The Last Supper with David

New York Times’ David Corcoran, who’s wonderful restaurant reviews have graced the “Old Gray Lady’s” NJ Metro/Dining section for 10 years.

My foray into food blogging has almost certainly had much to do with my respect and admiration for the newspaper writers, who’s level of reviewing standards I could never even try to emulate with any degree of success.

The print newspaper and magazine staff restaurant writer is a dying breed, one who’s role has had to change with the times, if not for the challenges that newspapers and  other periodicals must now face in competition with the food blogs and other new media outlets.

That being said, I am sad to see this occur, even if I am a willing participant and advocate in this change of focus towards the Web.

Perhaps one of my saddest moments in this realization was a happy occasion — having a wonderful Chinese dinner with a newspaper restaurant reviewer that I call a friend and mentor, who had told me that this meal would be his final review.

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NJ Dining: Binh Duong (UPDATED)

Binh Duong
East West Shopping Plaza
61 1/2 Belleville Ave, Bloomfield NJ 07003
(973 )680-8440/8441

There has been a recent resurgence of Vietnamese restaurants in Northern NJ, with the re-opening of “Little Saigon” in Bloomfield as Huong Viet. Recently, another local favorite, Binh Duong, also did some minor renovations and I’d like to report that this tiny restaurant’s food and service is as excellent as it ever was.

Binh Duong, which is named for one of the southernmost provinces of the country, is a little hole-in-the-wall traditional Vietnamese restaurant with huge menu. They’ve got every variety of noodle soup imaginable which go great with the type of beat-you-to-death weather we’ve been having. The service is great, and they’re also dirt cheap.

Binh Duong Storefront in the East/West Shopping Plaza in Bloomfield (August 2007).

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