2014 Diners’ Guide For Ethical Eating
ROC (Restaurant Opportunities Centers) United’s 3rd annual Diners’ Guide to Ethical Eating (now available as both a printable guide and a free app) reveals labor practices of 100 of the most profitable full-service and fast-food restaurants in the US, and highlights a wide variety of “high-road” employer partners in LA, Oakland, Chicago, Houston, New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York City, Washington DC, and Miami.
“Our Diners’ Guide invites consumers to stand with workers for fair wages and include sustainable labor practices in the food movement,” says Saru Jayaraman, ROC United’s co-director, and author of Behind the Kitchen Door. “The recent fast-food strikes demonstrate that workers are fed up with poverty wages, but McDonalds and the fast-food industry are just a drop in the bucket. Our guide equips everyone who goes out to eat to demand fair wages from their favorite restaurants, as well as the 100 most popular places in the US. 2014 can be the year that corporate restaurant brands adopt living wages, but it will take both workers and consumers to make it happen.”
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FOOD EVENTS
Thursday, February 6
Glenfiddich single-malt scotch whiskey & The Balvenie single-malt scotch whiskey invite loyal fans to join whiskey expert, Struan Ralph, to enjoy a five-course paired tasting at the Peacock Inn(20 Bayard Lane, Princeton; 609-924-1707); 6:30 PM. Call for price; reservations required.
Friday, February 7
Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
The Borgata kicks off the 2014 Savor Borgata Culinary series with The Old Homestead Jack Daniel’s Whiskey Dinner at the Old Homestead Steak House. Following a meet-and-greet reception at Studio One in the event center with a Jack Daniel’s Special Whiskey and passed hors d’oeuvres, guests will enjoy a four-course tasting menu prepared by executive chef Romeo DiBona, with Jack Daniel’s whiskey. Each guest will receive a personally engraved 750ml bottle of Borgata’s Signature Selection of Jack Daniel’s. Tickets start at $199 per person and are available for purchase online, or call 609-317-1000.
Saturday, February 8
Yves’ing Dinner
Chef Patrick Yves Pierre-Jerome will prepare a delicious five-course dinner at 6:30 PM. Dress casually and bring your own wine. To make a reservation, contact [email protected]; 973-600-4235; $70, payable in cash on arrival at St James Episcopal Church, 581 Valley Road, Montclair.
Wednesday, February 12
Pilsener Haus & Biergarten (1422 Grand St (corner Grand & 15th Streets), Hoboken; 201-683-5465) will host a 4-course Weisse Bier Dinner, featuring Chef Thomas Ferlesch’s Austro-Hungarian cuisine and the Weisse Biers (wheat beers) of Schneider-Weisse Brewery. Guests will enjoy a delicious dinner, paired with a full spectrum of weisse biers from the world’s oldest wheat beer brewery, which has been making wheat beer since 1607. The dinner is $60 per person (excluding gratuity), 7 PM. Tickets are available here.
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VALENTINE’S DINE + EXPERIENCE
Restaurant Nicholas (160 Route 35 South, Red Bank; 732-345-9977) will be offering a three-course Valentine’s Day at $105 per person (plus tax and gratuity) on February 14, 15 and 16.
Salt Creek Grille (4 Bingham Ave, Rumson; 732-933-9272), one of New Jersey’s most popular waterfront restaurants, will offer a prix-fixe menu $125 per couple (plus tax and gratuity). The prix-fixe menu is available Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 5 PM. Salt Creek Grille’s regular menu is available on Saturday and Sunday as well as Salt Creek Grille’s popular Limitless Sunday Champagne Brunch from 11 AM – 2:30 PM. Adults $32, and children 12 years old and under $12.
On Friday, February 14, the Atlantic City Bottle Company (648 N Albany Ave., Atlantic City; 609-348-6400) with host "Ice Wines Exclusives," which will feature a sampling of beautiful ice wines with a cheese pairing. Guests are invited to stick around for a special Valentine’s prix-fixe dinner. $65 per person, plus a wine pairing. Reservations are required.
Valentine’s Day at Red Knot Restaurant (3 Golf Drive, Kenilworth; 908-241-221) at the Galloping Hill Golf Course will feature a three-course prix-fixe designed by chef Ralph Romano, offering main course selections such as of rack of lamb with eggplant puree, artichokes, grapes, cannellini beans with a tomato cumin sauce, or a surf and turf selection with Sterling filet mignon and tempura lobster lollipops. The regular dinner menu will be available. The prix-fixe is $55 per person plus sales tax and 18% gratuity. Reservation times run every half hour starting at 5 PM to 9 PM. Please be prepared to leave a credit card number to hold your reservation.
