Hot From The Kettle ®
Woo hoo! Red’s Dips, Flips, and Chips is open in West Caldwell and if this is any indication of what the year in food is going to be 2013 will be the best year in food yet!
Red’s signature dish is the Chicago Italian Beef sandwich. Thinly sliced slow roasted top round of beef with a choice of Red’s relish or sweet roasted peppers will change everything you thought a Roast Beef Sandwich could be. Dip it in the jus and my oh my, why hasn’t anyone thought of this before!
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!
With bright white paper stars from Christmas still hanging in the front window we're saddened to report that we've been told True North Osteria has closed its doors. Taking a quick peek into the restaurant this morning it looks like the crew did a final clean up and then left with everything where it was.
True North was more than just another pizzeria - this place was artisinal, from the locally sources tomatoes to the homemade mozzerella to the crust that was so good guests were known to snatch uneaten crusts from their dining companions.
In our yearly roundup of the best and rest of 2012 we wrote "Situated “down Bloomfield Ave” True North Osteria tends to fall off our radar but the pizza will change your life - for real. And yes, there are great vegetarian options including Pan Seared Brussel Sprouts with Pistachios and Shallots that will leave you rethinking Brussels Sprouts forever."
According to Leah Moon, owner of True North,
"We took a significant financial hit in the 3 weeks following Sandy. The loss was more than we could afford. While we did not suffer any damage, business came to a standstill while the trains were down and the town was without power. I'm sure that was the tipping point for the handful of restaurants that closed in November as well. December was also a slow month in Montclair."
True North will sorely be missed. As more details emerge about the closure of True North we will post them in the comments below.
Given the anticipation for this Sunday's series premier of the third season of Downton Abbey on Masterpiece Classic it's a given that most of our readers will be dining formally in the early evening. We'll leave the dinner planning up to you, but television, like the cinema, requires snacks.
Our suggestions for the Downton Abbey snack menu :
Cucumber Sandwiches. A must! Thinly sliced cucumber, perhaps some with super thin radish, some watercress, or just some finely chopped dill.
Although the Bacon Bomb fit the specs of my low-carb diet, let me be clear: this was not my idea!
It was more of a challenge. The gauntlet was thrown down by my husband's son, who was on leave from the Navy for the holidays. He challenged me to create a "Bacon Explosion," a food-porn worthy, bacon concoction he and his Navy buddies fantasised about while at sea.
According to John R. Kettle, IV, "We're on the ship. We can't leave. We have to deal with the Navy food. So we tease ourselves with massive, amazing creations. You know how you salivate? We sit there the entire morning starving, and imagining what it would be like to eat these things. One day was entirely dedicated to bacon, so we went online and Googled bacon food and we found this!"
This just in from Amy Russo: On January 7, Toast, one of Montclair favorite breakfast and brunch spots, will begin serving weekday dinner, extending their weekday hours to 8 pm (Monday through Friday).
New dinner menu items include smothered boneless pork chops, poutine, and lobster pot pie just to name a few. But have no fear, breakfast will still be served all day long!