Tasting Menus

[mschef]

My family & I had a wonderful dining experience at Fascino in Montclair. Expensive, but worth it!

[Rosie]

mschef--Do you work in a restaurant?

Also, there is a Fascino thread. Would love to see your dining report there.

[hedoness]

hedoness--The people on the NY board would like this info. Here Jersey rules!

ooops- sorry I'm new...

But I would take the PATH or other trians to get out to NJ if it were for a great Sushi tasting menu

[billpitcher]

Around here, I love the tasting menu at The Bernards Inn, in Bernardsville. It's not a surprise -- since there are two options for each course -- but I have no doubt that if you don't look at the menu and say you'd like to be surprised, then the staff would accommodate you. It's typically a five-course menu, with salad, seafood, beef, pork, or poultry, cheese, and dessert courses.

But the best within a couple of hours here HAS to be a little place in the Catskills called the Basement Bistro. It's a nice guy named Damon Baehrel who has a great catering business but spends a few nights each week opening up his basement -- which has been converted into a small restaurant -- for tasting menus, sometimes with as many as 15 small courses. It sounds amateurish, but I assure you it's not. The restaurant is beautiful, and the food is first-rate. If it's not Copper River Salmon or diver scallops flown in from Maine, it's homemade duck sopressata, or fried squash blossoms he picks from his garden right before cooking, or quail he purchases from a neighbor. Again, as many as 15 courses, for about $40, excluding a la carte desserts, which are amazing.

The Web site is of little help, but here it is: www.sagecrestcatering.com. It's in Earlton, N.Y., about 15 minutes off the Catskill exit of the Thruway, about two hours from the state line.

[fatcatbrew]

Other than the Village Green in Ridgewood, what other restaurants in north jersey offer a tasting menu or small plates?

Note: Merged by moderator.

Edited September 12, 2004 by Rachel Perlow (log)

[tommy]

the thread.

[Nutley Resident]

Other than the Village Green in Ridgewood, what other restaurants in north jersey offer a tasting menu or small plates?

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In Nutley, Michael Vigilante's restaurant called SALT OF THE EARTH offers tastings. A very nice assortment.

[Rachel Perlow]

While not a tasting menu, per se, Tapas de Espana (two locations, Englewood and North Bergen) offers an extensive tapas menu. You could easily make a meal out of 2-4 tapas orders per person.

[Cook456]

Latour, in Ridgewood, offers a tasting menu on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. ... and it's a BYOB !!

[camper]

The Lawrenceville Inn in Lawrenceville does a wonderful tasting menu not restricted to the entire table. If you are a vegetarian the guys in the kitchen love to cook with vegetables. Especially since the chef buys produce from all the local farms. I believe that it is $13 a course for either 5, 7 or 9 courses. B.Y.O

[suzz]

Any recommendations on restaurants with menus that are exclusively multi-course tastings, like The Village Green in Ridgewood? If not exclusively than at least those offering it as a regular option.

[Rosie]

Ryland Inn, Whitehouse

Nicholas, Red Bank

Dining Room at Anthony David's, Hoboken

[Helena Robinson]

Does The Dining Room at the Hilton at Short Hills still do tasting menus? Or is that a thing of the past now that they've changed chefs?

Also The Lawrenceville Inn lets you create a tasting menu of three, four, or five courses; if I recall what I read on its web site once upon a time.

[adegiulio]

Fascino offers a tasting menu. I would recommend that.

The new 28 Oak Street has tasting menus. That, I might not recommend...

[Rosie]

How is the "New " 28 Oak? Haven't been there since it changed hands.

[adegiulio]

If it were the only restaurant in town, I would recommend it. Unfortunately, they compete with Village Green and Zarole, serving similar food. I can't see any reason why I would go to 28 Oak when VG is 500 feet away...

Check out the thread here.

[camper]

The Lawrenceville Inn offers tasting menus at 5 7 or 9 courses, with no restrictions on the entire table ordering or not. I did here however that the Chef is changing the format to two separate 7 course menus with a smaller A la Carte section.

[babyluck]

Stage House Restaurant, Scotch Plains

We're going there tonight! Sorry I didn't mention it sooner--tonight is the last night to take advantage of the $70/head 5-course tasting menu "Best of Summer" (wine pairings included!). It's available Sun-Thurs only. They do the same thing all summer featuring a different seasonal ingredient or theme each time. This week & last week the menu was comprised of the 5 dishes restaurant patrons voted the best. I still don't know what we're having but it will be good.

They have several tasting options normally--here's the website.

[tommy]

Stage House Restaurant, Scotch Plains

We're going there tonight!  Sorry I didn't mention it sooner--tonight is the last night to take advantage of the $70/head 5-course tasting menu "Best of Summer" (wine pairings included!).  It's available Sun-Thurs only.  They do the same thing all summer featuring a different seasonal ingredient or theme each time.  This week & last week the menu was comprised of the 5 dishes restaurant patrons voted the best.  I still don't know what we're having but it will be good.

They have several tasting options normally--here's the website.

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can you eat at the bar at Stage House?

[Curlz]

I'll be VERY curious to hear about your dinner, Babyluck!

There's already a thread on the free lunch they offered in early September (and the promo over the next few months) here , but I can't find one just about the restaurant, so maybe you'll start one!

[tommy]

I'll be VERY curious to hear about your dinner, Babyluck! 

There's already a thread on the free lunch ...

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there's already a thread on tasting menus as well here.

[Cook456]

Latour in Ridgewood also does a nice tasting menu on Tues, Wed and Thursday.

[Curlz]

Quote: Tommy's new sig... "'candy-gram'. get it? it's *funny*"

Yes, Mongo, we get it. And it IS funny.

[babyluck]

can you eat at the bar at Stage House?

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I think so. There was a woman eating at the bar last time we were there but she was dating the bartender.

there's already a thread on tasting menus as well here.

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I knew I saw that somewhere. I vote for a merge.

Will report on last night's dinner ASAP.

P.S. I'll start a new thread on the Stage House, but since I mentioned the price earlier I thought I should mention that it wasn't $70--it was $115. I didn't complain, of course (I'm not my mother), but it was a little bit of a shock. The website lists all of the courses with the wine pairings and then states $70 Sun-Thurs; $115 Fri & Sat. But apparently that is without the pairings. (They haven't updated their website but the meal last night was an add-on to the summer tasting series.) They seem to always have a lesser-priced alternative to the degustation menu, not just during the summer.

Edited October 1, 2004 by babyluck (log)

[tommy]

I knew I saw that somewhere.  I vote for a merge.

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hopefully they'll make the right decision.