Monday, November 7, 2011
Too many inconsistencies at the new gourmet chicken restaurant on Garber Square
The word "baste" brings up thoughts of perfectly golden, crispy roasted chicken sizzling away in its juices and butter. I must have passed by Baste Gourmet Restaurant at 26 Garber Square a dozen times before deciding to dine there one evening. There are some definite victories for the new chicken restaurant run by the Axia Taverna restaurant team in Tenafly, particularly in what it specializes in. But there are also many flaws – from the food down to the service. If you are visiting Baste for their specialty items – the Roasted Chicken and Charcoal Grilled Chicken – you won't be disappointed. The former is perfectly roasted with a golden crispy skin and is served with roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts, which isn't mentioned on the menu…
40.980687
-74.121473
26 Garber Sq, Ridgewood, NJ
/articles/restaurant-review-baste-restaurant
/locations/5755112
Friday, February 11, 2011
Right out of their open-kitchen, the chefs at Jalapenos don't make Mexican the way you'd expect.
Beneath burlap draped ceilings, Jalapenos serves up a menu packed with Mexican favorites. Confined within textured mustard, forest green and brick red walls, the local Mexican joint in Glen Rock since 2003 sets the perfect scene for girlfriends enjoying conversation over margaritas and families looking for a local night out. Walking to a table in the back, I noticed one of my favorite restaurant features. The kitchen, cozily nestled behind a tower of fresh avocados, is almost completely open to the restaurant. As I scanned the four-page menu, I was dished up a serving of chips and salsa; the classic must-have Mexican starter. Though personally preferring the distinct flavor of fresh cilantro stewing amongst diced tomato, onion and …
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Owner Jeff Louis knows how make a burger, he also knows a thing or two about running a unique restaurant.
Jeff Louis was in Glen Rock a couple of years ago helping a friend renovate his home when the two men began getting hungry. Then just barely 25 years old, Louis went out to the Downtown Business District with his buddy to find some quick food to bring back to the house. "All [Glen Rock] had," said Louis, now 27. "Was pizza." Louis, a Queens-native, had been thinking about opening up a Five Guys franchise when his work-induced appetite and the local fast food situation led him to a "light-bulb" moment. Never mind an expensive franchise, Louis could give Glen Rock exactly what it seemed to be craving: Quick, cooked-to-order burgers and fries. The resulting creation was Rock Burger, a deceptively bare-bones, 8-seat burger joint that …
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
The innovative menu at Rocca Italian Restaurant on Rock Road delights patrons
Craig and Stacy Levy settled in Wyckoff because they liked the township, tax rate and schools. But they opened their first restaurant together in Glen Rock. Craig said they had been working with a Realtor to find restaurant space for Rocca Italian Restaurant, and the spot on Rock Road in Glen Rock "made good business sense." Stacy established that Rocca meant rock in Italian, and it seemed to be an auspicious, short, catchy name, she said. Glen Rock is, after all, famous for its rock. Craig said his first name "historically also means rock, so you put together the two of them and it just seems right." For the uninitiated, Rocca, is pronounced the Italian way: roe-ka, not rock-ah. But however you pronounce it, Rocca has been a success from…
40.962594
-74.132025
Rocca
203 Rock Rd, Glen Rock, NJ
/articles/at-rocca-italian-favorites-are-reborn-with-a-taste-for-adventure
722711
/locations/2945525
Friday, June 18, 2010
Couples' spot suitable for all restaurant goers.
If you want to propose marriage, La Piazza is a good place. The staff will be glad to hide the ring in the dessert. If you want some nice Italian food, La Piazza is also a good place. And if outdoor dining is your thing, La Piazza may be the best place in town, with a court yard all its own—plus heaters for chilly spring and fall nights. In addition to those romantic couples, you see girls out for a night on the town, families with children, office parties and couples celebrating anniversaries and other important occasions. And that's just the way owner Zvia Barlev likes it. The daughter of an Israeli diplomat, she came to New York from Jerusalem in 1975 and was working for the Israeli Ministry of Defense when she met her husband on a …
40.98032
-74.11926
La Piazza Bistro Italiano
29 Chestnut St, Ridgewood, NJ
/articles/proposing-la-piazza-ridgewoods-romantic-restaurant
11899
/locations/1413313
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Blue Fish also offers international cuisine.
