Review: Ninety Acres – “Bring Me Food”

We’ve long wanted to try Ninety Acres, a culinary center located in a restored carriage house. My in-laws came to visit, and offered to take us for our birthdays. Ninety Acres is part of the Natirar (Raritan spelled backwards) resort in Somerset County. They have a private club, event/meeting spaces, celebration spaces, a farm, a park…quite beautiful and refined.

The Ninety Acres building, a restored carriage house

Ninety Acres offers locally grown and sourced foods when possible, When you eat at Ninety Acres, you choose between a regular menu and the “Bring Me Food” (BMF) menu, which was the source of much confusion for our family. With BMF you will not get a menu at all (well I got one, but that’s because I was taking notes, and they felt bad for me. So they brought one but made me promise not to look at it until the end). Continue reading “Review: Ninety Acres – “Bring Me Food””

Treat of the Day: The Chocolate Bar

Our favorite dessert spot in Westfield is the Chocolate Bar, and we’ve been there many, many times. They sell gelato and all sorts of chocolate items, including chocolate covered brownies, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered graham crackers, chocolate dipped pizzelles, chocolate dipped biscotti, almond bark, chocolate covered strawberries, truffles, gourmet coffee and more.

The Chocolate Bar (they have no website) is at 112 Quimby Street in Westfield.

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Date Night: Patria

the Mixology Bar at Patria

It’s always exciting when my hubby and I get a date night. Especially when we go to a hip and trendy restaurant – something that we rarely ever do. Recently we actually had a double date, meaning with other adults, not our kids. Fortunately these adults expressed availability for that night on the morning of the date, because we plan so far ahead. They’re spontaneous folks too and like us, have no life.

I heard about this new hip and trendy restaurant, Patria, through my tennis instructor who is expert in all things New Jersey. Check out the link and you won’t believe this kind of hipness exists in Rahway. Last time we ate in Rahway it was at David Drake’s old restaurant, which I believe had the unusual name of David Drake. The New Jersey chef is talked about in the media as being not only a great chef in New Jersey, but also recognized OUTSIDE NEW JERSEY. That was a delicious, expensive foodie meal, and we couldn’t believe that kind of restaurant existed in Rahway. It closed a week after we ate there.

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Treat of the Day: Melt Bakery

the lovely Melt Bakery lady

We visited the High Line Park recently and happened upon the Melt Bakery cart on 23rd Street at the lawn. For the record, Melt Bakery to me sounds like a grilled cheese sandwich place. But it’s not. It’s an ice cream sandwich place. And it was yummy.

The kids got a full size “Cinnamax” – two snickerdoodle cookies surrounding cinnamon ice cream for $4.

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Treat of the Day: Dylan’s Candy Bar

I had so much fun looking at pictures of the Robot Candy Company, that I thought I’d do another candy treat of the day. This one is Dylan’s Candy Bar – have you been? More than just edible candy, they sell candy-decorated clothing (cute PJs and rain boots), fudge, chocolate-covered fruit, candy-inspired bath treats, ice cream and more. Three floors of sugar goodness.

I love the logo.

The top floor is the ice cream area. The floor where you enter (street level) is mostly candy by the pound (around $10.99/pound), plus some lollipops and hand-dipped graham crackers or marshmallows from the chocolate fountain. My favorite floor is the bottom floor. There, they have the fudge counter (free samples!), an M&M bar with various colors, retro candy, and the bath area. Plus more. Continue reading “Treat of the Day: Dylan’s Candy Bar”

Treat of the Day: Je and Jo Ice Cream

My daughter and I were poking around the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market on a day when it felt like, well, hell. You remember that 100 degree (plus) day? Oh yeah, there were several recently. Well we were sweating buckets while looking at crap used items, and we came upon a very sweaty vendor with an adorable sign and tiny ice cream cart. It was Je and Jo’s organic ice cream. We had the good sense to stop and fork over $4/each for a scoop. Well, I forked over $4 for both of us ($4×2=$8) so we could each have our own.

Here’s what we had to choose from:

it’s tough to choose just one. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

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