LITTLE SILVER: CELEBRATING WITH CAVIAR

Haylee Brents of Sickles Market in Little Silver shows PieHole a range of caviar options for New Year’s Eve. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)

By JIM WILLIS

If your past few New Year’s Eves all blur together in a haze of champagne toasts and unrealistic resolutions, you may want to mark the close of 2013 in a way that really stands out. Cheri Scolari of Sickles Market in Little Silver tells PieHole that caviar is one way to really make your New Year’s Eve memorable.

“Caviar creates a great food memory,” says Scolari. You may not remember what you wore to a New Year’s Eve party, or even who you spoke with, but the experience of having caviar is so strong you’ll remember what you ate, Scolari says.

“That’s a food memory that you want to create,” she says.

December 31, 2013 - 9:03 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: RIVER USERS SAY KEEP COVE LISTED

Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels, in foreground, listens during the comment portion of the hearing. Below, Michael Humphries of Fair Haven called for an alternative to the borough’s proposed delisting. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Hoping to safeguard Red Bank’s only direct public access to the Navesink River, Maple Cove users and preservationists packed a meeting Monday night to combat a plan that would remove the site from the town’s inventory of preserved lands.

For more than three often-contentious hours, a standing-room audience challenged the borough rationale for the proposed delisting of two town-owned riverfront properties.

Their fear: that contrary to official assurances, the changes would clear the way for one or both sites to be sold for private development.

“The property is not being sold. It is not being turned into condos,” borough engineer Christine Ballard insisted at the outset.

Yet many of the commenters clearly weren’t buying that assertion.

“People feel it’s a first step to something nobody here wants,” Michael Humprhries, of Fair Haven, said of the proposed delisting. “There should be some way of satisfying the public that keeps that piece of property accessible.”

December 31, 2013 - 9:00 am | Comments ()

MIDDLETOWN: BUBBLY FOR THE NEW YEAR

Nicholas Restaurant
owner and chef Nicholas Harary helps PieHole choose a bubbly to ring in the New Year. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)

By JIM WILLIS

Celebrating on New Year’s Eve almost always means toasting with a glass of something bubbly. For some, that toast starts with a sheepish visit to the refrigerated section of the local liquor store and blindly throwing money at a best guess for a decent bottle of “champagne.”

To help throw some light on Tuesday night’s toasting – and, we hope, keep us from throwing money out the window – PieHole checked in with Nicholas Harary, chef and owner of Restaurant Nicholas in Middletown.

December 30, 2013 - 10:10 am | Comments ()

PEDDLING A BOLD NEW IDEA TO RBR STUDENTS

RBR students (left to right) Ryan Grant, Shrewsbury, and Jacob Curtis, Little Silver, do their morning sprint on exercise bike desks while reading their assignments in the RBR Media Center. Looking on is RBR Media Specialist Kathy Smith, who purchased five bikes for the Media Center to encourage healthy exercise for her students’ bodies and minds.

Press release from Red Bank Regional High School

In the fight against obesity that challenges America and its children, every little weapon in the arsenal helps. So when Red Bank Regional High School Media Specialist Kathy Smith considered her budget for furniture last year, she had a eureka moment. As students use the Media Center every day for research, classes or for a gym exemption, she thought, “Why not introduce them to movement?”

“And when I researched the desk bikes,” she stated, “I learned that I could get five for the same price as two library chairs!”

December 30, 2013 - 5:08 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: BURNHAM STILL FIERCE ON COVE

The parking lot at Maple Cove, as viewed from the library property on West Front Street. Below, Councilwoman-elect Cindy Burnham with borough Administrator Stanley Sickels at a recent fire department event. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Cindy Burnham may have broken the Democratic lock on Red Bank’s council, but she hasn’t abandoned the pet cause that got her there, or her style of defending it.

At several borough council meetings since winning election in November, Councilwoman-elect Burnham has stood at the commenters’ microphone and sparred with nearly all of her future colleagues on the governing body over the fate and history of Maple Cove, the town’s sole public Navesink River access. Burham is widely credited with having saved the site, at the north end of Maple Avenue, from possible development.

