Tag Archives: Sally Deering

art scene

ArtSCENE: ART SHOWS, PLAYS AND DANCE PERFORMANCE LISTINGS

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ArtSCENE

Throughout the year, Jersey City and other Hudson locales snap, crackle and pop with cultural events – art shows, plays, and dance performances – put on by the diverse and richly-talented artists who live in our local neighborhoods. Art is a huge part of Hudson’s community and quality-of-life; so, from now on, in every issue of River View Observer, we’ll list this go-to guide to what’s happening on the local ArtSCENE.

 

 313 Gallery at JC Art School

 JC Art School Jersey City

313 GALLERY, 313 –3rd Street, JC, (732) 877-9116, www.jcartist.org.

Now through Feb 21: GENTRIFICATION, The Changing Landscape of Jersey City – A documentary art exhibition featuring Narciso Espiritu, Fabricio Suarez, Sam Pullin; curated by Allison Hall.

Continue reading ArtSCENE: ART SHOWS, PLAYS AND DANCE PERFORMANCE LISTINGS →

Art Views

100 Artists to Show their Work at Hoboken Artists’ Studio Tour 2014

artwork by Robert Piesanti
Artwork by Robert Piesanti

SHOW AND TELL

By Sally Deering

Joyce finn map river view observer
Home Plate by Joyce Finn map of US crates with souvenir plates for all 50 states

A 10-foot map of the U.S. made of souvenir plates from all 50 states; candy-colored 1960s-inspired pop art paintings; spray painted murals; all this and more goes on exhibit this weekend at the Hoboken Artists’ Studio Tour.

lou carbone riverviewobserver.net
Artwork by Lou Carbone
will be featured at the Hoboken Historical Museum

The Hoboken Artists’ Studio Tour is a free, self-guided walking tour of artists’ studios, galleries and group exhibitions that begins Fri, Nov. 7 and runs through Sun, Nov. 9, with more than 100 local artists participating. City Hall, Monroe Street Arts Center, Hoboken Historical Museum and Maxwell’s bar and restaurant are some of the 24 venues where artists will be exhibiting their work. Many will share their process; others will share interesting conversations; it’s all what makes this yearly event so interesting. (Jersey City had their studio tour last week!)

Continue reading 100 Artists to Show their Work at Hoboken Artists’ Studio Tour 2014 →

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 →

Dining, General

Ten Ingredients: At Casa Dante, Chef Freda Creates Italian Dishes a Traditional Grandmother Would Love

River View Observer: “Your Source for Fine and Casual Dining in Hudson County 

By Sally Deering

 chef freda croppedDuring the summer months, River View Observer likes to slip into the kitchen of some of Hudson’s best restaurants and shine a spotlight on the chefs who create the delicious dishes on their menus. This week, RO visited Casa Dante restaurant a few blocks north of Journal Square on Newark Avenue. Casa Dante opened 40 years ago and changed hands about 8 years ago just around the time Chef Gregg Freda came on board as Executive Chef.

Newark Ave. could use a little fixing-up, that’s for sure, and it appears the street outside Casa Dante will be going through some demo to put in new street lights, but that shouldn’t deter a visit to Casa Dante. Once you step inside the restaurant’s foyer, you are immediately transported to an extremely tranquil setting where a visitor can easily relax and enjoy the traditional Italian cuisine. Another good reason: Casa Dante has its own parking lot, a rarity in Jersey City.

Inside Casa Dante Restaurant in Jersey City Casa Dante’s menu includes Antipasto dishes like Mozzarella in Carrozza, mozzarella, parmigiano encrusted bread, lightly fried; served with a size of the house marinara sauce; Clams Oregnata, Little Neck clams baked with oregano-seasoned bread crumbs; and Fried Calamari, tender fresh calamari lightly fried and served with lemon and a choice of sweet or hot marinara.  Salads feature the Insalada di Avocado, avocado, hearts of palm, fresh mozzarella and diced tomatoes with lemon and olive oil dressing; and Crabmeat Salad, tangy arugula, colossal crabmeat and asparagus in garlic and lemon dressing. And the House Specialty, Seafood Salad ala Dante, chilled shrimp, scungilli, calamari, diced tomato, lemon, garlic and olive oil. There are Pasta, Chicken, Veal, Seafood and Steak entrees, all traditional Italian cuisine.  Chef Freda also creates daily specials, some with a flavorful twist.

Let’s meet Chef Freda!

RVO: Chef Freda, what is your background and how did you get interested in cooking?

CF:  I was born in Newark and raised in Verona. I’m the middle-child. My mother’s side of the family has always been into food. My grandfather Frank Panico was a butcher and had his own shop in Newark. My first job was in King Supermarket where I worked as a cashier while I was still in high school. I was always around food. Then my uncle Frank opened Panico’s restaurant and I started out as a cook, worked my way to sous chef and chef. That was in the 90s. Continue reading Ten Ingredients: At Casa Dante, Chef Freda Creates Italian Dishes a Traditional Grandmother Would Love →

General

TEN INGREDIENTS : At The Merchant Restaurant in Jersey City, Owner and Chef Dave O’Brien Puts the Pub Back in Jersey City

River View Observer -Your Source for Fine and Causal Dining Presents Ten Ingredients

 By Sally Deering

Front of the Merchant Restaurant in Jersey City Since June 2002, The Merchant bar and restaurant on Grove Street has been the unofficial watering hole for city workers who come in to relax after a hard day at City Hall. In fact, it’s not unusual to see the mayor sit down in the back with members of his staff. Just last week, Jersey City’s newly-elected Mayor Steve Fulop celebrated his election at The Merchant.

