Tag: FOOD

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More schools mull dropping Michelle O’s lunch rules

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More schools mull dropping Michelle O’s lunch rules
September 25, 2014

GREEN LAKE, Wis. – The Green Lake School District is the latest the join a number of schools reevaluating their participation in the National School Lunch Program.

The Ripon Press reports the district is dissatisfied with the new school lunch and snack rules championed by First Lady Michelle Obama.

“When I walk through the school cafeteria, I see multi-colored fruits and vegetables and whole-grain pasta or wraps on the trays of our students. The food looks really good, but the students aren’t eating it,” principal Mary Allen says, according to the paper.

“… The limited salt, whole-grains, vegetable substitutes for meat, and unfamiliar foods such as ‘quinoa’ and ‘jicama’ are not being embraced. Although the food looks good and is undeniably healthy, it is unflavored and tasteless.”

Students reportedly gave the school board a 31-page report produced in math class, which studied the question: “Will the Green Lake School District better serve its students without the National School Lunch Program?”

https://eagnews.org/more-schools-mull-dropping-michelle-os-lunch-rules/

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Chef/owner John Halligan of Park Steakhouse and Park West Tavern on how parents don’t feed their kids healthy food

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Chef/owner John Halligan of Park Steakhouse and Park West Tavern on how parents don’t feed their kids healthy food

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014, 1:21 AM
THE RECORD

John Halligan

Park Steakhouse, Park Ridge

Park West Tavern, Ridgewood

After working at a slew of high-end hotels in New York City and Los Angeles, John Halligan, who grew up in Hillsdale, moved back to New Jersey – River Vale – and, 11 years ago, opened Park Steakhouse in Park Ridge.

“It is something I thought the neighborhood needed,” Halligan says. “I’m a big meat eater.”

Three years ago, the Culinary Institute of America grad opened Park West Tavern in Ridgewood. The “corporate” chef for both restaurants (he has chefs de cuisine at each) is now poised to open Park West Loft, a special-events venue and banquet above the Tavern.

Most challenging dish: Roasted suckling pig with crispy skin at Park Steakhouse. It is a very difficult dish to prepare. Very complex. We confit it, press it, braise it. It takes two to three days [$29].

Dish I’m most proud of: Our steaks. We age them all here for 21 days.

Most essential kitchen tool: Vitamix blender. I use it for everything — stocks, purées, sauces.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/food-and-dining-news/dining-news/chef-owner-john-halligan-of-park-steakhouse-and-park-west-tavern-on-how-parents-don-t-feed-their-kids-healthy-food-1.1089515#sthash.kPaptK6K.dpuf

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Soylent Cuisine

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Soylent Cuisine

The trendy new food substitute is made by people and for people—not of people.

Greg Beato from the October 2014 issue

Remember when the planet’s young people-or at least its youth-oriented jingle writers-almost convinced us that a bottle of Coca-Cola could play a pivotal role in achieving global harmony? While the “real thing” may have been a balm against the stings of Vietnam and other afflictions of the era, today’s youthful idealists understand it will take a lot more than proprietary sugar-water and some attractive teenagers singing on a hilltop to combat melting polar ice caps, rising income inequality, and everything else that ails us. We need a genuine miracle elixir, not just a pause that refreshes.

Enter Soylent, the gulp that sustains. Its primary components are a powder made from maltodextrin, rice protein, oat flour, and more vitamins and minerals than mid-century food scientists ever managed to pack into a loaf of Wonder Bread, plus a liquid blend of canola oil and fish oil. Mix the powder with the oil, add water, and that’s it. Soylent is almost as easy to prepare as a glass of Coca-Cola, and yet it is designed to function as a “staple meal” that offers “maximum nutrition with minimal effort.”

Soylent, in other words, is simultaneously an antidote to both Monster Thickburgers and locavorist gospel. Similar products, such as Ensure and Slim-Fast, have been on the market for years, but they’re filled with objectionable Big Food ingredients like sugar and sucralose and targeted at geriatrics, dieters, and other specialty audiences. Soylent pairs optimized molybdenum uptake with a message of low-impact environmental sustainability. (“I almost forgot to mention, when everything going in to your body is diffused into the bloodstream, you don’t poop,” advises Soylent creator Rob Rhinehart in a blog post. “I only have to remove a few grams of fiber from my system per week.”) And yet while processed food prohibitionists like Michael “Mostly Plants” Pollan demonize convenience, affordability, and technology, Soylent supersizes these attributes in ways that might even scare Ronald McDonald fiberless.

https://reason.com/archives/2014/08/26/soylent-cuisine

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Parking solutions sought as former bank building in Ridgewood gets new tenant

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Parking solutions sought as former bank building in Ridgewood gets new tenant

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2014, 4:18 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

As the Village Council continues fishing for a parking garage, a big catch – FISH – has entered the discussion on Ridgewood’s parking needs.

