ROCCA, GLEN ROCK
We first ate at Rocca, which means “rock fortress” in Italian, sometime after it opened in July 2004. We were sorry it took us so long to return to this casual BYO, as all the dishes we tried recently were instant pleasures. Rocca, at 203 Rock Road, Glen Rock, is different from your standard Italian red sauce establishment because the menu is not strictly Italian. There were eclectic offerings such as an entrée special of grilled salmon with spicy mango and pineapple salsa and grilled scallions that was so good I would love to re-create it at home. Scrumptious vanilla-glazed sea scallops with orange, butternut, and cranberry barlotto (a risotto-type dish made with pearl barley) and a sweet shallot and port wine reduction was a spin on the shellfish that I had never tasted before. Yes, you can order Italian classics such as pappardelle Bolognese, veal parmigiana, and chicken Marsala, but it’s fun to experience diverse menu items such as roasted cauliflower with creamy parmigiana sauce; cauliflower ravioli; and blue cheese potato gnocchi with caramelized onions, smoked bacon, and sweet and spicy pepper sauce. Pasta aficionados should try the five-course pasta tasting offered each Thursday, which includes tasting portions of four house-made pastas and a special dessert for $26.95 per person. The entire table is not required to participate. Service was very attentive in that we were asked a few times by not only the waiter but also the manager if everything was okay. We were also impressed that when a dining companion asked if he could substitute pasta for polenta with his osso buco, the change was made graciously. For reservations call 201-670-4945.
Grilled salmon with spicy mango and pineapple salsa and grilled scallions at Rocca.
Photo courtesy of Lowell Saferstein.
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RESTAURANTS FOR A CURE
On May 7, a Restaurants for a Cure event to benefit Share Our Strength, an organization that works toward ending childhood hunger, will be held at the Park Avenue Club, 184 Park Avenue, Florham Park. Participants include: the Bernards Inn, Boulevard Five 72, Church Street Kitchen, Due Mari, Due Terre Enoteca, Fascino, Grand Cru, Park Avenue Club, Restaurant Serenade, Stone House at Stirling Ridge, and Yuki Hana Sushi. Meet celebrity guests Greg Buttle of the New York Jets, Food Network “DJ chef” Marc Weiss, Vinnie Tunnero of Style Network’s Split Ends, and Food Network’s Robin Dorian at the VIP reception at 6 PM; $75. General admission, 7 to 10 PM, $50. For tickets call 888-273-6141.
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AVENUE, LONG BRANCH
Executive chef Dominique Filoni has recently come on board at Avenue, Pier Village, 23 Ocean Avenue, Long Branch. He was formerly chef/owner of Savona in Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania, where in 2004 he was included in Food & Wine magazine’s “America’s Best New Chefs.” His last position was at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C. Some of the offerings on his spring menu are roasted asparagus with mushroom sauce; steak frites; salad niçoise; salt-crusted whole fish for two; and paella with saffron rice, chorizo, lobster, clams, mussels, and sweet peas for two. Avenue offers a three-course prix-fixe dinner from 4:30 to 6 PM daily for $28.95 and all night on Tuesdays, plus a happy hour daily from 4 to 8 PM with all martini cocktails for $5 and littlenecks and oysters from 75 cents. For reservations call 732-759-2900.
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NEW LUNCH MENU AT GIUMARELLO’S, WESTMONT
Giumarello’s Restaurant and G Bar, 329 Haddon Avenue, Westmont, has a new lunch menu that includes a grilled prime burger with roasted balsamic onions, Gruyere, and applewood-smoked bacon; lobster Cobb salad; ahi tuna panini wrap; and grilled steak salad. For more information and reservations call 856-858-9400.
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CAPE MAY HAPPENINGS
Will you be able to solve the whodunit at the murder mystery dinner or luncheon at Aleathea’s Restaurant, Inn of Cape May, 7 Ocean Street, Cape May? On Friday and Saturday, May 1 and 2, at 7 PM, enjoy a four-course dinner for $45 per person. On Sunday, May 3, at 1 PM, a four-course luncheon for $30 per person will be featured. For reservations call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278, or visit www.capemaymac.org. For information about restaurants, accommodations, and shopping, call the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May at 609-884-5508.
On Sunday, May 3, visit Cape May Winery, Turdo Vineyards, and Natali Vineyards as part of the Cape May Wine Trail promotion. Start with lunch at the Carriage House Tearoom and Cafe, Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington Street, Cape May, followed by a trolley ride to the wineries. Noon to 5 PM; $75. For reservations call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278.
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DUE TERRE ENOTECA, BERNARDSVILLE
It’s spring at Due Terre Enoteca, 107 Morristown Road, Bernardsville, with primavera pasta, grilled asparagus salad with tangerine crema, strawberry rhubarb crostata, and pizza on the new seasonal menu. Happy hour is celebrated on weeknights from 4:30 to 6 PM, with 20 percent off specialty cocktails and complimentary antipasti, as well as 15 percent off lunchtime takeout. For reservations call 908-221-0040.
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ARTHUR SCHWARTZ A WINNER
Congratulations to radio personality and author Arthur Schwartz, whose book Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited won the award for 2008 Best Cookbook on an American subject from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
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LIDIA BASTIANICH WILL BE IN NJ
On May 2 from 1 to 3 PM, meet Lidia Bastianich; get a signed copy of her latest cookbook, Lidia’s Italy: 140 Simple and Delicious Recipes From the Ten Places in Italy Lidia Loves Most, at the special price of $24.99; and taste Bastianich wines at Stew Leonard’s Wines of Clifton, 345 Allwood Road, Clifton. For more information call 973-859-7700.
And mark your calendar for May 7, as Lidia will be at Gary’s Wine and Marketplace, 1308 Route 23 North, Wayne (973-633-3900), for a book signing and wine tasting from 5 to 7:30 PM; free. For more information call 973-633-3900.
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DINING DEALS
A slider with bacon and cheese, spicy tuna hand roll, wild mushroom spring roll, and ricotta and ham croquette are a few of the new $2 happy hour menu items offered from 4 to 7 PM Mondays through Fridays at Chakra Restaurant, West 144 Route 4 East, Paramus. For more information and dinner reservations call 201-556-1530.
David Burke Fromagerie, 26 Ridge Road, Rumson, is offering a three-course dinner for $29 on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings. A Sunday special brunch and dinner prix-fixe menu is $20.09. For reservations call 732-842-8088.
Transport yourself to France with a meal at Madeleine’s Petit Paris, 416 Tappan Road, Northvale, which has a weekday prix-fixe lunch for $19.50, prix-fixe dinner for $28.50, and prix-fixe brunch for $24.50. On Tuesday nights, you can BYO without a corkage fee. For reservations call 201-767-0063.
On Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, Restaurant Lorena, 168 Maplewood Avenue, Maplewood, is offering a three-course prix-fixe dinner for $39 along with the à la carte spring menu. For reservations call 973-763-4460; BYO.
Verve Restaurant, 18 East Main Street, Somerville, invites parties of six or fewer to BYO without a corkage fee. For reservations call 908-707-8655.
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