Shagbark Hickory Syrup has a distinctively different taste than Maple Syrup. It’s not as cloyingly sweet, has a nice smoky flavor, and compliments well with savory dishes.

For the holidays I wanted to come up with something seasonal and we brainstormed and the result were these Turkey Meatballs, which are in a Hickory/Apple Cider/Mustard BBQ sauce.

The Red and Green chiles with the apple in the turkey mixture give the dish a nice holiday feel, and the hickory/apple BBQ sauce over the kielbasa rounds completes the dish nicely.

If you don’t make these for the holidays, don’t worry. I also had the Superbowl in mind when I came up with these too.

The meatballs in this recipe are cooked on a sheet tray for easier party prep, but you could just as easily pan fry them or even smoke or grill them using a meatball grill basket (you can find these at Williams-Sonoma and at other high-end kitchen catalogs)

Shagbark Hickory and Apple Party Meatballs

For Meatballs:
1 lb Kielbasa, sliced into rounds
1/2 cup finely diced Onion
4 cloves Garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup finely diced Red Pepper (Bell, Cubanelle or Jalapeno)
1/4 cup finely diced Green Pepper (Bell, Cubanelle or Jalapeno)
2 lbs ground Turkey (or a combination of Turkey and Pork)
1/3 cup shredded Apple (peeled first)
1/4 tsp Hot Pepper Flakes
1 Tbs dried Oregano
1 Tbs dried Parsley
Ground Black Pepper, to taste
2 Eggs
1/2 tsp Hickoryworks Smoked Sea Salt

For Sauce:
1 Tbs Cornstarch
2 Tbs Cider Vinegar
1 Tbs Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp Hickoryworks Smoked Sea Salt
1/2 cup Apple Cider, natural unpasteurized is preferable
1 cup Hickoryworks Shagbark Hickory Syrup
Hot Sauce to taste

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a rimmed half-sheet pan with parchment or foil. If using foil, spray with non-stick spray or olive oil.

Cook the Kielbasa slices in a skillet to brown them and render some fat. Set them aside on a paper towel lined plate, leaving a tablespoon or two of fat in the skillet. Lower the heat and saute the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes.

Add the red and green peppers (use the type you like and spiciness desired) and continue cooking for 2 more minutes. Scrape out the skillet and allow the vegetables to cool.

Combine ground meat, apple, and seasonings (except salt). When the vegetables are cool, mix them into the meat, adding the eggs and smoked salt at the same time.

Form into 1 inch balls. Place the balls on the prepared sheet pan, leaving space around each one. Spray the top with olive oil. Place into the hot oven and cook for 10-15 minutes. Do not overcook as the white meat turkey can easily dry out.

While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the sauce. Mix the cornstarch with the vinegar to remove any lumps, then combine with the rest of the sauce ingredients.

Add to the skillet and whisk while bringing to a boil over high heat. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and taste for seasoning. It might need more Hickory salt or cider vinegar.

When the meatballs are done, add them and the kielbasa slices to the glaze and carefully stir to coat and keep warm. Reserve the liquid that the meatballs exude. Strain and use to thin the sauce if it gets too thick.

To serve, first spear a meatball with a toothpick, then a kielbasa slice for it to sit on. Place on a warmed serving tray. The Kielbasa slices keep the meatballs upright, and they’re delicious!

Crabby Jack’s
428 Jefferson Hwy, Jefferson, LA 70121
(504) 833-2722

Crabby Jack’s is Jacques-Imo’s little sister in Jefferson, specializing in Po Boys and fried seafood platters. It’s a little lunch-only place situated right next to the Louisiana Seafood Exchange, so you can be assured that the oysters and shrimp and crawfish you are getting are as fresh as can be.

Owner Jack Leonardi manning the fort. Since Katrina, he’s been a bit short on help, and he’s quite obviously a few crawfish short of a boil.

This big pile of crawfish is left out for customers to pick on. Samples!

Photo of main dining room, circa May 2005.

Menu, 2010

This handsome guy is pushing his luck eatin’ that po boy right over his nice new white business shirt.

Shrimp ‘n Okra.

Shrimp with Fried Green Tomato and Remoulade

Fried Oyster Platter with Jambalaya. We ordered so much food we had to give more than half of these away to the security guard protecting the Seafood Exchange on the way out.

Fried Shrimp Po’Boy.

Fried Paneed Rabbit Po Boy (May 2005)

Duck Po Boy (May 2005)

“Un-Ferdi” Po Boy (May 2005)

Fried Oysters (2010)

With Dirty Rice (2010)

Sweet Potato Chips

Dining Room (2010)

“Un-Ferdi” 2010

“Un-Ferdi” cross section

Now that’s a man-sized po’boy.

Ugh. So full.

Amici Family Restaurant
127 S. Washington Ave. (Entrance and Parking on East Clinton Ave.)
Bergenfield, NJ 07621
(201) 374-1996

Those who are familiar with this blog understand that I have a love/hate relationship with Italian-American cuisine.

As I have said on previous posts, while this is an area of culinary specialization that Northern New Jersey is particularly known for, that doesn’t mean that we do it particularly well.

When people ask me “What Italian restaurant or what Pizza do you like to eat at in Bergen County” I usually say “None, I go to the Bronx and eat on Arthur Avenue.“

The reasons for this are numerous, but it comes down to the fact that the Italian-American restaurant and pizzeria as it is represented in this part of Jersey is usually pretty awful. SYSCO tomato sauce, cheap commercial mozzarella and tired owners that no longer care about the food they are making anymore. That about sums it up.

Forget about what you’ve seen on the Sopranos, Italian-American food in Northeast Bergen County is uniformly mediocre.

And thus explains why it is difficult for a restaurant that serves this kind of food to distinguish itself. You rarely see these neighborhood places written up in the Bergen Record or the New York Times because Pizza places and red sauce joints are a dime a dozen.

Sure, you might get the occasional gem like Di Palma Brothers (which is actually in Hudson County in North Bergen) or a solid pizzeria like  Lodi Pizza, Trattoria Sorrentina (again, North Bergen) or Bartolomeo in Englewood but these are rarities.

It’s nearly impossible to get me into a new Italian-American restaurant or a pizzeria, because I’m expecting right from the start that it’s going to suck.

So when I saw that the aging, failing Terrana in Bergenfield — which never produced more than just serviceable Italian-American food and was a restaurant we avoided eating at for the 10 years we’ve been residents of nearby Tenafly — was being taken over by new owners and being re-launched as Amici Family Restaurant, my interest was piqued.

I’m willing to try a new Italian place at least once, especially if it’s just five minutes from my house. If it was bad, I just wouldn’t go back, just as I have done with 90 percent of the ones I’ve been to in the immediate area.

Amici Family Restaurant looks like a typical red sauce joint that serves average pizza from the outside. Don’t make the mistake of passing it by. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Raymond Novini, the head pizzaiolo and Amici’s manager. Ray and his family did a complete renovation of the restaurant, including the kitchen, which needed major work after the previous owner left it.

I’ve gotten to know Ray over the last two visits and I can tell you this is a man who makes zero compromises with his food. He only buys top-notch ingredients and is an utter perfectionist. So when he tells me that he and his family have put their lives into this restaurant I believe him.

Amici’s gas-fired brick oven, which was brought back to life from Terrana’s sheer neglect. The previous owner never used it, having bought the establishment from yet another owner, and instead used a electric oven in the kitchen to make his pizzas.

Now the revived brick oven is running full blast and is baking some of the best pizza I’ve eaten in Northeast Bergen County in a very, very long time.

Ray working the dough.

Into the oven.

Exhibit A, the plain Margherita Pie. AP flour? Nope. Amici uses Italian Doppio Zero “00″ flour, the very same highly-refined almost talcum-like in consistency stuff used in Naples. Low moisture shredded mozzarella? Fuhgeddaboudit. This place ONLY uses fresh mozzarella. Sauce? No commercial SYSCO or Redpack or HFCS-laced garbage here. Only imported Italian tomatoes.

Now, make no mistake, these are not the kind of “Authentic” fully-certified pizze napoletano that a place like A Mano in Ridgewood used to make, but failed miserably to market to Americans. This is kick-ass American-style pizza, with Italian tweaks. The kind of pizza you love.

The pies at Amici are a single size — twelve inches. No small pies, no large pies. Twelve inch pies. Period. And it costs a whole nine bucks. Crazy, right?

See how happy this guy is? If I had access to that kind of pizza every waking moment of my day, I’d have a sunny disposition too.

Look. I mean just look… at… that.

Think about what that thing smells like.

Main Dining Room

While I would definitely classify Amici’s pizza as “gourmet” the target audience is definitely family-friendly.

A bottle of the fizzy stuff, my standard Italian restaurant drink.

Fresh-baked Garlic Knots and Foccacia. Oh yes.

This is a special Calamari appetizer that was introduced after Elisa Ung’s Bergen Record Review — fried squid with tomato, basil, scallions and a balsamic vinegar reduction.

Zuppa de Pesce, which is clams, scallops, mussels and shrimp. This one is in a tomato sauce but you can also get it in a Fra Diavolo (spicy) or white wine with garlic.

“Bruschetta” Pizza, which is chopped fresh tomatoes, chopped fresh mozzarella, red onions, green peppers, banana peppers, basil, garlic, and house vinaigrette dressing. This one is a definite winner, although very different from the other pizzas at Amici.

I’d recommend sharing this as an appetizer with a bunch of people.

Contadina Pizza, with Lettuce, Tomato, Onion and Italian Vinigrette.

Contadina with shaved Fontina Cheese (Closeup)

Arancini, deep-fried stuffed risotto balls. A special that evening.

