Jersey Exploration: Piattino

Cue the ::HAPPY DANCE:: music - we have found a new Italian happy place nearby!  Up to now, we've been relying on Boulevard Five72 when we are in the mood for quality pasta dishes.  But whenever we went to Due360 in Summit, we would see Piattino next door and their menu seemed pretty enticing.  We finally got around to trying it, and (to quote Mario Batali) #YUMBANG - it's fantastic!

The restaurant space is quite inviting.  We went on a warm summer day so the front window panels were completely open to allow for sitting outside.  We opted for a table inside right next to the patio area so we had the best of both worlds: light and breeze but no direct heat from the sun.  The decor strikes just the right balance of hip and modern yet comfortable. 

And the food - DELICIOUS!  We split two appetizers and one main pasta dish just to sample a few things.

 Lobster Cavatelli

(Homemade Mascarpone Pasta, Lobster Tail, Tarragon, Fennel, Pine Nut Crumble;

they were generous with the lobster portion, and the sauce on the pasta was delectable)

Stone Fired Meatball Sliders

(San Marzano Tomatoes and Fontina Cheese Sauce;

these were seasoned beautifully but pretty big for just an appetizer;  we wound up taking two home!)

Duck Maltagliati

(Duck and Truffle Sugo, Wild Mushrooms, Thyme, Topped with Fried Egg;

we weren't sure what the fried egg would bring to the table, but the yolk actually wound up being the perfect complement to the duck; such great flavors in this dish - we were scraping the plate!)

Piattino - we are in love with you.  We shall continue to visit until we try everything on the menu!

ADDENDUM

Well, we wound up returning to try more of the menu even sooner than planned!  When DJ's parents came to visit, we knew this would be a great spot for lunch.  We sampled a few dishes from the special menu of the day and all were AMAZING!

lamb appetizer
(perfect for sharing)

clam bake pizza 
(sounds odd, but so delicious!)

 squid ink pasta with octopus and clams
(delectable!)

Slow Cooker Spicy Spring Picnic Pork

Mel can never resist a good slow cooker recipe magazine.  Apparently they make ones for each season.  She already impulse-purchased two of the autumn ones while waiting in line at the check out.  And yeah - took the bait for the spring one a little while back.  It's a weakness, but you figure recipes don't go bad so they're technically long-term investments. 

There were lots of yummy ideas, but the first one that really caught Mel's eye was the Spicy Spring Picnic Pork because it included Dr. Pepper.  Intriguing!  We've never cooked with soda before so she figured it'd be fun to see how it turned out.

The recipe itself was super easy to follow, and the result was indeed delicious!  You get a hint of that Dr. Pepper sweetness, but it's countered nicely with the spiciness of the BBQ sauce.  We chose to serve it with a bit of broccoli and pearled couscous rather than on a bun, and it made for a lovely springtime dinner.  We'd definitely make it again!

Father's Day Part 2 at Brick & Wood

On the second day of Father's Day weekend, we headed to CT to spend some time with Imama and Ababa.  

 

DJ was pumped to wear one of his gifts for the occasion.  

We decided to dine at Brick & Wood, a great spot in Fairfield known for their brick oven pizza (as the name aptly suggests).  The place is tucked quietly in the back of a strip mall and is pretty unassuming from the outside.  But once you go in, the space is surprisingly bright and fun with a full view of the kitchen and fiery brick oven.  And the food?  The meal was absolute perfection from start to finish!

B & W Salad

(super light and refreshing with a fabulous dressing)

Italian Avocado Salad with chicken 

(the chicken was grilled PERFECTLY - so juicy with the smoky flavor of the brick oven - and it paired perfectly with the avocado, tomato, cucumber and mozzarella of the salad)

Watermelon and Burrata Salad 

(a special for the day which was, in a word, AMAZING; there were definitely dueling forks and plans to try to recreate it at home)

Sweet & Spicy pizza

(margherita pizza with fresh jalepeño, chicken prosciutto sausage, topped with homemade sweet and spicy honey; 

absolutely as good as it sounds!)

Bombolini

(traditional fried zeppole stuffed with warm Nutella;  

fried dough and Nutella?  we needn't say more) 

Not only was the food fabulous, but the service was impeccable.  We all agreed we would have no qualms about returning here every time we visit because it's just a guaranteed great meal! 

***

ADDENDUM

We loved that Watermelon & Burrata salad so much, we just couldn't resist creating a deconstructed version at home.  Soooooo perfect for summer!

 

Father's Day Part 1 at Grandchamps BK

A couple of years ago our close family friends opened Grandchamps, a Haitian restaurant in Bed Stuy right near our old family home and where Mel used to teach.  Alex and Shannon were thoughtful enough to give Toots, Toto, Dave, Elim, and us gift cards as Christmas presents.  Such an awesome idea!  We were finally able to make a group outing happen on Father's Day weekend and enjoyed a wonderful feast.  (Please pardon the blurry pictures; we were so hungry that we snapped photos as quickly as possible so we could start chowing down!)

