NJ Dining: Huong Viet

Huong Viet
358 Passaic Avenue, Nutley NJ

When your favorite restaurants close, there is always a mourning period. Sometimes, you know that they are going to be gone forever, but in other cases, you get a glimmer of hope, hearing rumors that they may open again somewhere else.

One such restaurant was Little Saigon in Montclair, a Vietnamese favorite with a loyal clientele. Little Saigon had closed before, due to a fire in its original Nutley location on Franklin Avenue in 2003. The restaurant  re-opened in 2005 in a much larger Montclair space on Elm Street. In October of 2009, Little Saigon closed suddenly and without any warning.

But late last year we heard rumors that the owners were going to re-open, and re-open it did, in the original town where it all started, in Nutley. However, “Little Saigon” is no longer — it has returned to business, with the same owners, as Huong Viet on Passaic Avenue, in a much more manageable space than its previous location.

Huong Viet is the new Pho King of Nutley. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Gumbo Z’herbes for Superbowl Sins

In celebration of this year’s Superbowl, we sinned. As did probably everyone else, including the entire city of New Orleans — which deservedly should celebrate their victory with all of their wonderful food and drink.

But some of you, like myself, are probably feeling like you overdid it. Like you need to cleanse your body. Like you want to eat something that is wholesome and not bad for you.

You may be thinking “I should do an herbal cleanse or do a high calonic and go on a three week juice diet”. No, heavens no. Don’t do that.

The Creole and Cajun people of Louisiana developed a cure for sinning many years ago, and it’s much more pleasant than a high calonic. It’s called Gumbo Z’herbes.

Big ol’ bowl of Gumbo Z’herbes, served with Brown Rice, Louisiana Hot Sauce and File Powder.

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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.

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NYC Dining: Wu Liang Ye 48th Street

Wu Liang Ye Restaurant
36 W 48th St, New York, NY
(212) 398-2308

Other locations: 86th Street, Lexington Ave.

Rachel and I had a show to see on Broadway last Saturday evening. As it was Thanksgiving weekend, Restaurant Row and the typical Broadway suspects close to the theater were absolutely jam packed, with no hope of getting a table in under an hour. So we decided to detour away from the Broadway and Times Square scene and walk up 48th Street, and grab some SERIOUS Chinese food.

Just around the corner from Radio City and NBC Studios is probably the best Sichuan restaurant in all of New York City.

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Richmond VA Dining: Full Kee

Full Kee Restaurant
6400 Horsepen Rd, Richmond, VA 23226
(804) 673-2233

I’ve been spending the last couple of weeks in Richmond, Virginia. While not as ethnically diverse as Washington DC, its nearest major city, there are still some dining gems to be found. One of these is Full Kee, probably one of the best Cantonese restaurants I have ever been to outside of the New York Metropolitan or San Francisco Bay areas. This place is so outstanding that I’ve taken to eating there as much as twice a week in the month I’ve been traveling back and forth to Richmond.

Full Kee literally translated from Cantonese means “Magical” or “Prosperous” Place. From what I’ve experienced of this restaurant so far, it is indeed.

Full Kee has branches in the Washington DC area as well, which are apparently even more impressive. But there’s no doubt that this is the most serious Chinese restaurant in the Richmond area.

The taste of Hong Kong delights at Full Kee. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

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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