Big stuffed roasted red pepper appetizer, ordered by another patron. This is filled with prosciutto di Parma, portobello mushroom and mozzarella cheese, baked with mozzarella cheese on top and drizzled with a balsamic glaze.

Crabmeat and Asparagus Risotto.

Ray prepping a pie, the “Quattro Gusti”.

A pizza getting some air time.

The “Quattro Gusti” with ham, fresh tomatoes and artichoke hearts.

The upskirt. This baby got crust char. And so crispy thin. I don’t recommend you take out pizzas at Amici, by all means go there to eat them. They’re really the best when right out of the oven and don’t lend well to reheating. If you take some home, eat it at room temperature.

A white pie, with fresh mozzarella and creamy ricotta cheese. Get this one with garlic.

Another view of the white pie “Pizza Bianca”

Another type of white pie offered at Amici, the Quattro Formaggi, or Four Cheeses. Mozzarella, Fresh Ricotta, Sweet Provolone and Fontina. Saltier, sharper than the Pizza Bianca. I’d order this with some sun-dried tomatoes on top as an extra topping.

Quattro Formaggi slice.

Veal Amici. Breaded veal cutlets topped with a generous salad of arugula, diced tomato, red onions, hot & sweet peppers and fresh mozzarella cheese. Nice and crispy veal, refreshing salad, and an ideal summer plate. A nice change up from most typical Italian-American restaurant veal dishes.

This is a dish I ordered on my first visit to see if this place was serious or not. Ragu de Macellaio, or “Sunday Gravy” over rigatoni. There’s nothing more red sauce Italian joint than this dish.

It is the definitive, ne plus ultra red sauce Italian-American dish.

And you know what? At Amici it is ‘friggin awesome.

By all means, order this dish, especially if you are really hungry, want something hearty and are craving pasta. A big giant and moist meatball, perfect texture, flanked by two big hot and sweet Italian sausages and a pork rib.

This is the real deal folks. What more could you possibly want from a dish like this?

Butternut Squash ravioli with sun dried tomatoes in a butter sauce. A special that evening. Rather than making it in-house, Amici buys its fresh pasta from Star Ravioli in Moonachie, so it’s local product. We thought it was excellent.

This was another fresh pasta dish, stuffed “Fagottini” beggars purses with Gorgonzola cheese and walnuts in a mushroom cream sauce. Outrageous.

Stuffed Chicken breast entree special

Stuffed Chicken Breast entree closeup

Stuffed Pork Chop with Gravy with a similar preparation. The pork chop was nice and juicy, clearly marinaded in some kind of brine. Both the pork and the vegetables were cooked perfectly. Bravo.

A peek at the dessert case. Amici uses desserts by Bindi. I’ve got nothing against Bindi as I think as commercial dessert suppliers go, they’re probably one of the best out there, but a lot of Italian restaurants in New Jersey use them.

However, on the night we visited, they also had some desserts made by some local people as well, so double check when you go.

Here’s one of Amici’s new home made desserts — a fresh Apple crumble with ice cream.

Cappuccino, a nice ending to a great evening.

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

It’s a cute little Indian restaurant, with warm and attentive staff. It’s family friendly.

Sounds like a great place to take the kids, right?

Indeed, I’d recommend this place for Indian food in a heartbeat. But at this Upper Montclair charming little British-style curry house lurks an EVIL. One that should not be tampered with. Not even by the most adventurous, veteran foodies such as myself.

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

Owner Ritesh Patel opened Brick Lane Curry House in the sweltering hot July of 2011. In partnership with the founders of the New York City restaurant of the same name, he opened a genuine Upper Montclair franchise of the Manhattan original, complete with its … diabolical signature dish.

What you’re looking at here are the components of the Phaal Curry. Imagine, if you will, a Vindaloo, which is already considered to be one of the hottest Indian curries in existence.

On top of this basic flavor profile of fresh ginger and tomato paste, onions and vinegar, garam masala and turmeric you add … TEN different types of chiles.

This includes dried whole chiles, chile flakes, chile powders, chile pastes, green chiles, and then the hottest chile pepper on the planet, the “Ghost Chile” or Bhut Jolokia, which has an effective heat rating of about 1 Million Scoville Units. Yes, you heard that straight, one million.

A typical orange habanero or a Jamaican Scotch Bonnet only has about 80,000-100,000 Scoville units, so that should give you a rough idea of just how hot this dish is. Adam Richman on the Travel Channel’s Man Vs. Food did an entire television segment on this insane curry.

Do you notice the gas mask on the far right? That’s because they won’t let the chef cook it without protection from breathing in the fumes or getting it into his eyes. You do know what they make pepper spray out of, right?

Not that the protein matters, since you won’t be able to taste it anyway, but you can order this with chicken, lamb or vegetarian-style.

Melody Kettle of Hot From the Kettle. Melody organized a “Phaal Challenge” and invited me to participate on a calm Sunday afternoon. I told her I would taste the dish, but there was no way in hell I was going to try competing in this.

Melody was a lot braver than I was, but I think once she realized what she got herself into, the enormity of the task sunk in. Check out her blog for a great video of the event!

Ritesh Patel addresses the participants, standing tall, ready to face the challenge himself.

A bowl of Chicken Phaal Curry. The stuff should be banned by the Geneva Convention. I had two bites of this insane thing before I gave up and moved on to more civilized fare. Trust me, I’m no wuss when it comes to spicy food, but I’m not self-destructive! Remember, it’s hot going down and it’s hot… going on the way out.

Mango Lassi. You’d better have one of these handy if you attempt the Phaal.

Sasi Kumar, the South Indian Tiger. This guy is insane — he finished the challenge in less than 10 minutes, first DRINKING the curry slosh out of the bowl, alternating with Mango Lassi sips, and then devouring the meat. To summarize his strategy, it’s “Drink the soup, eat the meat”. I’m in utter awe of this guy.

After the excitement of the Phaal Challenge was over, and my two bites of curry hell were over, I decided to try the restaurant’s more normal dishes.

Crispy Papadums, with Cilantro/Mint/Chile, Tamarind and Onion Chutneys.

Mulligatawny soup, made from pureed yellow lentils.

This Tandoor dish served on a blazing hot skillet is called a “Sizzler”, a type of Indian kebab that was invented in England. It’s roughly analogous to Indian Fajitas.

Heriyali Tikka, a Tandoor chicken dish flavored with Coriander.

Whole Tandoori fish.

Biryani, an Indian rice dish with nuts and raisins, with Chicken Tikka Masala, the classic, in the rear.

Chicken Tikka, a popular Tandoor dish.

Combination Malai, Hariyali and Tikka kebab platter.

Onion Bhajii Appetizer. Think of these as onion fritters made with chickpea flour with a tomato chutney. Fabulous.

You can get a side order of just the Phaal Curry sauce if you want to use it for dipping. Yikes.

Samosa appetizer. I ordered these stuffed with Keema, which is a ground lamb mixture.

Keema Samosa portion

Lassuni Gobi, Cauliflower florets that are battered and deep fried with a tangy sauce. This is similar to an Indo-Chinese dish called Gobi Manchurian. Rachel and I both loved this.

Now this is what I call Indian food.

This is a Goa-style Shrimp Curry with Cononut, flavored with turmeric to give it that bright yellow color. If you’re not so much into super-spicy, this is probably a good dish for you, but I thought it was really mild.

This is a Bhuna Curry with lamb. I know it looks kind of like the Phaal, but it’s nowhere near as hot as that thing. I’d day it was sufficiently spicy and you could still taste the ingredients.

The dish is described elsewhere as “first and foremost a cooking process where spices are gently fried in plenty of oil to bring out their flavour. “

This curry is more tomato-based than a Vindaloo and less emphasis on the vinegar (I don’t think it actually has any vinegar in it at all) and more on the spicing. We really liked this one.

Butter Curry with Lamb. This is the evolutionary predecessor to the Chicken Tikka Masala. Really liked this one as well.

These folks seem to be having a good time.

Imli Ki Champe, tandoor Lamb Chops with a caramelized tamarind, ginger and garlic sticky BBQ sauce on it.

Stuffed Paratha Bread with Chicken Tikka.

Garlic Paratha

Rice Pudding

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

Wow, what a wild and oppressive summer we had. Crazy rainy weather, outrageous humidity and a 20-year tropical storm that has caused devastating amounts of damage to our state.

Our house got knocked off the grid during Irene and we’ve been doing a bunch of home improvements that have been taking up a lot of our time, plus we got older parents to take care of.

I guess this is what happens when you hit your 40s. Life just creeps up on you.

I’ve also been working really hard this summer and cranking out the hours in the “Real Job”, so if you’ve been wondering where all the foodie posts have been the last eight weeks, now you know why!

It’s difficult to remember the fun times from the Summer of 2011, but we definitely did have some truly great meals.

One was a very memorable dinner I had in late July with the folks at Diaz-Schloss, who handle PR for Patria, a funky high-end nightclub/lounge in Rahway which serves Pan-Latino cuisine with classic Italian and French twists.

If the name “Patria” sounds familiar to you, it’s because it used to be the name of a Nuevo Latino restaurant in New York City, which earned accolades (3 stars) from the New York Times and Bon Appetit magazine. And the guy who made it all happen there was Chef Andrew DiCataldo.

DiCataldo may be Italian-American, but he has a Latino soul.

DiCataldo is one of the founders of Nuevo Latino Cuisine and has brought his experience and classical Italian and French cooking techniques to Patria.

