BASILICO, MILLBURN
It’s hard not to fill up on the quality breads (garlic, raisin, Italian, and focaccia) served with white bean dip, spicy sun-dried tomato spread, butter, and olive oil at Basilico, 324 Millburn Avenue, Millburn (BYO). But pace yourself, as you do want to save room for the desserts created by pastry chef Donna Sardella, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute who worked previously at Le Cirque in NYC. More on her later.
For appetizers we highly recommend the fried rice balls stuffed with peas, meat sauce, pecorino, and caciocavallo cheese or any of the pasta dishes, which are dynamite. We tried the rich pappardelle with lamb ragù; a delectable short, wide pasta with artichokes, sweet peas, purée of fresh fava beans, and asparagus; and an unusual dish of ravioli filled with pear and goat cheese in a fresh thyme and butter sauce. Entrées were also winners. Lamb osso buco with creamy risotto fell off the bone. Not-often-seen sautéed calf’s liver with caramelized onions and soft polenta was a dish we wouldn’t hesitate to order again. Seared sea scallops and shrimp, tasting fresh from the sea, were enhanced by a black truffle sauce with sweet peas and wild mushrooms. A sizable portion of grouper picked up flavor from an herbed white wine sauce and was accompanied by sautéed spinach.
We’ve never had a dessert here that we didn’t like. Our newest favorite is the mini lemon Bundt cake with lemon sorbet, an energizing, lip-puckering creation. Chocolate lovers can opt for a decadent chocolate sampler or the chocolate fondue served with a peanut butter brownie, fruit, almond cake, and biscotti. Another sampler that gives you an indication of Sardella’s palate consists of crème brûlée, baked Alaska made with almond pound cake, and a chocolate banana phyllo wrap. Sardella is also known for her soufflés, with flavors that change daily. Basilico has won the Open Table Diners’ Choice Award each year since 2009. For reservations, call 973-379-7020.
Basilico rice balls.
Photo courtesy of Lowell Saferstein.
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TOUGH COOKIES ON FOOD NETWORK
A new TV reality series on the Food Network called Tough Cookies will premiere on July 11 at 10 PM and air weekly on Mondays at 10 PM throughout the summer. It features the bakery Crazy Susan’s Cookies, located at 1345 West Avenue, Ocean City, with Susan Adair, her sister Linda Brand, their multigenerational family, their employees, and the customers who form lines outside their establishment. Gourmet cookies are featured at the store, including Almond Joy, peanut butter chip, chocolate chip with M&M’s, and the Crazy Turtle, which was selected to be the Snack of the Day on the Rachael Ray Show. Cookies can be ordered online and shipped nationally. For more information, log on to www.crazysusanscookies.com.
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OUR QUEST FOR THE ULTIMATE NJ STEAK HOUSE
In our quest to find the ultimate steak house in NJ, we tried the newly opened J&K Steakhouse at 56 South Street in Morristown. It’s owned by Chef Jarod Zelaya, who also owns a restaurant of the same name in Dover.
Along with an à la carte menu, J&K offers a three-course prix-fixe menu for $43 and a four-course prix-fixe for $48, with enough options to allow diners to have a good-quality meal at a very reasonable price. Four of us opted for the three-course menu and started with the impressive iceberg salad loaded with bacon, tomatoes, red onions, and blue cheese and the Caesar salad, which was crisp and deliciously dressed. There were four entrée options; three are recommended. The sixteen-ounce bone-in rib eye listed as prime dry aged was tasty but not the best we’ve had. The ten-ounce prime wet-aged steak and the thirteen-ounce NY prime dry-aged strip were highly praised. The grilled swordfish had an ammonia smell, making it inedible. When we mentioned this to the server, she immediately returned to the kitchen to tell the chef and then reported back to us that the dish smelled that way because of the mango cubes that topped it. No offer was made to replace the fish. Desserts, all made in house, were terrific. We had crème brûlée; a brownie with vanilla ice cream; outrageously delicious apple bread pudding with rum raisin ice cream; and cheesecake. With coffee and cappuccino, tax, and tip, the bill was less than $60 a person. For reservations, call 973-998-8061; BYO.
We had a mixed experience at Wayne Steakhouse, 2230 Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne, which was recently opened by former waiter Tony Prelvukaj and cook Tomazs Pogorzelski from Peter Luger in Brooklyn. The perfectly dressed Caesar salad for two, with its crunchy lettuce and croutons, was excellent, and the double-cut veal chop was tender and full of flavor. The accompanying fried onions were addictive. Wayne Steakhouse’s menu states that the restaurant serves USDA prime dry-aged beef, but my rib eye on the bone was not juicy, loaded with flavor, or tender. A side of sautéed broccoli was soggy, and the German chocolate cake, brought in like all the desserts, was dry. For reservations, call 973-616-0047; BYO.
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NJ CHEF AT BEARD HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY
On July 18, executive chef Manuel Perez from the Peacock Inn, Princeton, will present a Summer Rosé Celebration dinner at the James Beard House, 167 West 12th Street, NYC. The following New American menu paired with rosé wines will be served.
Hors d’oeuvres: Hudson Valley foie gras torchon with summer berry jam and maple-balsamic gastrique; truffled mushroom and eggplant tarts; house-made gravlax tartare with roasted lemon vinaigrette; surf and turf (filet mignon and lobster with chimichurri); lamb carpaccio with harissa, feta, and mâche
(Mumm Napa Brut Rosé NV)
Raw black sea bass with olives, capers, and sun-dried tomato–citrus oil
(2009 Sauvion Rosé d’Anjou)
Ricotta gnocchi with local asparagus, cherry tomato confit, and morel-butter sauce
(2010 Francis Ford Coppola Sofia Rosé)
Roasted Atlantic halibut with heirloom tomato panzanella and banyuls verjus
(2009 Triennes Rosé)
Seared Long Island duck breast with almond pain perdu, gingered cherries, and almonds
(2009 Chateau d’Aqueria Tavel Rosé)
Pineapple-coconut mille-feuille with guava caramel and macadamia nut brittle
(Alba Vineyard Forbidden NV)
7 PM; $170, James Beard Foundation members $130. Call 212-627-2308 for reservations.
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THE POP SHOP, COLLINGWOOD
On July 14 from 6:30 to 9:30 PM, a tribute to the Beatles with live vocals and live bass guitar, along with state-of-the-art drum and guitar tracks to re-create the sounds of a live Beatles performance, will be held at the Pop Shop, 729 Haddon Avenue, Collingswood. Twenty percent of the food and beverage sales will be donated to the Food Bank of South Jersey. The Pop Shop menu includes 30 kinds of grilled cheese, a dozen varieties of from-scratch pancakes, build-your-own burgers, creative blue plate entrées, salads, sandwiches, hand-cut fries, and soda fountain favorites such as sundaes, splits, and milkshakes. Breakfast is served all day. For more information, call 856-869-0111.
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DAVID BURKE FROMAGERIE, RUMSON
On Thursdays throughout the summer, David Burke Fromagerie, 26 Ridge Road, Rumson, is featuring a three-course lobster bake for $39 that includes an appetizer; mussels, clams, seasonal Jersey Fresh summer vegetables, and a one-pound lobster served in a beach pail; and dessert. For reservations, call 732-842-8088.
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