lucky, though. Your map looks about right, I think.

It's more of a take-out place with a small counter against a wall and a small table, as I remember.

I confess, it was me. Five Burro Tacos in North Bergen (9266 Kennedy Boulevard) is (or was) owned by a CIA grad who used to cook in NYC. I assume they are still open but haven't been there in quite a while (a bit of a drive from Montclair, unfortunately). Their phone number is 201-453-8838. If you go, let us know how it was.

I will go back, yes. If I wasn't clear, I thought the food was not only different, but quite good (other than the chewiness of the second goat dish, which may be an acquired taste).

Ruth's in Fort Lee has incredible Armenian food, but only take-out. It's right down the street from Silver Pond. They do a great version of dishes found elsewhere in the Middle East, such as Baba Ganoush, Hommos, etc., but they also have a dish which seems to be just Armenian, called Ich (not sure of the spelling, but sounds like "each"), which is made from fine bulgur wheat. The owner is really nice, too, and very helpful (he usually, if not always, gives customers something to eat for free when they come in).

I finally got a chance to try Wazwan, in West Caldwell (691 Bloomfield Ave) today. I wouldn't expect authentic Indian cuisine in West Caldwell, but this is where a Kashmiri couple decided to open their restaurant (they already owned the space). The owners are quite nice, and happy to talk about their food. I tasted the following (they were nice enough to give me some small tastes of dishes that I hadn't ordered): Kabar Gah (Fried tender pieces of goat ribs garnished with spices) Marchwangan-Korma (Tender pieces of goat cooked with tamarind and hot red pepper Kashmiri sauce) Rogan Josh (Succulent pieces of lamb cooked in Kashmiri spice, red pepper sauce) Koakur (Tender pieces of chicken cooked with an assortment of kashmiri spices) Mixed Fresh Fruit Juice Kahwa Mugal-Chai (Kashmiri Green Tea flavored with cinnamon, cardamom, and almonds) The goat ribs were quite tender and fried until the spices on them were nicely browned). They are a bit boney (small bones), but if that doesn't bother you, they were quite tasty (nice taste of cinnamon, among other flavors) The goat with tamarind and hot red pepper sauce (most dishes can be made with either goat or lamb) was very tasty, but the goat was not tender. The chef said that it is supposed to be chewy, but I found it a bit too much so. The taste was quite nice, though, although a bit on the fiery side. The Rogan Josh was really good. It is served in some other restaurants, but the chef said that "true" Rogan Josh is Kashmiri and is not prepared the way other restaurants prepare it. The chicken was also really good, and the sauce seemed a bit milder and richer than the other two sauces. The fruit juices are made fresh, and mine was a combination of watermelon, blueberry, and some other fruits. The spiced tea was also a nice change, and a nice way to end the meal. I forgot to check on the hours, but I believe they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, now, and may only serve dinner on Sundays (Lunch and Dinner the other days they are open). Their phone number is 973 226-3132. This is a restaurant that would probably fit better in Montclair, but apparently many of their customers come from Montclair (they are only 4 miles from Montclair). They are near Passaic Avenue, so it looks like one could get their via 280, 80, or 46, as well. So, if you want to try something a little different, here you are. I don't think you'll find a lot of other Kashmiri restaurants around.

I forgot to mention that Tree Licious is in Port Murray, near Hackettstown.

Treelicious Orchards had peaches at the Montclair farmer's market (white and yellow) today. I think this is their phone number: (908) 852-7191 You can also look at this website: http://www.ifplantscouldtalk.rutgers.edu/i...ation/njpyo.htm

Treelicious Orchards had peaches at the Montclair farmer's market (white and yellow) today.

I'm in Montclair, so Paterson, Newark, Harrison, Union City and, possibly, Elizabeth are good candidates for me.

Here are some of the restaurants in Iselin and Edison: Oak Tree Road Restaurants in Edison and Iselin If you want something really different, there is a vegetarian Gujarati restaurant in Edison (on the list) called Jhupdi. It seems to be quite authentic (when I've been there, the other customers have all been Indian). I'm not that familiar with Gujarati food, but it is quite different from Northern and Southern Indian food.

Sure. It is spit-roasted (rotisserie) chicken. As far as I know, it is marinated first, and ideally roasted over wood. It seems to be common in Peru and Colombia, and, most likely, other South American and Central American countries. There used to be a good version on the Upper East Side in NYC, at a place called "El Pollo". I was less impressed by their Soho branch, though. I used to have great spit-roasted in Spain, too, fwiw. Now, time to find some in New Jersey.

I'm wondering if folks have favorite places for roast chicken, particularly Latin American "Pollo a la Brasa". There is a Peruvian chicken place in Elizabeth on Eudora Ave that I haven't been to in a while, and they had good chicken, but the Peruvian hot sauce had mayonnaise in it, which I thought was a shame. I'm sure there are other good places around (Union City?), so I thought I'd ask. Any suggestions?

Some Greek friends told me about a greek restaurant in Fairfield, off of route 46 a while back. Unfortunately, I don't know the name or the address. Does this ring a bell for anyone?

Wine Library has good prices on some bottles, when they match Super Cellars (Paterson and Bayonne), but on most bottles, there prices are quite a bit higher than Super Cellars. Super Cellars doesn't carry everything (no one does), but the prices on what they do carry are usually incredible. There usually isn't an additional case discount (although occasionally, there is), but it still works out cheaper per bottle than most other stores. They can be found at www.supercellars.com. It's also pretty easy to get to, as it is right off of route 20, which you can get to from the GSP or Route 46. In fact, there is probably a good outing to be made out of Sandy's chicken combined with a stop at Super Cellars.

Thanks, Rachel, for trying it out. Sorry to hear it wasn't great.

Anyone have any favorite places for fried chicken? I tried "Sandy's Sho-Nuff Fried Chicken" in Garfield last week, and it's really good (it's listed in the phone book as "The Best Fried Chicken North of the South"). It's at 506 route 46 West (and a bit complicated to get to from 46 East). It's a small shack where Sandy fries the chicken in some large pans (not deep-fried) and you can buy by the piece of as dinners. When she runs out, she makes more (so you might have to wait). In addition to the tasty chicken, she has home-made ice cream that was also quite good (just in case the cholesterol is still too low, no doubt). It has a few stools inside and a couple of tables overlooking scenic route 46, so bear that in mind, but the chicken is great.