tommy:eats

Corrado's market: Wayne, NJ

Civitavecchia, not Wayne

When I first heard that Clifton's Corrado's was opening another store in Wayne, and the excitment generated by this prospect, I was nonplussed.  Corrado's in Clifton has never really impressed me.  It's always seems crowded, and not in an exciting and enegertic open air market in Civitavecchia I can grab a beer at the market bar to take a break way, but rather in that get-me-the-eff-out-of-here way.  I suppose the prices on the produce are good, but the savings aren't worth my time, digging through the less-than-fresh-looking stuff.  It is what it is, but I've not found much reason to go. 

However, it's a new day, and there's a new Corrado's in Wayne, and on my first visit all I could say was "WOW!"

Firstly, the place is spacious and a pleasure to move around in.  It's bright.  It's clean.  There were an adequate number of checkout lanes.  And it has everything.  In fact, I made it a point to make a mental note to myself:  "Note to myself:  this place has everything.  If you ever need something, and don't know where to get it, it's here.  At Corrado's.  Dried chiles.  Pork skin.  Pork belly.  Dry-aged beef.  Prime beef.  Olives.  Cheeses.  Sausage casings.  Chipotle in adobo.  Fresh mozzarella.  Mozzarella curd.  Pork butt.  Italian bread.  Chicken feet.  Ox tail.  French bread.  Desserts.  Sandwiches." 

The list goes on.  The place could very well have the most comprehensive inventory of interesting and hard-to-find foodstuffs in all of north Jersey.

Want a huge chunk of provolone for 55 bucks?  Here is is.

Need pork belly?  They've got lots of it.  Although the skin still had whiskers.

The dry-aged beef is supposedly USDA Prime.  At about 20 bucks a pound, it's a good value, and certainly in line with Franklin Lakes' Market Basket's pricing (an obvious competitor).

The non-dry aged beef (about 14/lb IIRC) looked excellent, and had nicer marbling than the dry aged stuff I got.    

And most notably, the produce looked really fresh and in good shape.

As an aside, I realized that if you're serving steak and potato and greens, and you're pre-slicing the steak, it's easy to just serve everything on the board, instead of dirtying more plates.  

As another aside, I did a side-by-side taste test of Corrado's San Marzano DOP tomatoes and Cento organic, and the Cento was the clear winner.  I have a feeling both would lose if up agaist Muir Glen, which I feel are some of the best canned tomatoes out there.  A reminder to taste your ingredients!!!

Corrado's Market : 201 Berdan Ave : Wayne, NJ 

Rosa Mexicano: Hackensack, initial impressions

We took a walk by the chain restaurant trifecta that recently opened at the Riverside Square mall. 

There's a Maggioni's or something like that, whose awning claims "PRIME STEAKS."  Plural, as far as I can tell.  I took a look at their menu, and only one steak is "prime", and it's not even suggesting that it's USDA Prime (it also claims "aged", which I assume means that it was sitting in a Cryovac wrapper for a while.  Yay).  I guess what they meant by "PRIME STEAKS" is that they have several of those steaks. 

There's also PF Chang's.  I couldn't get past those enormous concrete horses.  I'm sure I'm missing some sort of cultural significance, once again illustrating the depth and breah of my ignorance. Seriously, they're kidding, right?...

...and then there's Rosa Mexicano.

Savini Restaurant: Allendale, NJ

This place still has no website.  For real. 

Do people actually go to restaurants without first consulting with their website?  I sure don't.   And judging by the lack of info on the internet in general about this restaurant a lot of other people don't, either.

I guess they're tring to keep the place a secret-secret.  I hope that works out for 'em. 

Vito's Deli: Hoboken, memory lane

Just a quick throw-away post about Vito's in Hoboken.

Ridgewood's Blend: gone (yay!), but coming back (awww...)