 

griot with plantains and rice & beans
(best griot we've had in a long time; the pork was extremely juicy and flavorful rather than dried out from the frying, a common problem)

fried whole snapper

burger with fantastic fries

Mel also tried the tasso cabrit (goat) with rice and beans - both delicious.

The portions at Grandchamps are extremely generous and the prices are so reasonable.  We ate like royalty and still have enough left on our gift cards to go back for another fun gathering.  The vibe there is very comfortable and relaxed.  It is obvious they are putting a lot of effort into making the space feel welcoming, and hopefully they're on their way to becoming a real mainstay in the community.  So happy for their success over the past 2 years and look forward to returning for some more fantastic Haitian comfort food.

Jersey Exploration: The Committed Pig

Friends of ours had mentioned that they enjoy going to The Committed Pig in Summit for brunch on the weekends.  The chain is known for having great burgers.  We have had it on our radar to try it out, but just never felt like a burger joint for brunch.  

Recently Mel was in the neighborhood on a weekday and figured she'd pop in to grab lunch to go.  Technically, she should have focused on getting a burger.  After all these years of blogging, what's one of the top 10 lessons learned?  Always order what the restaurant is known for; don't go rogue or you risk disappointment.  The problem: Mel has a weakness for Cubano sandwiches.  The blame goes directly to one of her favorite movies: Chef.  She could watch this movie a million times and never tire of it because it is such a feel-good film.  No pretense, no over-the-top drama.  Just a simple, fun story with endearing characters and FANTASTIC food.  The culinary focal point of the movie is the Cubano sandwiches the chef is famous for.  Every time they're shown on screen, your mouth will water.  So now when Mel sees a Cubano sandwich on a menu, she can not resist the temptation to try it in a fruitless quest to get one that tastes as good as the ones in the movie look.

So, you guessed it, at the local spot known for burgers Mel orders the Cubano and it is... not like the movie.  Pretty much a grilled ham and cheese heavy on the spicy mustard.  Deli ham not roast pork.  Regular bread not a fresh, soft baguette.  Womp womp.  Not gonna knock it - it was a fine lunch as far as greasy spoon food goes.  But not the Cubano of her movie dreams. 

Needless to say, we're committed to giving The Committed Pig another shot and trying what they're famous for.  And in the meantime, the quest for the perfect Cubano continues...

Jersey Exploration: Rosalita Mexican

The first time we tried Rosalita Mexican in Summit, we were extremely disappointed.  They said they would deliver to our town, but the food arrived cold after a 2-hour wait.  The mole chicken seemed like they poured sauce on a grilled chicken breast from the freezer section, and the cheese on the enchiladas had congealed.  When we have nothing nice to say about a place at all, we try not to blog about it just to avoid putting such negative energy out there.  We know the restaurant business is hard, and don't see the need to share only criticism.  We like to blog, but also acknowledge that we are neither chefs nor restaurateurs and therefore shouldn't really throw stones. (Maybe just the occasional pebble.)

At the time of the delivery debacle, they had just opened so we figured we'd keep an eye on their progress and try them out again another time.  As evidenced on their Yelp page, the manager is very conscientious and comments on all the feedback people offer.  Apparently, they take all suggestions for improvement seriously because the next two times we tried their food we were really pleased!

One time we made it a sit-down meal with friends, and tried all the different tacos.  All were delicious!  The second time we decided to pick up our order to bring home for a quiet weekend meal.  DJ got the Al Pastor tacos - great flavor and very generous serving.  Mel decided to try some lighter fare and got the Mexican Style Quinoa and Layered Shrimp.  Both were super fresh with hearty chunks of jalapeno, tomato and avocado.

Bonus points for the corn clearly scraped fresh from the cob rather than poured from a can.

Cheers to the team at Rosalita Mexican for clearly caring about listening to patrons and improving.  We hope they wind up becoming a successful fixture in Summit because we will certainly be back!

Trader Joe's "Everything But the Bagel"

We LOVE Trader Joe's (really, who doesn't?), and wind up in there at least once a week to pick up items.  Recently the Fearless Flyer (their seasonal brochure) featured a blurb about the "Everything But the Bagel" seasoning.  Mel, a New Yorker who lived on bagels through most of high school, is a sucker for anything "everything bagel."  They're the best of all worlds.  So she figured it was fair to think that the seasoning would make lots of things taste better.  Originally, she picked it up with the plan to sprinkle it on top of some cream cheese and lox on a Sunday bagel.  Predictable.  But one night, bored by the notion of the usual salt/pepper/olive oil coating on sweet potato fries, she went wild and covered those babies in some Everything.

