Picnic, the Restaurant
14-25 Plaza Road (Radburn Plaza Building) Fair Lawn, NJ 07410
(201) 796-2700
Web Site: http://www.picnictherestaurant.com/
Anyone who has read Off The Broiler for any length of time probably knows that Chef Christine Nunn is a very close friend of Rachel and I. I first met Christine in early 2006 when writing Quick Bites for the NJ section of the New York Times, shortly after she had opened her tiny little catering business in Emerson.
Since then, Christine has become a Bergen County superstar, and it’s all because of her cooking talent. She is a classically trained chef and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and won the Ultimate Chef Bergen County competition in 2009, which got her a great deal of local attention.
Christine’s catering business has indeed blossomed and become very successful, but I knew that she always wanted her own restaurant. So I was thrilled to hear that she would be opening a small, 40-seat destination restaurant in her home town of Radburn, which is a community within Fair Lawn.
Christine and her business partners have transformed what was once a space that used to be a fast food establishment and have turned it into what I think will become one of the premier fine dining destinations in Bergen County.

Recently opened by CIA graduate Chef Christine Nunn, Picnic is the latest destination restaurant to open in Bergen County.
I was very lucky to be part of a select group of people who attended Picnic’s “soft opening” on July 1st. Its official opening date is Thursday, July 8, 2010, and I strongly recommend that you call for reservations weeks in advance because it is likely to become one of the most difficult restaurants to get into.
Keep in mind as you look at these photos that the plated dishes are not all full portions — these are what we might call in the computer software business “Beta” or “Release Candidate” versions of the dishes, which are still being tweaked and may not represent what ends up being served to customers. But you’ll get a very good idea of what this new restaurant is going to be like.
Obviously, as Christine is a close friend, I am clearly biased and it is difficult for me to be terribly critical of her, particularly for someone who I know is so talented. So take whatever huge praise I laud on Christine with a bit of skepticism — and go and eat her cuisine yourself and tell me what you think.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
Read the rest of this entry »