Anthony’s Cheesecake: A Year in Bloomfield
It’s been a year in Bloomfield, NJ for Anthony’s Cheesecake, whose repertoire has expanded to breakfast, brunch and lunch, alongside a mouthwatering array of baked goodies. You get all types when it comes to restaurateurs, but I like Anthony’s type best. Friendly and down-to-earth, and it’s nice that we both take food inspiration from our grandmothers. It also helps that he always remembers my (cake loving) son’s name and asks about him.
Here’s the story I wrote about Anthony’s Cheesecake when it opened last year.
I talked to him as the cafe celebrated its first anniversary recently, and here’s what he said: (more…)
Brick Lane Sizzles in Montclair
(A version of this review was published on Baristanet, July 26, 2011. This review includes dishes and photos from a subsequent visit. )
In the midst of the most blistering summer week in recent memory on the eastern seaboard, residents gave Brick Lane, Montclair’s new and most eagerly awaited Indian restaurant, a fervent welcome.
Liveblog (sort of): Diva Babysits
It’s a work-at-home day. A friend had an important meeting in NYC today and her regular babysitters weren’t available. So, after attending our own oldest son’s graduation from elementary school, I offered to watch Rachael and Mark’s two young children for a few hours.
By few, I mean five six (but who’s counting). It’s been a while since this family’s had a youngest who’s just 3, so I thought it might be fun to liveblog (sort of) the occasion. (more…)
Harrar, Ethiopian in South Orange
(Published on Baristanet June 21, 2011)
When the main component of your meal also serves as plate and spoon, it had better be tasty. And Harrar, an Ethiopian restaurant on the shop-and-restaurant-lined Village Plaza of South Orange, has its traditional sourdough flatbread, known as injera, down to a fine art.
The teff-based flatbread (teff is a high-fiber, high-iron, tiny grain harvested from an annual grass native to the northeast African highlands), is similar in texture but not ingredients to the Southern Indian dosa, a pancake which also goes through a fermentation process, and a labor-intensive grinding preceding it. (more…)
A Sweeter Tweeter (aka Cakebook)
(Published on Baristanet May 12, 2011)
Never underestimate the power of social media, even if you’re tweeting about cake.
Or the power of cake in general.
It was the savvy Twitter feed and Facebook posts of a young lady from Bloomfield that first alerted the tweet-sensitive antennas of Debbie Galant and me to the alluringly named Cake Seduction.
(more…)
A Spring Birthday!
I like to think of my child-rearing method now as carrot and stick. As in carrot cake and carrot stick. I’m not averse to cake, as you can tell by my well-fed Baked Goods label. But I am averse to anti-cupcake Nazi-types, who only fuel my desire to cheer the pro-life (pro-cake) population by regular and prolific baking. (more…)
Grandpa Mike’s Bubelach
This bubelach is precisely why I set up this blog. To pass on family favorites from one generation to the next 
During our recent visit to London, Grandpa Mike treated the boys to his favorite recipe for bubelach, a fried pancake which uses matzah meal and so, is suitable for Passover consumption. (more…)
Mesiah’s Charoset-Inspired Toffee’s a Revelation
(Published on Baristanet April 15th, 2011)
What could be sweeter than having some charoset at your Seder table made by Mesiah? Not the Messiah, but Nicky Mesiah, Montclair’s own queen of the caramelized confections, who has come up with a charoset-inspired toffee.
I cornered Miss Nicky recently and persuaded her to divulge the secrets of the Delivery of the Enslaved Toffee-Fruit Confection (to your home). (more…)
Mes Reves: Classical French in Bloomfield
(A version of this was published on Baristanet Feb. 18, 2010)
Broad Street in Bloomfield has become a veritable haunt for foodies. With Momoya, Brookside Thai and Pandan, Bohemia and Stamna in close proximity, the slick Mes Reves is in a building all its own – a shiny new star on a block where the other stores and restaurants are stacked shoulder to shoulder.
The restaurant doesn’t let on much from the outside, but I felt my post-work tensions dissipate as I walked into its airy and light interior, where tasteful light fixtures, glass panels, pale yellow upholstery and warm, oak-stained floors come together harmoniously (yet unostentatiously).
Mes Reves (French for my dreams) opened its doors on Feb. 7, and appeared to be off to an encouraging start, enjoying a full house on Valentine’s Day, and a reasonably brisk dining room on subsequent evenings, one of which included familiar faces such as those of Bloomfield’s Mayor Ray McCarthy and several members of the town council. (more…)
Sweets for my Sweet – Marshmallows
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Warning: Mushy content.
This year, like every year since the boys were 5, both sons (now 9 and 10) came home with full lists of their classmates’ names – basically a command from their teachers that they write out noncommittal, non-anonymous Valentine’s Day notes, attach the compulsory Hershey’s kisses to them, and dispatch to all in their classroom – boy, girl or the disinterested (that’d be my offspring). (more…)