As she has for years, Burnham insists that the incumbents secretly want to sell the property to Hovnanian Enterprises, which owns abutting real estate. The latest evidence of the council’s intent, Burnham says, is the administration’s scheduling of a public forum on Monday, December 30, over whether to remove the site and another one at the public library from the town’s Recreation and Open Space Inventory, or ROSI.

One by one, as they have in the past, the Democrats insisted they do not, and – despite her repeated claims to the contrary – never have had plans to sell the site.

December 27, 2013 - 4:35 pm | Comments ()

WEEKEND: WHAT ARE YOU DOING OLD YEAR’S?

The Ribeye Brothers (above) bring their scrappy brand of “detached garage rock” back upside the Dub for a Sunday night see-off to the Year That Was. The annual performance of BLACK NATIVITY, below, finds room at the inn on the Count Basie stage for a Saturday matinee here in 2013.

Friday, December 27:

FAIR HAVEN: “Musicians love playing there,” said our old friend Siegfried “Sigi” Schock one recent night. “They get a great crowd; there’s cheap beer… AND you get paid.”

As it happens, that best-kept-secret venue is not some Flavor of the Month nightspot, but none other than the Knights of Columbus Red Bank Council 3187 in Fair Haven. The hall, at 200 Fair Haven Road, has been the scene for some successful benefit concerts in the past, although it’s also true that the KofC books bands on a consistent basis throughout the year. Tonight, between the hours of 8 and 11:30 pm, Council 3187 hosts singer-guitarist Robert Ender and his combo — familiar from well-received gigs at the Red Bank Guinness Oysterfest, the Dublin House, D’Jeet and other Shore area shindigs. Then on January 24, Sigi and his bandmates in Ziggy Shock keep the partyball rolling into Twenty-Fourteen.

RED BANK: It’s the FINAL weekend at Two River Theater for the remade/ remodeled family musical adaptation A Wind in the Willows Christmas — a production about which one wise hyperlocal stated, “it’s a show that’s succeeded in finding its heart.” Performances continue Friday (12 and 7 pm) and Saturday (12 and 4 pm), with a closing matinee at noon on Sunday. Take it here for tickets (adults $20 – $55; ages 18 and under $25) — and here for our review of the show, on redbankgreen.

Read More »

December 27, 2013 - 9:29 am | Comments ()

X-COUNTRY GIRLS X-CEL IN CLASS, AND FIELD

RBR’s Girls’ Cross Country Team was the first recipient of the Principal’s Cup for having the highest average GPA among its team members (at 96.8%) than all other fall sports’ teams. Coincidently, they also brought in the best team performance with an undefeated record of 7-0 and ranked among the top 25 girls cross country teams in New Jersey. The ladies are pictured here with their coaches, Chris Desiere, April Chichelo and RBR Principal Risa Clay.

Press release from Red Bank Regional High School

This year, Red Bank Regional High School added a new accolade to recognize student athletes, and in this case, scholar athletes, with the first Principal’s Cup.

RBR Principal Risa Clay explains, “We created the Principal’s Cup, which recognizes, acknowledges and celebrates the team that strives for excellence while competing both on the playing field and in the classroom. It is awarded to the team with the highest average GPA among its members.”

The honor this year went to the Girls’ Cross Country team, which, coincidently, had registered the best team performance of the RBR fall sport’s season. For only the third time in its 30-year history, the Girls’ Cross Country team went undefeated with a 7-0 record. They finished second at the Shore Coaches Invitational and placed five girls in the top 25.

The girls’ performance off the field was equally amazing with a combined GPA of 96.8%.

December 27, 2013 - 6:00 am | Comments ()

WHERE HAVE I SEEN THIS?

Where Have I Seen This? wraps up 2013 with… a window on the future? A bit of light in the darkness? A cliché barrel whose bottom has been scraped?

If you know a better description, or – better yet – Where the above photo was taken, please send an email to wherehaveiseenthis@redbankgreen.com.

