October 14, 2009 Updates: Daruma, Havana’s Cuban Cafe

Daruma in Englewood, opened in 2004, is still producing some of the best and most creative Sushi and Sashimi creations in Bergen County.

Babaloo! Havana’s Cuban Cafe in Edgewater is still banging out delicious Latino delights.

Englewood, New Jersey: A Personalized Dining Guide for my Friend Muammar

My dearest friend Muammar:

It is my understanding you are going to be visiting our local integrated community of Englewood next month. While I am hearing there may be some resistance to your choice of accommodations, I can certainly understand why you’d like to come here.

Englewood is without a doubt one of the best dining destinations in the entire Northern New Jersey / Bergen County area. Our governor, congressman and mayor may want to keep you away for various politically inclined reasons, and some of our local residents may want to have a word or two with you about the friends you are keeping, but in the interest of maintaining friendly relations between our two nations, I would would be happy to dine with you at any of the top-notch local eateries below.

Given that I am not familiar with your particular culinary leanings, I’ve compiled a list that is a sample of different cultural cuisines. All of them also do take-out, just in case you have any security concerns and want to send the boys over to pick something up.

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

NJ Dining: Babylon (UPDATED)

Babylon Mediterranean Restaurant
606 Kinderkamack Road
River Edge, NJ

In August of 2006, Babylon, one of our favorite Turkish/Middle Eastern restaurants was forced to close when its lease was not renewed along with several other stores in the ill-fated Huffman-Koos shopping center in River Edge. Needless to say, I was totally bummed out by this development — not only was Babylon a great dining value but it also made some of the best Turkish and Middle-Eastern food that you could find in Bergen County. To get anything comparable, you had to go to Patterson or Union City. While we still had Kervan in Cliffside Park (a restaurant that has seen better days, its hardcore Turkish crowd long gone) and Samdan in Cresskill (admittedly solid Turkish place, but just didn’t have the precise atmosphere or taste I was looking for) they just weren’t the same — Babylon’s doner and other kebabs were made fresh from scratch daily, and had a definitively home made flavor that couldn’t easily be duplicated.

However, all was not lost. In Late March of 2007, Babylon re-opened only about a mile away from its original location, on Kinderkamack Road on the site of Shanghai Restaurant, which had closed six months before. The owners completely renovated the interior, and now Babylon, menu unchanged, with prices more or less the same, is back and better than ever.

Babylon storefront on Kinderkamack Road in River Edge

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

NJ Dining: Green Door Cafe

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

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

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

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

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

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NJ Dining: Fire & Oak at Westin Newport

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

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

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

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

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

NJ Dining: Shish! at Whole Foods, Paramus

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

Other locations: Tribeca, NYC

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

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

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

A Cooking League of Their Own

Photos and text by Rachel Nash Perlow

OTB’s friend, Christine Nunn of Picnic Caterers, isn’t just a fabulous chef — she’s also a member of the Junior League! Christine was recently in charge of a social event for the Junior League of Bergen County. The ladies thought they were going to have an evening of cocktails and a cooking demonstration. But Christine had a little trick up her sleeve. The ladies (and a few gentlemen) arrived at Maverick Cuisine, a kitchen design firm to the stars with a fabulous demonstration kitchen,  to find that they were actually going to be doing the cooking!

What a turn out!

Fans of Food Network’s “Chopped!” will recognize the concept. Present the competitors with a market basket of ingredients which they must use in their dish, and be ready to present it to the judges in an hour. However, along with some mundane ingredients, like chicken breast, cheese, eggs, and various fruits and vegetables, each team was also thrown a curve ball. One had a bottle of Bosco chocolate syrup, another had Kraft Dinner. One unfortunate team was given canned kippers. I think this was Christine’s private joke on me, as I had denigrated them to her just the week before. My apologies, Team Kippers, you didn’t stand a chance!

Go Foie Yourself

The “Foie You”, a croissant sandwich prepared especially for our friends at Farm Sanctuary. The “Foie You” can be purchased for $24.00 at Picnic Caterers in Emerson, NJ. This is a limited time offer and you must order the sandwich by noon Thursday the 23 st of April for pick-up on Friday  the 24th. All profits from the sales of the  sandwich will be donated to the Center for Food Action. The sandwich will be offered weekly via special order until demand subsides.

Like other industries, the restaurant and food business is no stranger to being targeted by extremist groups which have some bizarre notion that the animals which are being used for foodstuffs and other products  have the right to be treated like human beings. Typically, however, these organizations, such as PETA, are more likely to spend their energies on large food distribution and manufacturing entities, and not on individual restaurants and small businesses. However, this is not always the case.

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Ultimate Chef Bergen County: Honey

It’s time again for another episode of  Ultimate Chef Bergen County!

Click for Hi-Res Slide Show

After defeating Chef Joe Macri from Northvale’s Hennessy Tavern in the Ultimate Chef Bergen County finals at Chef Central in Paramus last month, on Saturday, February 28, 2009, Chef Christine Nunn of Picnic Caterers in Emerson went up against last year’s champion, Joe Cerniglia of Campania Restaurant in Fair Lawn, for the final bout and to compete for this year’s title and bragging rights of Ultimate Chef Bergen County.

This year’s “Secret Ingredient” was HONEY.

Ready for a sticky sweet smackdown, Jersey Style? Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.