The result: we are never going back to regular seasoning again!  OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration.  But this little Trader Joe's concoction is pretty brilliant, and we're glad we have it in the cupboard to kick flavors up a notch once in a while.

Jersey Exploration: Pimento Grill

We were checking out a street fair in Maplewood, and wound up walking by Pimento Grill.  It's a Jamaican restaurant we have noticed when driving around, and we've been curious about it for a while but just never stopped to go in.  So we figured a lazy meandering Sunday was the perfect time to check it out.

Perhaps we came too late after the street fair crowds had eaten (though it was only about 1pm), but they said they were out of everything except their curry goat.  Any other order would take 30-40 minutes.  We were hungry, so we opted to get the goat and a beef patty and come back another time to try some other dishes.  We noticed that other people who had chosen to wait for their food to be cooked from scratch got frustrated and left.  Perhaps it was taking longer than the 30-40 minute estimate?  Even our order, which was supposedly readily available, took at least 10 minutes to come out from the kitchen.

The goat itself was tender and flavorful, and the beef patty had a good flaky crust and didn't skimp too much on the filling.  The rice and beans were more like white rice with a few tiny beans thrown in, so we may skip that side dish next time.  But the plantains were perfectly ripe and sweet, which created a nice balance for the saltiness of the goat. 

We were admittedly a bit turned off by the fact that they ran out of food on a day when they knew there'd be a lot of foot traffic.  Street fair = crowds.  But we kind of respect the fact that the restaurant was honest about making things fresh.  It means they're probably not just taking stuff out of the freezer and microwaving it.  So we won't make it a deal-breaker and plan to return another day to try some other stuff off the menu.  Perhaps we'll just call ahead in case there's going to be a long wait.

Blue Apron - A Trial Run

The latest craze in home cooking is meal kits.  It seems like all of a sudden a bunch of companies popped up offering the service of delivering pre-portioned raw ingredients with detailed recipe cards.  The kits allow you to create a meal without all the prep work and leftover ingredients you may never use again.  When our kiddo was born, our friends kindly gifted us a free week to one of the most popular of these services - Blue Apron.

The whole process is pretty cool.  When you subscribe, you visit the website each week to see what meal kits are being offered and then pick which ones you'd like to receive.  They try to offer a nice mix of meat and vegetarian dishes.  When the box arrives, all the ingredients are packaged carefully and clearly labeled.  The recipe cards are very detailed, which great photographs for people who are more visual learners (like Mel).  They even include all the nutrition facts.  It really is a great system!  

We were able to receive three meals with our gift week.  We really enjoyed making all of them, and found it very easy to follow the recipe cards to create some delicious meals.

*   *   *   *   *

Spicy Shrimp Coconut Curry

We liked the flavors, but it came out a little bit watery.  Mel realized we may have needed to let the sauce simmer a bit longer to make it thicker, but our stomachs were growling and we rushed it.  Never cook hangry.

*   *   *   *   *

Moroccan Chicken

 

 

This dish smelled so good while simmering, and we wanted to lick the sauce off the plate.  Phenomenal.

*   *   *   *   *

Chipotle-Glazed Meatloaf

As far as meatloaf goes, this one was pretty tasty with a nice kick from the peppers.  We just wish the ingredients provided had yielded a bit more sauce, but that's a personal preference.  We are decidedly a saucy household when it comes to food.

*   *   *   *   *

Overall, the whole Blue Apron experience was pretty cool!  We may not sign up for a weekly account at the moment just because we still kind of enjoy the process of finding recipes to try on our own.  But once in a while, it could definitely be fun to let someone else take the wheel on meal planning and have a nice kit arrive at the door. 

Grilling Season is Here!

It has been a particularly rainy and often chilly spring.  But when the warm weekend days make an appearance, they are fabulous.  And you know what that means - GRILLING!

Felt it was worth posting a blog entry about it to note a couple of new things we're trying this season:

1.  We have found our favorite cut of meat:  skirt steak cut from the diaphragm.  They have it at our Whole Foods, and it is absolutely perfect for grilling.  With a sprinkling of salt and enough time on the heat to get it medium rare, it always comes out tender and juicy.  DJ has declared this is his ultimate favorite steak and will grill nothing else!  Clearly, we highly recommend trying it.  

2.  We got a couple of these mats to help with grilling veggies.  

 

After our trial run with asparagus and scallions, we were pretty pleased.  We didn't have to worry about any veg falling through the grill slats, and the holes in the mats helped maintain that grilling char and flavor.  We also appreciate that the mats can actually go in the dishwasher making for easy clean up.

Bring on summer!  Viva la grill!