After graduating culinary school at Johnson & Wales, he moved down to Florida and ended up at Scratch restaurant in South Beach the 1980s and then in Miami in early 1990s (alongside his close friend Douglas Rodriguez, which he has co-authored a cookbook with) at the Cuban restaurant Yuca, where he and Rodriguez experimented with Caribbean and Central/South American flavors and developed the refined “Nuevo Latino” style that is popular today.

He then was exposed to Mexican flavors at the famed Las Puertas in Coral Gables.

After returning to New Jersey and opening Mexicali Blues in Teaneck, DiCataldo then went on to Patria in the 1990s in New York City, branched out to Tapas-style small plate cuisine at Pipa and now has returned to bring this Pan-Latino style  to the New Jersey town of his youth, at a brand-new Patria.

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

The new Patria bills itself as both a “Mixology Lounge” as well as a restaurant. I never really considered Rahway to be a hot spot for night life or even high-end Nuevo Latino cuisine, but I’ve now been proven wrong.

This place is really jumping, and even if your’re a 40-ish old fart like myself, the place radiates a ton of energy and is invigorating, particularly with its unique lighting. The fiber-optic “Tree” in the middle of this lounge area pulsates with all kinds of colors, and is a great match to the music.

Very trancey. It’s too bad the kids aren’t into Depeche Mode these days.

Of course, starting out with couple of nice cocktails doesn’t hurt to begin enhancing your mood.

Downstairs Lounge Area. Yes, those lights do oscillate through various bands of color and go absolutely trippy, just like the ones upstairs.

A nice place to sit down if you can’t hold your liquor or if you start to space out too much.

Wow man, check out the sconces.

Okay, enough bad Cheech and Chong impressions and on with the food. The main dining room eschews the trippy/trancy lighting for natural light and warm, wood aesthetics. Franky, that’s more my speed. Cause, like, I’m old.

Guacamole with fried Plantain strips. Now we’re talking.

An “escabeche” of octopus tentacle with purple potato puree.

Crab Cake with Passion Fruit Mango Mojo and Saffron Aoili.

Spare Ribs with Ancho Chile-Cherry BBQ sauce.

Tamarind and Sweet Red Chile Chicken Wings

Pastel y Pincho. This is a Chicken Fricasee baked in a small cazuela dish with a sweet corn crust, with grilled chicken skewers.

Pariguela. A Peruvian seafood stew with corn.

Fried Calimari. With Smoked Paprika Sea Salt and Lemon/Garlic Aoli.

Sweet Corn Arepa.

Peruvian Ceviche Tasting

Seafood Fideos. A pasta dish with Clams, Mussels, Squid, Shrimp and Linguini with a saffron/red pepper sauce. A Spanish treatment to the classic Italian pasta frutti di mare.

Salmon, Crab and Scallop “Chupe” in a Peruvian yellow pepper sauce with cream and shrimp stock.

Bronzino Veracruz.

Seared Shrimp and Scallops with Lobster Mashed Potatoes, tomato chimichurri.

Sliced Churrasco Steak with red chile/parsley chimichurri sauce and Purple Potatoes

Patria Pork, a modern take on Cuban “Lechon” and Puerto Rican “Pernil”. Pork shoulder slow roasted and pan crisped over boniato puree with a black bean broth.

Flan

Tres Leches Cake with Passion Fruit Sauce

Churros (served with Chocolate Fondue)

Chocolate Fondue w/Fruit and Churros

Orange Truffle Chocolate Tart.

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

When my wife’s birthday approaches, the question is always the same: “Where would you like to go out for dinner?”

There are certainly many fine restaurants in New Jersey and in New York City. Too many to choose from, actually. But Rachel wanted to go somewhere that the food and the service was going to be impeccable and where the ambiance and the sheer “New Yorkishness” was also outstanding as well.

Given that criterion, there aren’t a lot of places that fit all of those parameters very well. But amazingly, we both looked at each other and said “Porter House?”

Also Read: OTB in Depth — Porter House New York

I’ve covered Porter House New York before. When people tell me they want a really nice steak, that they’re going to be in the city dining with friends, and they want to be treated really well, the restaurant often pops up on the top my list.

The steaks are probably some of the best in the entire city, and they have a full compliment of other dishes including some very nice fish and seafood presentations that are fantastic if you don’t want to eat meat.

They’ve also got a great bar menu with outstanding burgers and other casual items in case you’re a single diner or don’t want the full formal dining room experience. We’ve frequently done that when we go out to a Broadway show on a weekend and want to have a nice leisurely lunch before seeing an early show.

And the view? Oh, the view. In the daylight, if you’re sitting in the dining room by the window, you get a full panorama of Columbus Circle and all the hustle and bustle that is New York City.

At night, everything lights up glorious.

And you can’t find a nicer chef on the entire planet than Michael Lomonaco. Who always treats me and Rachel like family when we go.

Porter House New York Main Dining Room.

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

Bread service seems like a fairly elementary thing for a fine dining restaurant, but very few of them do it as well as Porter House does. I really love the multigrain and the really excellent sweet butter that it’s served with. The hardest part is sending these guys away when they keep coming back. Fresh bread flows like water in this place.

Rachel isn’t a huge wine drinker so I had the head sommelier bring me out something interesting by the glass. I told him I’d probably be ordering steak that evening and I wanted something really bold with nice tannins, so he suggested this Ruca Malen Petit Verdot from Argentina.

Petit Verdot is a varietal I hadn’t tried before as I am normally a Pinot Noir, Cabernet, Tempranillo, Priorato, Nebbiolo or Sangiovese kind of guy when I am eating meat but it went phenomenal with the steak that evening.

Apparently it is a very old varietal that was once used in a lot of Bordeaux blends in France, but is now being used in other countries to make very big, bold wines.

Thus beginneth the meat rumpus, a classic steak tartare with cornichons, capers and hard boiled egg, made out of prime minced raw steak and eaten over toast points. Rachel was a little freaked out about eating raw meat but she got over it pretty quickly. I absolutely loved this tartare.

Gazpatcho was on the menu as the weather was turning quite balmy. Rachel ordered this as her appetizer, and it is a classic preparation. Probably one of the best traditionally prepared ones I’ve ever had.

Arugula Salad with Roasted Peppers, Grape Tomatoes, Sicilian Olives, Shaved Pecorino-Romano. Hey, Michael has to throw the Italian in there somewhere.

Michael sent out a butter poached 2lb shelled Maine Lobster over truffled mash potato puree with leek crisps and English peas. Killer.

Rachel’s entree, the organic Scottish Salmon with asparagus, fava beans, tarragon and chardonnay butter. I had some qualms with her over ordering one of the less-adventurous fish entrees at one of the top steakhouses in Manhattan, but after I tasted it I changed my mind. It’s really good.

And what do you think I got?

Of course I got a steak. But not just any steak, a prime hanger steak. The hanger steak is actually one of the more “value-priced” items on the menu, at $32, but everyone knows that this is one of the meatiest, steaky-ist and most flavorful cuts there is. They don’t call it the Butcher’s Cut for nothing. This one is served in a shallot and cabernet wine sauce, with caramelized onions on top. And yes it was as good as it looks.

Can’t go to a steakhouse without ordering the proper side dishes.

I thought that you might appreciate the extreme close-up of the creamed spinach with the thick-cut bacon on top. This is as porn as spinach gets.

Strawberry Shortcake. Summer, right?

Warm peach crumble. Mmmmmmm.

The cookie platter. We ended up taking most of these guys home, sneaking a bunch later on at night.

Mid-May is about when I start eating BLTs again. It begins when I start seeing decent imported tomatoes come in to the local supermarkets and produce stores, and reaches its peak in July and August when the farmers markets are in full swing and my own garden grown Jersey tomatoes start coming in. August is when my own tomato plants are in overdrive production mode and BLTs start to become major meals as opposed to just lunches.

Also See: Bacon, Lettuce and Tomatocast with Christine Nunn

The above sandwich was made with the amazing slab smoked bacon from the Swiss Pork Store in Fair Lawn, NJ, hand sliced, using vine-ripened Israeli tomatoes and romaine lettuce hearts.

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

The first time I tried Steve Christianson’s cuisine was the night he closed his restaurant, the Citrus Grille, in Airmont, New York. It was simultaneously a delicious, yet depressing affair. But that cold February evening was also filled with hope, as we knew that soon, the CIA-trained chef would return, with a brand-new restaurant in nearby Ho-Ho-Kus, in a newly constructed space.

When it re-opened, Judi Christianson, Steve’s wife and front of the house majordomo wanted me to come over, have a nice meal, and provide them photographs for their new web site. Naturally, I agreed, since I was going to take photos anyway.

I’m a food blogger. It’s what I do.

Fifteen months later, I get an email from Judi. “We’re ready.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect when I got there. Would it be a warm, intimate spot like the last restaurant? Or something different? Would the cuisine be a carry over from Citrus Grille, or a reboot?

St. Eve’s, which is simply a play on words on “Steve’s”, is in my estimation probably one of the most important destination restaurants to open in Bergen County in a very long time. It’s a beautiful, huge space, which utilizes a lot of reclaimed wood and has very much a tavern-style atmosphere and lots of natural light.

Aesthetically, it reminds me a lot of the tavern/casual dining part of Gramercy Tavern in New York City.

St. Eve’s Patio dining area.

The rear entrance of St. Eve’s, which has a large amount of parking available. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

The view of the main dining room coming from the rear entrance.

Reservation table

Table setting close-up. All of the tables were custom-built for the restaurant from custom lumber selections.

The restaurant, along with the patio dining area, can seat approximately 125 people. The smaller, secondary dining room can be used for private events.

The large, communal table in the secondary dining room.

The patio area faces North Maple but is not considered to be the restaurant’s main entrance. Provided the weather remains nice and cool in the evening, this would be a great place to dine in the summertime.

