Wednesday, July 4, 2012
A journey to five local bars, sampling 20 different beers.
Editor's Note: In the spirit of the steamy season, we're running this piece again. It's hot out there and cool brew might bring down the temperature... at least for a while. Summer is upon us and there's only one appropriate way I can think to herald the tolerable weather: a frosty glass of beer on tap at a local bar. Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face and I can't help but let out a content little sigh. Warm weather and beer are a fair maiden and her perfect match, a milkmaid and her heifer, a bearded lady and her beard... Yes, I could go on, but I'll spare you. In the name of journalism, I hit up five local bars in one night to see who offered what and how they compared. Alas, I'm only one person, so I had to limit the testing…
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Bunny's Sports Bar
12 W South Orange Ave, South Orange, NJ
/articles/battle-of-the-beer-the-best-brews-on-tap
5680
/locations/7358902
40.746253
-74.259556
Gaslight Brewery & Restaurant
15 S Orange Ave, South Orange, NJ
/articles/battle-of-the-beer-the-best-brews-on-tap
5195
/locations/7358903
40.745188
-74.259763
Cryan's Beef & Ale House
24 1st St, South Orange, NJ
/articles/battle-of-the-beer-the-best-brews-on-tap
5295
/locations/7358904
40.731077
-74.277902
167 Maplewood Ave, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/battle-of-the-beer-the-best-brews-on-tap
/locations/7358905
40.722487
-74.284122
2208 Millburn Ave, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/battle-of-the-beer-the-best-brews-on-tap
/locations/7358906
Monday, September 21, 2009
A look at a gourmet cooking club based in South Orange and Maplewood.
The assignment: Cook an entire South Asian dinner using some form of coconut in every dish. Sounds like an episode of "Iron Chef" or "Top Chef," right? Nope, just the regular monthly gathering of the South Orange Maplewood Gourmet Cooking Club. I've been a member since it first began two years ago. I'm having a ball with it and find myself looking forward to the third Tuesday of every month. There are eight members who rotate the preparation of each dish. The host (every member hosts once every eight months) gets to choose the month's theme and makes the main course. Each of the other members covers a different single category each month: appetizers, soup/salad, vegetable, starch, dessert or beverages. The final person is an alternate, …
Monday, September 14, 2009
There's more than one way to make a healthful, yet delectable salad.
I'll admit it. I gained 10 pounds this summer. I blame the weekly cookouts. And far too much ice cream. And beer. Not to mention that dang bacon cheddar cornbread. Why couldn't I just stop after one generously sized piece? With that in mind, I'm apprehensive about the holidays that will be descending on us before we know it, followed by the comfort food cooking that calls to me come winter. Uh oh, someone's going to have to roll me out of the house come spring. To try to get everything back in check, it's high time we talk about salads. They make great side dishes and even better meals. Lettuces and greens don't grow well in the direct heat of summer, but you'll start seeing them come back in force to the farmers markets this fall, as they…
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-74.276864
Kings Super Market
159 Maplewood Ave, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/did-summer-make-you-fat-10-fall-salad-ideas-2
3640
/locations/74970
Friday, August 21, 2009
A look at farmers markets this year compared to last: what's different, what's selling and what's not.
Where we get our ingredients is often as important as what we do with them. Watch any food show, read any food book or talk to any chef and the first thing they’ll tell you is to start with the freshest, highest-quality ingredients you can afford. With that in mind, I went to the capital of fresh, minimally-shipped and stored produce, the local farmers market. I peppered the poor vendors with questions, wanting to know how the economy and weather have impacted them, how business is and if customers' buying patterns have changed. A big difference all of the farmers mentioned has more to do with the weather than anything else. Most vendors sell a combination of what they grow themselves and what they buy from other farms. Since our farmers …
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Take advantage of fresh, inexpensive corn this summer with this delicious dish.
It's Farmers' Market season and to me, that means loads of good corn at cheap prices. Decent corn is so seasonal, I tend to load my summer cooking with it, buying it every week to use one way or another. I'll steam it and grill it whole or I'll include it in any dish I can, like salads, chili, soups and the best of all... cornbread. In my not-so-humble opinion, if it doesn't have fresh corn in it, it's not real cornbread. A little bit of cornmeal does not make a cornbread. I'm a pretty flexible guy and don't believe in a right and wrong when it comes to cooking, but I'll go 12 rounds with you on this if I need to. To welcome corn season, I present to you my most-requested party dish of the summer, my Bacon Cheddar Cornbread. I'll admit it…
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Under the tent on Springfield Avenue, delicious flavors are grilled at the new Ribs by Rufus.
On a strip of Springfield Avenue in Maplewood is a scene that looks like it belongs at the Jersey shore. At the cross section of Boyden and Springfield avenues sits the peppy Chris & Cathy's Coney Island Grill—known for its Italian hot dogs—complete with a sweet shack and picnic tables. But the piste de resistance is a new addition this summer, housed under a yellow- and white-striped tent in the parking lot. Ribs by Rufus is a gem, an authentic Southern take on BBQ by Atlanta native Rufus Alexander. I was able to hang out under the tent with Rufus for quite a while and glean some valuable BBQing tips for you, just in time for the Fourth of July. In true Southern fashion, Rufus started the conversation by practically throwing food at me. …
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Chris & Cathy's Coney Island Grill
1546 Springfield Ave, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/summer-cooking-southern-style-a-lesson-on-bbq
6632
/locations/39390
Friday, June 12, 2009
In search of the best 'Joe' across South Orange, Maplewood and Millburn
Anywhere else in the country, if I started talking about Sloppy Joes, you'd figure I was referring to ground meat, a can of Manwich and a cheap white bun. But not in North Jersey, where a Sloppy Joe sandwich has come to mean something significantly different and monstrously tastier. Here in our neck of the woods, a Sloppy Joe is a large, layered sandwich generally containing three slices of rye bread (with one in the middle), one or two varieties of sliced meat, cheese and piles of coleslaw, all slathered with Russian dressing. It might not sound incredibly appealing on paper (I don't even like Russian dressing very much), but made well, this sandwich is nothing less than a party in your mouth, a perfect medley of flavors, a sinful delight…
40.726891
-74.250598
Scott's Deli
290 Elmwood Ave, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/sloppy-joe-snackdown
3549
/locations/26882
Monday, June 8, 2009
A lesson at Crane's Delicatessen & Cheese Shoppe.
Good gatherings have cheese platters amongst the offerings, but great gatherings proffer more than just cubed orange cheddar and Ritz crackers. Since we covered picking out wine last week, it's only natural to take a look at wine's soul mate, cheese. This week, I took a trip to Crane's Delicatessen & Cheese Shoppe in Maplewood to talk with owner Steve Crane about putting together the perfect cheese platter. Four years ago, Steve fulfilled a dream by opening up Crane's after 26 years in the health care industry, running home care and staffing agencies. The energetic, charming proprietor greets regulars by name as they walk in and makes it a point to introduce people he thinks should know each other. (In just the time I was there, I talked …
40.731
-74.27828
Crane's Delicatessen & Cheese Shoppe
5 Highland Pl, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/say-cheese-how-to-graduate-from-cheddar-and-mozzarella-and-create-an-interesting-platter
2988
/locations/25287
Leslie Pogany
2:46 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
This article was a reprint? Bunny's Sports Bar hasn't had Bud on tap in years. Our tap beer currently is Yuengling, Coors Light, Blue Moon, Sam Adams Summer Ale and Guinness. We do welcome everyone into our newly rennovated four generation business. more ›