Blend opened up several years ago, taking up what seemed to be an entire block of Ridgewood's somewhat quaint downtown area.  Then it closed a few months ago, bankrupt.  But not before I spent some quality time at this restaurant-cum-dance-club-cum-live-music-venue.

During one of my first meals, on what was a guys-night-out sort of thing, my strip steak came to the table in the form of filet mignon.  I sent it back and waited.  And waited.  The manager, who was very nice, came over and apologized, explaining that they had my new steak ready and were bringing it out but the server dropped it on the stairs, so they were making yet another one.  I appreciated her honesty, we all had a good laugh, and we still chuckle about it today.  The steak?  I don't recall it being notable in the least.  But a good time was had by all.

On another visit, I spent a lazy afternoon at the back bar talking to the bartender (Steve, at the time), about cocktails and tequila.  He set up a little tequila tasting for me, and we had a grand ol' time.  The burger, not all that exceptional.  But the experience?  Wonderful.

But beyond those two visits, Blend just didn't do it for me.  The food was simply not very good.  And if I went at night to soak in that nightclub thing they had going, I'd find myself looking around, wondering who all these people were and from where they came.  They sure didn't look my neighbors and friends.  

That was indicative of my biggest issue with Blend:  it didn't serve the community. And to top off the perceived insult with tangible injury, its valet service seemed to take up about 90% of the only large parking lot in downtown Ridgewood.  Pre-Blend-opening, you could always get a spot there for 2 bucks for the whole night.  In a post-Blend-opening world, that parking lot was practically useless...unless you were going to Blend.  Or should I say, unless you were pretending as though you were going to Blend.  Many a time I would drop off my guests at our restaurant of choice, pull into that valet lot, hand over my keys, walk in the back door of Blend and right out the front.  2 dollar parking just turned free.

But my craftiness isn't what I came here to share.

The Star Ledger review: and the specter of Chef Needham

The Newark Star Ledger gave Ridgewood's Silver Oak Bistro 2.5 stars today. The reviewer goes on and on about Chef Needham who, as far as I know, hasn't been working at the restaurant for almost a year. So what does this all mean? Either Chef Gary Needham is back, which would be nice, but I think unlikely, or the reviewer didn't do any sort of follow-up, which I find unlikely (or scary), or the reviewer was told something that's not true by someone at the restaurant, or Chef Gary put on a happy face and told the reviewer he was still there. Perhaps he's still acting as "executive chef", which can be next to meaningless. Any other explanations that I missed? The review can be read here.

Beef: found

I don't normally regurgitate news here, because that's boring.   But I'm really impressed with this feat:

This man has found the beef.  Although, I'm not sure where he put it. 

That's incredible.  Where's the video?  In this age of youtube no one captured this for all the world?

Meanwhile, the medical experts over on Roadfood.com are chiming in.  *sigh*

Green chile: cheeseburgers

Once again I found myself emailing iamnotachef about food instead of posting on this blog about food.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not under the impression that there's a collective minion out there who are hanging on my every word, but every now and again I feel the tinge of responsibility to actually keep this blog going, rather than just shutting it down completely or let it sit out there dormant.  For today, my choice is to keep it going with another post.

I emailed iamnotachef a few mornings back telling him that I've been really into making green chile stuffs, which are way better than ketchup.  About 10 minutes later, he's got this post about how mustard is the "new ketchup".  OK, well, first off, he shamelessly stole my idea.  Second, he's wrong:  green chile stuff is the new ketchup.

In-N-Out Burger: Eh, I'm not convinced

Here on the east coast, we don't have In-N-Out burger.  So we discuss it on food blogs and Chowhound poetically, fantasizing, lusting,... remembering.  I'm guilty of the same.  I had my first (and until recently, only) In-N-Out experience about 4 years ago in Las Vegas.  You know what Las Vegas is.  I don't have to link to Wikipedia.