FISH, a high-end eatery from Asbury Park, is opening a second location in Ridgewood’s long-empty Bank of America building, and bringing with it as many as 225 new diners.

“They’d like to open somewhere between December and February,” said the building’s landlord John Saraceno, who said he was contacted by FISH six months ago. “They’re a great use for the village.”

The new restaurant, expected to attract many new diners, and cars, is also adding even more urgency to the village’s ongoing search for better parking options in the Central Business District (CBD), a search being done partly with awareness that more popular chains and anchor stores could help revitalize Ridgewood’s downtown but necessitate more parking options.

But luckily, FISH’s plan to valet park its cars will provide some relief.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/solutions-sought-as-historic-building-is-leased-1.1086248#sthash.vx8INNPX.dpuf

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FISH, Coming to the Bank of America Building ?

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FISH,  Coming to the Bank of America Building ?

FISH is located in Asbury Park’s Post Building, one of the region’s most beautiful and historic structures built in 1885, FISH has quickly attracted the attention of both local and regional audiences.Seeking unmatched quality, superior service and can’t-wait-to-return dining experiences. FISH offers a creative menu featuring the freshest seafood and seasonal, sustainable and locally grown foods.

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Why do we still eat so poorly?

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Why do we still eat so poorly?

SEPTEMBER 6, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

Drive down most highways in North Jersey, and you’re guaranteed to come across one of two things: a curbside fast food restaurant trying to lure motorists into its drive-thru with promises of salt-, sugar-, and fat-laden goodness, or a big metal sign advertising that such a place lies just off the next exit.

Their food is awful for us — we all know this — but many of us pull in anyway.

Take a lunch made up of an offering from McDonald’s dollar menu, such as the McDouble. That burger has 380 calories, 17 grams of fat, 34 grams of carbohydrates, and 840 milligrams of sodium. Add a “medium” order of fries for another 340 calories, 16 grams of fat, 44 grams of carbohydrates, and 190 milligrams of sodium, and a large Coke at 280 calories and 76 grams of carbohydrates, and you’ve got a meal packing a whopping 1,000 calories, 33 grams of fat (10.5 grams of which is saturated), 154 grams of carbohydrates, and 1,030 milligrams of sodium. That’s 58 percent of the recommended daily fat intake, 51 percent of carbs, 43 percent of sodium and about half of our recommended daily intake of calories, all in one heart-clogging, gut-busting meal.

And what’s the reward? Feelings of guilt and a waistline that never shrinks: According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 70 percent of American adults now qualify as overweight, and of those, 35 percent are considered obese.

So why do we keep eating this way?

The problem, said Dr. Diego Coira, chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), begins with one of the medical field’s favorite culprits: stress. When we’re under physical or emotional stress — not uncommon for our fast-paced lives — the body releases cortisol, a hormone that causes our appetite to increase (even if we ate a short time ago) and causes “stress eating.” And the combination of salt, sugar, and fat that’s found in many of the worst foods is, unfortunately, psychologically and physically comforting, even if it’s unhealthy.

“They’re called ‘comfort foods’ because they help when you’re stressed — they calm you down, the brain releases endorphins and dopamine after you eat them, and you’re good,” Coira said

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/health-news/why-do-we-still-eat-so-poorly-1.1082177#sthash.YhQJrsyz.dpuf

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Michelle O’s lunch rules sour first day of school for many students

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Michelle O’s lunch rules sour first day of school for many students

August 29, 2014

FLORENCE, S.C. – Students arrived on the first day of school and realized a lot had changed over the summer.

The lunch line they used to visit to pick up pizza and french fries now had “same school lunch food as the others with more salad.”

SCnow.com reports:

Sophomore Madeline Taylor noticed that hardly anyone was eating.

“The entire rest of the day all I heard about was how hungry everyone was,” she said. “I then became very concerned about what would happen if this continued everyday throughout the school year.”

In response, students launched a petition on Change.org to bring back their favorites. It’s titled, “Bring Back The Choice of Pizza and French Fries” and to date has over 400 signatures.

“My petition wasn’t just to bring back the pizza and french fries. It was to say that FSD1 can do better in providing a lunch that is appealing and healthy that students don’t mind eating,” Taylor tells the paper. “No one has ever explained to the students exactly why our favorite lunch choices have been taken away.”