December 26, 2013 - 7:57 am | Comments ()

RUMSON: ELECTRICAL FIRE DAMAGES HOME

A firefighter battling the blaze next to the chimney on Christmas Day. (Photos from Sea Bright Fire Rescue Facebook page. Click to enlarge)

Fire damaged a Rumson home and sent two volunteer firefighters to the hospital Christmas Day.

Rumson fire Chief Jymm Fenn tells redbankgreen that the fire, at 7 Briarwood Drive, caused by faulty wiring, results in significant damage to the two-story structure.

December 26, 2013 - 6:58 am | Comments ()

JUKES RING HAPPY NEW YEAR; HAPPY B’DAY NJ

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes ring in the new year for the 15th time at the Count Basie Theatre on Tuesday, December 31 — a date that also sees the Basie cutting the ribbon on the first “pop-up store” dedicated to New Jersey’s 350th birthday campaign.

From press materials furnished by Count Basie Theatre

The New Year’s Eve performances by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes at the Count Basie Theatre have become a 15-year Jersey Shore tradition — and at Tuesday night’s countdown concert, the Basie will kick off New Jersey’s 350th birthday celebration year with the opening of the first official New Jersey 350 Pop-Up store, commemorating three and a half centuries of life in the Garden State. A group of dignitaries will be cutting the ribbon on the Pop-Up in a ceremony at noon on December 31.

The Red Bank store will be located onsite at the Basie, just next door to the theatre’s Carlton Lounge. The Pop-Up stores will travel to venues and events around the state throughout 2014.

NJ350 Pop-Up stores will specialize in merchandise with a unique New Jersey focus. Featured products are what curators have dubbed “Jerseyana.” Included are the “Jerseyopoly” board game and “Goodnight Jersey” children’s book, as well as NJ350 and state-branded merchandise; educational items; items specific to the history of Red Bank and the Count Basie Theatre; Governor Chris Christie’s popular state-silhouette lapel pin and more. The Red Bank location will remain open through January 6, 2014.

December 26, 2013 - 6:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: ALL BUT HOME HAILS THE SNAIL

The Cinnamon Snail is now the top-ranked restaurant in New York City according to Yelp.com (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)

By JIM WILLIS

Ouch! Red Bank gets a second black eye in as many days for as for its hostility to food trucks.

The restaurant review website Yelp.com’s users have ranked the borough-based Cinnamon Snail gourmet vegan food truck as the top restaurant in New York City,

Yes, never mind that it’s on wheels: with four and a half stars out of five, the Snail bested such famous eateries as La Bernardin and Gramercy Tavern.

December 24, 2013 - 11:18 am | Comments ()

LITTLE SILVER: FROM FRANCE, STUFFED PRUNES

Sickles Market stocks these French prunes only during the holidays. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)

PieHole knows that local foraging is the best foraging. For the food lovers on your gift list we have assembled PieHole’s First Annual Shop Local Holiday Food & Drink Gift Guide. This is the 11th in the series.

PIEHOLE-GIFT_MED

Hailing from the south west of France, these are not your everyday prunes.

Similar to a regional wine, the d’Agen plum receives a geographic designation. Following a centuries-old process, these prunes are stuffed with a whipped, sweet filling and go great with a duck pâté or foie gras or as a sweet accompaniment with coffee.

Pruneaux d’Agen Fourrés go for $28.99 for a large tin at Sickles Market in Little Silver.

December 24, 2013 - 10:32 am | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN WARMS TO POND OFFER

Schwenker’s Pond, on River Road, empties into Shippee’s Pond and then the Navesink River. The long-vacant Doremus house, below, was demolished earlier this month. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The last time developer David Carr tried giving Schwenker’s Pond to Fair Haven, borough officials pretty much told him to go jump in it.

Then-Mayor Mike Halfacre and the borough council, citing cleanup costs and other potential liabilities, rejected the offer.

But that was seven years ago. Today, the borough appears far more receptive to the offer.

