Lorena's, Maplewood NJ

We haven't seen friends of ours in a few months so jumped at the chance to meet them out for dinner. The BYO of the evening was Lorena's in the heart of Maplewood, NJ. This is a tiny little restaurant that seats only 32 at capacity, reservations are hard to come by. Luckily our friends secured a coveted Friday evening (Jan 17).

When you enter the restaurant you are both struck by how small and almost immediately relieved that the sense is intimate & cozy not crowded or uncomfortable in any way.

Service was close to perfection - the type you don't often find outside of NYC. Always there, never obtrusive - you didn't have to wonder what was taking so long; why food was coming too fast; or if your water glass would ever be refilled. Quite a nice experience.

The menu is moderate - roughly six each of appetizers and entrees. That being said, it was harder to choose than you would have thought with so many of the options sounding fascinating. In the end, we started with a shared plate of a dozen oysters from Long Island followed by two courses.

My first course was the Warm Lump Crabmeat Crepe, Shibumi Farm Wild Mushrooms, Fresh Herbs, White Truffle Oil. Spectacular! Nothing about this dish was heavy and achieving a meld between crab that can so quickly be overshadowed by anything with wild mushrooms was heaven. Fantastic!

Alan ordered the special of the evening, the wild mushroom bisque.

This was close to perfection - with truffle oil nice pieces of mushroom afloat in a soft but rich broth...wow, so nice.

I'm having difficulty remembering what anyone else ordered - I think there was a Scottish Salmon Tartare or perhaps the foie gras.

For our entrees we covered the majority of the menu including the Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs, Cipolinni Onion, Tomato Confit, Potato Puree, Cracked Black Pepper-Braising and the Roasted Domestic Rack of Lamb with Pistachio and Herb-Shallot Crust, Baby Carrots, Black Olive Powder, Potato Puree, Rosemary Lamb Jus.

The braised short ribs weren't as fall apart succulent as I've had in the past - they came off as a bit dry so this wasn't my favorite dish.

We did open four bottles of wine / champagne with dinner that we all brought (love BYOs) and skipped dessert. Overall, a really nice evening with fantastic service and some fantastic dishes.

Pluckemin Inn, Bedminster NJ - Winter Menu 2014

We saw that Pluckemin Inn had made some changes to the menu for winter including bringing French Onion Soup back which had been a favorite of ours years ago. So a few weeks ago (Jan. 18th) we went up for drinks & to meet friends for dinner.

While drinking champagne by the glass at the bar I sampled a dozen Maine oysters with a simple mignonette, cocktail sauce, citrus & horseradish accompaniments. We also had a dozen wild caught shrimp. The oysters - two different kinds - were briny and succulent. Wonderfully paired to the bubbly. The shrimp were quite large and the cocktail sauce had a nice bite to it.

For dinner we ordered two courses including the Lobster salad with castle valley farro, cucumber, meyer lemon, radish and fine herbs see below. Meaty, generous lobster was not overwhelmed by the citrus dressing & herbs but rather supported by them. Quite a nice dish.

In addition, tried the French Onion Soup (Jeff's serving was a better balance of broth to bread than mine both both tasted wonderful), Spanish Octopus with green olive, chorizo, hakurei turnip, pine nuts and salsa verde and the Mahi Mahi with heirloom carrots, hen of the woods, braised lettuce, hazelnut brown butter.

Thought these four dishes were a wonderful additions to the menu. Alan's Mahi was the standout of the evening; cooked to perfection (sous vide?) with a beautiful depth of flavor that can often be missing in fish preparations. The side order of French Fries with trio of dipping sauces for dessert didn't hurt either.

Rob's Cafe, Madison NJ

A group of us were looking for a BYO in NJ to go to earlier this month. Rich suggested Rob's Cafe in Madison - a little traditional French bistro. We started with appetizers and then onto entrees. To start off...French Onion Soup, escargot, roasted bone marrow were some of the dishes the six of us ordered..

The main courses included mussels (moules mariniere) with pomme frites, steak & frites, duck-duck-foie,  duck breast and bacon wrapped pork.

And to finish off we did cheese and desserts including tangerine semifreddo, chocolate mousse and baked brie.

