Take your time at Kevin's Thyme

Kevin's Thyme
614 North Maple Avenue
Hohokus, NJ 07423
(201) 445-6400
http://www.kevinsthyme.com/


So we've been looking for a nice little table for our living room where we can dump our keys and hats and whatnot upon walking in the door.  We tried Then & Now, but did not have much luck.  A quick online search revealed a big antiques store in nearby Hohokus, so off we went. 

Hohokus' downtown is small and quite pretty.  We saw this cute little place and decided to have lunch.

The interior of this tiny cafe is done up in a very nice French country style, with very nice lighting and a lot of attention to detail, all the way down to the plates and cutlery.  It seemed that they do a very brisk business with take aways and catering, because when we arrived, a litle shy of noon on a Saturday, they had already run out of a few items on their menu.  A few minutes later, the entire place, including their heated outside patio, was already full.

The lunch menu was very simple and consists of sandwiches, soups and salads. 

The soup of the day--- nineteen bean soup.  The tomato base was very flavorful and the beans were hearty, perfect for the fall weather.

My first choice was the grilled veggie wrap, which they had just run out of.  I decided on the Alaskan salmon BLT (with the bacon held).  The salmon was generous and freshly broiled and the fresh pesto mayo added a nice touch.

DJKung got the turkey and brie sandwich, which he said was very good.  The bread had a lot of nuts and seeds and perfectly complemented the filling.  The flavors of the turkey, melting cheese and cranberry jam worked beautifully together.

We are not cupcake people, but since it was DJKung's birthday weekend, we splurged on a red velvet cupcake.  The server kindly gave us one that was nice and cold from the fridge, too!  The cupcake was moist and not too sweet, although the icing was.  This is the first time I've had red velvet myself, and I can see why it's made a comeback. 

We can tell that this was not your average sandwich joint.  Later, when we came home, we looked up their website.  Kevin's Thyme was voted as the best for alfresco dining in the (201) Magazine [this is the local glossy devoted to Bergen county].  The chef is quite pedigreed too, which explains all the special touches. 

Dinner here looks like it would be a really special event.  It is BYOB too!

Wagner Vineyards, Finger Lakes region, NY

Wagner Vineyards
9322 State Route 414
Lodi, NY 14860
www.wagnervineyards.com

So from Cayuga Lake, we veered west back to the Seneca Lake side to try out two more wineries.  I will tell you now that we ended up in Wagner Vineyards because we missed the turn to Lamoreau's winery, which is adjacent to it.  (It is really hard driving on these country roads because the signs on the road are very tiny and everyone drives really fast.)  In the end, we were glad we came here because we got to try not only their wine, but their suds as well.

From the display cases crammed full of medals and awards, to family pictures going back a few generations, it appeared to us that this winery has been around for a while and has been a labor of love.

I counted four display cases full of medals.  Quite impressive!

So anyway, the setup here at Wagner is that you pay for your tasting ticket (about a buck for each of us, I think), and you queue until a tasting station opens.  Each tasting station handles about ten people, and there is a set of wines that they pour.   A bit of an assembly line operation, even given the four tasting stations open.  You get to try about maybe six or eight wines, which are poured one right after another.

 DJKung perusing the wines available for tasting.

Like Thirsty Owl,Wagner also seemed to have a stronger showing with their whites. 

Stunning Seneca Lake views.

Even better, Wagner also has an in-house brewery.  We figured what the heck, might as well go for it. The queue for the beer tastings ($2, payable at the bar)seemed longer, but was younger and livelier. 

The bar is also open for regular pours, about $3 a pint. Wagner has Friday pub nights on the brewery deck, which from the pictures,  gets quite happenin'.    

So finally we made it to the bar and tried seven brews.  By the third half- tumbler, we were already giddy.

Generally, we were impressed with the quality of the beers, which were all very smooth and  well-balanced.  We especially liked the Dockside Amber lager (smooth and with a fruity bite), Oatmeal stout (hearty), Coffee Porter (tasted like chocolate) and the Doppel- and Trippelboch Sled Dog beers.  The latter two are mature, rich and complex German-style brews. 

So we had quite a haul coming out of Wagner: a bottle of the Reisling Semi-Dry, a 6-pack each of the Oatmeal stout and the Amber lager (for cold and warm autum days, respectively) and, as a splurge, a bottle of the Trippelboch.  Yay we love beer tastings!