Did Defendant Stick His Nose In It?

Hot night. Where is it cool?

In a diner on Broad Avenue in Palisades Park.

Where is it cooler?

Tags: Palisades Park | Dessert | photography

Classical Window Shopping

On Treat Place at the corner of Branford Place in Newark, there's a clothing store where what flanks the windows is more interesting--to me, anyway--than what is in the windows. Although they do look nice together.

Tags: Newark

Bye-Bye Balthazar

Much of what you are about to see are known in baking as "laminated pastries."

Sounds like something you would break a tooth on but could leave out in the rain for weeks.

The truth, in this case, may not set you free, but it will melt in your mouth.

Tags: Newark | Balthazar Bakery | photography | bakeries

Au Hasard Balthazar

Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) is the story of a donkey.

It is one of the most sad and strangely beautiful movies I have ever seen. It was written and directed by the French filmmaker Robert Bresson, who Roger Ebert once called "a saint of the cinema."

I love all Bresson's movies, but Balthazar may be my favorite. (It's on Netflix.)

The movie has nothing to do with Balthazar Bakery, Plain Sight's tour of which continues today. But it gives me a rare excuse to mention this haunting movie filled with tenderness and cruelty and the unforgettable sound of one forlorn donkey (named Balthazar) braying.

Tags: Englewood | photography | Bread | bakeries | Balthazar Bakery | Bresson, Robert

A Visit to Balthazar Bakery

Whenever I am in Englewood, or just passing by on Route 4, if I can steal a few moments I try to stop at Balthazar on South Dean Street. There you will find both retail shop and the facility (visible through the glass walls of the retail shop) where all their superlative breads, breakfast pastries, and desserts are baked.

Tags: Englewood | Bread | Balthazar Bakery | photography | bakeries

Summer: Half Over?

Tonight is baseball's All-Star Game, signalling the halfway point of the season. When you see store signs like this one, does it mean that summer is half over?

Tags: Bloomfield Avenue | Montclair | Shopping | photography

When "Still Life" Isn't

Many of the pictures I've taken over the years are of things that don't move. Landscapes or still lifes. But they do change. Sometimes overnight.

Friday's Plain Sight picture was a case in point.

Tags: Morristown | photography | parking