Overall it was a casual BYO with pretty good food. Some dishes - like the duck-duck-foie (duck breast, duck leg confit and foie gras) were outstanding. The steak and frites also quite good. Some dishes were a bit off the mark - the onion soup was lacking taste. But a very reasonable check, and comfortable enough ambiance and a nice menu made the evening a lot of fun.

Jenn's Rating: 80
Zagat: not rated

Sansu Japanese Steakhouse, Fair Haven NJ

First - seriously apologize for taking more than a month since the last post. I started a new job and have been crazy busy. But now is the time to get back on track!

In early January we met up with friends at a sushi steakhouse in Fair Lawn NJ. We started off with shared appetizers including this octopus dish. I thought this was the best dish of the evening - octopus was tender yet kept it's texture and sauce was thick without being too sweet.

Other appetizers were spring rolls, sashimi platter. The spring rolls were nice enough - crispy and warm with a nice duck dipping sauce. Most disappointing of all was the sushi and the rolls. Interesting names and descriptions on the menu just didn't translate to the plate. The platters were beautifully presented and yet the fish had a tougher consistency than one would want or like indicating that perhaps not as fresh as possible. Overall, not a sushi place that we would want to go back to or recommend when there are others nearby that get it right time and time again.

On a brighter note - one of our party is not a raw fish eater at all and got a hibachi with fried rice, proteins and vegetables and side dish of noodles. He liked it a lot and the noodles, which I tried were yummy. So if you're looking for hibachi - give it a go. If you're a die-hard sushi lover, maybe skip this one.

Cafe Panache, Ramsy NJ

Cafe Panache is a lovely little restaurant in a tiny, northern town of Ramsy, NJ. We've been many times years and years ago when we lived in Westchester and finally had the stars align to get back there this week. It's BYO with a changing, eclectic menu. Beyond that, one of things that make this particular restaurant endearing to us is that we know the family that owns and operates it. Chef Kohler has been running this favorite Bergen county spot for more than 26 years now and there's a reason people keep going back. We were lucky enough to share our evening and table with Chef Kohler's daughter and personal friend, Kristie and her finance, Mike - fun foodies that are always up for night out for eating & drinking.

In the time since we were there last, Panache has gone through major renovations. The restaurant is an elegant venue with floor to ceiling windows in the front overlooking Main Street and soothing tones of blue and beige. Quite a change since the last time we were there it's got an ambiance of comfortable chic.

Kristie was kind enough to take the helm and order our first two courses for all of us to share. To start us off she choose three appetizer dishes - a tartare of tuna with avocado and crostini; a beef carpaccio with shaved Parmesan and mixed greens and an octopus salad.

The tuna was fresh and had that firm texture that Alan and I like so much. Simply prepared with the ginger on top and the ripe avocado allowed the tuna to shine. Very nice! The carpaccio was sliced micro thin and was beautifully plated. The mixed greens gave the contrasting crunch and the cheese offered the saltiness that we come to want with a traditional carpaccio. This dish was good though I would have liked to have a more prominent balsamic flavor add a little more depth. And finally, the octopus. WOW. Gorgeous, large sections grilled or sauteed with a light dusting of pepper and the dressing from the salad set off the mollusk in a most wonderful way. I loved, loved, LOVED this dish!

For our next course Kristie requested that the kitchen prepare all of us a tasting of the menu's two ravioli featured that evening; pumpkin and filet mignon, each served in a brown butter sauce.

If you have ever eaten with me or you've ever read any of these posts you'll know that I'm a big fan of pasta. Panache makes their pasta fresh each day and the ravioli showcased their expertise. Delicate and fresh - really allowing the flavors from within to shine through without being heavy. These two were very different, as you'd expect. The pumpkin was a lovely surprise with a sweetness that complimented so well the butter sauce. I pretty much hate pumpkin...right up until someone as gifted as Chef Kohler creates their magic and sticks it into a pillow of happiness. Yum! But you know what...even being that great, the filet was still the winner of the Ravioli battle on my plate. The beef was an earthy, dark contrast to the sweet butter sauce that just worked perfectly. An excellent culinary bite.

For our entrees we covered off on four house favorites...pasta, duck, beef and chicken.