“About 30 min to eat lunch and that leaves you with 23.5 hrs to get fat at home. The problem is not the school lunch it’s the food in the houses. People are still gonna get fat no matter how much misses obama wants to change a 30 min lunch break. Don’t punish the healthy people and the school’s revenue because they’re not getting that money with that food service,” Bryan Peterson wrote on the petition.

“I haven’t eaten anything all week and I am slowly deteriorating,” Olivia Holland wrote.

https://eagnews.org/michelle-os-lunch-rules-sour-first-day-of-school-for-many-students/

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Chef John Benjamin of Park West Tavern in Ridgewood on his favorite kitchen tool and least favorite diner requests

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Chef John Benjamin of Park West Tavern in Ridgewood on his favorite kitchen tool and least favorite diner requests

AUGUST 27, 2014    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014, 1:21 AM
THE RECORD

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, John Benjamin worked at some highly venerated restaurants, including Aureole in Manhattan and The French Laundry in California’s Napa Valley. And before he was named executive chef for the Park West Tavern this past December, the soft-spoken 45-year-old Greenwood Lake resident worked as executive chef for eight years at one of New Jersey’s most formal and acclaimed dining establishments, Restaurant Latour at the Crystal Springs Resort in Hardyston. Last month, Park West Tavern received three out of four stars from The Record.

Favorite kitchen tool: Japanese mandolin. It’s good for slicing garlic, potatoes, mushroom, onions very thin. And the Japanese one is plastic, thin and not too expensive – maybe $23. It fits in any kitchen cabinet.

Dish I’m most proud of: Right now we are offering a simple salad of watermelon, heirloom tomatoes and burrata cheese, with a spicy red-wine vinaigrette for $12. I like it ’cause it’s nice and refreshing; it’s light and cool.

What diners don’t know about chefs: The long hours they work —10 in the morning to midnight for me; the dedication we have for the craft we have; the stress.

What irks me most about diners: They want to create their own entrée. Someone will say, “I don’t want the pork in the pappardelle pasta.” But it has pork in it for a reason.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/food-and-dining-news/dining-news/chef-john-benjamin-of-park-west-tavern-in-ridgewood-on-his-favorite-kitchen-tool-and-least-favorite-diner-requests-1.1076507#sthash.ISt47mfG.dpuf

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Wasabi Japanese Restaurant’s chef on the best way to cook rice

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Wasabi Japanese Restaurant’s chef on the best way to cook rice

AUGUST 20, 2014    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014, 1:21 AM
THE RECORD

Kazuhiko Takahashi

JENNIFER BROWN / SPECIAL TO THE RECORD
Kazuhiko Takahashi

Wasabi Japanese Restaurant, Ridgewood

Kazuhiko Takahashi, chef and owner of Wasabi, the three-star Japanese restaurant in Ridgewood, never went to culinary school. All of his training has been hands-on. “I always liked cooking,” he says.

The 55-year-old Paramus resident began working in restaurants in his native Japan, but took some time off to join the merchant marine; he was stationed in Algeria. But then budget cuts led to layoffs, and after working at some more Japanese restaurants, in 1985 he decided to come to America.

He worked as executive chef of East Japanese Restaurant in Manhattan for five years, then 10 years for East in Teaneck before striking out on his own. Here, he discusses the best way to cook rice, the best rice to buy and why the Japanese are thin and Americans aren’t.

What American diners do not know about Japanese cuisine: The Japanese do not add many ingredients in their dishes; they don’t smother their dishes in sauces.

The best introduction to Japanese food is: Sushi or tempura. Many Americans order California rolls. But for real Japanese food, we do this dish called nyzakana, fish that we boil in a soy-flavored sauce for many hours. The fish crumbles in the pot. You get all the fish flavors. You can get it here if you request it.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/food-and-dining-news/dining-news/wasabi-japanese-restaurant-s-chef-on-the-best-way-to-cook-rice-1.1069913#sthash.iTfH5teo.dpuf

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Average Price of Ground Beef Hits All-Time High

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Average Price of Ground Beef Hits All-Time High

August 19, 2014 – 11:10 AM

By Ali Meyer

(CNSNews.com) – The average price for all types of ground beef per pound hit its all-time high — $3.884 per pound — in the United States in July, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

That was up from $3.880 per pound in June. A year ago, in July 2013, the average price for a pound of ground beef was $3.459 per pound. Since then, the average price for a pound of ground beef has gone up 42.1 cents–or about 12 percent.