<remembering fondly>Twas a hung-over afternoon in Vegas, and I knew there was only one thing to do:  call a taxi and have the driver bring me to In-N-Out burger.  About an hour and 50 dollars later, I devoured a double in my hotel room, thinking it was pretty gosh darned good.</remembering fondly>

Fast forward a few years and I remember it as one of the best burgers in my life.  Complaining that we don't have one around here. 

Red and green chile sauce: beef and shrimp, a la Rosa Mexicano

I was exchanging emails with iamnotachef yesterday, as we sometimes do, discussing bourbon and absinthe and the state of New Jersey dining -- you know, things that two people who are complete strangers would talk about over email -- when it occurred to me that instead of telling him what I'm making for dinner, I should probably blog about it.  He concurred, but said that I should only blog about it if it's very good, or very bad.  I tend to agree, but the other reason I sometimes blog about the things I cook is so that I can remember what I did. I'm horrible at keeping notes for repeat performances, so this blog sometimes doubles as a dumping ground for those semi-successful meals that were thrown together.  Trust me, this blog thing and those dinner posts aren't about trying to impress people.  Of this you are assured.

The discussion started with a mention of the opening of Rosa Mexicano in Hackensack's Riverside Square mall.  What I said to the fella was this:

Bonefish Grill: Paramus, NJ

File under:  I should have known better.

Essentially on a dare, we headed to Bonefish Grill in Paramus.  "How bad could it be?", was the rationale.   Well let me tell ya...

The Brick House: Wyckoff, NJ: Slammed by the Record

The Brick House (the "fine dining" restaurant in Wyckoff, NJ) was ripped a new one by the Bergen Record yesterday.  And just like clockwork, critics of the critic came out of the woodwork, defending the restaurant, and questioning the reviewer's food knowledge (you can read the comments at the bottom of that link and here as all of them here).   One commenter suggests that a reviewer should "educate me and enrich the dining experience".  That's good stuff.  I can't even make that stuff up.  And, of course, some made it known to the world that one little review was not going to change their opinion of the place (ummm, is that the goal of a review?  ever?)

You might recall that something similar happened when the Record slammed Biagio's.  The immediate outpouring of support for the mediocre Biagio's was mind-blowing.  These people were incensed!

I guess this phenomenon has something to do with these places being "local institutions."  My take on "local institutions"?:  generally not very good.

While I've had several meals at Biagio's to support that hypothesis, I've had none at The Brick House.  But not for lack of trying.

Our visit a few weeks ago went like this:

White Castle fries: File under: WTF?

I've been to a few fast food joints over the years.  Hell, over the month.  And I always get a "large" combo meal, because I like a lot of soda.   You do get a lot of fries with the large size, but it's really all about the extra soda for me.  In fact, if you could super-size the diet Coke, and keep the fries small, well that there would be a great option. 

However, even with all of this experience, and all of the thought I have given this, I was absolutely floored, nay, disgusted, when I pulled the large fries out of the White Castle bag the other day.

Mini burgers: Big City style

I was resting in bed today trying very hard to work off a Peter Luger induced food and bourbon hangover, when this came on the TV.  I hope it frightens you as much as it frightened me.  Enjoy:   

Study: Most kids' fast-food meals have too many calories

Study: Most kids' fast-food meals have too many calories

In related news:  no shit, Sherlock.

<WTF?>  Who pays for this stuff?  Shouldn't they be paying for studies on how to get seeds and flavor back into watermelon instead of the number of permutations possible with 7 sandwiches, 5 drinks and french fries?  Was this study run by a high school student looking for extra credit?</WTF?>

Tomatoes: what you've been missing

So, by now you're probably avoiding jalapeno peppers due to the recent scare.  And for most of the summer, you've been avoiding tomatoes because of doodie contamination. 

I've been avoiding them too.  Then again, I always avoid tomatoes, because they are pretty crappy 99% of the time, not just when they're, well, crappy.

Here are some snaps of some of what you've been denying yourself:

Fairway in Paramus: Coming, soon?