The pasta with shrimp was done in a spicy marinara sauce over fresh spaghetti. The duck was presented two ways - roasted breast and confit leg with wild rice and au jus. The sirloin with steam vegetables had a blackened crust and cooked to a perfect medium rare. And finally the chicken over polenta done with...cranberries or maybe cherries? I don't quite recall. The pasta was so flavorful and fresh it seemed weightless; the duck was awesome - when done right, there's no better expression of fowl than leg of confit duck. The sirloin had a nice flavor and a good balance between tender and yet hearty and finally the chicken was super moist and avoided any pitfalls of being too "ordinary". I personally think the duck took top honors but all four dishes were very good.

All in all - such a nice evening. A bottle of champagne and a bottle of red went down easily as did the conversation and the food. Highly recommend giving this one a try if you're up in Bergen county!

Zagat's Rating: 27-23-25

Portofino, Tinton Falls NJ

Most days Alan and I can't think of anywhere in our area to eat out that isn't take-out pizza. For the most part we drive to Red Bank, Sea Bright. Montclair, Princeton or Bedminster. So it was a nice change of pace to actually remember that there is a small little Italian place nearby that we went to years and years ago and actually liked. Located in Tinton Falls, Portofino Ristorante is a tiny little thing with less than 15 tables and a itsy-bitsy bar in the front.



We picked this one to go to after golfing with Kristie & Mike. We had a reservation and they seated us right away. The menu is fairly standard with antipasti, salads, pastas and entrees - a pretty big selection. But don't get too attached to the menu...one of the amazing things about Portofino is their seriously long list of nightly specials. It's hard to fathom how these attentive and upbeat servers can remember the twenty plus extra dishes that change constantly. But they do! Keeping track of them while you're listening to her rattle them off can be a challenge but our waitress was more than happy to repeat a few for us.

We started off with salads & appetizers that ranged from caprese to steamed little necks in white wine sauce (yummy) and a rolled eggplant in red sauce. Very tasty. We all ordered pasta as our main dish. I selected a very basic penne alla vodka in a light tomato cream sauce that was al dente with a flavorful sauce. Enough garlic and seasoning to be interesting but not so heavy that you felt like you couldn't walk.

Alan ordered a take on carbonara with rigatoni, pancetta and a light cream sauce. Again, not too heavy with nice flavor.

Kristie & Mike ordered a pappardella pasta and what I believe is a veal scaloppine with mozzarella, tomato sauce and prosciutto.

The wine list isn't huge but has some nice selections on it for reasonable prices. The food was quite good - especially for a tiny, local place. We'd recommend it if you're in the area and looking for a casual place.

Zagat: 24-17-20
Jenn's Rating: 82

Blue Bottle Cafe, Hopewell NJ

Six of us got together for dinner at a little BYO in Hopewell, NJ a few weeks ago. This was our second time trying the converted house with blue glass bottles decorating the walls. Ordering two courses each we pretty much covered the small, seasonal menu. It had just turned over that evening...

For appetizers the ladies ordered salads including Dana's Blue Bottle Salad with mixed greens, sliced red grapes, toasted hazelnuts, red wine & honey vinaigrette with shaved manchego cheese; Mary's Arugula and spinach with Chiogga & Yellow beets, butternut squash, rutabega, marinated cauliflower and pumpkin seed vinaigrette and my Frisee lettuce with duck confit, roasted shallots, haricots verts, mushrooms, creamy truffle vinaigrette and fingerling potato chips.

I tried all three salads. Mary's had a lot of root vegetables in chunks that I didn't think blended in well with the other flavors. My duck salad was quite tasty but was a bit thin on the duck - could have used more meat, literally. I thought Dana's was the most well balanced and had the best flavor profile overalll; really liking the little bit of sweet that the grapes gave the dish.

I know Alan ordered the sauteed calamari with chorizo, piquillo peppers, chick pea croutons and paprika citrus vinaigrette and that Steve had the celery root and apple soup with toasted pistachios and cider gastrique. I can't remember Jeff's dish. I didn't love either the soup or the calamari but the calamari was a unique dish with plenty of kick (which is why I shied away) that is worth a try.

For entrees Dana and Alan both ordered fish...Alan got the Arctic Char  prepared over sweet potato and pear chutney with savoy cabbage in tomato ginger lemongrass broth. Dana requested a substitute to put the Mahi Mahi with the preparation of the Arctic Char listed above. Alan's fish was well prepared, moist and flaky and complimented by the heavier Fall mix of vegetables.

