Fall getaway at the Finger Lakes

Finger Lakes region, New York

It was perhaps about two weeks ago when we decided that we were due for a little UFC getaway.  DJKung has raved about how gorgeous the Finger Lakes region is.  I was a bit undecided about going, especially since I wanted all the furs with us, and there weren't a lot of pet-friendly accomodations available on short notice, being the weekend and all.  But we decided to brave it, despite the rainy forecast, and it was well worth it. 

The drive took about five hours and yes, we did suffer some mishaps along the way.  We had a poop incident in the car (none of the furs admitted to it), requiring an emergency stop to mitigate the damage.  We also had a bit of a tiff regarding driving (I wanted to drive, but DJKung wanted to keep driving).  Despite this, it was a relaxing drive through the Pennsylvania countryside, lots of farms and barns and animals to gawk at. We stoped by the visitor info at the border (route 81 north?), where we stocked up on maps and brochures. 

We made a pit stop at Avicolli's pizza in Seneca Falls for a quick slice (nice thin pizza, but maybe too thin, because the slices were falling apart) and drove up route 96 north, which is on the western border of Cayuga Lake.  This was not a very scenic path and we missed most of the local attactions on Cayuga Lake.    From 96 North, we went west on Route 20 and passed by Seneca Falls and Waterloo. 

Let me sidetrack a bit and elaborate a bit about the Finger Lakes.  Yes, they do look like long skinny fingers, protruding from the humonguous Lake Ontario, up to the north.   I am sure I've read somewhere that these lakes were formed a gajillion years ago as the glaciers that covered the continent started to melt and shrink post-Ice Age.

So, on our drive by the little towns by the lakes,our impression was that these places are really vibrant and active during the summer season, but unfortunately, they shut down and close shop for the winter.  Overall, it was rather too quiet for us.  The only downtown that seemed relatively bustling was in Geneva, where it seemed like there were a handful of people out (mind you, this is at 5 pm on a Saturday).  I am sure that there are those who'd love a quiet country getaway, and I guess that the end of fall is the best time to go if that is your preference. 

I wondered if this windmill is purely decorative.

We then proceeded towards Penn Yan, which is by Keuka Lake.  I wanted to see if we could catch the farmer's market/flea market that day, but we were simply too late.  We also did not have much luck with the hotels in the area.  The Ramada Inn by the northern end of Seneca Lake looked rather nice, and more importantly was pet-friendly.   We were able to snag the last room available (there was a wedding reception at the time), woo-hoo!

The best part about the hotel was that it was right on Seneca Lake.  It was awesome waking up in the morning and having a brisk walk with the furs right on the lake!!!

This was the best family picture we could come up with.  This was taken on the banks of Seneca Lake.  That tiny white speck in the distance was our hotel.   This park alongside the lake is perhaps three miles long and hugs the side of the lake.  There are piers and boat launches aplenty, and lots of park benches.  It's really pretty, and we can see this park getting a lot of action during the summer. 

You can learn quite a bit from reading the little factoid posts along the park: Seneca Lake is the second largest lake (next only to Cayuga Lake, which sits to its right).  It's about 35 miles long, and 3.5 miles at its widest.  This lake I thing the second deepest body of water in the US,  about 300 feet deep, and was used for sonar exercises around WWII.  Also, Seneca Lake is the lake trout fishing capital of the world, where tournaments are held yearly. 

The water was really clean and clear.  Babams just jumped right in and wanted to swim far out!!!  Alas, this is a leash-only park.  Don't worry, we'll be back again very soon, hopefully at a campground close to the water!!!

P.S.: We have quite a bunch of literature on the Finger Lakes region, which we found a lot more helpful than the stuff we found online.  UFC is glad to lend them out for free... just drop us a note in the comments section!

