3rd NJ eGullet Dinner - Italian

[Rachel Perlow]

I haven't finalized plans yet, but assuming we do the next dinner at Bella Rosa in East Hanover on May 18th (that's a Saturday), who would be interested in attending? The price would be similar to the previous dinners and it is BYOB.

Here are some links about this restaurant:

         Recent eGullet thread

         Daily Record review from March 2002

         eGullet thread from Dec 2001/Jan 2002

[=Mark]

I'm Game!   :wow:

[Rosie]

So sorry. We can't make the 18th.        

[NJ2FLA]

Hi there.

I would love to go and meet some of the faces behind the posts - however, I will be down in Florida that weekend.

-Scott

[Rachel Perlow]

OK, I knew Rosie wasn't able to do the 18th, but we got some requests to do the next dinner on a Saturday. If I change it to Sunday the 19th is anyone else interested? Care to suggest other dates? Or, should I not bother with Italian? Is it too pedestrian? Other cuisines we want to do in future include Indian, Vietnamese, Korean...

Please suggest any others you'd like to try. I'll be happy to organize most anything.

Also suggested was having a BBQ at some point over the summer. I thought the South Mountrain Reservation in Essex County would be perfect as they have lots of beautiful park land. However, we would not be allowed to cook anything on site due to the drought (danger of starting a forest fire I think). Would people be interested in doing a pot luck picnic in a park like that?

[helenas]

Would people be interested in doing a pot luck picnic in a park like that?

As i mentioned on "Field Trip" post, i would love to, especially since i can take dog Cherry, and Mr Helena will have some meaningful destination for his bike ride.

[Helena Robinson]

The 18th (Saturday) would be great for us; the 19th might be possible, but we'd be coming for a further distance.

[helenas]

Sorry,

i'm confused, is it for restaurant or BBQ picnic?

[=Mark]

I noticed that the NYC board is talking about attending the 9th avenue food festival that weekend.  As usual they can't seem to agree on Saturday or Sunday, and as there is only about a month left it would seem unlikely that they will be able to nail it down before then...

[Rail Paul]

It sounds like the Greenwich Village Pub Crawling Team will become the Ninth Avenue Crawling Team. That is, provided Tommy makes it back from the west coast.

[Rosie]

Rachel--When you plan these dinners pick a date and whoever can come will come and whoever can't come won't. We have tickets for a play on the 19th so don't change anything because of us. Go with the majority and of course Tommy counts as ten people!! Not everyone will be able to make every dinner although those of us who have been there know they are missing a good time.

[Rachel Perlow]

OK, fine. Then we'll have a dinner at Bella Rosa on May 18th, plan to arrive at 5PM. If it's five of us, fine, if it's 20 great! If less than 10 participants I suggest we just order off the menu, bring our own wine, and split the bill at the end. If more, I will arrange a prix fixe dinner. In either case I doubt the amount will exceed $35 per person total.

So, as of right now the participants are

Jason & Rachel Perlow

Mark Stevens

Helena & Ken Robinson

Helena Sarin

Bob & Sandy Nash

Please RSVP by May 10th, to rperlow@hotmail.com.

(Helena Sarin - we will do a picnic another time, were you the one up for doing a potluck in your backyard? If so, that sounds great, you choose a date & time. )

[Rachel Perlow]

I updated the RSVP list above.

Also, for those who don't know where the restaurant is, it is in East Hanover, on Rt 10 West, in the Best Buy shopping center, all the way to the left (around the corner from the bank).

[Rail Paul]

adding a little to Rachel's excellent instructions:

From the East (I-280 x4), head south on Eisenhower Pkwy, make a right onto Eagle Rock Avenue at the light, and a left at the first traffic light onto River Road. Bella Rosa is three miles on your left just after passing a Commerce bank on your right side

From the West (I-287, etc), take Route 10 east, a hundred yards past Warnock Dodge, bear right onto Old Mount Pleasant. pass two traffic lights and make a left onto River Road. Bella is on your right in the shopping center)

[Rachel Perlow]

Shawn the manager called me the other day to ask if I had received the fax he had sent me with the menu he had worked up. I told him about the slower response rate than we had expected, so we will probably be ordering off the menu (maybe I'll arrange for an assortment of appetizers to be served family style, and we'll order the main courses). Despite Hank's recent complaints about the restaurant, we still like it very much (although I've never had the tuna). And, considering we are planning on arriving at 5PM, I don't think the noise will be too bad until a couple hours later.