Steve and Mary both ordered the pan roasted tenderloin with potato and bacon croquettes, smoked onion and horseradish jam, creamed swiss chard and a red wine reduction. Again, no recollection of what Jeff had. I went with the pan seared day boat scallops served with sauteed leeks, fingerling potatoes, fennel and baby carrots in a saffron emulsion sauce.

The tenderloin was nicely prepared but forgettable though I really liked the creamed swiss chard. My scallops were large, cooked to just past translucent and paired nicely with the fragrant saffron sauce - a nice dish overall.

For dessert...

We ordered and shared the dark chocolate and hazelnut tart with nutella anglaise and whipped cream pictured above; a trio of profiteroles with caramel sea salt ice cream and hot fudge and a pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing, walnuts, caramel and cinnamon ice cream. The tart was really good - the other two only just ok.

While it was a fun night out no one was blown away by the food and since the restuarant is seriously in the middle of nowhere, this is most likely our last hike out to the Blue Bottle Cafe.

Jenn: 77
Zagat: 26-18-23

Ciao, Basking Ridge NJ

Last week Dana & I met at Ciao in Basking Ridge for dinner. It was an early reservation and the restaurant quiet when I arrived ahead of time for a drink at the bar. The glass of Rose I had at the bar was decent, inexpensive and a very generous pour.

The restaurant feels both roomy and intimate. There's an immediate positive reaction when you walk in and smell the garlic, cheese and sauce all bubbling together on their brick-oven fired pizzas.

For dinner we each had a salad - mine the special heirloom tomatoes with red onion and for Dana the baby spinach salad with dried cranberries, pine nuts, goat cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette. My tomatoes were fresh and sweet and probably the last of the season.

As an entree I went traditional with linguine and littleneck clams in a garlic, white wine sauce. Dana ordered the personal size Margherita pizza. My pasta had chili-pepper in it giving it a little zing and the linguine was cooked to al dente. The sauce wasn't overly creamy but did have a strong garlic flavor that I appreciated. The clams were small and flavorful without any grit. Dana's pizza looked pretty good though I didn't try any.

Overall an easy place to get to right off Rt-78 with a slightly more subdued atmosphere and comfortable ambiance. The food was perfectly acceptable and the service adequate. The price, very reasonable. Not a bad option if you're in the area. One other note - this restaurant is attached to it's sister eatery, 3 West. If you wander in the wrong door they are perfectly happy to escort you through the connecting corridor to the right place.

Zagat: 21-21-21
Jenn's rating: 70

Ninety Acres at NATIRAR, Peapack NJ

Last week I was taken out to dinner by a friend and co-worker. Given her choice of a few good restaurants near our Berkeley Heights office, she picked Ninety Acres at the Natirar estate in Peapack-Gladstone. A gorgeous location, the Ninety Acres culinary center sits atop a long, long, long and winding road through green, rolling hills. A little hard to navigate at night, the road is more narrow then makes one comfortable especially when trying to avoid both the bountiful wildlife and on-coming traffic. But the view is beautiful and well worth the adventure.

We arrived a bit early to have a drink at the large bar - starting off with glasses of Polyez-Jacquemart brut rose, non-vintage. Not an overly floral champagne, it was medium in color with a nice touch of complexity and medium finish. I liked it for sipping but realized it would have been even better with salty snacks. Too bad there weren't any offered on the bar (hint hint).

After drinks we were seated ten feet away from the bar at one of the tables in the space between what is obviously bar/lounge and what is equally obviously main dining room. We were kind of in the middle at a table for two up against a support beam. I mention the beam because it became a source of both amusement and distraction all evening as the wait staff felt it necessary to wedge themselves between me and the post to serve our table and the one next to us. A little odd - both tables were accessible from their opposite sides without having to suck it in and squeeze each time to pass through.

After the usual time of concentrating on the menu and me trying to get a feel for how many courses I'd be able to talk my dining partner into we settled on two and a half; appetizers, a shared middle course and then entrees.

We opted for a half bottle of red wine with dinner since both of us needed to drive home. The bottle of choice this time was a Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vielles Vignes 2008, Clos St. Jean. Nice bottle, easy to drink and it went well with our entire dinner.