Slurp up some soba at Sobaya

Sobaya
229 East 9th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 533-6966
www.sobaya-nyc.com


Sobaya is one of the places that we've been going to for quite some time, but we've never gotten around to mentioning it here.  Pretty much all of our out-of-town relatives love this little gem in the lower east side. This restaurant is small, simple, and yet quite transporting.  The decor is very soothing, and I especially like the netsuke collection (little carved ivory and wood knicknacks) on display as soon as you walk in.  If you're lucky, you can catch a glimpse of soba noodles being made in-house!

Matsutake mushrooms (red pine mushrooms improted from Japan) were a special on the night we went.  These were a bit pricey but we were game to try it, so we got the cheapest matsutake on the menu.



                             

Matsutake tempura. The mushroom had a sweet, creamy and delicate flavor to it.

I have not had this in a long time.  This is chawanmushi, a light warm custard made from fish broth and egg, with a bit of veggies thrown in.  It is a bit strange the first time, since we usually equate custard with something sweet and dessert-like, but it is quite good.

Of course, Sobaya specializes in soba noodles prepared different ways.  Their soups are quite hearty and filling, perfect for the nippy fall weather.

Tanuki soba.  This is a simple soup with soba noodles, broth, a fish cake and "fried batter flakes," or the crunchy stuff that you see on a piece of tempura.  This was hearty and very filling.

DJKung got his fave, zaru soba.  He was rather upset that he did not get the hot soba broth at the end of the meal, but it might be because it was almost closing time.

If you are adventurous, check out the automated toilets (I think only the women's restroom has it).  It's exactly like the ones you see in the posh Tokyo department stores!!!

More BBQ at Bloomfield Avenue Barbeque

Bloomfield Avenue Barbeque
391 Bloomfield Avenue
Newark, NJ 07107
(973) 268-5415

After our AC excursion, we finally made it back to north Jersey.  DJKung admitted that he suffered a bit of seafood overload over the weekend.  He wanted to go to Bloomfield Avenue Barbeque, which his mechanic friend tipped him off to, for his meat fix. 

They do a serious bbq business here at Bloomfield Ave BBQ, with a big grill in the front that had a pretty constant stream of take-out orders.  The menu is pretty straightforward, with mostly chicken, beef and pork bbq, churrasqueria-style.

Shrimp in garlic sauce. This is a classic spanish tapas-type of dish, usually baked in a small clay pan.

Despite the tiny size of the shrimp, they were flavorful and very garlicky.  The sauce went really well with the rice.

DJKung and his dad got the half ribs with french fries and yellow rice. 

The meaty ribs are marinated and barbequed with a good char. The fries and rice, on the other hand, were just so-so.  I noticed that DJKung did not really use the mild-tasting barbeque sauce for the meat.

The meal did not seem complete without a side of black bean stew.  It was pretty tasty, with a nice hunk of pork (unsmoked), and went well with the rice.

Overall, this was a solid, hearty, rib-stickin' meal.  It's a great place if you're really hungy, as the portions are quite massive.  The menu did not have a lot to offer for vegetarians, though--- this is strictly a meat joint. 

Wine festival at Valenzano Winery

Valenzano Winery
1320 Old Indian Mills Road
Shamong, NJ 08088
(609) 268-6731

We read about this festival in our local paper.  Valenzano throws the biggest wine festival in these parts, and it fit in perfectly with our AC trip. 

Valenzano is a relatively new family-run winery established in 1990.  Since then, their vineyards have grown from three acres to 84.  The vines here are typical for the region, and seemed almost identical to the grapes grown at the other winery we visited.  Did you know that Vineland, NJ (in the vicinity) and therabouts used to grow a heckuva lot of grapes back then for at least one big grape juice company?
By the time we arrived, there were already many people streaming in, with coolers, picnic baskets, blankets,chairs, and even their furs!!! The lucky ones had private tents reserved for the event and had trays of food.  The weather was all that you could ask for--- blue skies, perfect temps and low humidity.  The turnout was really good.