Blue Fish is the brainchild of Shrief Sarkies, an Egyptian-born chef who surveyed the restaurant competition in Ridgewood and decided the village needed a place specializing in fish dishes. But fish are not the only options on an extensive menu that includes dishes from France, Italy, Greece and Lebanon as well as that American invention, "surf and turf." And chicken fingers and hamburgers are on the children's menu. There is something to appeal to even the fussiest diner. Sarkies, with help from his brother Ayman, took over the space vacated by Tulip at the corner of East Ridgewood and North Broad streets, and opened the week before Mother's Day. There's fresh paint and new pictures on the walls along with nicely set tables indoors and …
40.97977
-74.12044
E Ridgewood Ave & N Broad St, Ridgewood, NJ
/articles/ridgewood-gets-a-fish-restaurant
/locations/414999
Monday, April 19, 2010
Casual, formal and garden settings for classic Italian fare.
When you go to Puzo's you can pretty much pick your dining style. There's a "pizza" room that's popular for lunch and, next door, a more formal room for elegant dining and private parties. And as soon as the weather becomes reliably warm, there will be a garden "room" on the sidewalk with unique planters trailing flowers and sheltering diners from the traffic on West Ridgewood Avenue. Mario Puzo, the "baby" of four brothers who emigrated from Avellino, Italy, opened Puzo's 14 years ago. When the opportunity arose two years ago, he took over the storefront next door, doubling the size of his kitchen and allowing him to open the second dining room. The bigger kitchen also lets him do more catering. "We opened it into a tough economy," Puzo …
40.980278
-74.122032
Puzo's Family Restaurant
16 W Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, NJ
/articles/the-three-faces-of-puzos
11870
/locations/343349
Monday, April 5, 2010
Try not just Pad Thai but Devil’s Beef, Crying Tiger and Larb.
Most of the dishes on Malee's menu have roots in Bangkok. Nancy Chaiyasit, who presides over the kitchen, said both her aunt and mother-in-law owned restaurants in Thailand. "It's in my blood," she said. Chaiyasit and her husband, John, came to the United States 30 years ago. He became a hotel banquet manager, and she worked for a jewelry company while raising two daughters, Jane and June. "Every weekend, I'd open up the recipe books and cook," she recalled. When she had a problem with a dish, she called her mother in Bangkok. "I just kept practicing," she said. "I also liked to eat. I like to go out and try things, and then come back and see how I can manipulate them." In July 2002, Nancy and John opened Malee at the top of East Ridgewood…
40.97977
-74.12084
Malee Fine Thai Cuisine
2 E Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, NJ
/articles/a-brief-thai-visit-at-malee
12163
/locations/330215
Monday, March 29, 2010
Local Italian eatery goes 'one step further' and expands its menu.
For the past three years, A Mano has been known for having some of the best pizza in Ridgewood. But the beautiful two-story restaurant on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Chestnut Street is about to see some significant changes, and for the better. Four new protein-based entrees are being added to their menu: shrimp scampi, osso buco, chicken pizzaiola, and tilapia cartoccio. Italian for "by hand," A Mano takes pride in bringing authentic Neapolitan cuisine and methods of preparation to the suburbs of New Jersey. Prior to opening the restaurant, co-owner Frank Mortati had imported food from Naples to the United States for years, namely flour and tomatoes. It only seemed natural to use these ingredients and open his own establishment …
40.98119
-74.11871
A Mano
24 Franklin Ave, Ridgewood, NJ
/articles/buon-appetito-a-mano-expands-outside-of-pizza
12921
/locations/325490
Friday, March 19, 2010
The loyal following of a longtime classic.
If you love Italian food, you'll love Marra's, which is now owned by Irish Americans who are spending their retirement years running a busy restaurant. Winter or summer, you'll find a line of people waiting outside on Friday and Saturday nights. They will be looking for Dorothy McGuire's meatballs or one of the many classic Italian dishes that have been on the menu since Al Marra and his dad founded the place as the Velvet Turtle some 31 years ago. Over those three decades, Marra's has become a Ridgewood stalwart. There are now two comfortable sofas in the vestibule to accommodate some of the people waiting patiently for tables. So how did Dorothy and Joe McGuire wind up running Marra's? They blame it on their son, Mark, the owner of a …
40.979325
-74.120563
Marra's Restaurant
16 S Broad St, Ridgewood, NJ
/articles/marras-old-favorite-still-rates-high
11581
/locations/319205
Master Baste
3:26 am on Friday, March 9, 2012
They need to turn that into a grill type of setting with a open wood grill maybe downgrade the store a little its just to flashy for a take out place it pitiful but people only want to listin to the person there paying to make there vision a reality chicken liver mosse really u got to be kinding no as u know there are two pizza places and one bagel/breakfast place on that side of the tracks a … more ›