Comfort Food--NJ Monthly's list

[Curlz]

The Feb issue of NJ Monthly features a cover story entitled

Comfort Food

37 restaurants show off their traditional favorites to warm your soul

Maybe Rosie can enlighten us as to why the ten places featured are all 1, 1.5 and 2 star-rated places?!? Forgive me--there is one 2.5 starred spot highlighted--La Riviera Trattoria in Clifton. Never heard of it--not that that means anything!

I'm not sure what the eG protocol is on listing all of the places from the magazine, but if it's legal, I'm happy to share. It's everything from bagels (G&A's in Butler) to Falafel (Evelyn's in New Brunswick) to Tuna Sandwich (The Cheese Shop in U. Montclair). Some very odd choices, though, imho.

[Rosie]

I'll see what I can find out. Which restaurants would you list?

BTW--been to La Riviera and food is delicious.

[Rosie]

The Feb issue of NJ Monthly features a cover story entitled

Comfort Food

37 restaurants show off their traditional favorites to warm your soul

Maybe Rosie can enlighten us as to why the ten places featured are all 1, 1.5 and 2 star-rated places?!?  Forgive me--there is one 2.5 starred spot highlighted--La Riviera Trattoria in Clifton.  Never heard of it--not that that means anything!

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While they may not be white tablecloth 4-star type places, they are still good at what they do.

[Curlz]

Actually, some of them ARE tableclothed places (i.e., Mignon)!!!

[Rosie]

Sorry. I should have written---While some of them may not be white tablecloth 4-star type places, they are still good at what they do.

[tommy]

curlz, my guess is that's is basically a piece based on one or two people's opinions. just as if you and i came up with a list, and had to remove 50% due to space considerations, the list would be vastly different than 2 other peoples list.

[Curlz]

The thing I don't get is why they bothered to include the stars. I don't care if they think that a place has great ____, but then why not write a few sentences about each of the places that has great ____ instead of mini-reviews of 10 (overall) 1 and 2-star restaurants? The big list of 37 is just that--a list with addresses.

Not losing sleep over it; just thought I'd share.

[tommy]

curlz, my thought is that this is simply a compilation of old reviews. with the filter of "comfort food." just like a year-end wrap-up, or a "best NJ italian" list, they'll compile old reviews for the copy. they're not applying stars at this point, but rather including them in the copy, which may or may not be based on earlier reviews. i agree that some fresh words about the specific food are in order, but i think the inclusion of the stars acts as a baseline for those who may not be familiar with the other aspects of the restaurants.

i'm just making this stuff up.

and i know you well enough. you *are* losing sleep over this. and i'm losing sleep over your sleep loss. only one thing to do: let's hit the jeff.

Edited January 25, 2005 by tommy (log)

[cibo susci]

When does best italian come out in njm.

[Curlz]

Dunno, but the survey for favorite restaurants was included in this issue...

[Rosie]

When does best italian come out in njm.

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Italian isn't on the schedule, although in October the topic is scheduled to be International, so perhaps we'll see some Italian Restaurants then.

[ghostrider]

The Comfort Food mess is accessible on line at the magazine's website. What a hodge-podge (dare I say, a slurry?). Looks like everybody was on vacation & a junior dog show editor threw something together.

And how dare a piece purporting to highlight comfort foods not tell me where I can find the best mashed potatoes & gravy. Fie.

While I was there, for the fun of it I went to their "Statewide Dining" function & searched for Soul Food. This yielded 2 suggestions: Epernay in Montclair and Huntley Taverne in Summite. Neither seems very soulful.

Does NJM have a clue?