I don't usually do much "reporting" on this blog.  Reporting is dry, boring, fact-based verse.  I don't deal in facts.  Additionally, reporting is a job for trained and professional reporters and newspaper people, and that's sure not me.  Conversely, being interesting and entertaining is my job.  And before you say anything, I don't get paid for that job, so if I'm sleeping on the job, not very good at the job, or just plain not showing up to work, well, too bad.

At any rate, a lot of people are excited about NYC's Fairway Market coming to Paramus (unrelated to Fort Lee's Fairway, which is a fine store in its own right, and has served the community well for longer than most people have been a part of the community).  And of course they're excited:  NYC's Fairway is a pretty darned good store, and, our Paramus version sure has been a looooong time in the coming. 

t:e visitor Jmags sent me this picture, which he claims shows the progress of the construction of Fairway (I sure hope he's right, because we don't need another stinkin' Linens -n- Things), and that got me thinking that I should probably look into this.   I figured I'd do some reporting on this story.

Here's the report:

Test

Test

Recent: Jersey Burgers

For the love of Pete where the hell have I been?  Weeks since the last post.  Months before that.  You're all worried sick I know.  Well I've been eating burgers.  Mostly mediocre, some downright horrible, but a couple of excellent burgers as well.  And here ya go:

First, one from home.  Good.  Loose patty.  Freshly ground beef. Exceptional bacon.  Good burger to bun ratio.  Exceptional cheese.  So what's so hard about that?

How to fill a cooler

I don't want to offend anyone, but from my experience I'd say that 50% of people don't know how to fill a cooler.   A cooler, as in the big blue plastic things that hold beer and bottles of water and whatnot.  A few points: 

Stew Leonard's coming to: Paramus

I noticed a "coming soon" sign in an old furniture store on Route 17 North in Paramus.  "Stew Leonard's" "Stew Leonard's Wine and Spirits" followed the "coming soon" bit.

Free Dunkin Donuts coffee!!!!!

Hey guess were I was yesterday between 10 am and 10 pm at participating locations!!??!?!

New Jersey Farmers' Markets: it's almost time

Repost:

It's that time of the year. 

To find a farmers' market near you, let the government help you:  click.

For heirloom tomato transplants, hook up with Catalpa Ridge Farm.  They're always at the Ramsey market the Saturday after Mother's day.  We had excellent luck with their transplants last year.  Once you grow and eat your own heirloom tomatoes, you'll never eat a supermarket tomato again.  Come to think of it you shouldn't have been eating them in the first place.

White Castle doubles: 200% the burger, 150% the bread

The other day I realized, after eating White Castles doubles for about 20 years, that the double isn't just double meat.  They also put an extra piece of bread in there.  Like a club sandwich.  Has that extra piece of soggy bread always been in there?  That's freaky, because I've never, ever noticed, after countless White Castle doubles.   You'd think I was drunk or something all of those times I ordered those White Castle Doubles not to notice.

Chengdu 23: Wayne, NJ

So I drive past a strip mall which is as utterly bland as its name (West Belt Plaza), next to the Willowbrook mall in Wayne, and I see a sign that says "Chengdu 23".  Having a good feeling that it's not related to the awesome Chengdu 1 in Cedar Grove, and hoping it has nothing to do with the way-too-80's Chengdu 46, I pulled into the lot to have a quick drive-by look-see.  It didn't look promising at all.   "Asian cuisine", the sign proclaims.  Yuck.  Bye-bye.  I put the place out of my mind.  I mean, what are the odds of a random Chinese restaurant opening and serving authentic food of any kind, if the sign says "Asian cuisine".

Until the other day, when I read a bit about the place on northjersey.com.  "We make home-style Sichuan ... the type of food you'd get in central China, where they like things spicier," the owner says in the article.  "Well fuck me," I thought.  So, you know, off I went.

