Berkeley Heights and Bedminster

Had a great time at the Long's wedding including some good food at Natarir in Bedminster such as the short rib off the bone.  I even got the tennis boys together for a great photo op!

The Sisto's took us to a place I had not heard of in Strega Bistro in Berkeley Heights for a nice night out.  I started with the Burrata and really enjoyed the seafood risotto.  Don's veal looked good with some nice greens on top. Leslie had the grouper which was really interesting.

Don

Aruba

We had a great trip to Aruba last week and we were really happy with the food options on the island.  The tough part is to pick which really good restaurants to go to.  We started at Atardi which has tables on the beach in a really nice ambiance.  I had the macadamia crusted grouper but the star was the crab appetizer which was awesome.

The breakfasts were very good including the dutch pancakes which were similar to crepes.  The best option was the smoked salmon sandwiches at the Dushi Bagels and Burgers and Mulligan's in the Divi golf and beach resort where we stayed.

The West Deck was our next dinner stop and this was an informal spot overlooking the beach and we could watch the cruise ships go out. I love conch fritters and was looking forward to those as well as the Ceviche which was very good.  Leslie's fish sliders hit the spot.

The most interesting choice of the week was the Old Cunucu House which is a local Aruban favorite. Of course, I could not resist ordering the Iguana soup which tasted like really good chicken with a kicker.  My main meal was the caribbean lobster with cheese which I liked a lot.  This local restaurant with two wonderful stray dogs hanging out was fun.

Food however was not the main attraction on Aruba as NFL (No Fun Leslie)  was cajoled by me into some exciting activities such as the UTV tour, paddle boarding, golf, tubing and snorkeling. 

Cheesesteak from Sonny's, brunch in montclair and

We got a chance to go to Toast in Montclair for brunch and as expected the food was excellent and Murphy even got the chance to beg a little bit for the bananas foster french toast.  I had to try for the first time ever the carrot cake pancakes. These could have been deserts instead of brunch.

The night before we ate at the remodeled Rosie's trattoria on the new patio and we had fresh pasta dishes. My pasta had a nice amount of crab and Leslie's had really good salmon.

Great surprise last night when Allie and Tyler came back from Philly with Allie handing me a cheesesteak sandwich from Sonny's in Philly.  Definitely top 3 of Cheesesteaks I have had in Philly so add that to the list.

My quarterly visit to Americana Diner in East Windsor yielded a very good combo of Burrata en Carrozza and coconut shrimp.

Local brunch places

The last few weekends we have focused on some really good local places for brunch in NJ.
In no particular order we went to Rockaway and Missy's Main street cafe.  I had one of the Specials in the Bananas Foster French Toast which was delicious.  Neat place with the check coming in a mini mailbox.

Mara's cafe looked good as a bakery but my Steak and Egg Burrito was a super Summer special. The pepper jack cheese and siracha sour cream was a really nice addition to the Steak and scrambled eggs.

Next up was Sweet Basil's cafe in Livingston.  Reviewers of this brunch spot focused on a number of good looking options but I had to go with something I never had in the Shrimp Benedict which was excellent but unusual. The ingredients were roasted corn & yucca hash with shrimp, topped with guacamole, two poached eggs & cilantro chipotle hollandaise co     rn & yucca hash with shrimp, topped with guacamole, two poached eggs & cila

ntro chipotle hollandaise

Hoboken updated

Updated 09/24/17

Last weekend we got the opportunity to go to Antique Bar and Bakery in Hoboken which we had heard great things about.  The restaurant did not disappoint and the vibe was very cool with great music and a kitchen that is open and near our table; a little dark but the pictures came out ok.  Careful because the drinks are kind of pricey but the appetizers were very good.  We shared the rice balls and peas as well as the Hot Oil Shrimp.  For our main courses, Connor had the Hanger steak with an excellent dipping sauce, Leslie got the Black Bass and my stuffed lobster with pasta was really good.The most unusual part of the meal was the Peanut butter and Bacon banana split.  I am not sure the slab bacon really worked but the rest was amazing.

        We then tried to walk off the meal but Connor suggested a really fun bar that was dog friendly.  Made a note to bring Murphy the next time we went to Hoboken.  Really interesting beer selections with cask beer (see menu below) and we ran into the Mahon's and chatted until moving on.

We finished the night with a few drinks at the roof top bar of The Dubliner on a beautiful night.

This Sunday we tried the breakfast in Denville at Mara's cafe and I can recommend the Breakfast Steak burrito and the baked goods were very fresh.

9/4/17

Great afternoon in Hoboken for a food walk from Connor's apartment to the 14th street pier and then back again on the Labor Day weekend.  We started with a cheesesteak from Piccolo's (which is never open when I go by) and a real piece of good steak.  This place was like going back to the 50's with Sinatra playing in the speakers and photos galore on the walls.

Next we hit the Pier and had an excellent lobster empanada from a food truck but the beef was very good as well. After splitting a Pizza and some beers we made the nice walk back along the Hudson.  

On the way back we stopped at Makai Poke on Washington Street for a strong bowl with salmon and spicy king crab and my first Poke experience.  Well done!

Can't help but end with my latest dinner at my favorite dinner, Americana in East Windsor where the lobster and crab fritter (I love fritters!) and a shrimp tower.

When we passed the Brass Rail I could not help but think of the amazing country ham and southern hash we had two weeks before.

The Big weekend of the Meth/Jillions wedding!

Although food was a side attraction to the main event of Tyler and Allie's wedding we still had a fun food experience the past week or so. Please excuse the wedding photos but proud papa has to post.

Weekend before we ate on the back porch of Towne restaurant in Morristown and had some strong seafood spaghetti.  Started the weekend on Thursday with an amazing roast pork sandwich from John's Roast Pork in Philly. Friday morning at the Cubby Hole in Moorestown. Really happy with the food at the rehearsal dinner especially the desert of fruit tart on a croissant bed. The wedding was so much fun and the appetizers were amazing.
  Thanks so much to the Jillions who went above and beyond and got an amazing priest to do the wedding with a rare combination of humor and warmth that was engaging.