The bar area faces the kitchen and allows single diners to get a good view of the action.

Bread and butter service

One of the things I think is a nice touch at St. Eve’s is they offer traditional seltzer water bottles in addition to bottled waters like Pellegrino. Many of these bottles and dispensers are ancient, going back 100 years. A local business in Monsey, New York provides the refills, just like in the olden days.

Shpritzing the seltzer

St. Eve’s is a BYO restaurant but it features signature juices and other home-made beverages. Rachel ordered this celery juice/jalepeno thing called “Green Love”.

If you want harder stuff, St. Eve’s is conveniently located next to a wine and liquor store.

Chilled Heirloom Tomato Gazpatcho with peeky-toe crab, avocado and cumin crisp. An ideal way to start off a hot summer meal.

Wood grilled Maine lobster “Silly Cay” west indie spiced, roasted pineapple slaw. Loved this dish but it was a bit fussy to take it apart, I told chef Steve that it might be a good idea to pull the claw meat out for the diner, so you might see it presented that way in the future.

Citrus grilled heirloom beet salad, cambazola, grilled endive and radicchio, shallot vinaigrette. A feast of color for the eyes with gorgeous presentation and a nice light starter.

This is a starter I caught at the pass, a seared sirloin carpaccio, dijon mustard, capers, herb sauce with crispy sunchokes.

Although I wouldn’t classify St. Eve’s as a particularly “Italian” restaurant they do have a pasta section on their menu. This was the “Homemade pasta of the day” with lobster, shrimp and scallops, yellowfoot mushrooms with cognac lobster bisque. We loved this, and it should be noted that this is a half-sized portion. All the pastas on the menu can be ordered in small or large portions.

Another seafood small plate, seared day boat scallops with pepper pipperade, quinoa pilaf and lemon confit. Definitely a summery dish.

Chef Christanson in St. Eve’s generously-sized kitchen plating up some hangar steak. The kitchen uses a wood-fired oven and grill which imparts a wonderful flavor to everything that is cooked on it.

Chef Christianson and his wood fired grill.

The business end of the wood fired grill.

A nice whole fish being pulled out of the salamander.

Wood grilled oysters appetizer, sitting at the pass.

Wood Grilled Filet Mignon, poached farm house egg, wild mushroom duxelle, truffle infused hollandaise. And that’s just an appetizer.

Finishing off some plates with some extra virgin olive oil

Tuna beginning its sear.

Finished Moroccan spiced tuna, with baby carrots, spring onions, aromatic broth and cilantro aioli.

Slicing up some hangar steak.

Wood-grilled Painted Hills Farm hanger steak “arrachera” with chimichurri salsa, yucca gratinee and creamed corn. Wow… Just… wow. This one’s a must-order in my opinion.

Every bistro style restaurant is obligated to have a burger on its menu. St. Eve’s is a chuck and shortrib, with caramelized onions and vermont cheddar, on a large eggy onion roll with baby arugula subbing in for lettuce.

I think it’s a very nice bistro burger, certainly if I was in the area for lunch and I wanted a big, juicy burger I’d absolutely order this one, but it’s not a “destination” burger if that makes any sense at all. I’m just not going to drive all the way from Tenafly to come to a place like St. Eve’s for a burger, that’s what I’m saying.

Very good fries, properly done. Rachel had to stop me from eating them. I’d order the fries on the side with one of the steaks, personally!

Chocolate souffle dessert with sour Amarena cherries and homemade pistachio gelato. Chocolate lovers should zero in on this one like a theobroma-seeking missile.

“Frozen” key lime pie. Rachel and I were divided on this one. I loved the fact that it was frozen and was sort of like a spumoni-type thing, which would be an ideal summertime dessert. Rachel wanted it to melt down a bit. I loved the tartness.

Old-fashioned Butterscotch Pudding, Vanilla Bean Soft Whip, Chocolate Biscotti. I thought it was a bit too sweet, but I loved the biscotti. Had I been in the mood for a serious coffee drink that Sunday night, I would have absolutely ordered one from St. Eve’s hardcore espresso machine and coffees supplied by Jim’s Organic, and I might have liked this dessert better, to have the bitter and strong espresso coffee contrast with the sweet dessert and the crispy biscotti.

Coconut Panna Cotta, with Tropical Fruit and Sesame Sable. Rachel was completely enamored by this dessert and barely let me have any. Nice, light dessert for summer, not too sweet. Definitely up my alley, especially if it’s July or August.

Root Beer Float with Homemade Ice Cream and Cookies. I should also add that the root beer itself is made with a home-made root beer syrup mixed with the seltzer. It’s not as sweet as you would expect a root beer float to be, and it’s got heavy sarsaparilla/spice flavors to it. The restaurant also makes it’s own Ginger Ale as well, in case you wanted to try a float with that.

We go behind the scenes at the 2011 Big Apple BBQ Block Party and visit the pits at Memphis Championship BBQ, Blue Smoke, Martin’s, Ubon’s, Pappy’s Smokehouse, Dinosaur BBQ, Ed Mitchell and Salt Lick — all while the weather conspires against us. We promise there’s plenty of Hi-Def food porn in this 32 minute video.

For photographic coverage of previous Big Apple BBQs, I’ve compiled four years of it, over 900 photos worth, in this single Flickr album.

Mazatlán, however, like the rest of Mexico, has fallen on tough times. The local economy has been whacked just like the rest of the world, and due to recent security concerns regarding Mexico in general and Sinaloa’s role as a conduit for arms trade and violent gangs heading up the coastal region, all of the major cruise lines have ceased making stops at the port city, resulting in a loss of over 25,000 tourists per day.

In September of 2011, the cruise ships are expected to return once new contracts with the city have been signed, but nothing is a given.

The reality is, however, is that Mazatlán is still a very safe city, with a great deal of police protection. It is also an excellent value, particularly as it relates to food, as it has some of the best seafood in the world, due to its local shrimp and tuna fleets. The state of Sinaloa also is known for raising livestock and has a large amount of local agriculture, so you can get some of the best steak and chicken/pork dishes here and fantastic produce as well.

See my complete Mazatlán photo set on Flickr

An outdoor table at La Playa Bruja restaurant in Mazatlán, Mexico.

So without further ado — let’s go eat Mazatlán. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

As Mazatlán is a tourism-oriented city, obviously a great deal of the food you are going to find in the local restaurants is tailored to the tourist population, many of whom come from Seattle and Vancouver. This is not to say that the food itself is bad, as a matter of fact it tends to be very good, but it is not necessarily authentically Mexican. Many of the restaurant menus at a lot of these places look very similar, making use of local ingredients but tailored to less adventurous palates.

That being said, it is quite possible to have really good meals at these tourist-oriented places, provided you know what your are doing.

First, let’s start with ceviche. You’re not going to find a single restaurant in this city that doesn’t serve some form of ceviche dish, because the shrimp here is fresh and plentiful. The lime/cilantro/chile preparation referred to as an “Aguachile” is by far my favorite way of eating ceviche.

Here’s a Ceviche de Camaron de Aguachile from El Shrimp Bucket, one of the oldest tourist restaurants in the city, which opened in 1963. It was actually the first restaurant opened by the Grupo Anderson’s restaurant management company, which now employs over 9000 people and also owns the Senor Frog’s chain, of which you will see probably 20 different locations of various souvenir stores and shops all over the city.

El Shrimp Bucket is actually a great place, provided you stick with its namesake stuff — shrimp and other types of seafood. Locals still eat there. If you go off the reservation on these tourist restaurants, and go for non-Mexican dishes, you’re going to be disappointed. Stick with what the city is good at — Seafood, and traditional Mexican fare.

The orange dip behind the ceviche is a Smoked Marlin Dip. Rachel really loved it, but I found it too be very fishy and very strong in flavor.

Here is another Aguachile preparation, at Mr. Lionso’s La Playa Bruja restaurant, which is a beachfront restaurant on the far northern part of the city past the time share resorts and the big hotels. It is an absolutely gorgeous location and a must-go, in my opinion. This particular Aguachile is made with pristine raw scallops, so it’s more like a sashimi dish. The Aguachile sauce is on the side.

I must warn you, however, that if you order this dish, do NOT under any circumstances dump that Aguachile sauce all over the scallops unless you want your face to be on fire for the rest of the evening. It is made with a combination of lime juice (Mexican limes are very small and very tart), Serrano pepper and Chiletepin, which is explosively and violently hot, on the extremely high end of the Scoville heat scale for chiles. They don’t call it “the mother of all chiles” for nothing. Use the sauce sparingly, OK?

The next dish which you will see multiple variations of throughout the city is what I refer to as “Giant Aztec ceramic sacrificial shrimp vessel lit on fire”. The one you are looking at is from El Shrimp Bucket, which I think originated the concept. The shrimp here are big and juicy and plentiful, and come in several different preparations. El Shrimp Bucket’s are Coconut, Beer Battered, Peel and Eat, and one other which I’m forgetting.

Here’s the one from La Playa Bruja. La Playa Bruja has about twelve different shrimp preparations, and you can tell them to make you a platter of any of the flavors you want. By far our favorite was al ajillo (garlic) which is prepared with sliced up dried pasilla chile peppers, sauteed with garlic in olive oil. Fantastic.

A bowl of Shrimp “Caldo”, again from La Playa Bruja.

Another common dish you’ll see at the local restaurants is the Molcajete, which is the term for the actual volcanic rock bowl that is traditionally used as a mortar to grind spices and other things. In this case, it’s used as sort of a sizzling vessel with pieces of seafood/chicken, chiles, cheese, vegetables and spices, which you cut up and put into tortillas. Sort of an alternative form of Fajitas. Gimmicky but good.