December 24, 2013 - 9:23 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: RECIPES WITH BOOZE AND LOVE

Red Bank’s Jenny Rossano shares a holiday recipe with PieHole that’s equal parts fond memories and booze. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)

By JIM WILLIS

This time of year, PieHole can not get enough of homemade holiday gifts. Especially boozy ones. Save your gift cards and store-bought candy: for us, the most thoughtful gifts always come out of the kitchen.

And so, when we tasted Jenny Rossano’s homemade Bailey’s Irish Creme, PieHole knew that this recipe and the story behind it needed a wider audience, hoping that it will encourage a bit more homemade booze-gifting on The Green.

The recipe below comes from Ireland by way of Little Rock, Arkansas.

December 23, 2013 - 4:21 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: LOVED EVERYWHERE IT’S WELCOME

Chew on this: Buzzfeed says the Cinnamon Snail, which is not permitted to sell its gourmet vegan goodies here in its hometown of Red Bank, is the fourth most popular food truck in the United States. (Click to enlarge)

December 23, 2013 - 4:10 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: TASTING ROOM’S WINE HARDWARE

A gift box of wine hardware, including an in-bottle decanter and a preserver vacuum, from The Tasting Room in Red Bank. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)

PieHole knows that local foraging is the best foraging. For the food lovers on your gift list, we have assembled PieHole’s First Annual Shop Local Holiday Food & Drink Gift Guide. This is the 10th in the series.

PIEHOLE-GIFT_MED

Decanting wine ostensibly serves two purposes: it keeps any sediment that may have developed in the wine bottle during aging from ending up in your glass, and it aerates the wine, letting it breathe a bit.

For $49.95, the Soiree Signature Series kit from Faustini Winery’s Tasting Room in Red Bank has an in-bottle decanter that you can bring along with you when heading out on the town to your favorite BYOB restaurant.

It fits in the neck of the bottle and decants as it pours. Handy. The kit also has a few other wine-related goodies, such as a preserver vacuum and a drying rack for the decanter.

December 23, 2013 - 1:17 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: A CALENDAR ABOUT, AND FOR, KIDS

The cover of the 2014 Prown’s calendar features a shot of the attendees on the 1964 Police Athletic League bus trip. (Click to enlarge)

For five years now, two venerable institutions of the Green, Prown’s Home Improvement and Dorn’s Classic Images have been putting their heads together to create a calendar that keeps the past alive and helps out a charity or two.

The 2014 edition continues the tradition and includes 14 classic black-and-white photos of Red Bank kids. The images were selected from the Dorn’s collection, curated by George and Kathy Dorn Severini.

December 23, 2013 - 10:50 am | Comments ()

WEATHER: THIS IS WINTER?

Clouds above and clouds below as fog lay like a blanket on our beautiful Navesink River Monday morning, as seen from the home of a redbankgreen reader from Riverside Towers in Red Bank. Expect rain, possibly heavy at times, and temperatures in the mid-50s, according to the National Weather Service. (Click to enlarge)

December 23, 2013 - 8:22 am | Comments ()

LITTLE SILVER: FIRST WALK THROUGH HISTORY

Dozens of visitors toured Little Silver’s Parker Homestead, which opened to the public Sunday for the first time since it was deeded to the borough in 1996. Among the displays was a Parker family genealogy tree hung on a door, at right. The Rumson Road farmhouse, dating to the early 1700s, and three barns built in the 1800s are facing extensive restoration. (Click to enlarge)

December 23, 2013 - 7:39 am | Comments ()

A SEASON OF SERVICE FOR RBR TEENS, STAFF

Red Bank Regional students delivered dozens of home-made cookies to Lunch Break to sweeten their holiday meals. Pictured (left to right) are: RBR culinary club students Paolo Repetto, Union Beach; Brady Kirman, Sydney Kutzin, Little Silver; and Derrick Bradley, Shrewsbury. Joining them for the photo are Lunchbreak chef Tyrone Burr, volunteer Kina Mwanza and RBR Culinary teacher and Chef Pete Roskowinski.

