The building at 42 Monmouth Street would get two additional floors as shown above if the plan is approved. (Rendering by Larry C. Johnson. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
On pause since last September, a proposal to triple the size of a downtown building — and install a microbrewery on the ground floor — is scheduled to return to the Red Bank zoning board Thursday night.
The former Fameabilia store space will be divided in two to house a craft brewery and a take-out restaurant. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
[SEE CORRECTIONS BELOW]
By JOHN T. WARD
Nine years after its last tenant departed, and four years after it was approved for restaurant use, a large retail space in downtown Red Bank is slated to get two new tenants, redbankgreen has learned.
Meatballs in a perfect Sunday-style sauce with grilled pesto shrimp. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Found at the end of a short strip mall on White Road in Shrewsbury, the onetime My Sister’s Kitchen space is now home to a venture called Two Cousins Catering under new owners who are, indeed, cousins.
Stopping in on a weekend afternoon, PieHole finds Sue DellaGatta and Rob Klingebiel — whose mothers are sisters — working in a pint-sized kitchen. But the dishes they’re preparing are titanic in flavor.
Longtime personal chef Jennifer Asfar, above, opened the Healthy Palate, a new takeout restaurant, on Prospect Avenue in Little Silver Tuesday.
Dean’s Market grab n’ go harvest salad with a cheerful raspberry vinaigrette. Jenna Rae Alexy, manager, seen below, has lost 100 pounds while working at the store… just saying. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Popping into Dean’s Natural Food Market on Broad Street in Shrewsbury, PieHole finds the place swamped with hungry customers and a young but experienced staff hustling to fill juice orders and answer questions.
Attentive to her customers as well as the surfer-dude-healthy guys working the juice counter, manager Jenna Rae Alexy seems to know many of her customers by name. She also knows what they will order. Read More
A plate of rotisserie chicken at Greek Eats comes with pita bread and a variety of sides. A gyro, below, loaded with fillings, including french fries. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
That old line about having fast food “your way” can definitely be applied to the newest restaurant on Newman Springs Road on the Shrewsbury-Red Bank border.
Greek Eats, located in a high-ceilinged, industrially-styled space on the former site of Memory Bowling, is the brainchild of George, Charlie and Taso Lyristis, brothers and owners of Teak and the Bistro in Red Bank.
But if decor and the fun, blue-eyed logo — a protector against the evil eye — don’t pull you in, the opportunity to grab some authentic Greek grub certainly should.
A dish known as “Carl’s Hankerin’ Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes and Peas and Carrots” from My Sister’s Kitchen, where Michelle Paone, below, is co-owner and baker. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
When Michelle Paone rented the space next door to her New Outlook Salon in Shrewsbury some months back, the idea was that it would house a catering business, with her sister working as the chef.
Family obligations on her sister’s side led to the deal falling through at the last minute, however, leaving Paone partner-less. But then Rich Lopazanski, a “fabulous cook” and Paone’s husband’s best friend since elementary school, stepped into the role of chef, clearing the way for the opening of My Sister’s Kitchen about two months ago.
The sister may not have stuck, but the name did – just like the old-school, stick-to-your-ribs meals the kitchen now produces six days a week.
Paul Diomede holds a freshly filleted halibut in the new Little Silver Seafood Market, which includes an area for meal related groceries. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
If the new owners of the former Ray’s Seafood in Little Silver look familiar, it is because they are also the owners of the still-new Sea Bright Fish Company on Ocean Avenue in Sea Bright.
Members of the Diomede family – Paul, his sons Paul and Justin, and daughter, Kim Cognata – plan to split their time between the two locations. And by April, they hope to reopen the adjoining seafood restaurant they acquired in December with the market in the Markham Place shopping center.
Gary Sable wraps up a lunch-to-go order for one of the many customers who wait patiently in line. Below, the 32-ounce Portuguese sausage and kale soup. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Twenty years ago, Red Bank was a veritable desert for takeout food. For this PieHole correspondent, then plying a different trade, there were maybe two or three delis in town to choose from for lunch.
Enter Gary Sable with his unique idea for a quick lunch: of hot dogs to go. Many of us were delighted to have a new option.
That Hot Dog Place, located off Monmouth Street in a little alley next to the Dublin House, was a convenient two-minute walk away, and appreciated, especially when the weather got colder. The only problem with that we soon tired of hot dogs.
One chilly autumn day, we sniffled our way over to Sable’s nook and told him how much we would prefer a hot cup of soup. It took him all of one day to add chicken noodle and tomato basil bisque to his menu. We have been grateful customers ever since.
The platter of Tacos al Pastor, served on a melmac plate, at the International Mexican Food Restaurant. Below, a sampling of the sauces that accompany the tacos. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Walk down Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank and you are almost certain to miss a terrific taqueria.
The International Mexican Food restaurant is something of a stealth business. You wouldn’t know what lurks inside at number 92 if someone didn’t tell you. There is a tiny sign above the door that reads, “International,” but that’s it.
Don’t let the bare-bones exterior stop you, though, or the fact that no one inside speaks English; even the takeout menus are in Spanish. This place is busy because the food is fairly unique to the area and seriously good.
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A “Now Hiring” sign appears in the window of Balderose Fine Foods in the run up to its reopening this week. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)
By JIM WILLIS
After a bizarrely short first go, Balderose Fine Foods in Fair Haven is set to reopen this Friday, says chef and owner Tony Balderose.
PieHole saw the lights on early Monday morning, we popped in to find the Grateful Dead playing on the radio and Balderose getting the coffee equipment ready for the reopening.
The business had only been open three months last August when Balderose, of Shrewsbury, closed its doors indefintely because he was at odds with his business partners.
Keeping it local, the sandwiches at Locals Creative Fresh Takeout are named for local places, heroes and legends. Below, returnable baskets customers can use to tote lunches to the beach. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A new lunch spot has quietly popped up in the former home of a beloved Rumson deli.
Locals Creative Fresh Takeout soft-launched January 7, offering a menu of sandwiches to-go in a space where Rumsonites lined up for decades at Butler’s Deli, which closed in October.