It’s not White Castle , it’s the Love Castle. Nationwide White Castle locations, including South Plainfield (2314 S Clinton Ave; 908-753-0822), are accepting reservations for its annual Valentine’s Day dinner, but hurry tables are booking fast. White Castle invites couples, families and groups of friends for a special evening with new menu items, tableside service, unique photo opportunities and themed decorations. Returning this year will be the popular cheesecake-on-a-stick for dessert lovers. For those craving something more exotic–shrimp nibblers will be back on the menu. This fun alternative to a traditional dinner has been a popular staple for Cravers across the country for more than 20 years. This year, White Castle has expanded hours (5 PM–9:30 PM) because of the demand for reservations. Visit the White Castle website to find information about the event hours and phone number to call to make reservations.
Crystal Springs Resort (3 Wild Turkey Way, Hamburg; 973-827-5996) offers an array of Valentine’s options throughout the weekend. Restaurant Latour will serve a 4-course menu ($115, $150 with wine pairing) from Thursday, February 13 to Saturday, February 15. (The regular menu will also be available on 2/13 and 2/15, although not on 2/14.) Couples can also opt to have a rare dining experience in the renowned 135,000 bottle Wine Cellar’s Bordeaux Room on February, 14 at 7 PM. Guests will enjoy a 4-course menu created by executive chef Timothy Fischer ($100, $150 with wine pairing). Crystal Tavern will offer a 5-course menu ($80, $115 with wine pairing) and and an Italian Valentine’s menu at Springs Bistro ($70) served on February 14 and 15. The a la carte menu will also be available at each restaurant. The Grand Cascades Lodge offers a romantic dine and spa package for the weekend (rates start at $892.60) and include a luxury room, couples chardonnay massage, dinner for two at Crystal Tavern, and a romance basket with bubble bath, bottle of champagne, chocolate covered strawberry candies, and more.
Two Wine & Chocolate Trail Weekends Set
Leading wineries throughout New Jersey will provide the setting for a pair of romantic weekends in February to celebrate Valentine’s Day when the Garden State Wine Growers Association presents its annual Wine & Chocolate Wine Trail Weekend, February 8-9 and Feb. 15-16 at participating wineries throughout New Jersey. The trails feature wine tastings and chocolate samplings from noon-5 PM. at participating wineries, showcasing the award-winning New Jersey wines being produced by the more than 40 wineries now operating throughout the state. From the Skylands in Northern Sussex County to the tip of Cape May, six different wine trails await you. Each winery along the way will offer wine tastings, tours, live music and other entertainment, special food preparation or dinners, as part of this special Wine & Chocolate Wine Trail Weekend. To access maps to the six trails and to learn what special event each winery has to offer, visit their website.
Chef Anthony Micari of The Ebbitt Room at The Virginia Hotel (25 Jackson St, Cape May; 609-884-5700) has created a four-course tasting menu made for romance, served with a complimentary glass of champagne. $75 per person excluding tax and gratuity. A la carte options are also available. For couples, the Savor Romance Slowly package includes accommodations, chocolate-covered strawberries and a split of champagne, dining credit for The Ebbitt Room ($110), which can be used towards the special Valentine’s Day dinner or any other night a la carte (reservations required at time of booking), breakfast for two in bed, 2 PM late checkout, valet parking. Reservations are required.
Sea Oaks Golf Club (99 Golf View Dr, Little Egg Harbor Township) is offering four courses for $69.95 per couple. Guests select two appetizers, two salads, and two entrees from options like St. Valentine’s shrimp pappardelle–wide pappardelle noodle pasta, tossed with sautéed jumbo white shrimp, shiitake mushrooms and broccoli rabe, and slow-roasted prime rib slow-roasted rib of beef. A dessert sampler for two will follow. Alcohol beverages and taxes and gratuities not included. If you’d like to stay, Sea Oaks is offering the Valentine’s Day Weekend Ultimate Dinner/Stay Package for $139.95 per couple, including four-course dinner for two, accommodations, and a complimentary bottle of champagne, or bottle of house wine (plus tax and gratuities).