Press release from Red Bank Regional High School

Last year, the Red Bank Regional School Community as most of the shore area, was totally immersed in helping its own members have a bit of a happy holiday season while they weathered the destructive consequences of Superstorm Sandy. This year, the generosity for their struggling neighbors continues with an outreach to many other charities.

RBR continues to help its own by reprising the Holiday Giving Tree, which was originally established last year to benefit RBR’s families most affected by Sandy. This year it helps all RBR families that could most benefit from the community’s generosity for the holidays. Patrons pick a hand-made ornament on the tree which designates a gift card that families have indicated they could most use. The tree was a collaborative effort by the RBR Guidance Department, Media Center, The Source and Administration.

December 23, 2013 - 6:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: EXOTIC SPICE STOCKING STUFFER

One of Red Bank’s newest stores is the source of today’s gift idea. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)

PieHole knows that local foraging is the best foraging. For the food lovers on your gift list we have assembled PieHole’s First Annual Shop Local Holiday Food & Drink Gift Guide. This is the 9th in the series.

PIEHOLE-GIFT_MED

The perfect stocking stuffer for the friend who fries his or her own falafel or aspires to make authentic-tasting Middle Eastern food at home, Zahtar is a must-have spice blend.

PieHole likes to use a pinch or two when mixing up an olive oil and lemon juice salad dressing. A one-ounce pack goes for $4.39 for at Red Bank’s newly-opened Spice & Tea Exchange, on Monmouth Street.

December 21, 2013 - 10:48 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: A COOL COTTON KARMA CARRIER

Tote you veggies home from the Farmers’ Market in this cotton bag. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)

PieHole knows that local foraging is the best foraging. For the food lovers on your gift list we have assembled PieHole’s First Annual Shop Local Holiday Food & Drink Gift Guide. This is the 8th in the series.

PIEHOLE-GIFT_MED

Here’s a little something for the eaters on your list who want to show their support for Red Bank’s vegan mecca, Good Karma Café, on East Front Street.

These all-cotton tote bags (which have a pair of long handles not visible in the photo) go for $6, and could be handy when carrying home your Farmer’s Market finds.

December 21, 2013 - 10:17 am | Comments ()

MIDDLETOWN: ARREST IN DRUG ROBBERY

Middletown police released the following on Friday afternoon regarding a robbery Thursday evening:

On December 19, 2013 at approximately 6:45 p.m. the Middletown Police Department responded to a report of an armed robbery at the Rite Aid Pharmacy located on Newman Springs Road in Lincroft, NJ. The suspect, Jayson Turegano, age 24, from Hurley’s Lane in Lincroft, NJ, entered the store and jumped over the pharmacy counter. Turegano then grabbed the pharmacist, placed a scissor blade to his neck, threatened him and demanded Oxycodone pills. He then fled the store with a bottle of pills.

December 20, 2013 - 3:12 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: JEWELER FEELING THE VIBE

Alex and Ani, the Red Bank jewelry store with crystals embedded in its walls for positive spiritual energy, has been feeling the spirit of the season in recent days, with so many customers that it has to limit the number who can enter at any one time, said store employee John Pal, who was manning the door Friday afternoon. Amanda Warnock, right, was there for some more bracelets. (Click to enlarge)

December 20, 2013 - 3:00 pm | Comments ()

PIEHOLE: A CHRISTMAS FEAST

There’s a whiff of the sea to go with your evening cocktail at the newly opened Tiki Bar at Driftwood in Sea Bright. (Click to enlarge)

redbankgreen’s PieHole is all about local food and drink. If you haven’t liked us on Facebook yet or followed us on Twitter, you may have missed some of these recent stories…

• PieHole sat down with some Italian moms to learn what you need to know to buy, roast and eat chestnuts.

• When it comes to the main ingredient of a Philly cheese steak, Silvio Fabbri of Umberto’s in Fair Haven has no patience for “cheap ****.”

December 20, 2013 - 1:40 pm | Comments ()

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