Wine, Beer and Restaurant Reviews

A day in The City, Biking the Hudson, Lunch at Chelsea Market, Hudson Hotel Sky Terrace, Movies, and Dinner at Indian Road.

As you know we love playing tourist in our own New York Metro area. This Saturday we covered much of Manhattan with a day that started with a fabulous bike tour up and down the Hudson on the magnificent bike paths in Hudson River Park. If you have not explored this part of New York City please put it on your summer calendar.

We rented our bikes from a place on 55th Street, Central Park Sightseeing, they were very nice and fairly well organized.  We rode up to 106th Street but the paths go up the GW Bridge, that will be our destination next trip.

We circled back and stopped off at the Chelsea Market at 16th Street for lunch, then cycled uptown to drop off our bikes before heading off to see Wes Anderson's new film, Moonrise Kingdom. On the way we stopped for a rest and a drink, ummm drinks, at the Sky Terrace in the Hudson Hotel. Met some nice people from San Fransisco there. After the movies we went all the way uptown to 218th Street to a favorite bar and restaurant, Indian Road Cafe.

Craft Beer in New Jersey - Another Tap House Opens - Three Wise Monks Garfield NJ

They are sprouting like wildflowers in the spring. And here is the latest New Jersey craft beer pub, Three Wise Monks in Garfield.

They bill themselves as "a couple of craft beer drinkers and homebrewers here to share the world of great beer and brewing with our local community." And that they do.

We checked out this place this past weekend and enjoyed their great selection of beers on 20 shiny new taps. 

The grand opening is this Friday,May 18th, with River Horse Brewers of Lambertville, NJ taking over the taps.

Food is coming soon and a full bar is offered.  We liked this place a lot, for the beers and that they have their own Growlers ready to go in case you want to take some beer home which we did. In case you don't know a Growler is...

A New Look at Gary's Wine & Marketplace Wayne NJ

I have shopped at Gary's Wine & Marketplace for over a decade often traveling all the way to Madison to the original store. I've attended many of their fabulous wine events and shopped all their stores, even two that are no more. When Gary Fisch embarked on his biggest project, opening a mega wine store and marketplace in Wayne in 2008 I wondered how it would do. Certainly was not the best timing in terms of the economy, but who knew then what was about to happen.

Fast forward 3 1/2 years and the results are obvious, the Wayne store is a tremendous success but not without the tremendous passion of the Gary's Wine team and an absolute dedication to consistently delivering the finest wines, beers, spirits, foods and gifts. It is a work of constant creation, invention and scouring the globe for good things just for you. Here wine buyer Maggie Fox shows off the new wine NapaTech Wine Station.

The thing is, while I've bought at this store many times and enjoyed a lot of their great food and wine I never truely realized the magnitude of their offerings until tonight, when I took an insiders tour of Gary's Wine and got a fresh new look.

My Antonia, a Remarkable Pilsner by Dogfish Head

I love Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. They make so many great bears especially seasonal and limited edition brews like this one, My Antonia, that comes from a collaboration with beer makers in Italy.

When I saw My Antonia in an e-mail from Dogfish Head I knew I had to get some. Last night I picked up a couple of bottles at Angelbeck's and made myself a beautiful dinner, recipe below. As I cracked open the big bottle of this beautiful deep rich Pilsner, a "continually-hopped imperial pilsner. This lager for Ale lovers is citrusy, sweet and refined" I just knew it was going to be good. I was not disappointed.

Nicole's Ten Restaurant, a Trip West to Randolph NJ

We rarely go west for drinking and dining. Unless you are talking about Chicago, or San Francisco. Other than Salt in Stanhope we are usually hitting places north, south and of course east of Montclair. Randolph, NJ has never been a place we thought of as a dining destination until my daughter Nell turned us on to Nicole's 10 on Route 10 in Randolph, where she works.  

I've now drank and/or dined at Nicole's Ten 5 times, alone, with Diana, and with family or friends. Each time I've enjoyed this cocktail bar, taproom and restaurant more and more.