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Celebrated Food

scarlet knight

By scarlet knight
in New Jersey: Dining

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menton1

menton1

Posted
Posted

We went to this restaurant last summer, and for the most part, it was a nice experience. The place is tricky to find because it is down a foot path between houses where you find the entrance. An attractive place, two levels, but quite noisy on a Saturday night. Hard to converse. Food was excellent, memorable was the "Crazy Salad", a melange with fruits, nuts, and cheese. Also the Skate and the Sea Bass were perfectly prepared, wonderful sauces, and thoughtful vegetable accompaniments. My friends got the Confit Chicken which they thought was very uinusual and good.

The only damper was that in order to make a reservation they require a guarantee with a credit card. This turned me off a bit, but I did it. The noise is a bit too high as well. But you should enjoy the place. Have fun.

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  • 2 years later...
menton1

menton1

Posted
Posted

Was considering goiong to this restaurant, and was dismayed to just learn that they closed 3 month ago!! It was a shock, I did not see anything on Rosie's Closings list.

This was a well-established restaurant, nice location down a side street path with very good food. It seemed to have found a following in the community, but they sold the space and are now doing catering out of their home. Tough times for restaurant owners today!!

Rosie, please add to the Closings list... :sad:

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bearstew

bearstew

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chris and ellen are actually working out of another unamed restaurants kitchen, to do it out of their house would not be exactly kosher. their catering business just got so huge that it was more profitable to drop the ala carte aspect of their cuisine.

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menton1

menton1

Posted
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chris and ellen are actually working out of another unamed restaurants kitchen, to do it out of their house would not be exactly kosher. their catering business just got so huge that it was more profitable to drop the ala carte aspect of their cuisine.

They are kosher caterers? As in Bar Mitzvahs and the like?

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Curlz

Curlz

Posted
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Menton--

I think the word Kosher was used to imply that it wouldn't be legal for them to cater out of their home kitchen! At least, that's how I read it... :biggrin:

Curlz

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

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menton1

menton1

Posted
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I believe there are a ton of catering services that operate out their home, though...They probably need to have some specialized eauipment, and also pass some specific health department standards, but they do it out of their residence. So I'm still not sure what the poster meant by "Kosher".

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  • 2 weeks later...
Rusticfood

Rusticfood

Posted
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I believe there are a ton of catering services that operate out their home, though...They probably need to have some specialized eauipment, and also pass some specific health department standards, but they do it out of their residence.  So I'm still not sure what the poster meant by "Kosher".

As a legal caterer, I can tell you most definately that it is not legal to cater out of a private residence anywhere in New Jersey. The same regulations - Chapter XII of the NJ State Sanitary Code, apply to caterers just as they apply to any restaurant or other food service operation in the state. A caterer operating out of their home is doing so in violation of the law and outside the scrutiny of their local health department.

Thanks - Elaine

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menton1

menton1

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I don't doubt RusticFood's veracity, however I have encountered many people who have a home-based catrering business. I realize , though, that they must have re-outfitted their home kitchen to comply with health dept and State standards. Here are a couple of resources: Catering From Home and Denise Vivaldo's Guide to Home-Based Catering

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Rusticfood

Rusticfood

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I don't doubt RusticFood's veracity, however I have encountered many people who have a home-based catrering business.  I realize , though, that they must have re-outfitted their home kitchen to comply with health dept and State standards.  Here are a couple of resources:  Catering From Home  and Denise Vivaldo's Guide to Home-Based Catering

Rosie - thanks for the welcome. Illegal catering is a real bee in my bonnet, for obvious reasons.

While it is theoretically possible to operate a legal catering business out of a private residence, in order to do so, in NJ, a caterer must comply with the entirety of Chapter 12 relating to retail food establishments, including plumbing, electrical work, fire suppression, lighting, ventilation, food storage, dishwashing, garbage and wastewater disposal. The caterer's facility would also have to comply with local building and zoning codes. Additionally, because it's assumed that a commercial establishment will have employees, the facility must be ADA compliant. I'm sure that the restaurant owners that post here can verifiy that opening a food service facility in this state is not easy or cheap.

Having recently completed the renovation of a building as a catering kitchen, it seems highly unlikely that many home-based caterers have gone through the complicated and expensive process of remodeling their homes for use as legal foodservice facilities. For instance, in my 750 sf facility - which is not open to the public - I had to install 3 handwashing sinks, a dedicated food prep sink, a three compartment dishwashing sink, a heat sanitizing dishwasher and a mop sink. The bathroom had to be handicapped accessible. All of the drainage is installed so that backflow of wastewater is impossible. The ventilation system is size of a mid-size car and cost only slightly less.

Most municipalities - and I know this is true in Montclair - do not permit commercial facilities in residential areas as a matter of zoning law, particularly those as non-passive as food service. That garbage truck coming to empty the dumpster (businesses do not enjoy municipal garbage pick-up around here) at 3 am might draw some complaints from the neighbors.

I actually own a copy of Denise Vivaldo's book, referenced above. A quote from Chapter One: "Working out of an uninspected kitchen is a mistake. Not only are you breaking the law, but you run the risk of being shut down entirely." She goes on to recommend that new caterers find an approved commercial kitchen to share.

So, I repeat - The majority of home based caterers are operating illegally and outside the scrutiny of local health departments. Would you eat in a restaurant that had never seen a health inspection? When you hire an illegal caterer, that's the risk you take.

Again, thanks for the forum - Elaine

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