Five years ago, in July 2009, the average price for a pound of ground beef was $2.147, according to the BLS. In those five years, the average price has climbed by $1.737 per pound–or almost 81 percent.

https://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/average-price-ground-beef-hits-all-time-high

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Ridgewood firefighters cook up camaraderie

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file photo of Ridgewood Fire department in action Boyd Loving

Ridgewood firefighters cook up camaraderie

AUGUST 19, 2014    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014, 10:43 AM
BY JODI WEINBERGER
STAFF WRITER

Firefighters are notoriously resistant to change, according to Ridgewood Fire Capt. Christopher DuFlocq.

He gives a few historical anecdotes to back up that claim: “The horses don’t know where they’re going,” the men protested when animals were brought in to replace carrying gear on foot.

It was another battle when automobiles took over. “We can depend on the horses to start up every time,” they balked.

Now younger generations of firefighters are attempting to cross another frontier of doubt with the older crowd: healthier food for dinner. Yet somewhat surprisingly, most say the shift is easier to swallow.

“I eat dinner here that I normally wouldn’t eat at home,” admits DuFlocq, a 28-year career firefighter. “They’re always trying something new and most of the time I like it.”

He gives examples, “turkey burgers, different kinds of rice…”

From the kitchen of the East Glen Avenue firehouse, Firefighter Tom Shortway rolls his eyes. They can’t tell the difference, he insists, on whether beef or the lower-fat turkey goes into the meatloaf that he makes.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-firefighters-cook-up-camaraderie-1.1069497#sthash.8FtDo2Px.dpuf

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From Scratch Ridgewood : A unique meal delivery service in Ridgewood

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From Scratch Ridgewood : A unique meal delivery service in Ridgewood

From the kitchen of From Scratch Ridgewood, a 5-month-old meal delivery service run by Claudia Rovegno
https://www.fromscratchridgewood.com/

meet claudia

my passion for cooking started when i was still a young girl, watching my lovely grandma in the kitchen. i tried to learn all of her secrets and follow her advice… i still have her notebook with all her recipes.

i continued to develop my passion in cooking with our family restaurant in italy until i got married and i started a family, then i became our home cook.

in august 2013 i moved to the usa, and wanted to share my passion with others. i continue to have a desire to share all the flavours and smells that characterize the mediterranean kitchen to those who love good and healthy food!!

with each new year i’ve learned that the best things in life come from the heart and good food starts right there!!!

what we offer

we offer a seasonal menu sourcing only the best local, organic ingredients. our chicken comes from goffle road farms, we use mediterranean sea salt and organic extra virgin olive oil in all our dishes, and limit our use of pepper so that your children will also enjoy the meals.

unfortunately, we cannot offer gluten free or nut free dishes, as the kitchen we cook in is not a nut free environment.

you can order your meal for same day delivery up until 8:00am monday thru friday, since we need to ensure enough time to go to the local farms and markets to get the ingredients to cook your meal.

currently we are delivering to the following bergen county, nj towns:

ridgewood
glen rock
midland park
ho ho kus
wyckoff
franklin lakes
mahwah
maywood
wayne
ramsey
hawthorne
fair lawn
hillsdale
westwood
paramus

if you do not see your town on the list, please contact us at (201) 986-6316 or email us so we can work to accommodate your request.

servesafe

our dinners are prepared in a state inspected kitchen and our chef is certified in servsafe food protection and is a certified food safety manager – to ensure you and your families safety.

we believe that you will love our food once you try it, so much so, that you’ll want more. that’s why we are also offering additional services to the local community.

private dinner parties

we will work with you to plan a fresh, delicious meal for a dinner party hosted at your home for up to 8 people. contact us to find out how you can schedule this.

special events

is it someone’s birthday? anniversary? another reason to celebrate? we can create a fresh, healthy and delicious meal for you. contact us to find out how you can reserve your date.

corporate lunches

did you know that we can cater your next corporate lunch meeting? we’ve worked with local businesses to create fresh, healthy menus for their lunch meeting. they love the flavor, presentation, and menu choices we offer. we will work with you to ensure that every menu detail is taken care of and meets your budget. contact us today to learn more about how we can cater your next corporate lunch event.

kid’s birthday parties

does your child love to cook? are you looking to do something different for their next birthday party? think about a kid’s culinary creation party. we’ll plan the menu with you based on your child’s love of food, and bring everything with us – making it easy for you.contact us today to discuss the number of people and the menu options available.

culinary party

would you like to have a ladies night (like the one below) and learn how to make a delicious meal? we will teach you how to make a meal of your choice at your home. contact us today to learn how you can get started.

specials

don’t forget to look for special menus or unique plates that we may have for a limited time only. they will always be posted to our blog, so be sure to check back often, we wouldn’t want you to miss out on these special offers!

https://www.fromscratchridgewood.com/

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Vegans Beware How Plants Secretly Talk to Each Other

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Vegans Beware How Plants Secretly Talk to Each Other
By Kat McGowan
12.20.13  |  9:30 am

Up in the northern Sierra Nevada, the ecologist Richard Karban is trying to learn an alien language. The sagebrush plants that dot these slopes speak to one another, using words no human knows. Karban, who teaches at the University of California, Davis, is listening in, and he’s beginning to understand what they say.