Another Molcajete appetizer, this time from Chile’s Pepper, another beach view restaurant.

Bistec Tampiquena, from Chile’s Pepper.

The view from Chile’s Pepper.

Fresh guacamole, with a Pacifico beer, at Chile’s Pepper. “Tortilla Chips” in Mexico are referred to as “Totopos” and what we call “Salsa” they say “Pico De Gallo”. Pacifico beer is owned by the big Mexican Modelo brewery company that also produces the better-known Corona Extra, but it’s made locally in Mazatlan, and if you get it at the local grocery stores and bodegas it’s practically cheaper than Coca-Cola.

A “Pie de Coco” or coconut cake. We ordered this one at El Shrimp Bucket. If you go there, get it.

Man cannot live on tourist restaurants alone. If you really want to eat like the locals, you gotta head to the central market, or Mercado Central, which is in Old Mazatlan. The Sabalo Central bus line, which goes up and down the coast, into the Golden Zone and down El Malecon (Beachfront) from where all the major hotels and timeshares are costs 90 cents, is air conditioned, and will drop you right in front of the market.

Everything you can imagine is for sale here, with many kinds of stalls for meat, chicken, seafood, fruit and spices specialists, as well as food stands. And as to be expected, all of this is extremely fresh and has been caught or butchered the day it is being sold.

Pitayas, a type of sweet cactus fruit, sold alongside Nopal, the vegetable from cactus pads which tastes kind of lemony and has the texture of green beans with some slight okra-like slimyness when cooked.

Pitaya extreme closeup.

Machaca, a dried meat mixture that is often served with tortillas.

A specialty spice vendor.

One of the many fruit and veg vendors.

Tony’s Burger, one of the several fast food stands in the Market.

A chicken tostada, from Tony’s.

“Hamburguesa de Camaron” or shrimp burger. It’s got crema fresca, avocado, lettuce, tomato and freshly grilled shrimps, on really nice toasted hamburger rolls.

And here’s Tony’s “Hamburguesa Especial” with cheese, avocado, ham, crema fresca and hamburger patty.

My favorite place in the market, however, is simply “The Carne Asada ladies”. This stand specializes in Tacos Chorreadas, a style unique to the Sinaloa region which are freshly made corn tortillas, similar to Sopes, that are griddle cooked with a giant pile of marinated chopped steak on top. To best illustrate this, see the video below.

Taco Chorreada de Carne Asada. The best taco I have had in my entire life. It has fresh pico de gallo on it, along with a roasted tomato and chile salsa, a fresh hot sauce, a creamy avocado sauce, melted cheese, chopped raw onion, some secret ingredient I cannot identify, and habanero hot sauce.

The Agua Fresca stand outside the market. These are “Fresh Waters” or fruit punches of different flavors, a popular drink throughout Mexico.

A Tuna vendor in the market. Mazatlan has a pretty big tuna fleet, and sashimi grade tuna can be procured here. There are a lot of sushi restaurants in town which serve the locally caught fish.

Fresh caught Snappers.

Pork tostadas, which we consumed also at a stand in the market.

Shrimp Salad

Flautas

The bakery stand at the market. Very dangerous place for me to be.

I’m not exactly sure what this store in the market was for, but it had a lot of weird candles and  stuff.

Update: from reader Cristina at Mexico Cooks

“The large statue front and center in the photo is called “La Santa Muerte” and is a cult ‘saint’–not a saint that’s recognized by the Church–that’s mostly venerated by folks involved in gangs. The seat of La Santa Muerte is in the Tepito neighborhood of Mexico City, one of the most unsavory neighborhoods in the country. Google it for more information.

Most of the other items in the shop appear to be things used in Santería rituals, magical treatments for people who suffer from disorders like bewitchment, etc. The shop absolutely does NOT sell Día de los Muertos items.”

These tiny fruits are Manguitos, literally bite-size mangoes that you shove in your mouth, chew, and spit out the pits and skin. By the way, the price shown is in pesos, which is the same symbol as the dollar and is currently exchanged at about 10 pesos to the dollar. So 15 pesos is $1.50. Per half Kilogram, roughly a pound.

Near the main market but several blocks away are the Cameroneras, the shrimp mongers. Here you can buy the same shrimp that the local restaurants buy, for a fraction of the price you’d pay in the States.

Over two and a half kilograms of the very largest shrimp the Cameroneras offer. I paid $10 a pound for what I easily would pay double for in New York or New Jersey. 500 pesos, or $50 for this massive amount of ultra-jumbo sized shrimp. We made several meals out of this.

This is a Chilaquiles de Camaron, with Nopales, Cebollitas (little onions) and melted pinella cheese with eggs and totopos and red salsa. Like a big nachos. Rachel made this in our timeshare with stuff we bought from the market.

So after a week of eating Mexican food, we got a craving for… Chinese food. La Muralla China is in the Golden Zone right next door to the Burger King, on Camaron Sabalo, the main drag along the Sabalo Central bus line. You can’t miss it. Muralla China has three locations but this is the one that delivers, in case you don’t want to leave your hotel.

Stepping into this restaurant is like being thrown into a 1960′s Chinese-American Time Warp. In a good way.

An Eggroll. Totally not what we expected, had a very strong five spice flavor and like a beer-battered exterior, and served with a sweet and sour neon red sauce. It was weird. We liked it.

Special Fried Rice. All the vegetables were fresh and the meat and seafood in this was local. In fact, every single dish we ate was prepared with local ingredients, and they didn’t use MSG so nothing was very salty — we actually had to add a bit of soy sauce to it. Sinaloa does not import any meat or livestock and the restaurant doesn’t use any foreign produce, so they have to be completely self-reliant. Extremely good.

Shrimp Chowmein. Again, all vegetables and the shrimp are local. So it was very good, even though it is not “authentic” in a purely Chinese sense since there are no Asian vegetables in it. It’s authentic Mexican Chinese Food!

I do not recall exactly what this dish was called but it was shown in a picture on the menu. It’s like a cross between a sesame chicken and a General Tso, but spiked heavily with Sriracha sauce. Highly Recommended. Made with locally killed chicken.

Roast Pork (Puerco Ahumado) made with local pork. Excellent.

What more could you want from a vacation? Guys jumping of cliffs?

FaceBook Fan Page: (El Caney)

Sometimes, the best food isn’t served in restaurants.

In this particular case, I want to smack myself in the head for only just finding out about a tiny little take-out only place only minutes away from my house that has been open for an entire year. I’m usually pretty on the ball about this kind of stuff, but somehow, El Caney, literally a shack in Bergenfield across the railroad tracks which was serving perhaps some of the best Cuban food I’ve ever eaten had escaped me.

Well, let me correct myself. It WAS a shack. As Roy Scheider said in the movie Jaws, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” In Spanish, that would be loosely translated as “Necesitamos una Canoa mas Grande”

El Caney is back, but it’s no longer a shack. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

El Caney  is owned by Tony Gonzalez, a former compliance officer at a large investment bank on Wall Street. I guess he felt that standing on his feet twelve hours a day in a little shack was preferable and less stressful than dealing with stock traders! Tony, his wife Cynthia and his mom make all the food at El Caney from scratch, and you can totally taste it.

The new location has a lot more room for standing as well as more kitchen space, so the business will be able to produce more food without running out too quickly.

Mama cooking pork chops in her new kitchen.

Chuletas (Cuban Pork Chops) simmering in the pot.

Making a big batch of mojito, the garlic-laced condiment for many of the dishes.

A mojito extreme close-up.

A curious shrine… to the New York Yankees and to Mofongo, the smashed plaintain dish.

Tony tapes up his first earned dollar in his new store.

A big ‘ol pot of Ropa Vieja, Cuban shredded beef.

This is the old location right across the street on West Church, #48. Due to the overwhelming amount of business it received, the family needed to find a bigger store, so they moved across the street.

The original El Caney was a tiny little place, named after the Taino indian name for longhouse, a large traditional communal family dwelling. The small Cuban village of the same name was also the site of a momentous battle during the Spanish-American War. I guess was this is sort of an inside joke.

The new location is actually considerably longer and bigger, so now they really can legitimately call themselves “El Caney”

The collection of hot sauces. Nothing at the stand is served spicy, but everything is very flavorful, so if you want to add heat, you’ll want to reach for a bottle.

The various decorations at El Caney make you feel like the heart of Cuba is beating in it.

The menu is limited and is centered around daily specials  – some, but not all are listed on this sheet. You need to ask for what they make on a daily basis, and they run out of their best stuff early. I got there on a Monday night and ordered one of everything.

El Caney also makes killer Cuban sandwiches out of Pernil (Roast Pork Leg) which have been marinated overnight and then cooked slowly for 10 hours.

I’ve made a lot of Cuban sandwiches. I’ve eaten them in Union City and Edgewater, Miami on Calle Ocho and environs, and Tampa and I have to say El Caney’s is one of the best I’ve ever sampled, particularly for this part of Jersey  – lots of juicy marinated slow cooked pork, just a small amount of ham with pickles and garlic mojo, mustard, swiss cheese with pickles, as well as thin slices of chorizo to add a special flavor. Really good.

In the video posted below, you can see how they make them.

A takeout order being prepared — the top container is Masitas de Puerco (fried pork cubes) with Yuca Frita and yellow rice. The bottom is Picadillo, the traditional Caribbean Latino ground beef mixture seasoned with sofrito.

Yuca, being boiled before frying

Tony couldn’t bear to have me sit and wait for my food, so he put two marinated pork ribs in the deep fryer and put them on a plate for me to eat. I nearly burned my hands eating these, but they were fantastic.