Food Basics: good stuff, good deals, Manager's Specials

I'm finding myself shopping at Food Basics more and more.  Food Basics is sort of a budget store, owned by the nice folks at the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (who own A&P, and others) that seems to cater to a lower-income audience than does say a Whole Foods or Stop & Shop.  You'll also often find Food Basics in ethnically diverse neighbors.  When a store caters to an ethinically diverse community, you're not only going to find great values, but you're going to find great products that you won't normally find:

Pigs feet?  Check.  Ox tail?  Check.  Pork shoulder?  Not a problem. Tripe.  Got it.  Offal of all sorts?  Yippers.

Gone are the days of calling Stop & Shop the day before a BBQ and pleading them to save a pork butt before turning them all into sausage.  Food Basics always has a bunch of butts right there in the case.  Carnitas is only some onions, OJ, and fennel seed away.

Carnitas, Jim

Hunan Villa, Ridgewood: Closed - and other Ridgewood restaurant doins'

We noticed a sign outside of Hunan Villa which states that it has closed its doors.

Inventor of Egg McMuffin dies: Herb Peterson

[I could google and steal someone's picture, but you'll have to use your imagination instead]

I just read that the inventor of the Egg McMuffin, Herb Peterson, died on Tuesday.  I don't normally regirgitate news stories because, well, that's what news outlets and newspapers do quite well already, but I think he did some very very good work, and I think he deserves a mention.  Read on McCNN here (click).

I'm not sure if Herb had a hand in the Sausage McMuffin with Egg though.  One would think he did.  At the very least he created the foundation.  Some jerk probably came around afterwards and said "Hey, let's put some sausage on Herb's sandwich and take all the credit!"  Pricks.  That SMwE is a level up from the regular Egg McMuffin, and it's exactly what you need if you've tipped a few too many the night before or are getting a scratchy throat from a cold (it's like health food or something).  It takes a perfectly acceptable sandwich, and adds a bunch more fat and salt.  Excellent.

So, as I sit here eating a Talyor Ham egg and cheese on a roll (throat's a little scratchy this morning thank you), I think that I should stop at McDonald's tomorrow, and try the regular ol' Egg McMuffin.  Maybe I'll get a SMwE too, just in case.

A little tip

If it's green and it doesn't grow from the ground...

Dunkin Donuts: File under: WTF?

Dunkin Donuts has the order-by-number approach, so popular at fast food restaurants.  I can't help but think the whole breakfast at Dunkin Donuts thing is just a little excessive.

Top ten: idiotic posts recently read on the "big boards"

As much as I'm tempted to start a series of posts pointing out the most idiotic, self-serving, naval-gazingest, disingenuous posts on those big boards (you know which ones I mean), my self-imposed rule of keeping things positive and helpful, and talking about food rather than people (including me, as much as possible, although the nature of a blog makes that a challenge) keeps getting in the way.

Damnit.

I guess, though, if I were to post something like this, I really wouldn't be talking about people per se, but rather, their viewpoints.  And maybe if I just hide a link and you can guess which posts I find idiotic, self-serving, or disingenuous, I really wouldn't be breaking my own rules.

Now that I think about it, I don't have the kind of time necessary to keep up with such a series.

The strangest thing I ate this week: boiled, and I mean BOILED, hot dogs

I'm not sure what Jim was thinking.  I know this much for sure:  he was excited that the Giants were in the playoffs, and he really really wanted some dirty water dogs for his party. 

Sounds like a pretty fool-proof plan to execute, right?  I mean, you got the Giants in the playoffs, you got a bunch of beersh, you got you a boatload of Sabretts (skinless, although I complained and instructed otherwise).  Seems like a perfect night.  One that could run on autopilot.

But something went wrong.  Horribly, horribly wrong. 

Another doin' in Ridgewood, NJ: Broad Street Smokehouse closes

According to its owners, Broad Street Smokehouse has been sold, siting the tough economy.  The new owners will not be serving BBQ.