Original story reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of SimonsFoundation.org whose mission is to enhance public understanding of science by covering research developments and trends in mathematics and the physical and life sciences.

The evidence for plant communication is only a few decades old, but in that short time it has leapfrogged from electrifying discovery to decisive debunking to resurrection. Two studies published in 1983 demonstrated that willow trees, poplars and sugar maples can warn each other about insect attacks: Intact, undamaged trees near ones that are infested with hungry bugs begin pumping out bug-repelling chemicals to ward off attack. They somehow know what their neighbors are experiencing, and react to it. The mind-bending implication was that brainless trees could send, receive and interpret messages.

https://www.wired.com/2013/12/secret-language-of-plant

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Born Again: Rebirth of the Jersey Tomato

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Born Again: Rebirth of the Jersey Tomato

Everyone pays lip service to the juicy Jersey tomato. Now three Rutgers scientists are close to recreating the greatest Jersey tomato of them all.

On a sunny afternoon in May, the contenders, each plant about 4 inches tall, were growing in a greenhouse in a rural stretch of Cumberland County. A hanging thermometer said the temperature indoors had reached 85 degrees.

“This is about as warm as you want it to get,” said Tom Orton, the plant breeder here at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center farm in Upper Deerfield, looking protectively over his seedlings. Orton has a PhD. in plant genetics and tends to talk like a scientist, but he can speak tenderly, almost anthropomorphically, about tomatoes.

As in: “Above the high 80s, tomatoes don’t like it. Around 90, they just sit there and wait for it to get cooler. But if you keep water on them, they get over it.”

As in: “Tomatoes don’t take the weekend off,” so each Saturday and Sunday Orton drives 30 miles round trip from his home in Salem County to water them.

It’s not yet clear which of these 250 little plants in their plastic trays, now starting to branch into the familiar serrated leaves, will triumph in this genetic competition to recreate the Rutgers tomato, touted as the greatest Jersey tomato of all. Orton and his two compadres on this quest have been diligently hybridizing and selecting for four years. These are F-6’s, the sixth generation selected from the two parents Orton began cross-pollinating in 2011.

“These will go out in the field in about two weeks,” Orton said. He noticed a double (two seedlings growing in one plastic cell) and gently dug one out, replanting it in an empty slot. The plan was to truck the seedlings to Rutgers’ Snyder Farm in Hunterdon County, where they’d grow to maturity.

https://njmonthly.com/articles/lifestyle/people/born-again-rebirth-jersey-tomato.html?ct=t(Side_Dish_Issue_1974_11_2013)

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Memoire Guest Loyalty Program

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Memoire Guest Loyalty Program

Memoire Guest Loyalty Program was launched in June & offers our guests dining points & rewards each & every time they dine with us. I hope you’ll sign-up the next time you dine with us.

Memoire, recently hired a fantastic Sous Chef named Carlos Hernandez. He comes to us with a great deal of experience in world cuisine and has already begun to make a positive impact with our menu.

Kids Eat Free* 
12 And Under
must order from kids menu; one free entree; one free dessert

We know you’re busy and finding time to cook isn’t always easy. That’s why we offer “Kids Night” where kids eat free, every Sunday, from 5:00 -9:00 p.m.
“I have two young children, Ashley and Ethan, who I love very dearly. Children have a special place in my heart and I believe families should be able to go out and have a family meal together at a great restaurant. That’s why our restaurant is kid friendly.

Our Maitre d’, Frank, has a daughter of his own and is great with young kids. He often takes kids on a tour of the restaurant and encourages them to color pictures to display on our walls. 

We offer a great children’s menu and although children are welcome on any night of the week, we believe in Sunday family dinners, which is why we offer a free entree & dessert to children under 12 on Sundays.

So come join us any night of the week and allow us to create a memorable dining experience for the whole family.”
– Tom Finnelli, Owner & Executive Che

16 Chestnut St
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Get Directions
Phone number(201) 857-8899