So, it's May 1st, the dinner is on the 18th. Please let me know by the 10th if you are thinking of joining us.

We hope to see you there!

[Rosie]

Be sure to dip your bread in the garlic sauce that the serve with the bread.

[Suvir Saran]

Would it be too late to RSVP for two more?

Suvir Saran and Chuck Edwards.

[=Mark]

So, it's May 1st, the dinner is on the 18th. Please let me know by the 10th if you are thinking of joining us.

I'll be there!  Will you be posting directions?  I'll be coming up the Parkway...

[Rachel Perlow]

I've edited the RSVP list, above, to show Suvir & Chuck are coming, glad you can make it!

Re: directions, see various posts above, but since Mark asked...

Click Here for a Mapquest Map of the area. OK, you see where that red star is, that's wrong. The shopping center is to the southeast of there, on the other side of River Road, on the westbound side of Rt 10. So, please take that into account when doing directions on Mapquest.

I did directions from Asbury Park to get directions from the south for Mark (couldn't you have done this for yourself? ). Take the GSP North to exit 145 (Rt 280/The Oranges/Newark), and get onto Rt 280 West to exit 4A (Eisenhower Pky/Chatham), about two miles down make a right onto Rt 10 West, the shopping center with the Best Buy is about a mile up on the right. The restaurant is on the far side of the center, facing River Road.

[=Mark]

I did directions from Asbury Park to get directions from the south for Mark (couldn't you have done this for yourself? ).

I generally distrust directions provided by these software companies as the directions can be pretty whacked.  I much prefer directions from a human that is familiar with the area.

I once put in a mapquest route from my house near Red Bank to Princeton, which is nearly due west of me, and clicked the "Fastest Route."  The directions would have had me take the Parkway up to Rt 287, then to Rt. 1 and down to Princeton from there.  Even though it took me like 30 miles out of my way and 3 times the distance, the software evidently computed the route on which I could travel the "fastest" (i.e. 65 mph).

[Rachel Perlow]

Well the directions above sound good to me and I used to live around there.

[Rachel Perlow]

OK - I'm calling the restaurant tomorrow and telling them the reservation is for 9. If you are interested in going contact me ASAP (if you are reading this after the 10th, and you think you'd like to attend, then email me rperlow@hotmail.com so I can check if we can add you on.

See you all next week!

[Rachel Perlow]

OK, I've just called in the final headcount of 11 to Sean. We will be served appetizers of Bruschetta, Tuna Tataki, Mozzarella Napoleon, Mussels and Hotsy Totsy Shrimp. These will be served family style so everyone can have a taste.

Next, three kinds of salads will also be served family style, the Bella Rosa, Ceasar and WOW.

Then everyone can order their entree off the menu, followed by a selection of desserts. Click here for a link to Bella Rosa's website, click Dinner Menu to review the menu. Even though we are ordering main courses from the menu, we are being offered a fixed price, so dinner will be $33 per person, which includes tax and tip, but not drinks. The restaurant is BYOB, so feel free to bring any wine and/or beer that you would like to drink and/or share.

See you all on Saturday at 5 PM. Email me at rperlow@hotmail.com if you have any change of plans, or if you have not yet RSVPed and would like to attend (I don't think adding a few more people will be an issue).

[Rachel Perlow]

See you all tonight!

[Rachel Perlow]

We're down three people due to colds, oh well. Someone else was worried about being late due to an appointment. So, I'm changing the reservation to 6 PM. I contacted almost everyone by phone, so see you in a few hours.