Food and Wine Corner

          BAD ADVICE  Ya know, ever  since I  have been doing this column, I always try my best  to give my readers  good advice. I owe it to  you all , because you have taken time  out of your life to read this . Thanks, by the way . Then I was thinking , “What would be the  worst advice that anyone has ever given you ?” Now there are many contenders for the worst words to live by but a  few come to mind  right off the bat. How about “What you don’t know won’t hurt you”. Now this is a good one , since it is my observation that most of the things  we worry about don’t seem to  happen at all, instead it's that unforeseen something  coming  out of left field that seems  to  kick your arse Six ways to Sunday.  Not far behind are these words of wisdom ,   “What harm can it do?”, since   it is my contention that as humans on this planet we generally have...

                    HOMETOWN (H)OMAGE Hello my friends and welcome. As some of you may or may know, my home town of Long Branch has a long and sordid  history of only  two things , charismatic wise guys with colorful names ( like the infamous Pussy Russo) and Italian fare to  die for . Ask any  old tymers  about the good ol  days and their eyes will glass over as they recall a young Frank Sinatra  and his cohorts slurping Manhattans  and  raising hell at the infamous Continental between bites of  Puttanesca or  Ossobucco. Although the  once great institutions of the past ( like Ilventos and Sirianni’s ) have vanished along with sub million dollar real estate , there are a handful of very worthy contenders that are continuing the tradition of drool worthy fare in our area. First off has to be the venerable and very tasty Trama’s Tratto...

   Making Their Bar R Bar Greetings my bargain seeking gastronomes and welcome to my favorite time of the year. Now, I might have said this before but that was just another one of my favorite times of the year. Anyhoo, are y'all ready for a party ? Well, welcome my friends to R Bar (114 Main St, Asbury Park)  , a Multi- “Fun” tual venue with live music, fabulous Greenhouse themed Roof Top bar and a very funky outdoor patio. This joint is friendly, fun and fabulous,  thanks to the deft hand of ringleader and managing partner Casey Ritchings who keeps the party going  and the inspired cookery of  Executive Chef Mike (yes he is fine ) Feinberg ( late of Marc Forgione's American Cut in Manhattan). In fact, in my not so humble opinion, “R”,  features some of the very best and most inventive Nawlins Cuisine you will ever have outside of The  Big Easy. Their  menu is replete  ( Good SAT Word) with Delta inspired delicacies galore like light an...

  We’ve Got To Get Ourselves Back To The Garden Hello my friends and homies , let me ask you a question, are all you all you all just feeling just a little bit anxious lately? Like you are waiting for the next shoe to drop , only one bit of bad news away from disaster? Like if you were a piece of Sushi you would be an “ Out of Control Roll” . Are you feeling , now how should I put this, Just a little freaking uncertain? Well my friends if it makes you feel better, there are very good reasons for this and one of them is quite close, buzzing and pinging in your pocket. Never before have we been so distracted, so disconnected from nature and the spiritual world. Little beknownst to us, there is an industry spending virtually a trillion dollars annually to capture your time and attention . While it may seem relatively harmless , there is a “ Toll for the Scroll”, a cost we all pay for our modern conveniences and that among other things is a loss of wonder and separation from the earth,...

                            LIVIN THE LIFE Hello my excellent friends and welcome to the very  best time of the year. Ah, Spring! The birds are singing, the buds are budding , the Yankees are cheating, the days are getting longer and everyone is is just so anticipant ( if that's a word).You can almost smell the plethora of fertilizer blowing off your neighbors lawn, and hear his wife chirping , “I told you it was too windy”. Even the word “Spring”  just connotes forward movement, leaping ahead, a new beginning and who among us wouldn’t want another chance to foul it all up again? Not Moi. FYI, Spring” or more accurately, “The Spring Equinox “ is called such because the sun is  positioned directly over the equator dividing  the periods of day and night time equally. Who knew? Not me, perhaps I should have listened more intently in science c...

  BETWIXT AND BETWEEN  ( IF IT ITCHES, THEN)  Hello my Besties and welcome to that in between time year when we are all waiting  for that big yellow ball to return to the sky, for the lilies  to bloom, for  the Robin Red Breasts to make their appearance and for the Umpires ( if they are not electronic) to yell “Play Ball”. Yes my friends it is that “Almost Time” of the year when you can feel it trying to be spring. Soon you will be able to watch the commotion at the garden stores as they scramble to double their prices of anything green , knowing full well that you will be buying them twice, once far too soon watching them freeze overnight and later when it is actually warm. And so my friends, where should you go while you're waiting for the snowbirds to return to Capistrano? Glad you asked. I for one would hightail it over to one of my favorite local haunts, the consistently excellent , always  satisfying rustic Italian Skratch Kitchen (812 Main St Br...