The old Wild Noodles space is slowly transforming into what appears to be Wild Ginger, which is NOT an outpost of the venerable Englewood Japanese restaurant.  I gotta guess it'll be a Japanese place, though.  More sushi for Ridgewood?  Eh.  Let's hope not.   

Chef Gary Needham from the Silver Oak Bistro will be opening a casual BBQ restaurant in the old Clixes space in what is apparently Wyckoff, much to my surprise.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, Chef Gary's BBQ rocks.  This is the real deal.  I'd put him right up there with Fink from Bailey's in Blauvelt, NY. And that's saying something.  It'll be BYO and it'll have parking! Gary is also selling his most excellent sauce at Ridgewood's Whole Foods.  I still haven't gotten to Ridgewood's other BBQ restaurant, Broad Street Smokehouse, and I'm not sure why.

A Mano appears to be kicking ass and taking names, as expected.  A reader of this blog tells me that there is talk of opening several more.  I applaud their mission to introduce Neapolitan-style pizza to the masses, even if some percentage is just not "getting" it. The other day someone sent back a pizza asking for more cheese.  I'm pretty sure there was just the right amount of cheese on the pizza. Many have suggested that they need to work on some service issues.  I agree.  It takes 1.5 minutes to cook the pizza and 10 minutes to get the check.  Something is all biffed up.

A Taste of Italy, a local deli tucked away off the beaten path, has suddenly gone dark.