Category Archives: Dining

Dining

Dine, Dance, Romance – La Nueva Elegancia, the Hot New Place to Dine and Dance  

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By Sally Deering

Dining room La Nueva Elegancia River View Observer La Nueva Elegancia Dance Floor West New York River View Observer  A restaurant with a big dance floor is as rare in Hudson as the Cake Boss making sushi.

Until now.

You may want to get out your dancing shoes, tie on an appetite and head over to 57th Street in West New York where you’ll find La Nueva Elegancia, a Cuban-Italian restaurant/supper club with two chefs in the kitchen with 50 years cooking experience; and a glorious dance floor where DJs spin hot tunes on weekends. Continue reading Dine, Dance, Romance – La Nueva Elegancia, the Hot New Place to Dine and Dance   →

Dining

Hoboken’s Smokin’ Barrel Holds Ribbon Cutting

Photo by Stephen A. Mack

On November 5th, 2014 owners Tony Leonardo, Danielle Leonardo, and their partners along with  Hudson County Freeholder; Bill O’Dea, Newly -elected Bayonne Freeholder  Ken Kopacz,  Freeholder Anthony Romano, Jersey City Councilman Khemraj “Chico” Ramchal and other dignitaries and friends celebrated the “Ribbon Cutting” of Hudson County’s Newest restaurant Smokin’ Barrel.

The brainchild of a group of business-partners Robert Kakov, Nirav Patel, Richard Gaetor and Anthony and Danielle Leonard fills a void on Willow Avenue in Hoboken and serves authentic Texas BBQ.

Read our Smokin’ Barrel  Story Here 

Dining

Hoboken’s Smokin’ Barrel Serves Up House-Smoked Texas BBQ and 23 TVs for Sports Fans  

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Saddle Up for Ribs, Beer and Flat Screen Heaven

 By Sally Deering
 smokin barrel waitress on sadHoboken’s 13th street just got a new kid on the block: Smokin’ Barrel Authentic Texas BBQ is the most recent addition to the neighborhood and the place is jumping with locals who like smoked meats and a choice of 50 domestic beers to watch the big game on one of 23 flat screen TVs.
Sept 30 smokin barrel partners
Partners Robert Kakov, Tony and Danielle Lenardo, Chef Otis Gordon, consultant Marc Bernstein, and partners Narev Patel and Richard Gaetor enjoy a Sunday afternoon at their new Hoboken restaurant Smokin’ Barrel

 The brainchild of a group of business-partners Robert Kakov, Nirav Patel, Richard Gaetor, and Anthony and Danielle Lenardo – Smokin’ Barrel fills a void on Willow Avenue where there’s a dearth of restaurants and local places to hang out with friends and watch a game over some cold brews. There are glass topped-barrels that serve as bar tables, and if you can’t find a stool at the bar, you can always hitch a ride on one of the leather saddles affixed to a thick coil for a little “Yee-Ha” with your BBQ.

Continue reading Hoboken’s Smokin’ Barrel Serves Up House-Smoked Texas BBQ and 23 TVs for Sports Fans   →

Dining, Fashion, General

Andrew’s Café and Restaurant in Bayonne: Vegan, Vegetarian and Gluten-Free Dishes Fit for a President

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Andrew Perera
Andrew Perera
By Sally Deering
Andrew Perera opened his café and restaurant in Bayonne in August 2009, ten years after he met and designed a vegan menu for President Bill Clinton. At Andrew’s in Bayonne, Perera serves his customers the same fare he designed for the former president — vegan soups, salads, sandwiches, entrees and desserts.

He serves a few meat dishes too.

“Andrew’s is the only restaurant serving organically healthy cuisine in this Bayonne area,” Perera says, sitting outside his café on a sunny weekday afternoon. “A lot of people come from Staten Island, East Rutherford, Linden, Queens – I have people coming here because the food is healthy. Soups, appetizers, entrees, desserts, our customers are crazy for everything vegan, especially the desserts and the soups.” Continue reading Andrew’s Café and Restaurant in Bayonne: Vegan, Vegetarian and Gluten-Free Dishes Fit for a President →

Dining

Miss America Diner in Dressed in Peach Formica and Silver Chrome, Reigns in Jersey City

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Beauty Queen Deluxe

  By Sally Deering

 If you live or work in Hudson, chances are you know your diners and have your favorites.

It’s not just a Jersey thing. People from all walks of life love the classic diners of the 1940s with their Formica tabletops and leatherette booths; strong java and juicy burgers, and creamy rice pudding dusted with cinnamon. If you’re a fan of any of these things and you like a waitress who can clear a table like a magician making a rabbit disappear, then stop by the Miss America Diner on West Side Avenue in Jersey City, right down the street from New Jersey City University.