To start we ordered the poached Egg with pancetta, yukon potatoes and brussels sprouts. We also ordered the organic risotto with guanciale, fennel, parmesan & ricotta.

The poached egg was killer. Both the pancetta and a nice strip of bacon cooked but still chewy added saltiness. The potatoes were presented as chips which was a nice surprise. Really great dish.

The risotto on the other hand was something else trying to disguise itself as risotto. Where was the rice? This dish was mostly cheese and vegetables with a creamy sauce that perhaps once used to be a grain. The flavor profile wasn't well developed and I found myself thinking how disappointing it is to be disappointed with a sub-standard risotto (since I super duper LOVE risotto, it really bums me out when it's not great, or even good).

For the next course we were swayed by the description of their special appetizer of the evening, a Jersey tomato dish with red onion and fresh ricotta cheese in an oil dressing.

I'm a sucker for ripe tomatoes and feel that it's just about the greatest thing New Jersey has going for itself. That and the corn on the cob in the height of summer. So when the tomatoes are at the peak of the season and showcased in a simple preparation, I'm usually pretty happy. This dish didn't let me down. Super fresh, nice tang from the red onion and a tart yet creaminess from the ricotta brought it all together. Good one!

For our main dish we both ordered steak. Right off the bat I should say that I knew this was risky. I really don't like ordering steak in a restaurant as I'm totally frustrated by how many places just get it wrong (and by how many times my husband and our grilling friends get it right making the comparison all that much more poignant). But my lovely, gracious and fun dinner companion does not eat fish. Since we'd been sharing dishes all night, I didn't think it appropriate to bring something to the mix that she wouldn't want to try. And besides, on paper - steak always sounds like a great, mouthwatering option.

She ordered the pan roasted, grass fed bone-in strip steak with fingerling potatoes & Natirar steak sauce. I ordered the Niman Ranch naturally raised ribeye with rosemary sea salt & peperonata. For side dishes we went homey and asked for the mashed potatoes and the macaroni & cheese.

We requested both steaks to be medium-rare - they came out closer to medium but not enough to get pissy about. Both steaks were simply prepared and were tender enough...I just wish I could understand why some steaks are literally dripping with juicy flavor and you can't help but make those little sounds of happiness with each bite while others are just so blah. These leaned towards forgettable.

A super big miss was the macaroni and cheese. Seriously? You shouldn't be allowed to mess up mac & cheese. You can pretty much make it from a box and satisfy 75% of the American population (myself included). This one was bland, runny and used a very small elbow shape that seemed tough. I sanity checked with both my dining partner and Alan who tried the leftovers the next day; just not good. The mashed potatoes on the other hand - awesome!!! I really could have eaten the entire serving.

And we topped off our evening with dessert. I know, I know - you know I am not a fan of dessert. It's all looks, no flavor in all but the fewest of instances. But our server, who was quite attentive I will add, did a pretty good job selling the special of the evening, a S'Mores pie.

Pretty, right? But you know what - no flavor. The marshmallow on top was near impossible to cut (sticky mess) and the chocolate-graham pie underneath was dry and flavorless. This dish would have benefitted enormously from having a Hershey bar nestled in between, partially melted. This was practically inedible.

In summary Ninety Acres still hasn't reached it's potential. Being that it's been open now for two years, I'm wondering if it ever will. On the plus side the service was light-years ahead of where it was last time we were there and the wine list remains diverse and friendly. When we ordered dishes that featured the locally harvested ingredients and things at the peak of their season we faired much better. I wouldn't say don't go - I would just suggest that you don't get your hopes up too high.

Jenn's Rating: 80
Zagat: 25-28-23

Crystal Tavern, Crystal Springs Resort

Our final meal before leaving Hamburg, New Jersey was lunch in the clubhouse tavern. We had already golfed all morning and were particularly hungry as the four of us waited for our burgers. These burgers were recommended to us by Jeff so the excitement was building...

Alan, Steve & Rich all ordered the Kobe beef burgers that came with Brie, truffle aioli, arugula, carmelized onions and steak sauce. To that Steve added a fried egg to his and there might have been an additional order of bacon thrown on one of the burgers. While we didn't get a picture of theirs, all served with fries - the consensus around the table was extremely positive. Damn good burger!

