NJ Dining: Bennies

Note: with the recent review of Bennies in the New York Times, I decided to feature one of my favorite local restaurants. I’ve updated the post with a bunch of new photos from a recent meal.

Bennies Englewood
54 E Palisade Ave, Englewood, NJ
(201) 894-5700

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

When I’ve been eating hardcore pizza and hamburgers and meats for a couple of days, I crave refreshing Mediterranean cuisine that is dominated by vegetarian dishes. My favorite place to indulge in this is Bennies, a family-run Lebanese restaurant on Palisade Avenue in Englewood.

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

NYC Dining: Pastrami Queen / Orwasher’s Bakery

Pastrami Queen
1125 Lexington Ave # 2
New York, NY 10075-0429
(212) 734-1500

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

You’re definitely know you’re not getting Asian-Fusion cuisine when you see a sign like this.

The old school New York Jewish Deli is going extinct. We have perhaps less than a dozen notable places in Manhattan, let alone the five boroughs that conform to the classic Jewish Deli archetype where you can get a good Pastrami or Corned Beef sandwich, and I may even have to downgrade that dozen to less than a handful, including Katz’s, 2nd Avenue Deli (which re-opened in 2008 in a new location) , Carnegie, The Stage, Sarge’s and Junior’s (which has really focused on its cheesecake business now more than anything else, although they do a great burger). All of those landmark delis are either downtown or in Midtown. Other fine examples, like Liebman’s in the Bronx, are lesser known but are part of the city’s restaurant culture that is in rapid decline.

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

NYC Dining: Dirt Candy

Dirt Candy
430 E. 9th Street, New York, NY 10009
(212) 228-7732

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

Since changing my dietary habits I’ve started to eat a lot more vegetarian cuisine, or food that incorporates a lot more vegetable content in it. However, I’ve never considered myself a vegetarian or God forbid, a Vegan.

Still, some chefs are talented enough to do marvelous and highly creative things with vegetables. They are few and far between, but they do exist. One of these chefs is Natural Gourmet Institute graduate Amanda Cohen, formerly the Chef de Cuisine at Pure Food and Wine, considered to be among the city’s best vegetarian restaurants, as well as at the late Heirloom (closed in 2006) which was highly regarded for its vegetarian cuisine.  Chef Cohen has paired herself with the talents of Pastry Chef Debbie Lee, who hails from P*ONG (Pastry Chef Pichet Ong’s restaurant in Greenwich Village) as well as Pure Food and Wine,  where she worked with Amanda.

The tiny storefront of Dirt Candy, in Manhattan’s East Village, close to Tompkins Square Park.

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

NYC Dining: 2nd Avenue Deli

2nd Avenue Deli
162 E 33rd Street, New York NY
212.689.9000

Web Site: http://www.2ndavedeli.com/

One of the things I regretted most about going on this new health kick was giving up on Jewish delis. Oh, I know, they are really only supposed to be a treat anyway, but when you think of deprivation, Pastrami sandwiches on Rye go right to the top of the list. So when I had an actual excuse to eat at the recently re-opened Second Avenue Deli — as a means to collect on a bet I made between my boss and myself on the winner of the last Super Bowl, he being a smug New England Patriots fan — I finally decided to take the opportunity.

The newly rebuilt Second Avenue Deli, near the corner of 33rd and 3rd Street in NYC. The original location, that was founded in 1954 on 2nd and 10th was closed in January 2006 due to rent negotiation problems.

Ready for some Pastrami? It doesn’t come too often here on Off The Broiler these days. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for some… SCHMALTZ!