I only tried their 'cue once, and had made plans to return, but it just never happened.  Looking forward to seeing what springs up, though.  It's a decent location, with parking in the 'hood and Super Cellars right next door (and excellent wine shop).

Gen Hibachi and Asian Cuisine: Ridgewood, NJ

When I first noticed a new placed called Gen Sushi and Hibachi opening up in downtown Ridgewood, I thought "great, another Pan-Asian place."  And, as usual, I was pretty much right.

What Gen has going for it, however, is tasty rolls and above-average sushi...

Pan roasted: potatoes

Every now and again you hit on something and you think "Hey, I have to remember that."  Even I, every now and again, hit on something, but even more rarely do I commit it to memory.  But I don't have to remember things because I have a blog, and can just type stuff in for near-instant recall.  This is one of those posts.

Fascinating service moment of the week: Oysters

Me (knowing full well what I'm about to get into):  What kind of oysters do you have?

Bartender (bewildered):  What kind???!???

Me (not surprised):  Well yeah, there are different types.

Bartender (confused):  Umm,  just regular oysters I guess?

Poor thing. 

Duck confit, mushrooms: penne

What do you do when Chef Anthony LoPinto, from Fairfield's Crave Restaurant, gives you a handful of house-made duck confit to take home?

I found myself facing that question a few days ago.  After an outstanding meal at Crave the night before,  Chef gave me a 'care package.'  There are few ways to be taken care of more than you are when given a handful of duck confit.  Of this you are assured.

To answer my own question, since no one has raised their hand:  you say 'thank you' and you take it home.  And then you don't waste it.  You cook it.  The next night.  Because it's really good.

Blogging from the bar on an iPhone: at Crave: Fairfield, NJ

Update (July 2007):  Chef LoPinto has left Crave.  Expect dumbing down of the menu.

Beets and duck confit. Excellent dish. A study in balance. Housemade confit.

Update:  Monkfish and white beans. Classic LoPinto. Herbal. Just salty enough. Luscious. Near perfect.

2004 Benziger Merlot at 32 bucks. Sign me up and keep me signed up.

Dessert coming up.

Update:  the bathroom door signs are maddening.  Like taking a tinkle IQ test to pick the correct door.  Particularly confusing if you're a boy who likes to sit when he pees...or so I'm told.

Update:  The bar at Crave is the kind of place where an inordinate amount of people think vodka is interesting.

Update:  What happened, did the Internet go down?  Not one person has read this since I started.  Do you know how difficult it is to type all of this nonsense on an iPhone?  You ungrateful bastards. 

Update:  Chef LoPinto sent out too many desserts (and I paid for them in the interest of disclosure). I've acknowledged before that we know each other, for the record. He has a way with sweets as much as savory.

All done.

Crave Restaurant and Lounge : 168 Passaic Ave : Fairfield, NJ : 973.882.8700

Ceci, shrimp: and chiles, a la Otto

Over on the blog I Am Not A Chef, the blogger known only as 'I Am Not A Chef' was discussing great and simple combinations.  Specifically, shrimp and cannellini beans.

I figured I'd one up him with an even more simple shrimp/starchy stuff combo:  Ceci, shrimp, chiles, a la Mario Batali's Otto.

Verizon: at the Tick Tock: Clifton, NJ

I noticed my beloved Tick Tock diner on the TV the other day, in a Verizon commercial...

Tom Sawyer Diner: Paramus, NJ: Lights were on

Update (03/05/2008):  t:e reader JohnS reports that the Tom Sawyer is now open.  So get over there and get that happy waitress special, 2 eggs over easy, turkey club, or whatever the hell it is that you eat at a diner.

I drove past the Tom Sawyer Diner, in Paramus, NJ, the other morning (by "other morning", I mean the week of 2/11/08) and noticed that the lights are on.  Not quite open for business at that point or today (2/20/2008), but they've got power, which is a good start.  It seems like just yesterday it was a hole in the ground in the middle of a small, cramped parking lot.