I ordered the Meyer burger with lettuce, tomato, bacon and American cheese on a seeded bun and a side salad. Cooked beautifully to medium rare, I thought this was one of the better burgers I've had in past year. Big and juicy, lots of flavor and a very ripe tomato all worked together. The bun was large enough to help keep things in place and held up against the running juices. I devoured mine and would tell anyone that it's a great lunch option!

Susan & Mary were with us but had already had lunch once that day in the Chef's Garden. They made do with a shared order of hummus and pretzel bites.

Overall, service was a bit slow (compounded by how really hungry we were) but the food was worth the wait!

Restaurant Latour at Crystal Springs Resort

This past weekend Alan, myself, Susan, Rich, Mary & Steve went up to Crystal Springs Golf & Spa Resort in lovely Hamburg, NJ to eat, drink and be merry. During our stay we made reservations to have dinner at the highly rated, Wine Spectator Grand Award winning Restaurant Latour.

A word or two about the resort...first, it's in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, boondocks. But once you're there, what a lovely, fun place. And it's huge with two massive hotels, spas, seven golf courses, umpteen restaurants & pools all over you can definitely stay occupied for a few days. The rooms were large and clean with full kitchens and plenty of space for lounging around. Our one bedroom suite with outdoor fireplace had room around the dining table for six and an outdoor table that fit the same. This is very conducive for bringing your own wine and munchies and having an in-room party which we did the first night.

For the second night we got all dressed up and walked (inside) the hundred yards and one elevator ride up to Restaurant Latour. This was nice - it was raining cats and dogs outside Saturday evening. Upon entering the restaurant, my first impression was that it was quite small. Intimate might be the better word since it felt comfortable, not cramped. We were greeted right away by our host who showed us to a table smack tab in the middle of the nicely, if understated, dining room.

Being a Grand Award winner we were interested in ordering off the wine list. Being Alan's belated birthday weekend, we also had a few special bottles of our own that we brought with us. This worked out well since they were very gracious and accommodated us doing both throughout the evening.

The menus came around with two choices - the chef's tasting menu and the ala cart, three course menu. Again showing themselves to be flexible and pleasant our head server assured us that we could get the three course menu and add a few extra dishes into the mix. As a group of people all willing to share, it meant that we could basically try 80% of the menu.

Along with a bottle of Beaujoie Rose champagne that Susan & Rich brought, we also went with a sommelier recommendation an opened a Grand Cru from Burgandy Mazis-Chambertin, Girardin, 2000. The amuse busche they started us with was a canape of salmon on brioche. Very nice, well balanced.

For the food, first courses ran and spectrum...
Steve & I ordered the duck appetizer with asparagus spring rolls, mixed greens and pork lardons. I really enjoyed this dish - there was a lot going on and I tried the pieces together as well as by themselves...each one holding up as a flavorful bite individually while coming together nicely with complimentary textures. It was also a very pretty dish - visually appealing with a great aroma. If only I had known that my very good dish would pale in comparison to what else was going on around the table.

Alan ordered the Hood Canal Oyster Strudel with large pearl tapioca, Ossetra caviar and creme fraiche sabayon. This was my original choice but I waned...once I got a bite of it I realized my mistake. WINNER! An incredible combination of warm, creamy tapioca and sauce layered over the succulent oysters and salty caviar. Seriously good.

Mary & Rich both ordered the gorgeous Tuna Nicoise Nest of seared tuna lardons, Idaho potato nest, hericot vert, organic greens, Long Island duck egg and Parmesan vinaigrette. Let me see if I have any words left to describe this masterpiece...FAB-U-LOUS!! The runny yolk over seared tuna and the crunch of the beans was perhaps perfection in a dish. The Parmesan dressing gave the salt and the organic greens a bit of herb and pepper to round out a seriously good dish.

Not to be outdone, Susan ordered the special of the evening, the Maryland soft shelled crab with peanut potatoes, papaya pecan beurre noisette and micro arugula. Now maybe I'm biased but I truly believe soft shell crab is basically manna from heaven in disguise. With the crunch from the battered crab and the bitterness of the arugula matched with the sweet of the papaya this was just a great partnership of flavor. I should have just kept her dish when it came my way during the plate swapping portion of the course.

Next up for the group was course one and a half where we requested two dishes to be put on the table for sharing. These two were the dishes we all collectively agreed must be had by all. They were the risotto and the pasta.

