NJ Dining: Chakra

CHAKRA
144 Route 4 West
Paramus, NJ 07652

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

Sometimes figuring out restaurants can be something of a challenge.  Usually I can wrap my brain around a restaurant concept, and I “Get It.” For the last seven years, ever since the restaurant opened I didn’t “Get” Chakra.

I mean, going by name alone, I actually believed that the place was an high-end Indian fusion restaurant. Not the sort of place I would normally be caught eating in, so whenever we would drive by it on Route 4, we would bypass it. Not once in the last seven years did we even think of eating there.

If I wanted Indian food, I’d go to one of the many fine places in Edison, or some other REAL Indian place in Bergen County. “Chakra” is a Sanskrit word originating out of ancient Hindu texts, and pertains to wheel-like vortexes of energy permeating the physical body.

Wow Maaaan, right? Where’s Master Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi? Do I need a Reiki master to get a reservation?

However, I was recently set straight by my friend Karen Schloss Diaz who told me that Chakra was NOT an Indian Fusion restaurant. As a matter of fact, they had just gotten new chef and partner over the summer, Thomas Ciszak, who hails from critically-acclaimed Copeland Restaurant in Morristown. In fact, several dishes at Chakra have been brought over from Copeland.

Chef Ciszak, who was born in Dusseldorf, Germany, has a cuisine style that could be described Asian and European influenced. So while I would definitely say that there is some “fusion” in the mix, you’re definitely not going to be getting dressed-up Lamb Vindaloo or Aloo Gobi.

Ok, enough with the wacky explanations and backstory. On with the food.

Chakra may not cause your energy vortices to spin, but you’ll walk out extremely contented, and maybe even finding yourself say… WOW, MAN! Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

NJ Dining: Picnic the Restaurant (2011)

Picnic, The Restaurant
14-25 Plaza Road (Radburn Plaza Building) Fair Lawn, NJ 07410
(201) 796-2700

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

It’s not often that I get to really document a restaurant in great detail. Since its opening on July 4th weekend of 2010, I have had pretty much free access to the restaurant’s kitchen, in order to help them provide images for their web site.

Picnic is without a doubt the most important destination restaurant to have opened in Bergen County in 2010.

I’m not going so sugar coat this — although Rachel and I are very close friends of the restaurant, it’s been challenging to get a table even on a typical weeknight, as reservations have been strong for the last six months. Weekend dinner seatings have been booked solid weeks in advance.

Still,  I have been privileged to be able to capture images of some of the best things I have ever eaten and some of the most beautiful food I have ever seen coming out of Picnic’s kitchen on my Canon DSLR.  I urge you to keep trying and persevere with Picnic’s reservation line, even if a dinner ends up being a few weeks out.

For 2011, I have decided to start a separate blog post to chronicle this year’s dishes.

Sous Chef Javi Ordonez building one of the restaurant’s signature appetizers of 2010, a Salmon Napoleon. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

NJ Dining: BUCU Burger Bar & Bakery

BUCU Burger Bar & Bakery
35 Plaza, Route 4 West, Paramus, NJ 07652
(347)470-2828

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

I must admit, when I heard about another “alternative” burger restaurant opening up in the Bergen County and Essex/Morris area which we call Northern New Jersey (All three soon will will soon be renamed and merged into a giant mega-county,  incorporated by the state legislature as Burger County, given the current ground beef to population ratio) my first reaction was “Oh, not another one. Do we really need more burger places? Do we? Really?”

In the last year we’ve seen the openings of Smashburger (Clifton and Hackensack), Zinburger (Clifton), Cheeburger Cheeburger (East Rutherford), Elevation Burger (Montclair) and Bobby’s Burger Palace (Paramus) not to mention the first Northern NJ outpost of Sonic and additional Five Guys locations. It’s been a Burger Bonanza.

So how does this new restaurant’s concept differ? Burgers & Cupcakes. Cookoo? No. BUCU.

Bucu’s Storefront on Route 4 in Paramus. Click on the “Read The Rest of This Entry” link below for more.

The Chicken and Wallafel Experiment

I know, it sounds like the title of a Big Bang Theory Episode.

I like Waffles. I like Felafel. They sound similar. So in theory, it should be pretty easy to combine them, right? And why hasn’t anyone else combined these two dishes before?

Well apparently, people have.

Another blog, The Waffleizer, has already Waffled Felafel. So I’m not breaking new ground here. I debated the value of doing something that somebody else has already done well before. And apparently, there are even restaurants that serve Waffled Felafel. Surely there was something I could add new to this.

Hmm. Well I like Chicken and Waffles. What about Chicken and … Wallafels? Or should it be Chicken Fawaffles? I dunno.

Exhibit A, the Waffle Iron. This is actually a Belgian Waffle maker that Rachel and I have owned for 15 years. In fact, I’m pretty sure we got it as a wedding gift and have only used it a few times. Apparently, Belgian waffle irons are slightly different than regular American-style waffle makers because they make a thicker product, so you have to adjust your cooking time accordingly.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.