NJ Dining: Green Door Cafe (CLOSED)

Green Door Cafe suffered a devastating fire on July 30, 2010. The owner plans to rebuild, but the restaurant is closed until further notice.

Green Door Cafe
1 Highwood Avenue, Tenafly NJ
(201) 567-8226

Green Door Cafe’s Storefront in downtown Tenafly, NJ.

As a few of you may be aware, I am a resident of the sleepy hamlet of Tenafly, which is situated on the northeast side of Bergen County, adjoining the towns of Cresskill, Bergenfield and Englewood. Tenafly, while being a wonderful residential neighborhood, has a bit of an unfortunate reputation of being the town that eats restaurants.

One of the restaurants that recently got the axe was Blockheads, an outpost of a NYC-based burrito chain. So I was rather surprised this week as I was driving by its former location to find Green Door Cafe, a self described “Doorway to real food” which only serves “proteins which are antibiotic and hormone free or organic” and produce that is “organic or locally farmed seasonally. We restrict our purchases to foods raised naturally without the use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers.”

I was expecting the place to be owned by a bunch of hippies wearing hemp clothing. What I wasn’t prepared for was being greeted by the former owner of Blockheads when I went in, Leon Bell. “Hey! Jason! The Off The Broiler Guy!”

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Optimum Offline

As I explained in a previous article last summer about my broadband situation, my employer, like many large technology services companies, has elected to classify my work situation as “Home-Based”, in that when I am not at a customer site, I’m working from home. So for connectivity to corporate email, our Intranet and Instant Messaging system, my link to the mother ship is entirely dependent on the reliability of my connectivity through Optimum Online, Cablevision’s cable broadband service.

Click to read the rest of this article at ZDNet Tech Broiler.

NYC: 2009 Fancy Food Show

One of the many highlights of the 2008 NASFT Fancy Foods Show in New York City at Javits Center. The Summer 2009 Show starts Sunday, June 27 and runs through Tuesday, June 30th.

Web Site: NASFT Fancy Food Shows

NJ Dining: Fire & Oak at Westin Newport

Fire & Oak Restaurant / Westin Newport
485 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City NJ 07310
(201) 610-9610

Web Site: http://www.southcitygrill.com

South City Restaurant Group’s latest, Fire & Oak restaurant at the brand-new Jersey City Westin Newport.

Rachel and I were recently invited to dine at a press luncheon for Fire & Oak restaurant, a brand new casual dining restaurant attached to the recently opened Westin Newport hotel in Jersey City, which is conveniently located near the Jersey City PATH and only a block and a half away from the Port Imperial Ferry to Midtown and Downtown Manhattan.

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Summer Doldrums? Listen to the Frugal Tech Show!

While Off The Broiler is primarily focused on food, as many of you know, I also write technology articles for ZDNet, CBS’s technology news site. Over the last few months I have been teaming up with Linux Magazine and DaniWeb columnist Ken Hess, where we broadcast live on BlogTalkRadio every Friday at 6:30PM EST on leveraging technology to save you and your business money. The format of the show is news and commentary for the first half hour, with the second reserved for special guests from the technology industry. This summer we are going to be featuring a lot of Linux and Open Source guests, so be sure to tune in.

The replays of all the shows are available at www.frugaltechshow.com, just in case you miss them.

Bacardi, WTF?

Bacardi’s misogynistic Israeli Internet advertising campaign will only get them scores of disdain from American consumers. What the hell was Bacardi thinking?

I had to see it to believe it. Bermuda-headquartered Bacardi, the world’s largest spirits distiller, decided to launch a English and Hebrew language Internet ad campaign for Bacardi Breezers in Israel and on FaceBook (see cached link, original site seems to have been pulled) with online agency McCann Digital.

Click to read the rest of this article at ZDNet Tech Broiler.

NJ Dining: Shish! at Whole Foods, Paramus

Shish! at Whole Foods Market
2701 Bergen Mall, Paramus NJ
(201) 226-1244

Other locations: Tribeca, NYC

The new Shish! stand at Whole Foods’s new Paramus. New Jersey location serves Middle-Eastern kebabs and mezze with an organic twist.

I recently had a chance to try the new Shish! middle eastern food stand at the brand new Whole Foods market in the recently revamped Bergen Mall, accompanied by former Bergen Record staff writer and experienced foodie Victor Sasson, who recently has started blogging about healthy and chemical-free shopping options in New Jersey. Victor is a Syrian Jew by birth, with a very discerning palate, and has an even greater level of experience with Middle Eastern food than I do, so I was interested in seeing his reactions to the food there.

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iPsychopathy

Earlier this year Burger King had a Whopper Sacrifice promotion where if you de-friended 10 of your friends on FaceBook, you received a coupon for a free Whopper burger. Amazingly, a huge amount of people were willing to do this. However, I suspect that for a free iPhone 3G S with two free years of data and voice service — assume it’s the upper-end, 32GB model — that more serious, heinous acts of inhumanity would be willing to be committed by the average iPhone junkie.

Click to read the rest of this article on ZDNet Tech Broiler.

Updates 6/15/09: Christian Albin, Tenafly Farmers Market, Adonisa’s, Victor Sasson

Chef Christian Albin, who passed away this last weekend at the age of 61. Albin was the long-time Executive Chef of The Four Seasons, pictured here in his marvelous kitchen in October of 2006.

Grilled Squid over Greek Salad at Adonisa’s in Fort Lee

Tri-Color Beet Bundle from Yuno’s Farm at the Tenafly Farmers Market

Victor Sasson and I lunch at Whole Foods’ SHISH! shwarma/falafel joint and discuss his love of Middle Eastern food and his new mission to help you find the best chemical and hormone-free shopping options in Northern New Jersey.

A 2009 Big Apple BBQ Block Party Montage

Website: http://www.bigapplebbq.com

The 2009 Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, held in New York City’s Madison Square Park, was a blast as ever. This year Rachel and I only went for a few hours on Saturday, but it was more than enough barbecue to last us for a while! You can still catch the second day on Sunday if these photos are making your mouth water (click for slideshow of full size hi-res photos).

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