Mama cooking up some Moros y Cristianos, black beans cooked with white rice. Also referred to as Arroz Congrí, this is a very popular Cuban rice dish.

Fricase de Pollo before heading into the oven

Fricase de Pollo (Chicken Stew)

Cuban Beef Stew (Carne con Papas) with Yellow Rice and Yuca Frita

Tony making sure quality control is up to par.

Tony’s wife Cynthia showing off a Cuban-style tamal.

Cooking up some peppers and steak.

Which lands on Cuban sandwich bread…

And is topped with French Fries…

Which is then “painted” with the garlicky mojito and then pressed, panini-style. Trust me, you want one of these.

Pastelitos, empanada-like pastries filled with chicken and beef.

A baby-sized pastelito.

A potato and ham Croqueta, direct from the deep fryer.

Croqueta cut-through.

The kitchen at the original location was incredibly small and tight, but somehow they managed to produce a tremendous amount of good food in here.

Baked Chicken, cooked in its own juices

These are Tostones (deep-fried green plantains) formed into cups and stuffed with the seasoned beef mixture (Picadillo). If he has them, get them. Oh yeah, on Fridays, he stuffs these with Garlic Shrimp. You wanna bet that this post is updated on Friday?

Well… I went back on Saturday!

Mixed dinner plate of Picadillo, Masitas de Puerco, Yuca Frita, Platano Maduro over Yellow Rice.

Various desserts, including Flan (egg custard), Arroz con Leche (rice pudding) and Tiramisu. Not shown here is a special dessert that I had on a previous night, a chocolate cake fused with flan called Flancocho which originates from Puerto Rico. It was outrageous.

Flan (egg custard) freshly un-molded.

Web Site: MGM Grand Hotel and Casino (Craftsteak)

Vegas. I’m not sure what possessed me to go on vacation in a city that I generally can’t stand. Don’t get me wrong, I love going to the shows, I love the desert flora and fauna, but I hate going through casinos filled with smokers and the constant blaring sounds of the slot machines. It just isn’t my kind of scene.

And while the signature hotel restaurants are by definition excellent (and indeed very expensive) I don’t generally like to dine at them. After all, I live in the New York City metro area and I have access to some of the best restaurants on the entire planet, many of which are the original concepts of which the Vegas restaurants are actually based on.

I had planned to take advantage of the nice 70-80 degree weather that week by chilling out at our timeshare’s pool and spa, and keep our costs down by hitting inexpensive casual restaurants away from the activity of the Strip.

But then my buddy Matt Seeber got a hold of me on FaceBook.

Matt, who earned his toque in New York’s Fiamma Osteria (may it rest in peace) and the short-lived but excellent BID, left the East Coast a number of years ago and headed west to Vegas, where he re-united with his former boss Tom Colicchio, from Danny Meyer’s Gramercy Tavern years before.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, we all know how Colicchio’s star soared from there. He’s been a very busy and successful guy, opening up 15 restaurants all over the country. And he’s on like this TV show and … stuff.

With Collichio’s blessing, Seeber  took the reigns as Executive Chef of Craftsteak, the anchor steakhouse at the MGM Grand Hotel.

“Dude, you gotta come on over and see what we’re doing over here, man. Seriously, you’ll have a good time.”

Ok, so as much as I hate Vegas, there was no way I was going to pass that invitation up.

I have to apologize in advance for the quality of the photographs. Craftsteak has very muted lighting, and as I was on vacation, I only brought a simple CASIO Exilim point-and-shoot  instead of my usual overkill SLR and prime lens rig, so I had to toss a lot of material on the cutting room floor, particularly the restaurant interiors.

There’s plenty of of good photos of the interiors on MGM’s Craftsteak website, so you should really go check those out.

Still I think that you’ll get a very good feeling about the cuisine and the experience at the restaurant from the photos below.

Bar/single dining area at Craftsteak

Ready for a serious, Vegas-style steakhouse experience? Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Bar

Filet Mignon with the restaurant’s signature Bordelaise sauce. Craftsteak goes through a massive amount of Bordelaise, about THREE GALLONS a night. In the video above, you’ll see how it is made.

Australian Wagyu Beef Tartare. The only form in which minced beef is used at the restaurant. No burgers.

Wild Mushroom Sides.

Caesar Salad with Marinated Anchovy

New York Strip.

Italian Buffalo Mozzarella with Tomato and Balsamic Vinegar.

Australian Wagyu Skirt Steak. If you’re big on beefy flavors, this is the one to order.

Surf and Turf Combination with Lobster Tail

Surf and Turf combination with Diver Scallops

The restaurant has a dedicated pastry staff to make the desserts. This is a bread pudding.

Monkey Bread, which is like a big pecan cinnamon caramel sticky bun that you pull apart with your fingers.

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

A flight of sorbets and fresh ice creams, served with a sweet Tokaji dessert wine.

Restaurants sometimes have good reasons for calling themselves something they are not. In the case of Honey in Teaneck, it’s because that marketing is often more effective than full-monty disclosure. Which is very, very sad, because I think Honey is one of the most interesting ethnic restaurants to open in our area in a very long time.

Why the deception? Honey’s cuisine is Persian — which originates from the country that in the modern day is called Iran.

While the restaurant bills itself as Mediterranean, modern day Iran is nowhere near the Mediterranean Sea. Iran borders the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf, and cuisine-wise bears only a passing resemblance to most Mediterranean food.

Sure, Persia once controlled the territory which is now modern day Turkey, which does border the Mediterranean, but that was between 550 and 330 BCE , when the Achaemenid Empire controlled most of the civilized world.

The history of Persia is complex and one of the most fascinating in ancient history. Its cuisine is unique, delicious, and exotic. And in this part of Northern New Jersey we’ve had the unfortunate situation of previous Persian restaurants failing, such as Shiraz in Edgewater.

Up until Honey’s opening, we’ve only had access to Afghani food at the very excellent  Teaneck Kebab House,  Pamir in Morristown and Kabab Paradise in Lake Hiawatha. While sharing a similar cultural history as well as a similar language with Iran, Afghan food is very different in terms of their cuisine. Aside from Honey, Negeen in Summit is one of the few other legit Persian restaurants in the area.

[Editor's Note: Shahrzad in Edgewater, which took over Shiraz's space, also opened in June of 2010, after this post was originally written]

Like other Muslims residing in this country Iranian-Americans are often the unfortunate recipients of bad behavior and harassment from ignorant people who vandalize restaurants and businesses as a result of misdirected anger and hatred.

Because of this Persian cuisine in this part of the country frequently goes unappreciated. Los Angeles by comparison has a thriving Persian community, but in New Jersey not so much.

Teaneck just got its Persian on. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Honey recently re-decorated the entire front of their store and now has a very pretty dining room.

These old Persian works of art depicting popular dishes and food being sold by street vendors were recently imported from Iran.

This table, called a Haftseen was decorated for the Persian New Year (Nowruz) while I was there. Each item represents a word in the Farsi language that starts with an “S” sound, or the Seven ‘S’s.

Honey is both a full-service restaurant as well as a Persian grocery store. The rear of the place is lined with wall to wall exotic spices and nuts and tea and all kinds of wonderful things needed to cook authentic Persian.

Here’s a more wide-angle view of the grocery.

Awesome tea section, with a big selection of bagged and loose-leaf Persian-style and English-style black teas.

More Persian grocery goodness (click photo to enlarge)

Raw, green almonds. These are actually eaten as snacks in their raw form.

Persian pastries and cookies.

Honey’s Menu. Click on the photo to enlarge.

A view of the grill area, with Kabobs cooking.

We decided to try all three soups on the menu. This is the Ash Reshteh, which is made with spinach, cilantro, parsley, noodles, beans and lentils, and flavored with unusual spices including dried Persian lime powder.

This is Barley Soup, with Barley, Green Beans, Carrots, Corn, Onion and Chicken with “House Sauce”. It’s a mild flavored, comfort-food type soup.

Our favorite, however, was the Lentil Soup, flavored with Persian spices.

This appetizer is called a Kookoo Sabzi, a spiced vegetable souffle of herbs, garlic, eggs and walnuts. Similar to the Eastern-European Spinach Kugel.

This is the “Beef Cutlet”.

Shirazi Salad.

Shirazi Salad, plated. It’s similar to other Middle Eastern salads but with a very strong lime juice flavor and more herbal.

What do you drink with Persian food? Yogurt Mint Soda, or Doogh. Salty, minty… and yogurty. I could feel the lactobacillus brewing in my stomach after drinking it.

This appetizer/hot dip is Kashk-o Bademjan, sauteed eggplant blended with Persian spices including dried mint and topped with sour cream. Nothing like Babaghanoush.

Koobideh Kebab, probably considered to be Iran’s national dish, a spiced mix of lamb and beef served with saffron rice pullao. I once made these at home and so can you if you buy the right spices from this store, which they sell in packets. All the meat cooked at this restaurant is Halal which strictly adheres to Islamic dietary standards.

Koobideh Kebab (2011)

Steak Kebab, made with Sumac-seasoned Filet Mignon which has been butterflied out.

Zereshk Polo, Basmati Rice topped with Barberries (a tart, currant-like fruit) with slivered almond, pistachios and saffron rice served with chicken kabob. Visually impressive and really tasty too.

Persians really like their pickles. This is a mix of Eggplant, Carrot, Cauliflower, Radish and Chili Pepper.

In addition to Kebobs, Persian cuisine is also defined by stews. This is a Fesenjan, tiny meat balls stewed in a rich sweet and sour sauce with walnuts and pomegranate, served with rice. This stuff did not get left over and an international incident between my wife and I almost broke out over who got to finish it.

