Business Views, General, Hip New Stores

Tachair Bookshoppe -Jersey City’s new Go-To Spot for Book Lovers, Writers and Serious Coffee Drinkers

By Sally Deering

TACHAIR BOOK STORE PHOTO 1
Tachair Bookshoppe’s Carol and Aleta Valleau and Aleta’s son Paul inside their hip new book store.

 When they opened Tachair Bookshoppe last July, Carol Valleau and her daughter Aleta Valleau took a gamble that local book lovers wanted something more than downloading a book to their Kindles and Nooks. The mother/daughter booksellers gambled on the idea that book lovers want a place to browse new books, thumb through old classics and maybe read a chapter or two while sipping a fresh brewed coffee. It seems their gamble paid off – big time.

 “To have the ability to walk down the street and find a bookstore, it’s nearly impossible,” Carol Valleau says between trips to the counter to help customers with their purchases. “We’re the only book store in Jersey City.”

 “We’re an independent bookstore to the ‘T’,” Aleta Valleau says.

 Tachair Bookshoppe offers new and used fiction, non-fiction, biographies, textbooks, and a warm and friendly atmosphere to browse the shelves. There are tables, too, where you can grab a seat to read, relax and strike up a conversation.  The coffee is delicious too. Continue reading Tachair Bookshoppe -Jersey City’s new Go-To Spot for Book Lovers, Writers and Serious Coffee Drinkers →

Education

Bayonne’s Marist High School- Spirit Week – A Week Of Merry Chaos”.

Submitted by Amanda Di Pasquale- Marist High School Student

Marist Spirit WeekSpirit Week is a time that Marist High School’s students look forward to from the moment they return from summer break.  Not only because it’s the last week before Christmas break, but because it’s a genuinely enjoyable time spent with other students and teachers.   Everyone gets into the Marist spirit and participates.  Those who don’t usually join in on the other fun events, such as sports games and the pep rally, usually allow themselves to be caught up into the Spirit Week fun.

“It’s a week of merry chaos,” teacher Wayne Pratko jokes.  Mr. Pratko and Ms. Gonzalez have been in charge of spirit week for about 10 years now.  The Champagnat Games is the very last day of Spirit Week.  It is a culmination of the competition for class and school pride taking place all week.  This year, they’ve brought new games into the Champagnat Games, adding to such favorites as Izzy Dizzy and Leap Frog.  “We got rid of the frozen shirt contest because it took 72 hours to unfreeze the stupid thing,” Mr. Pratko said,  “Yeah, it was just a mess, so now we have dodge ball and balloon races.” Continue reading Bayonne’s Marist High School- Spirit Week – A Week Of Merry Chaos”. →

Dining

Bayonne’s Bella Sorrellas, a Fine Italian Restaurant

    Italian Cuisine served with a Whole Lotta Love

 By Sally Deering

 

Bella Sorrellas Restaurant Bayonne
David Rivera, owner, Bella Sorrellas

Bayonne has its share of Italian restaurants and Bella Sorrellas on the corner of 50th Street and Broadway, stands out from the crowd with a menu of classic Italian dishes served with a home-style flair. Owner David Rivera opened Bella Sorrellas three years ago where the old Welcome Inn used to be. The son of Ana and Demetrio “Lumen” Rivera, David grew up watching his father run his Jersey City restaurants: The Seagulls Bar & Grill on Communipaw Ave; The Old San Juan on Jersey Ave; and The Fan Bar on Grove – and he knew early on he wanted to be a restaurateur like his dad.

“I was about 5 and my father picked me up at school and took me to his restaurant, The Seagulls,” Rivera recalls. “I went behind the bar and started cleaning the glasses. He asked me what I was doing and I said, ‘I want to be like you’ and he hugged me and said ‘One day you will.’ Since I was 16 I worked with him after school and through college.”

Rivera worked ten years as transportation supervisor for Christ Hospital in Jersey City and decided he wanted to go back to the restaurant business.

Chef Leo Compi formerly of Just Sonny's Restaurant in Jersey City
Bella Sorrellas Chef Leo Compi with owner David Rivera

            “There was something empty in my heart,” he says. “My father’s philosophy was ‘make sure the customer is fed well and feels at home’. He was in the business over 30 years. Everybody loved my father and I wanted to be like that. ”

            Rivera followed in father’s footsteps and Bella Sorrellas (which is Italian for “beautiful sisters” and named for his daughters Analexa, 18, and Isabel, 5) is a cozy corner bistro with an extensive Italian menu. The star of the show – as always – is the food and Rivera works closely with Chef Leo Compi (formerly of Just Sonny’s) a friend for more than 10 years. Continue reading Bayonne’s Bella Sorrellas, a Fine Italian Restaurant →

Dining

Houlihan’s, Still Delicious After All These Years in Weehawken

By Sally Deering

Houlihan'spic2Houlihan’s restaurant has always been a big attraction on the Weehawken waterfront. Located in Lincoln Harbor with stunning views of the New York Skyline, Houlihan’s offers customers a hearty lunch and dinner menu, divine drinks and delish desserts and even though it’s been a Weehawken staple, the restaurant’s standards are as high as the day it opened.

The décor is cool and the atmosphere cozy with overstuffed booths and tables that give patrons enough space to hold a private conversation. The three-sided bar is large enough for groups to gather to watch their favorite games on the big HD TVs and the lighting, warm and relaxing.

houlihan'spic1 “We’re very customer-oriented,” general manager Keith Miller says. “Our goal is to make every customer a repeat customer. Regulars and repeat customers are the pulse of the restaurant.”