There’s no place like the Miss America Diner and nobody knows that better than its newest owner Tony Margetis who bought the silver-chromed beauty in March of this year.

“The Miss America Diner is a landmark,” Margetis says. “I bought it because I knew it was famous. Every day, somebody is out in the parking lot taking pictures.” Continue reading Miss America Diner in Dressed in Peach Formica and Silver Chrome, Reigns in Jersey City →

Dining

Battello on the Hudson- Fine Dining on Jersey City’s Waterfront with the Best Views in Town

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 By Sally Deering

When you look across the Hudson from Jersey, there’s no other sight as riveting and urbanely beautiful than the New York Skyline, an image that is always changing according to the weather and time of day. In the morning, the skyline is in silhouette, a watercolor of blacks and grays; by night, it’s electric and cool, like a jazz riff by Miles Davis.

Views of the New York Skyline add value to any restaurant experience and Battello on the Jersey City waterfront hits the payload. No matter where you stand or sit, the Skyline is in view; along with the yachts and boats docked on all three sides of this refurbished boat house. Continue reading Battello on the Hudson- Fine Dining on Jersey City’s Waterfront with the Best Views in Town →

Dining

Lot 13 Gives Bayonne New Hip

18 Taps, a Great Whiskey Selection and Upscale Comfort Food

   By Sally Deering

Jean and Charles Stewart first met at a bar; she was serving drinks at an establishment in the East Village and he was a member of the Coast Guard stationed in Bayonne out for a night on the town. The two fell in love, married and started a family and now they’re raising a son and building a new career as restaurateurs and owners of Lot 13 in Bayonne.

Lot 13 opened in 2011 and both husband and wife share all the responsibilities of running a restaurant and busy bar.

Continue reading Lot 13 Gives Bayonne New Hip →

Dining

The Madison Bar and Grill – This Corner Bistro Keeps its Old Hoboken Charm

 

 By Sally Deering

madison_frontIf the walls of the Madison Bar and Grill could talk they’d tell stories of longshoremen stopping by after a day working Hoboken’s piers to belly up to the bar for some shots and beers. They’d tell of Thomas F. Vezzetti, a larger-than-life character whose family owned the bar back in the day (long before he was the 33rd Mayor of Hoboken) who would sleep on the pool table with a baseball bat to scare off any burglars. Continue reading The Madison Bar and Grill – This Corner Bistro Keeps its Old Hoboken Charm →

Dining

Liberty Prime Steakhouse in Jersey City Offers Prime Meats and Seafood in a Sophisticated Setting

Prime Steaks, Liberty Stars

By Sally Deering

Porterhouse, Filet Mignon, New York Strip – these juicy cuts of meat are always a winner with the fine-dining lunch and dinner crowd and lucky for Jersey City, there’s a new steak house offering prime cuts in an intimate, sophisticated setting.Liberty Prime Steaks Jersey City

 Liberty Prime Steakhouse on Montgomery Street in downtown Jersey City is in walking distance of both the Grove Street and Exchange Place PATH stations. The double-decker restaurant is fashioned with dark wood tables and chairs set in cozy nooks and crannies throughout and a roomy barroom that invites lively conversation as you kick back and relax.

Owner George Makrogiannis and Executive Business Manager John Mondry opened Liberty Prime Steakhouse this past October with a menu that offers Appetizers, Sandwiches, Salads and Entrees, but the real stars of the show are the steaks they serve, Porterhouse, Sirloin, NY Strip, Prime Rib and Filet Mignon. Continue reading Liberty Prime Steakhouse in Jersey City Offers Prime Meats and Seafood in a Sophisticated Setting →

Dining, Interesting People, River View Business Profile

Bambino Chef: Where Kids Learn to Shake ‘N Bake

  Rene Gonzalez Teaches Kids Healthy Cooking is Fun

By Sally Deering

 

Bambino Chef Jersey City
Rene Gonzalez owner of Bambino Chef

Would your children eat a Spinach Brownie?  How about a Mac & Cheese Cupcake with Vegetable Puree or a Cauliflower Pizza?  They might if they made it themselves.

Those crazy concoctions were created by Rene Gonzalez, founder of Bambino Chef, a cooking school for kids in Jersey City. Inside Bambino Chef’s storefront there’s a kitchen with brightly colored utensils where kids don aprons, create food they make themselves and in the process learn to be empowered in the kitchen. At Bambino Chef, Rene creates recipes for cookies, cupcakes, pizza – the sky’s the limit and the dishes she creates help give kids a good attitude toward their taste-buds’ nemesis, the vegetable. Continue reading Bambino Chef: Where Kids Learn to Shake ‘N Bake →