This is Ghormeh Sabzi, a stew of greens, red beans, lamb and dried lime. Like the other stews it has a distinctive sour flavor from the Persian lime.

This is another stew, Gheymah, which are cubes of lamb with yellow split peas in a tangy sauce. This is normally served over white rice, but I asked if they had any Tahdig, the crispy stuff that adheres to the bread that is stuck to the bottom of the rice  that keeps the pot from burning. Iranians go crazy for this stuff and the owners were very happy to oblige and treat us just like family. And now I know why they like Tahdig so much.

A regular order of Gheymah served with eggplant on top.

Rolled pastry filled with a cold whipped cream (2011)

Faloodeh, a very cold, semi-frozen noodle dessert with sweet rose water syrup. This is meant to be eaten during very hot days, and is very much oriented toward kids. Definitely not a winter dessert.

My favorite dessert at the restaurant is Bastani-e Za’farāni, home-made Saffron Pistachio ice cream with rosewater syrup. This is similar and probably related to an Indian Kulfi, but with a very heavy saffron punch.

Naan-e khaameh-ee aka Persian cream puff. Iranians like to eat their pastries with very cold, actually frozen cream in the center, colder and harder than ice cream. They’ll heat it up a little if you want, though.

The generous owners, Fatima and Ali Khayatian.

The Passover Roll, as seen above accompanying matzo ball soup, is a bit of a culinary enigma. Prior to having seders with my wife’s family, I had never encountered them before. My family (admittedly reform Jews) on both sides traditionally would have matzohs during seder, and the kugels, and of course the matzo ball soup. But the idea of having ersatz bread or rolls during Passover was a bit alien to me, and questionably pesadich. I mean, the whole point is that you are not supposed to eat bread during Passover, right? You’re supposed to want for it.

Indeed, Pesadich rolls are made with matzo meal, but they have the consistency, taste and physical properties of a cream puff — making them ideally suited for stuffing with tuna fish, cold cuts, egg salad, PB&J, cream cheese and smoked salmon, or even whipped cream or custard. My favorite way to eat them, however, is dunked in the savory broth and broken up into matzo ball soup, where it sucks up the liquid like a sponge.

You too can make Pesadich Rolls. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link for more.

Passover Rolls (or Passover Cream Puff shells)

⅔ Cup Water
⅓ Cup Peanut Oil (Butter for cream puffs)
1 Cup Matzo Meal (use Matzo Cake Meal for cream puffs)
1 tsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
3 Eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Boil the water and oil together, add the dry ingredients, stir with a wooden spoon to mix well. Allow to cool slightly and, using a handheld beater, beat in the eggs, one at a time. Allow to rest for a few minutes.

Line a sheet pan with parchment or Silpat. Portion dough into balls using a disher, drop into wet hands (with oil or water) and gently roll into a ball.

For (about 20) bite sized cream puffs, use a very small disher and bake for 25-30 minutes; for (10-12) dinner rolls or larger cream puffs, use a medium sized disher and bake for about 40 minutes; for (5-6) larger rolls for sandwiches, use a large disher and bake for 50-60 minutes. Bake until golden.

For cream puffs, allow to cool completely, then cut open and gently hollow out the soft interior using a spoon. Fill with whipped or pastry cream.

As with sports, art, literature and music, there are tragic figures in the culinary world.

There is one such man who is known among foodie folks in the Northern New Jersey area whose very name conjures up joyful memories.

A man who is a veritable Jedi Master of Barbecue, a rogue samurai chef who had to shut down his beloved River Edge, New Jersey restaurant for the sake of his personal health and well-being.

A man who returned with his talents to two other barbecue restaurants, only to have to move on yet again.

And for three years, he dropped off the face of the earth. We do not know where he went. All we know is that he is… BACK.

Who is this mysterious barbecue man? And where has he re-appeared? Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Johnny’s Smokehouse is a hardcore Irish pub with a BBQ twist in Pearl River, Rockland County New York, just over the NJ border. It very recently opened, replacing Adagio restaurant which was in the same space.

As you would expect from an Irish pub owned by real Irishmen, they know how to pour the Guinness properly, and it is kept at proper temperature. If you want yourself some nice creamy ale, this is the place to go. And if you drink enough of them, you’ll start to talk like a pirate.

And the Johnnies be pouring the fancy cocktails, too.

The main dining room. Yes, it sure be an Irish pub.

Ah but what is this? There be longhairs in the back? Could it be…

Why … it is! it’s FINK! Why of course! You can’t keep this scruffy man away from barbecue forever!

The wee smoker that Dave Finkelstein has to work  with is pretty small at the moment, but he plans to put in a larger unit at an offsite location shortly where he’ll be able to bring larger quantities of meat in. However, what he’s able to produce with the equipment he has right now is pretty spectacular.

Ribs being finished off on the grill.

Pulled pork. A must order, in my opinion.

Fink inspecting a beef primal for Smoked Prime Rib.

Bacon. LOTS of smokey bacon. To be used in nefarious ways.

Fink be liking his bacon.

“Texas Lollipops” appetizer. Bacon wrapped sausage with horseradish dipping sauce. These got inhaled.

Shrimp appetizer with pepper jelly. Sweet but also spicy, this met with the table’s approval.

Salmon entree with corn pudding. I’m not much of a salmon fan, but both the missus and I really enjoyed this. But enough with this sissy, fru-fru food. WHERE BE THE BARBECUE, FINK?

Arrrr! There be the BBQ! Mixed platter with ribs, pulled pork, chicken and pulled turkey. David is currently using Applewood chips in the restaurant’s Southern Pride smoker.

Here be another view of the tasty, sweet meat.

Aye, the root veggies. For all you sissies that must have ‘yer fiber.

But I shall have me a giant bacon cheeseburger! With fried onions and jalapenos!

Ain’t she a thing of beauty?

And so there be no forgetting where you are, a dense Irish soda bread pudding with whiskey sauce, if ye haven’t gotten ‘yer fill.

We hope ye be sticking around some this time, Finky boy.

Last weekend, Doug and Laura achieved something they have wanted for a very long time. They won the Grand Championship at Grillin’ on the Bay, a Brooklyn-based grilling contest.

Also Read: Ribs Within Wins “Grillin’ on the Bay”, March 26 2011. (RibsWithin.com)

Also Read: Grillin’ on the Bay 2010 (Off The Broiler)

Nineteen teams competed on a bitter cold, 25-degree day in five separate categories.

While I was not able to attend this year’s contest as I did last year, I did attend the practice session at Doug and Laura’s home in Hillsborough the weekend before. As to not tip off the competition as to the team’s winning strategy, I did not post the photos here until now.

Here you’ll see all the winning dishes, as well as a few that were possible candidates for entry but didn’t make it.

Ribs, which won first place at the contest. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Nice rack.

Triple Rub Beef Tenderloin with compound butter, which took Second Place.

Beef Tenderloins, resting.

Beef Tenderloins, sliced.

“Dougie-Aki Salmon” which took a respectable 6th place.

Salmon Closeup.

Chicken Lollipops, 4th Place.

Chicken Lollipops closeup.

This salad wasn’t intended to be part of the competition, but I thought it came out really nice.

These grilled beef shortibs hit the cutting room floor. But everybody loved them, regardless.

These lamb loin chops were utterly amazing, but they were beaten out by the beef tenderloin for possible entry.

Lamb loin chop closeup.

Doug Keiles, shown here at last year’s Grillin’ on the Bay. Congrats to both Doug and Laura for a job well done — and a victory well deserved!

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.

Chakra’s main dining room. No doubt about it, you know this is serious fine dining when you walk in.

The spacious, warm and inviting restaurant has private banquettes for a more intimate experience.

Main Dining Room

Main Dining Room

Bread service, with an assortment of rolls and foccacia.

Chakra has a full beverage program which includes a list of specialty cocktails.

This was billed as a “Tuna Tartar” with coconut, tapioca, chili and kaffir lime. Sort of a Thai spin on Sashimi. Everyone really liked this one, and Rachel suggested it be served with a spoon to suck up all the nice sauce.

An assortment of house-cured salumi/charcuterie, including different types of prosciutto and bresaola.

Here’s the salumi curing in one of the wine lockers.

Jumbo lump horseradish crust crabcake with baby pea shoots and mustard vinaigrette sauce. One of the best crabcakes that I’ve ever had — very little binder with lots of crabmeat. This one did not disappoint.

Karen ordered some sushi. I was skeptical, but I actually thought it was pretty good considering that it isn’t really the focus of the restaurant.

Here’s an eel roll.

Caesar Salad, with Parmesan Fricos. Nicely done.

Grilled Portuguese Baby Octopus with White Bean Puree and Arugula Pesto. These octopods were fork tender and tentacle-icous.

Potato Crusted Shrimp with Chili-Cinnamon Glazed Chilean Sea Bass. This is a carry over favorite from Ciszak’s other restaurant, Copeland. And please it did.

Okay, maybe I am starting to understand and feel the warmth of some of this body energy stuff. Or it could be all the cocktails I’ve drank.

I wanted to see what Chef Ciszak could do with vegetables, so we ordered a vegetarian entrée, an Eggplant Tart with tofu and a tomato bell pepper coulis. This was actually one of my favorite dishes of the evening as it was truly a “complete” vegetarian dish. The eggplant had all its seeds removed so it had no bitterness at all, and went great with the sweet and acidic coulis.

We also ordered one of the pasta entrées, the rigatoni ragu with braised short ribs. This one really hit the spot and we fought over the last pieces of this one. All the pastas are made in-house, fresh.