If the customers are the pulse, the food is Houlihan’s heart and soul. The cuisine is Asian, Italian and American-inspired. Everything is cooked to order and only fresh ingredients are used. Continue reading Houlihan’s, Still Delicious After All These Years in Weehawken →

Dining

Copacabana Grill mingles Italian and Brazilian Cuisine in a Hip, Romantic Setting

By Sally Deering

Copacabana Grill Restaurant owner Luigy Rivas (center) surrounded by his staff
Copacabana Grill Restaurant owner Luigy Rivas (center) surrounded by his staff

Whether you’re looking for a cozy place for lunch, a hip hangout for drinks after work or a romantic dinner with that special date, the Copacabana Grill in Bayonne has it all for you – Italian and Brazilian Cuisine served in a cool and romantic setting.

Bayonne is a city of many great restaurants and the Copacabana Grill is a hip little eatery on Broadway, off 11th Street. Enter the non-descript white storefront and you’re instantly transported into a low-lit sleek and sexy bar with dark wood tables and luxurious matching chairs. In the back of the room, a mini staircase leads to a beautiful, romantic dining room.

 

Formerly The Liquid Lounge, owner Luigy Rivas changed more than just the name. With the help of his staff, Rivas renovated, designed and decorated the restaurant, giving the place a totally new interior and vibe.

Inside copacabana dining room“We worked on this place so many nights,” Rivas says, taking a break from the reservation desk to enjoy a cup of tea. “We wanted it to be cozy, warm, romantic. The room upstairs is fancier and down here at the bar, it’s more casual.”

Before becoming a restaurateur, Rivas worked his way up in the restaurant industry first as dishwasher, then busboy, cook, waiter and manager. Continue reading Copacabana Grill mingles Italian and Brazilian Cuisine in a Hip, Romantic Setting →

In the News, Our Community

Jersey City Gun Buyback Saturday January 5th- NO QUESTIONS ASKED

JERSEY CITY SEAL LOGOJERSEY CITY – Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and Police Department officials announced the city will host another gun buyback from 12 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 5, 2013 at the Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church, 661 Montgomery Street. There, residents can turn in rifles for $100, handguns and automatic weapons for $150, respectively, with no questions asked.  Continue reading Jersey City Gun Buyback Saturday January 5th- NO QUESTIONS ASKED →

Dining, New Restaurants

Casual Dining in a Beautiful Mexican ‘Courtyard’ “Life is a Fiesta…Eat it Up!”

   By Sally Deering  

Co-Owner Carlo Oritz
Co-Owner Carlos Oritz

Step inside Blue Moon Mexican Café on Montgomery Street in downtown Jersey City and you’re transported to a warm and inviting Mexican ‘courtyard’ with large comfy booths and tables under the warm glow of paper lanterns strung across the dining room and an upstairs balcony of tables that overlook this sexy, spacious restaurant.

 On a snowy afternoon right after the Christmas holiday, I stopped in to meet Carlos Ortiz, who owns and manages Blue Moon Mexican Café with his brother Jose Ortiz. Together with their sisters who help with accounting and marketing and their mother who helped with the overall design, the Ortizes – who are originally from El Salvador – have created a warm and relaxed eatery with a terrific menu of Mexican dishes. Continue reading Casual Dining in a Beautiful Mexican ‘Courtyard’ “Life is a Fiesta…Eat it Up!” →

General

Jersey City Homicide Rate Drops 28% to Record 43-year Low

JERSEY CITY SEAL LOGOJERSEY CITY – Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and Police Chief Thomas Comey announced today that homicides last year dropped to a more than four-decade low as crime trends continue to decline year after year in New Jersey’s second largest city.  Continue reading Jersey City Homicide Rate Drops 28% to Record 43-year Low →

General

FEMA to Close Office In Bayonne on Saturday, December 29

        

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has advised the City of Bayonne that it will close the Disaster Recovery Center it has been operating at the Bayonne Community Museum, which is located at 9th Street and Broadway.  FEMA will have its last day at that location on Saturday, December 29, from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.   After that date, Bayonne residents and property owners in need of a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center in Hudson County should go to either the Jersey City location at 350 Montgomery Street, or the Hoboken location, City Hall, at 94 Washington Street.  Those facilities will have half-days on New Year’s Eve, Monday, December 31, with hours from 9:00 a. m. to 1:00 p.m.  They will both be closed on New Year’s Day, Tuesday, January 1, and will reopen with regular hours of 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 2.

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Education, Health Views

Palisades Medical Center’s Releases Schedule of Upcoming Maternity Classes

maternity classes (North Bergen, NJ) – The following is a schedule of upcoming Maternity Classes at Palisades Medical Center.  To register or for more information, please call Robin Petrick at 201-295-4823.

 

Child Birth Classes – Cost is $125 per couple if delivering at PMC; $150 if delivering elsewhere. The more you understand about the process of labor, the better prepared you and your support partner will feel.  Classes include: understanding the labor process, breathing and relaxation techniques to work with your body, the role of the support person, options for pain medications and medical interventions, Caesarean birth, understand your changing body after birth, newborn appearance and procedures after birth. Continue reading Palisades Medical Center’s Releases Schedule of Upcoming Maternity Classes →

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