Restaurant News

This week Rosie tells us about the Strip House in Livingston, Bin 14 in Hoboken, and much more news about NJ dining.

STRIP HOUSE, LIVINGSTON

It’s not all steaks at the Strip House, Westminster Hotel, 550 West Mount Pleasant Avenue, Livingston. Yes, a 24-ounce center-cut Châteaubriand or 40-ounce porterhouse for two, NY strip, filet mignon, and 22-ounce rib eye are available, but so are yellowfin tuna, red snapper, Maine lobster, linguine, chicken, veal T-bone, Colorado lamb chops, and Maine lobster. Both carnivores and piscators can be satisfied here.

We munched on a variety of warm breads while reading the menu. Lowell opted for a three-course prix-fixe menu (with choices), which is offered daily between 5:30 and 7 PM for $49. His crisp and refreshing Caesar salad and tender and flavorful petite filet mignon were top-notch. The excellent Stilton cheese on my à la carte iceberg salad with tomatoes, shredded carrots, and radishes created enough difference in this steak-house classic to raise it above other comparable salads. Colorado lamb, my favorite, consisted of double-cut chops perfectly cooked medium-rare and served with a white bean stew. I personally could have done without the white beans but not without the addictive sides of black truffle creamed spinach (beautifully served in a copper pot) and string beans with garlic. Lowell passed on dessert options of profiteroles or warm chocolate cobbler with ice cream to share a baked Alaska with me. This highly recommended dessert had milk chocolate and butter pecan ice creams in the middle, covered with meringue (we were told it was an Italian meringue that was cooked before being placed on the ice cream—who knew?), then plated with vanilla crème anglaise and garnished with chopped candied pecans. We finished the whole thing, and I would have been happy to lick the plate.

 

Strip House baked Alaska.
Photo courtesy of Lowell Saferstein.

We had a bottle of the private label 2007 Strip House Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, a smooth wine full of fruit flavors that was created to complement the restaurant’s signature charred steaks. It sells for $15 a glass and $60 a bottle.

Both executive chef John Schenk and chef de cuisine Bill Zucosky were in the kitchen the night we dined there, and they graciously spent time with us answering questions; they were extremely knowledgeable as well as entertaining. Chef Schenk is also responsible for the Livingston, New York City, Houston, Naples, Key West, Puerto Rico, and Las Vegas locations.

The Strip House is open for breakfast daily, lunch Monday through Friday, Sunday brunch, and dinner daily. For reservations call 973-548-0050.

 

Double-cut lamb chops from the Strip House.
Photo courtesy of Lowell Saferstein.

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BIN 14, HOBOKEN

Bin 14 Trattoria & Wine Bar, 1314 Washington Street, Hoboken, is now serving lunch weekdays from 11 AM to 3 PM. Along with more than 35 wines by the glass and 90 bottle choices, menu items include cheese and/or cured meat plates, salads, bruschettas, pizzas, and panini. Want to share? Try the polenta cakes with goat cheese and honey, spicy lamb sausage over peperonata, crispy calamari, fried risotto with Fontina, crispy sweetbreads, and much more. For more information call 201-963-9463.

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GOOD TABLE MANNERS CLASS

On June 6, spend quality time with your child and learn proper social and dining manners at an Etiquette Class at the Bernards Inn, 27 Mine Brook Road, Bernardsville. The class is designed for children ages seven and older and includes a four-course lunch. Noon to 2:30 PM; $75 per child and $50 per adult; tax and gratuity included. For more information and reservations call Lauren Montemarano at 908-766-0002.

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FARMERS’ MARKET FARE WITH CHEF MARK SMITH

Every Saturday, watch Chef Mark Smith, owner of the Tortilla Press, 703 Haddon Avenue, Collingswood, cook at the Collingswood Farmers’ Market with the fresh produce that is available. He also brings his commercial juicer to sell fresh-squeezed orange juice. For more information and dinner reservations at the Tortilla Press call 856-869-3345.

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CRAWFISH SEASON

Feast on crawfish shipped live from the bayou at Oddfellows Restaurant, 80 River Street, Hoboken, where every Tuesday night through June 30 they are cooked with Cajun spices and served by the pound. For more information and reservations call 201-656-9009.

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YAPPY HOUR AT RESTAURANT.MC, MILLBURN

On June 3 from 5:30 to 7 PM, Yappy Hour will be held at restaurant.mc, 57 Main Street, Millburn, with all dogs and their owners welcome. There will be special gourmet doggie treats, bottled water for the dogs, and complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres for their humans. Sidewalk café only. For reservations call 973-921-0888.

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DINING DEALS

Cinque Figlie, 302 Whippany Road, Whippany (973-560-0545), has specials through August that will go easy on your pocketbook. On Mondays, choose from six appetizers for $6 each, including crisp pizzas, buffalo fried calamari, and Italian egg rolls. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, six house wines are offered for $5 a glass. On Wednesdays, choose from ten bottles of wine for $20 each. On Fridays, ten dinner entrées are offered for $18 each, with choices such as veal Parmesan, chicken Gorgonzola, shrimp fra diavolo, filet of salmon, and short ribs with risotto.

David Burke Fromagerie, 26 Ridge Road, Rumson, is offering a $29 three-course prix-fixe diner menu Tuesdays through Fridays. On Sundays, a $20.09 menu is served all day. For more information and reservations call 732-842-8088.

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Please send press releases and restaurant news, including information on staff changes, wine tastings, and cooking classes, to [email protected].

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