Owners Dave O’Brien and his sister Anne-Marie share the responsibilities of running the neighborhood pub which features a beautiful bar and two large, red-bricked rooms for dining. They serve an American menu with regional twists, says O’Brien who also is Executive Chef. The brother and sister team hail originally from Ireland and although the menu is considered American, there’s a nod here and there to their Irish roots.

David O'Brien of the Merchant Restaurant Jersey City
Dave  O’Brien

The Merchant offers Lunch & Dinner, Brunch and Late Night Menus with Appetizers, Salads, Sandwiches, Pastas and Entrees to choose from. There’s a House Specialty, too, The Gourmet Short Rib Burger with Horseradish, Chive, Cheddar, Bourbon-Bacon, Heirloom Tomato, Iceberg Lettuce and Beer-Fried Onions on a Brioche Bun and served with Hand-Cut Fries. ($15)

Other outstanding dishes include the Fried Calamari appetizer ($10); the Cobb Salad ($11); Mac & Cheese ($10/$14); and the Char Grilled Angus Skirt Steak ($18).

On a busy Friday, Dave O’Brien took time out of his busy schedule to share with Riverview Observer’s readers his “Ten Ingredients” for The Merchant’s success.

Let’s meet Chef Dave O’Brien!

Continue reading TEN INGREDIENTS : At The Merchant Restaurant in Jersey City, Owner and Chef Dave O’Brien Puts the Pub Back in Jersey City →

General

WIN, LOSE, DRAW -Courtroom Artist Christine Cornell See the Art in Justice

Christine Cornell
Christine Cornell

By Sally Deering

A terrorist flirted with her; a murderer stuck his tongue out at her; and a victim whose face was slashed shared with her the heart-stopping details of her attack – it’s all in a day’s work for courtroom artist Christine Cornell who has spent decades in the courtroom with her canvas and pastels drawing some of the biggest criminal trials in our country’s history.

Cornell, a Weehawken resident, has been drawing trials since the 1970s and images from her portfolio are sought after by documentary filmmakers like Ken Burns who features 30 Cornell drawings in his new film “The Central Park Five” which recently aired on PBS about the five young men convicted and later found not guilty of the rape attack of the “Central Park Jogger”. Just last week CNN contacted Cornell for a documentary on the 1980 murder of Beatles’ singer/songwriter John Lennon. They wanted to purchase the drawing Cornell did of gunman Mark David Chapman at his arraignment clutching the book “Catcher in the Rye”.

 

Continue reading WIN, LOSE, DRAW -Courtroom Artist Christine Cornell See the Art in Justice →

Video Views-events and more

STAGEfest 2013 Opening Reception March 22nd, 2013-Loew’s Jersey Theatre, Jersey City

Friends of Loew’s present a weekend of outstanding performance
STAGEfest 2013

Presented by the Friends of the Loew’s.
3 days running from March 22nd to March 24th featuring 20 hours of live performances within the landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Jersey City.
A vibrant and diverse weekend of theatrical and musical performances, celebrating the arts in this reqion and performed throughout the Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre.

Cover Story, Live On Stage

Curtain Up! STAGEfest 2013 in Jersey City

Mar20thCoverRVO ONE TO USE      The Play’s the Thing at STAGEfest 2013, the Loew’s Jersey Theatre’s First Play Festival

By Sally Deering

In her prime, she was a real looker. Decked out in red velvet and adorned in crystal and gold, the Loew’s Jersey Theatre was a glamorous show palace when it opened in 1929. Today, the Loew’s is a New Jersey Registered Historic Site owned by Jersey City and after many years of restoration by the volunteer group Friends of the Loew’s, the movie palace has ‘come back to life’. Like an aging Ziegfeld showgirl with gorgeous gams. the Loew’s is a grandly vintage venue for film festivals, film retrospectives – even weddings – and for the first time this month, the Loew’s will host its first every performing arts festival, STAGEfest 2013.  

Loew's Theatre, Jersey City hosting STAGEfest 2013 River View Observer
The beautiful lobby of
Loew’s Jersey Theatre
Jersey City, New Jersey

Starting Fri, Mar. 22 and running through Sun, Mar. 24, STAGEfest 2013 raises the curtain on a weekend of theatrical, dance and musical performances highlighting Hudson’s arts and artists.  The festival will feature three days of shows by local playwrights, musicians, dancers and solo-artists who will perform their works not just on the theater’s main stage, but also in its lobbies, salons, promenades and hallways. The weekend event also features a costume exhibit by Leading Lady Costumes and refreshments by local vendors in the Grand Lobby Café.

“This marks the return to live theatre – in addition to classic film and concerts,” says Colin Egan, Executive Director of Loew’s Jersey Theatre.  “We always said we wanted theatre to be part of the Loew’s, but with all the work of renovating it and running the other shows here, we kept putting it off. So STAGEfest is the first of an annual (and maybe more frequent) theatre festival the Loew’s will host.”

THE PRODUCERS

Coordinating the event with Egan and the Friends of the Loew’s volunteers are Christine Goodman, Founder of Art House Productions in Jersey City, and David Zimmerman, Executive Director of the DeBaun Center for Performing Arts at Steven’s Institute of Technology in Hoboken.  Zimmerman knows his way around play festivals; DeBaun formerly hosted the Hudson County One Act Play Festival. Continue reading Curtain Up! STAGEfest 2013 in Jersey City →