This contemporary Asian restaurant allows guests to opt for small plates or a multicourse meal at communal sushi and sake bars or at tables located in the intimate restaurant area. Menu highlights include: steamed Thai red snapper; udon noodle soup with duck egg, scallions, and duck confit; octopus salad; buffalo mozzarella tempura; olive-oil-poached salmon; spider roll consisting of soft-shell crab, scallion, and tartar sauce; glazed black cod with cucumber relish; and shiso lamb loin with braised daikon and soy sake reduction. Skewered meat, seafood, and vegetable options are also available from the robatayaki grill. For dessert we can recommend the ice cream sundae with caramel popcorn; strawberry shortcake unlike any we’ve
ever had (the berries were soaked in sake); and a refreshing lemon soufflé.
Shiso lamb. Photo courtesy of Lowell Saferstein.
Sake rules here. Izakaya offers twenty varieties by the glass and a vast array of high-end choices handpicked by the restaurant’s sake sommelier and served in 22-ounce carafes. Signature cocktails (sake sangria, anyone?) and specially imported Japanese beers are also available. Tea service becomes an important element of the dining experience: Guests choose from a selection of leaves that are then freshly brewed at the table. We noticed that customers were given an egg timer so they would know when the tea was ready—an impressive touch.
Entering the restaurant is a visual treat as you walk across a glass bridge set over stones into a multileveled room with large orange dividers, beautiful murals of a Japanese woman, and dim lights. The ambiance is striking and sexy. Izakaya is open from 5 to 11 PM Sundays through Thursdays and from 5 PM to midnight Fridays and Saturdays. Late-night fare will be available from 11 PM to 1 AM Sundays through Thursdays and from 12 AM to 2 AM Fridays and Saturdays. For reservations call 866-MY-BORGATA.
Japanese mural at Izakaya. Photo courtesy of Lowell Saferstein.
A GIFT FOR WINE LOVERS
The Vino2, produced by Taste of Purple, is a very strange-looking 32-ounce wineglass with an indentation in its side and a notch inside, and it’s designed to oxygenate wine quicker than a traditional decanter. NJ stores that carry the glass, which sells for $40, include: Chef Central, Paramus; the Grape Escape, Dayton; Queen Anne Wine & Spirits, Teaneck; Spirit of ’76 Wines & Liquors, Manasquan; and Township Liquors, Piscataway. For more information log on to www.tasteofpurple.com.
Vino2 wineglass.
PIERRE’S, MORRISTOWN
On August 14, a seafood dinner featuring white wines from Italy will be held at Pierre’s Restaurant and Wine Bar, 995 Mount Kemble Avenue, Morristown. The following menu will be served:
Reception: mussels, clams, shrimp, calamari, marinated salmon, and crabmeat
(Nino Franco Prosecco Rustico)
Tuna tartare with wasabi caviar
(2006 Pojer e Sandri Müller Thurgau delle Dolomiti)
Soft-shell crab à la Provençale
(2007 Alois Lageder Lagrein Rosato)
Fresh pasta with lobster and julienne vegetables
(2006 Marco Felluga Molamatta)
Braised striped bass with cucumbers
(2005 Inama Vigneti di Foscarino Soave Classico)
Blueberry tart and crème fraîche
(2006 Paolo Saracco Moscato d’Asti)
7 PM; $95 including tax and gratuity; casual dress. For reservations call 973-425-1212.
THE MADISON BAR & GRILL, HOBOKEN
Some of the new items on the summer menu at the Madison Bar & Grill, 1316 Washington Street, Hoboken, are: crab cake, shrimp po’ boy, meatball, tuna, or BBQ pulled pork sliders; Thai beef salad; pan-roasted cod with fried rice, Asian julienne vegetables, and coconut curry sauce; and green apple spring rolls with Tahitian vanilla gelato. For reservations call 201-386-0300.
A PEACHY TIME
On August 12, children from preschool to age eight, and their parents, can participate in a Peach Read & Pick event that will be held at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road, Princeton. Kids will pick the fruit and listen to stories about peaches. 9:30 or 11 AM; $7 per child. For more information and directions call the Terhune farm store at 609-924-2310.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO GRISSINI, ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS
August 4 through 7, Grissini Ristorante, 484 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, will be celebrating its fifteen-year anniversary with a special five-course Venetian Tasting prix-fixe menu for $75 plus beverages, tax, and gratuity. The following menu will be presented; guests may choose one appetizer, pasta, second course, and dessert.
