10th Wedding Anniversary Dinner

[jim07044]

My wife and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary on June 4th, and we currently have a reservation at a nice restaurant in NYC. But I'm sitting on the fence whether I should go to NYC or someplace in NJ.

We live in the Montclair area. Can anyone endorse our plans to go into the city for such a milestone celebration, or is there an equal/better destination in NJ? Any place that has outdoor dining (not street/garden/walled patio) is especially of interest.

(The restaurant in NYC is March. We also have enjoyed celebrations at The Four Seasons. I'm not a fan of the formal menu at Ryland Inn. We've been to Il Tulipano, Il Cappriccio, Highlawn Pavilion, Rudolfo's (in Gladstone, years ago), Fromagerie, Richie Cercere's. We want to try a new place, but a very special place.)

Jim

Edited May 21, 2004 by jim07044 (log)

[Rosie]

Jocelyne's, Maplewood

Fascino, Montclair

Nicholas, Red Bank

Rat's, Hamilton Township would be perfect. You can walk through the sculpture garden for about an hour or hour and a half, have a drink on the patio and then have dinner in the restaurant.

[dbrociner]

I would go to March. I've been to two of the 3 places mentioned by Rosie and they aren't in March's class. To be fair they don't cost as much either. I've heard great things here and elsewhere about Restaurant Nicholas but if you're going to drive all the way down the parkway to Middletown you may as well just go through the tunnel to March. And I don't want this to seem like a slight to the folks at Fascino because we had such a great Egullet dinner there and I'm dying to go back so if Anthony or Ryan are reading this please don't feel slighted. As for Jocelyn's I was so underwhelmed that I still can't figure out what all the fuss is about.

So go to March and opt for an extra course instead of the beggar's purse. If you're really adventurous you can let the wait staff pick your meal for you. You just tell them how many courses and they'll do the rest. Plan on spending around $350 for 2. Yeah, I know thats obscene but you'll only have one 10th anniversary.

Enjoy and report back.

[Kim WB]

Jocelyne's, Maplewood

Fascino, Montclair

Nicholas, Red Bank

Rat's, Hamilton Township would be perfect. You can walk through the sculpture garden for about an hour or hour and a half, have a drink on the patio and then have dinner in the restaurant.

I'd have to warn that Rats has booked a number of private events through June, its good to check availability. It's a great special occassion place, but the city has a lot to ofer and it might be more 'special". I've yet to find a NJ BYO that compares to a city place, and I am not familiar with the places Rosie recs, other than RATS..

( perfect, as she suggests...loooooong drive, though) and Nicholas ( austere, there are some stellar reviews but I won't concur to great. just good, three visits)

[tommy]

let's face it, March has a better chance of producing a better meal in a romantic environment than any place in NJ, especially if you're discounting the Ryland Inn.

that's not to say that i've been to all of the high-end places mentioned here in NJ, but, you just kinda get a feel after a coupla years.

[wfnugent]

My wife and I have been to March twice and were not overwhelmed each time. The food was good, not great; the atmosphere was nice, not super romantic like we had hoped.

A great special occasion place is the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park -CIA - we have to each of the restaurants there and never been disappointed (though the French restaurant was a bit too classic for me.) We went once for lunch at American Bounty and had a peach melba for dessert. My wife made a "Meg Ryan in the Diner in Harry Met Sally" noise that I hd never heard her utter before. I had to stab her in the hand with my fork to make sure I got some of the dessert. It is fun, different and the food and the drive to get there are wonderful. There are some very good bed and breakfasts in the area if you can sneak away for an overnight.

Good luck

Bill

[Cook456]

How about:

Cafe Panache in Ramsey, Matisse in Rutherford, or Latour in Ridgewood.

[tommy]

My wife and I have been to March twice and were not overwhelmed each time. The food was good, not great; the atmosphere was nice, not super romantic like we had hoped.

you're outnumbered.

[Susan]

What about Stage Left in New Brunswick. I went over the holidays in December and loved it. It also got 4 stars in Sunday's Star-Ledger.

[fascino]

Don't worry DC I wouldn't take offense to that...March is a wonderful restaurant. I took my wife there for Valentine's Day last year. We both thought the food was terrific and the room was quite romantic. Did I mention service was as good as ANY restaurant I had ever been too. I would definitely recommend March for your special occasion.......