Restaurant News and Food Events

The James Beard House, wine consultants, Jeffrey Haveson's Plan B, and five-course wine dinners.

Bragging Rights

It’s an honor for a chef to be invited to cook at the James Beard House, 167 West 12th Street, New York City, and each year more New Jersey chefs are displaying their culinary talent at this venue, where Beard, a chef, a food writer, and the “father of American gastronomy,” lived. On January 30, executive chef Michael Haimowitz from Arthur’s Landing, Weehawken, will present a five-course East Coast Seafood, West Coast Wines dinner. The following menu will be served:

Hors d’oeuvres: lobster sliders; Thai red curry lobster bisque w/ coconut foam; oysters with green apple mignonette; shrimp and scallop spring rolls; and local black sea bass seviche
(Mirabelle Brut Rosé NV, Napa, CA)

Crab sampler: peekytoe crab and cucumber roll; blue claw crab cake and creamy spinach “Rockefeller”; stone crab claw
(2006 Rosenblum Kathy’s Cuvee Viognier, Santa Barbara, CA)

Atlantic bouillabaisse with lobster, day boat monkfish, Taylor Bay scallops, and PEI mussels
(2005 Volker Eisele Gemini White Wine, Napa, CA)

Hook-and-line-caught codfish with chorizo, parsnips, celery root, lobster, and herbs
(2004 Lynmar Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, CA)

Butter-basted diver scallops, hen of the woods risotto cake, and veal cheek and red onion ragout with truffle butter
(2005 Campion Pinot Noir, St. Luis Obispo, CA)

Apple and almond tart with golden raisin-ginger coulis and cinnamon gelato
(2006 Adelsheim Deglacé Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, OR)

7 PM; $155; James Beard Foundation members $125. For reservations call 212-627-2308.

 

Wine Consultants Available

After teaching wine classes for fifteen years on special request, Francis Schott and Mark Pascal, owners of Stage Left and Catherine Lombardi restaurants, both in New Brunswick, have formalized their service with the creation of Restaurant Guys Wine Consulting. They or one of their sommeliers will conduct sessions that range from a stand-up tasting for ten to a classroom-style seminar for 200, and they can supply the wine or use bottles from the host’s cellar. Prices start at $500. For more information call 732-828-4444.

 

When Plan A Doesn’t Work, Dine at Plan B

“What was Plan A?” I asked Jeffrey Haveson, owner of the recently opened Restaurant Plan B, 705 Cookman Avenue, Asbury Park. He told me, “I was working on trying to open a bed-and-breakfast, which fell through, and one night I went on a business-for-sale Web site and found the restaurant space in Asbury Park listed. Since my Plan A didn’t work, I decided to use Plan B.” Some items on the restaurant’s innovative menu, which changes monthly, are: parsnip soup; cassoulet with lamb sausage and braised beans; diver scallops with roasted banana sweet potatoes; braised veal cheeks with flageolet beans; and organic chicken with porcini mushrooms, arugula, and Parmesan truffle cream. For reservations call 732-807-4710; BYO.

 

Food Events

1/28: A "Dinner of Winter Weight Food and Wine" will be held at Vidalia Restaurant, 21 Phillips Ave, Lawrenceville. 7 to 9:30 PM; $85. For reservations call Liquid Learning Center/Joe Canal’s Discount Liquor Outlet at 609-520-0008.

1/29: An "Italian Wine Pairing Dinner" will be held at Il Michelangelo Ristorante, 91 Elcock Ave, Boonton; 7 PM. For information and reservations call 973-316-1111.

1/30: A "Comedy Night Dinner Show" will be held at Brandl, 703 Belmar Plaza, Belmar. 6 PM; $60 plus tax and gratuity. For reservations call 732-280-7501; BYO.

1/30
: A five-course "Bodegas Protos Wine Dinner" will be held at City Vino, 35 Hudson St, Jersey City. 7 PM; $70. For reservations call 201-333-5520.

1/31
: A five-course "Bodegas Protos Wine Dinner" will be held at City Vino, 35 Hudson St, Jersey City. 7 PM; $70. For reservations call 201-333-5520.

2/1
: A "Wine and Chocolate Tasting" will be held at the Hyatt Morristown, 3 Speedwell Ave, Morristown, to benefit Deirdre’s House, a center for children in Morris County who have suffered abuse or neglect or have witnessed domestic violence. 7 to 10 PM; $65. For tickets call 973-285-6620.

2/5
: A "Mardi Gras" cooking class will be held at Andre’s Restaurant & Wine Boutique, 188 Spring St, Newton. 6:30 PM; $65. For reservations call 973-300-4192.

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

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