We weren’t going to get out of the place without having some of chef’s German cuisine. I thought the Weinershnitzel was excellent. Pounded thin and crispy, but still juicy.

Fresh Baked Doughnuts with Chickory Iced Coffee. The doughnuts were more Churro-like than Beignet-like, but they still pleased everyone.

Warm Valhrona Chocolate Brioche Bread Pudding. Ok, now I’ll say it. WOW MAAAAAAAAAAN!

Chef Thomas Ciszak

So do I “get” CHAKRA now? Yes, I do. In Paramus, refined fine dining you shall seek, young Padawan. Just don’t walk in expecting to order the Chicken Tikka Masala. You won’t get any.

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.

Smoked Salmon Napoleon

Shaving black truffle over a Deconstructed Caesar Salad, one of the restaurant’s small plates that has recently been introduced.

Deconstructed Ceasar Salad, Plated.

The wedge salad, which still remains one of the restaurant’s top sellers.

Pork, Veal and Beef Meatballs with squash, ditalini, cannellini beans in a light heirloom tomato and San Marzano broth. I’m tentatively referring to this dish as “It Happened in Vegas.”

Prime Filet Mignon with Bordelaise, Bacon and Bleu Cheese (background)

Picnic still is making signature vegetarian/meatless entrées as well. This Risotto with Porcini/Hedgehog mushrooms and truffle oil looked incredibly rich and satisfying.

Berkshire Pork Chop with Apples and Brandy Bacon Butter

Potato Encrusted Chatham Cod with Dijon Beurre Blanc

Split Pea Soup with Bacon. By far one of the best examples of this soup I’ve ever had. This really hit the spot on a cold rainy night.

Cioppino, another one of the restaurant’s current best sellers.

Panko Crusted Pan Fried Veal Chop with Arugula Salad, Parmigiano Reggiano and Lemon Honey Vinaigrette. I ordered this one as my entrée and it was both hearty and light at the same time. One of the best new dishes I’ve had at the restaurant this year.

Javi working the pastry torch

.

A closeup of the torch action.

Finished creme brulee. If it happens to be on the menu that evening when you go, do not hesitate to order this. I’ve never had a creme brulee made with such classic exactitude, with a super-rich vanilla custard and a burned sugar crust with a perfect texture and hardness.

Apple crisp, if you want something a bit less rich. But still very, very good.

Kathy Bresnan, assistant Sous Chef/Garde Manger. On St. Patrick’s day, she was the Gaelic Cuisine SME (Subject Matter Expert). Here she is holding some of her home-baked Irish Soda Bread.

Loaves of Irish Soda Bread.

Irish Soda Bread, with Jewish Rye Bread, plated. What else are you supposed to eat with Corned Beef?

First Harp Lager of the Evening

These are Emerald Isle Chopped Salads with Green Goddess Dressing.

Smoked Salmon with Irish Potato Cake

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

“Lucky Charms” Salad with dried cranberries walnuts, bleu cheese, chopped apples and pears

Chef Christine, plating

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

Chef Christine sauteeing up some veggies

Beer Batter Fish and Chips

Bangers and Mash

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Irish Coffee (Whiskey not included!)

Several days later, Christine got in a big shipment of Morel mushrooms, so many of the dishes that night incorporated the rare fungus.

Personally, I could eat them just like this, sauteed in butter with garlic.

Heirloom Tomato Salad. This time of year, they aren’t from Jersey, but it still looked fantastic.

Peekytoe Crab Cake

The chicken entree of the evening featured a tarragon cream sauce with sherry.

Lamb Loin, served over orzo pasta

Osso Bucco. The last of it for the winter.

Filet Mignon with Morel Mushroom Cream Sauce. To die for.

Morel Mushroom Risotto

Scallops in a blood orange sauce.

Foie Gras “Pizza”

Peanut Butter Pie

Lemon Bundt Cake

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.

Bucu’s owners, Rick and Cathy Ross. Rick is a builder by background (He’s built some really impressive houses in Northern New Jersey) but always dreamed of owning his own restaurant. Cathy is a baker, and wanted to put her talents to work. They decided to open a restaurant that combined burgers, sandwiches, salads and other popular casual menu items with freshly baked desserts.

The verbal reinforcement of the restaurant’s concept. “Milk Bar” sounds vaguely A Clockwork Orange, but I’ll definitely be dragging all my droogies in here for a little bit of beef and ultracupcake.

The restaurant’s decor was all designed by owner Rick Ross and uses custom designed cabinets and furnishings.

A view of the main dining room.

View from the front of the restaurant

The bakery area is exposed behind a glass window, where you can see all the cupcake action as it happens.

Cathy Ross, in her native environment.

Happy customers

Counter area

Stewart’s Beverages in the cooler. BUCU also offers fountain beverages as well.

Le carte de Burgers.

The employees at BUCU seem to glow with delight.

In addition to the regular menu, BUCU runs weekly specials for Ice Cream flavors and for sandwiches.

Rick Ross, doing a close cupcake inspection.

The first of our burgers to arrive. On the left, the classic BUCU Burger with cheese, lettuce and tomato and burger sauce, and on the Right, the “SB-48″ which is a chili cheeseburger with fries on top. Both of these are served on toasted Potato Rolls, which give a nice squishy texture to them.

BUCU’s fries are hand cut. Front/Center we have the sweet potato, which were excellent, and on the right, we have the classic hand cut. However my favorite were the fries on the left, the Super Fries, which are more like fried baked potato wedges.

All of these were ordered plain, but toppings which you can order include cheddar and cheese, and rosemary/Parmesan. BUCU also has waffle-cut fries as well.

BUCU’s Chicago Dog (Front). This is a Thumann dog with a Jersey interpretation of Chicago-style toppings, served on a potato roll.

Double Jersey Burger, served on a Ciabatta roll. This had my favorite combination of stuff on it: Applewood smoked bacon, blue & cheddar cheeses, topped with grilled onions. The grilled onions are heavily caramelized and add a great complimentary sweetness to the salty and savory toppings.

A cut-through shot of the Jersey Burger. BUCU uses ground beef from Pat Lafrieda, which is a boutique meat supplier to some of the most beloved and highly rated burger joints in New York City, including Shake Shack. The fat ratio is about 20-30 percent, but the exact composition of the blend the restaurant is using is a closely guarded secret. There’s definitely some brisket in there, that much I can say.

BUCU cooks all its burgers to medium by default unless you order them otherwise, but I had this one come out a bit pink so you could see the juiciness and fat content of the meat.

Here’s a custom-ordered burger I had a few days later. This is a double with a LOT of grilled onions, cheddar cheese, bacon and BBQ sauce.

This burger combo is called the “Pig Out”, topped with cheese, pulled pork, cole slaw and BBQ sauce.

Compared to some of the other burgers I have photographed recently, BUCU’s aren’t necessarily the most photogenic. However, I can definitely say that they are some of the best tasting, which is the most important factor in my opinion. They definitely got the  burger to bun ratio right, and I love the use of the potato rolls.

If you’re feeling in a healthy mood, there’s also chicken sandwiches (served on whole wheat rolls) and also salads.

One of the things I really like about BUCU is how family-friendly an environment it is. There’s no alcohol, strictly soft drinks and shakes, and coffee drinks.

I think this little girl has her eye on the chocolate one, but I can’t be sure.

Orange cupcakes.

Chocolate, with Vanilla/Vanilla in the background.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Stuffed Cupcakes. These are MUST ORDER in my opinion.

PBJ Cupcake cross-section.

Red Velvet Cupcakes, which are apparently nearly impossible to make enough of.

Examining the cupcake lineup.

Making shakes. BUCU uses ice cream from Max and Mina’s, which is a boutique ice cream supplier based out of NYC. I sampled some of this and it’s definitely a super-premium type ice cream with very high butterfat content.

In addition to the regular ice cream flavors that BUCU stocks, you can turn any cupcake into a shake. We went with the Red Velvet.

So did we really need another burger joint in Burger County? I’m going to have to say an emphatic YES.

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.

Liberally brush the waffle iron with olive oil.

With an ice cream disher or a large spoon, place your Felafel batter onto the waffle iron. We used a commercial Felafel mix that we bought at a Middle Eastern grocery. This type is simply mixed with water and ideally you should let it sit overnight so that it gets fully reconstituted.  On our waffle iron, we cooked them for about 8-10 minutes a batch. We haven’t gotten this down to an exact science yet.

Prepare your salads and accouterments. This is an Israeli Salad with red peppers, scallion, tomato, cucumber and feta cheese.

Tabbouleh.

One of the things I’ve noticed about waffling falafel mix is that during unmolding, the Wallafels tend to separate. With our particular waffle iron this is probably unavoidable, but I will strive to improve the process. In any case,  you want to cook them until the insides are cooked completely through.

Fully cooked Wallafels. Keep these warm in the toaster oven. As you can see, our first experiment in Wallafeling resulted in some tragedy. We still ate the messed up looking ones.

Next, the chicken. This is ground chicken meat which has been seasoned with a kebab spice blend mixed with finely chopped onion and green chile pepper. In our case, we used a Seekh Kebab spice blend that we bought at an Indian grocery, but you could use any spice combo you like. Middle Eastern seven spice blend would also work, as would just a simple Salt, Pepper, Cayenne, Coriander and Cumin mix.

The Chicken was cooked for about 10 minutes. Amazingly, it came out as perfectly intact waffles.

The finished product, Chicken and Wallafels. We placed a Wallafel on the bottom, topped it with a Chicken Waffle, and dressed it with our Israeli Salad, Pickles, and another Wallafel half, dressed with Tahini and served with salads and Hummus.