Appetizer: Dungeness crab with pencil asparagus and pear tomatoes; Venetian-style sweet and sour sardine; grilled assorted seafood
Pasta: Venetian black squid ink risotto; homemade taglierini tossed with langoustine and arugula; homemade pappardelle tossed with duck ragu
Intermezzo: sgroppino drink made with lemon sorbet, vodka, and Prosecco
Secondi: whole imported branzino baked in a wood-burning oven; pan-seared grouper in a sauce of baby artichokes and Prosecco; sliced prime sirloin steak
Dessert: pear poached in Veneto Merlot with vanilla gelato; Venetian fried cream.
Grissini will serve this menu each day during the promotion from 5 to 11 PM. For reservations call 201-568-3535.
WIN A YEAR’S WORTH OF ICE CREAM
Ice cream lovers, take note: My Signature Sundae contest, to celebrate National Ice Cream Month, is being held at the Pop Shop, 729 Haddon Avenue, Collingswood. It’s easy to win. Just submit your personal sundae recipe, along with the name of your dish, to the Pop Shop by September 3. Sundaes will be judged on creativity, taste, and name; the winning recipe must be able to be recreated at the Pop Shop. For more information and to submit online log on to www.thepopshopusa.com.
WINE WINNERS
Only 73 restaurants around the world can claim the distinction of earning the Grand Award from Wine Spectator magazine, which honors extraordinary wine programs. Two NJ restaurants are on the list: Park & Orchard, East Rutherford, which has won the award since 1991, and Restaurant Latour, Hardyston, which has won it each year since 2006.
Some of the eighteen NJ restaurants that were awarded the second-tier Best of Award of Excellence, which gives special recognition to lists that display vintage depth or excellent breadth across several wine regions, are: Berta’s Chateau, Wanaque; Le Petit Chateau, Bernardsville; the Bernards Inn, Bernardsville; the Pluckemin Inn, Bedminster; and the Manor, West Orange.
The Award of Excellence is a basic award for lists that offer a well-chosen selection of quality producers along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style. A few of the 78 NJ restaurants that earned this honor are: Copeland, Morristown; Doris & Ed’s, Highlands; Huntley Tavern, Summit; Light Horse Tavern, Jersey City; Napa Valley Grille, Paramus; Restaurant Nicholas, Middletown; Restaurant Serenade, Chatham; the Frog and the Peach, New Brunswick; and Varka Estiatorio, Ramsey.
LOOKING AHEAD
Nisi’ Estiatorio will be opening at the end of September at 90 Grand Avenue, Englewood. The executive chef is John Tsakinis.
DINING DEALS
Avenue, Pier Village, 23 Ocean Avenue, Long Branch, has a daily three-course prix-fixe dinner from 5 to 6 PM for $28.95. On Tuesdays during the summer, this offer is available all evening. For reservations call 732-759-2900.
The Merion Inn, 106 Decatur Street at Columbia Avenue, Cape May, has an early bird and night owl prix-fixe menu for patrons seated before 5:30 PM or after 8:30 PM (after 9:30 PM on Saturdays); $16.95 for two courses; $18.95 for three courses. For reservations call 609-884-8363.
Chez Catherine, 431 North Avenue West, Westfield, has a $20.08 two-course lunch-special menu Tuesdays through Fridays. Call 908-654-4011 for reservations.
Cork, 90 Haddon Avenue, Westmont, is offering “penny pinching promotions” with a 777 offer that features three items from the Cafe Menu for $21. This promotion is good at the bar Sundays through Thursdays from 4:30 PM until closing. For more information call 856-833-9800.
Pheasant’s Landing, 311 Amwell Road, Hillsborough, offers a special three-course prime rib dinner on Tuesday evenings for $16.50. For reservations call 908-281-1288.
Please send press releases and restaurant news, including information on staff changes, wine tastings, and cooking classes, to [email protected].