Warning:  Objects in picture are closeder than they appear

The strangest thing I didn't necessarily eat last year

Brace yourselves.

On November 9th, 2007, I took these things:

Turned them into this stuff:

And made a few of these:

They were pretty good. Grinding your own hamburger meat is always preferable to buying that nasty stuff from the supermarket.  Although, given the chance, I just go to the Swiss Pork Store in Fair Lawn, NJ, and buy some of their freshly ground beef, which is simply the best.

Anyway, on November 17th, 2007, the kitchen started smelling prit-tee funky.  We searched high and low for the offending organic matter, which was clearly being consumed by micro organisms, which were in turn creating tiny but smelly micro organism farts and stuff.  We finally found the source of the odor:  the garbage disposal.

The people at Insinkerator claim that you can put just about anything down their disposals.  Who am I to question this.  However, when you put fat trimmings in there, and you kind of ignore them for several days, you apparently get this:

Crave in Fairfield, NJ, is open

Update:  Crave is officially open for business.  Their website is at http://www.cravelounge.net

Update:  I had a quick and excellent meal at the bar, mentioned here.

Update (July 2008):  Chef LoPinto has left Crave.  Expect to see some changes in the menu and direction, for the worse I would think.

I know a lot of you are searching for information on Crave Restaurant and Lounge in Fairfield, NJ, Chef Anthony LoPinto's (late of Totowa's Earth, and a bunch of other restaurants over the last 15 or so years) latest venture, and I know that a lot of you already know that they're opening "soon."  But in case you don't, I'm here to say that Crave is opening in about a week or so.  Two maybe max?  Do I have any insider info?  Liddlebit. Nothing I can share, and posting this might be a betrayal of confidence, though I doubt it because the word is on the street.  And heck, I'm pretty excited and want others to be as well.  I can almost taste the Benziger now.

Today is Tuesday, 2/12/2008, and I'm guessing I'll see some of you there by next Saturday.  If it's not open by then I'll go down personally and pound on the door, incognito of course, demanding more insider info, and I'll apologize for getting your hopes up.  Otherwise, I will be  sitting at the bar, enjoying Chef LoPinto's cooking, because bar dining is almost always preferable. 

Don't say "hi' if you see me, however, because I don't like people.

Crave Restaurant and Lounge : 168 Passaic Ave : Fairfield, NJ : 973.882.8700

Epicurious.com: slamming me with SPAM

Epicurious.com is really starting to get on my last nerve...

Red Robin: Why?

Here's a question for you:

What's the worse thing you can say on your way to lunch at Montclair's Little Saigon, where you're planning on having a big ol' hot bowl of pho and some of their wacky "egg rolls," wrapped in lettuce and dipped in nuoc cham.  The answer is, of course, "Hey, let's try Red Robin for the hell of it."

I clearly have to remind myself more often that the people on roadfood.com and chowhound.com and citysearch.com, and any other open forum where anyone can post anything, for the most part, don't know what they're talking about.  "Red Robin has a really good burger" I read somewhere.  Why did I believe that for even one second?  I suppose I really didn't.  But I was curious.  Once a seed gets planted in my head there's really no getting it out until it germinates.  I'm obsessive and compulsive.  Two wonderful traits.  So yeah, I had no choice but to stop at Clifton's Red Robin.

Grand Sichuan in Jersey City? Can it be?

EDIT:  It's true alright.  Grand Sichuan is open at 342 Grove street in Jersey City.

I just read on chowhound that NYC's Grand Sichuan has opened a branch in Jersey City.   The post comes from a first-time poster, it references their website (which expired the other day), and sounds suspicious to me.  But hey, who cares!

South City Prime: Little Falls, NJ and South City Grill: Rochelle Park, NJ

A tale of two South Cities?

Oh that was hacky.  Please accept my apology.

We rolled into South City P