Uncle Moustache, Montclair's French-Lebanese fusion restaurant, located at 702 Bloomfield Ave., will be hosting a New Year's Eve dinner. The $75 eight-course prix-fixe dinner will feature:
First Course
Lobster soup or Veloute de legumes
Montclair Bread Company’s New Holiday Tradition Has Stollen Our Hearts
There’s the old holiday joke that there is only one holiday fruitcake and it is passed from family to family every year. Not true. There are 1,487 American-style fruitcakes in all existence, and they are passed around from family to family every year. (really people, if you are going to share a suburban legend make it plausible!)
But today is not about American fruitcake, it’s about the German variety: Stollen. There are some things that the Germans do better than Americans: building luxury cars, incredible rail systems, of course Stollen. There are fruit cakes called “stolen” available in some markets this time of year but other than a name and shape, these carb filled blobs have about as much to do with the German tradition as those Volkswagens that were built in the old VW factory in Westmoreland PA (remember that debacle? Ugh!) The great news for this holiday season is that Rachel Crampsey of the Montclair Bread Company has uncovered an authentic recipe for Dresdner Stollen and the results are ausgezeichnet!
Franco Vitella Catering Coming to Upper Montclair Plaza
Franco Vitella. Credit: http://www.vitellas.com/Chefs.htmlFranco Vitella Catering will soon be opening shop at 38 Upper Montclair Plaza. The space tucked behind Starbucks on Valley Road is the former site of Cafe Sultan, Tallmadge Cheese Market, and, most recently, Little Phil's Artisanal Delicatessan.
Franco Vitella was nominated Best Off-Site Caterer 2012 in Biz Bash Magazine, and boasts notable clients such as the New York Knicks, Bruce Springsteen, Harley Davidson, NY INK, Grammy Awards Concert Tour, Budweiser, The US Open, Nordstrom, JP Morgan, Barack Obama Victory Party, and many, many more.
Ally Vitella. Credit: http://www.vitellas.com/Chefs.html
The catering company is run by Executive Chef Fraco Vitella who started his culinary career in his parent' Milan restaurant, Girasole, along with cheg and event planner, Ally Vitella, an award winning creative production director for NBC Universal, who has also appeared on the reality show, "Fat Chef."
We will update when more details are available.
Seven Deadly Sins: New Year's Eve Celebration at Pig & Prince
Wondering where to spend New Year's Eve? Check out Seven Deadly Sins tasting menu from Chef Mike Carrino and Serge Hunkins, owners of Pig & Prince.
Reservations by advance sale only. Open Bar from 10:30pm to 1:30am. $185 pp plus tax and gratuities
**Early seating New Years Eve reservations can be made from our fantastic winter menu from 5-9pm. Walk-ins are always welcome, reservations are encouraged.
See menu below:
Royal Icing ~ The Stuff That Makes Holiday Cookies Look So Good
Royal Icing is that sweet colorful piped icing that dries hard and makes sugar cookies look so good.
The original recipe called for egg whites and powdered (confectioners) sugar, however with so many cases of crazy illnesses being attributed to raw eggs using meringue powder is the best way to go. Meringue Powder can sometimes be found in grocery stores during "cookie baking season" and its almost always in foodie oriented stores such as Willi ams Sonoma and Whole Foods. Craft stores with a cake decorating section often sell meringue powder as well.
Samba Montclair: New Hours in the New Year
Ilson Goncalves, owner of Samba Montclair, has announced that as of January 1, 2013, Samba Montclair will no longer be serving breakfast. The good news is that Samba will be adding dinner service on Sundays!
The updated hours will be:
Lunch
Monday - Thursday
11 am - 4 pm
Friday & Saturday
11 am - 3 pm
Dinner
Monday - Thursday
5:30pm - 9:30pm
Friday & Saturday
5pm - 10pm
Sunday
3pm - 8pm