Sorry that the pictures start getting a bit on the darker / redder side...we made the decision to not use a flash so as to not disturb anyone elses dining experience. And thank you Mary, for taking them all with your iPhone and then figuring out how to send them to me!!

First up here is the black truffle risotto with spring leeks, sweet English peas and carnaroli rice. Our server shaved the truffles over the dish at table and was quite generous allowing a wonderful waft of aromatic bliss to engulf the table. Risotto at it's best conjures something that I can only describe as a feeling of home. Warm and happy. This did exactly that - cooked to perfect al dente with the little firmness in each bite of rice and a creaminess that you look forward to with each forkful. Very, very nice course. The pasta was an Yukon Gold potato agnolotti of marscapone-enriched pasta, Perigord black truffle, zucchini pearls and white truffle oil. A lighter pasta with still that luxuriousness of the truffle, it was well received around the table but paled a bit next to the risotto. I think it was Rich that commented that if tried by itself it was really good.

Not sure when it all happened, but there was another bottle of wine added to the fun. This one a Grand Cru Charmes-Chambertin, Louis Jadot , 1999. As well as a bottle of our own that we brought to dinner, a 2006 Scarecrow. Not to be biased - while I really liked both the Burgandies and thought they went well with the dishes, the Scarecrow is in a league of it's own.

Next up were the entrees.
I ordered the sweet butter braised Maine lobster with whipped yukon gold potatoes, haricot verts and a black truffle Burgandy pan sauce.

Shelled and arranged beautifully, this course was all that lobster should be. Warm, sweet, cooked just a moment past opaque and swimming in some kind of butter sauce. This one with truffle. So it was a happy, happy dish. I would go back and just order the lobster again and again and again.

Mary & Steve both went with red meat and ordered the 28 day dry-aged New York sirloin with creamsicle sweet potato puree, wild mushroom medley, white straw asparagus and crisp fried ramps.

Both their plates were cleaned and sounds of happiness could be heard from both sides of the table. The comment back was that it was a good dish...perhaps not fantastic, but solid.

Alan ordered the day-boat roasted monkfish with lobster knuckle, Nantucket Bay scallops, Humic Island razor clams, saffron scented panisse, organic pea shoots and cioppino broth.

This was a nice course but what I think we're learning is unless you're at Daniel, Per Se or Le Bernadin, the fish probably isn't going to be the dish that blows your mind. Nice flavors, lots of things going on but lacking that depth that so many of the other meat dishes offer.

To that point, Susan ordered what I believe was the winner of this round...the grass-fed, Canadian veal porterhouse with potato pave, foie gras stuffed first harvest morels, Sherry citrus glazed carrots and a natural pan jus.

Were you wondering how you could possibly one-up a porterhouse on the grill from Hind & Fore? We might have found the answer...veal. A level of tenderness that you  just can't get from any other meat, this one had all that plus that flavor that as soon as it hits your mouth you basically smile and sigh at the same time. Excellent.

And to round out dinner was Rich's choice of the quartet of Moscovy Duck. Confit leg, black forbidden rice, butternut squash and red currant gastrigue.

Rich was excited to see forbidden rice on the menu - it's rare. And I have to admit, I think this is the first time I've ever tried it. The duck was cooked to the right grade of medium rare while the confit leg was pull off the bone tender. All around a nice dish.

And from there, we moved onto dessert. The order included a quartet of sorbets with a bing cherry that was fantastic; a few orders of the coffee and donuts that won rave reviews; the odd and not at all good creme fraiche parfait; a chocolate-chocolate dessert with a molton lava cake and chocolate ice cream that I think was the best one on the table and really, really good Meyer lemon tart.

The experience was a wonderful one. Between having a great group of friends that are as equally "foodie" as they are winos and comedians, it made for a fun evening. Add to that an excellent wine list with a top notch sommelier who made some great choices for our table. Plus the food lived up to the hype as one of New Jersey's best rated restaurants year after year. Was it the gastronomical perfection that can be found at a few New York and California (and Chicago) establishments? Not quite - but it got as close as anything I've been to outside of those areas. We all highly recommend the trip - it's worth it.

Jenn's Rating: 94
Zagat: 27-26-27
Wine Spectator: Grand Award