While I don’t make it down to the east end of Bloomfield Avenue very often, it seems every time I have been down in that direction
Trend Coffee and Tea House has had a “closed for renovations” sign in the window. With no indication that anything was actually going on inside, I was sure they had closed their doors for good. (In fact their page on Yelp says it has closed.) A friend’s recent Facebook post cued me in to the fact that they had reopened, so I decided to check it out.
Over the weekend Veggieguy and I were talking about how we wished there was a place we could have simple no-fuss vegan sandwiches for lunch. Cinanci on Church Street used to be our favorite lunch spot, but sadly it closed its doors a while ago. I suddenly remembered that a few people had recommended
Red Eye Café to me, so we decided to give it a try. I know, I know… Red Eye Café opened last
May, how has it taken me
this long to try it? I really have no excuse.
Veggie Heaven has three New Jersey locations but my favorite is the one on Valley Road in Montclair because it’s closest to home, and because I love being greeted by the always friendly Cliff, who can usually found close to the hostess station. Many years ago, Cliff was a waiter at the Parsippany restaurant (which has since moved to Denville). I worked nearby and frequently ate lunch there, and I recently realized that I’ve known Cliff longer than I’ve known my VeggieGuy!
True North Osteria is a cute and cozy little café that serves specialty pizzas, bruschettas and small plates. They cook all of their meals with high quality ingredients and use old world techniques that have been “reinvented for the modern American table”. The vegetables are all fresh and sourced locally, the sauce is made from 100% Jersey tomatoes and the bread is baked fresh in house daily.
The sign outside True North Osteria says, “This pizza will change your life”, and I just might have to agree with it. Don’t go to True North expecting the average grab-a-slice-and-go-pizza though. This is artisanal pizza that needs to be savored bite by tasty bite, as the thin, chewy, yet crispy dough is carefully handmade from scratch, covered with farm fresh toppings and grilled – yes grilled – to create the most mouthwateringly flavorful little pie unlike any you’ve tasted before. Just as the taste isn’t ordinary, neither are the flavors, with the spicy Jersey Devil pie, the pesto topped True North and the sandwich inspired Grilled Cheese.
Food trucks are all the rage these days and New Jersey’s
Cinnamon Snail seems to be leading the leading the pack with countless awards and accolades. The Snail was voted best food truck in the country by readers of VegNews Magazine, it was awarded the people’s choice award in this year’s Vendy Awards and Gothamist recently named it NYC’s best food truck.
There’s nothing very fancy about Tinga Taqueria, but sometimes I just want some tasty, inexpensive food without all the fuss. Tinga in Uppper Montclair is my go-to eatery on just such days.
Mexican food might seem like a safe bet when eating meatless, as rice and bean dishes usually abound in Tex-Mex restaurants, but I’ve had problems with wait staff and chefs not understanding that both cheese and sour cream fall into the dairy category when ordering, and there’s always the worry that the food might have been cooked in lard or bacon fat. (It happens!)