For a $10 entry fee (kids free), you get a wine glass for tasting Valenzano's wines (white, red and fruit wines---17 in all!).  The wines are mostly sweet,fruity and kinda bubblegum-y.

Valenzano's selection included several fruity reds and whites.  Fruit wines were also represented.  I rather fancied the white cranberry wine, which had a very nice zingy flavor.

DJKung's dad got a bottle of "Dangerous Red," a syrupy fruit punch-flavored rose.

Here's another tasting station.

Besides the wines, they had two stages with live music (cover songs and jazz), a big tent for arts and crafts merchandise, games for the kids, pony rides, and even helicopter rides!  Plenty of food stalls too, even deep-fried oreos!!!  

Besides all that, it was just lovely walking around and admiring their landscaped grounds and plantings.

Classic car show.  DJKung's dad even saw a car exactly like the first car he drove, and he got a real kick out of it.

And of course, the grapes.

This event comes only once a year, and people really come out for this.  By the time we left, perhaps around 1pm or 2pm, there was a long line to get in, and a lot of cars parked on the grass on the side of the street.  Definitely a good idea to come early. 

Feelin' mellow at Tomasello

Tomasello Winery

255 White Horse Pike (Route 30)
Hammonton, NJ 08037
(800) MMM-WINE


We wanted to check out a few wineries in the area as part of our AC excursion. We've been to Renault Winery a few times in the past and always had a great time, so we wanted to see what other wineries had to offer.

Tomasello was close enough to visit, and was actually en route to Valenzano Winery, which was having an all-out festival this weekend. Food Lovers' had high marks for Tomasello, which has been around since 1933 ("one of the state's biggest and best").

The tasting room is cozy and the staff are very friendly. There is quite a bunch available for tasting, including twenty-three dessert and sparkling wines, a bunch of reds, and a bunch of whites.  The tastings are free (this was amazing to me), and since we had the tasting room to ourselves most of the time we were there (we got there very early), we took our time trying out their different wines. 

The wine list was intriguing since there were a lot of less commercial varieties available that we did not even know about.

I liked their reds mostly.  We ended up getting a bottle of Chamboursin ("a French hybrid made in a fruity Beaujolais style"), a medium-bodied and medium-spiced red; claret ("a semi-dry red [varietal with] DeChaunac, Villard Noir and Landot Noir grapes"), which I thought was rather sweet but DJKung and his dad really liked; and petit verdot, which, after several sweet wine tastings, had a very heavy and chewy tobacco feel. 

DJKung's dad posing in front of some winning wines.

The dessert wines were pretty sweet and very very fruity.  I think these would make great gift wines, and I'm pretty sure I've seen the blueberry and raspberry wines in my local wine store. 

We also picked up the "New Jersey Wine Country Passport," which lists thirty-two different wineries in the Garden State.  Whodathunkit?  We're definitely looking forward to trying more Jersey wineries!!!

Crab Trap, revisited

The Crab Trap

Of course, after all the raves I've heard about The Crab Trap, it was one of our must-eat destinations during our weekend in AC.  We followed the directions given by our GPS gizmo.  It took us through downtown AC and some very pretty beach/bay towns---it was a very pretty sunset drive through Ventnor and points south. 

We arrived at 7pm and the parking lot was pretty full.  We were advised that there was about a forty-minute wait, which of course felt like eternity to our empty stomachs.  We received one of those coaster pagers.  A lot of people took their pagers and grabbed pre-dinner drinks at Crabby Jack's, a bar situated at the end of the parking lot and overlooking the bay. 

Eventually, we do get called for our table.  The Crab Trap is a rather large restaurant with different rooms.  It looked like a live performance was seting up in the main room, but we were seated in a different room.  "Order what you want," was DJKung's pronouncement, and so we did.

The wine list was decidedly very middle-of-the-road.  I got the house pinot grigio, which was rather muddy and did not work well with the food.  DJKung got the house merlot, I think.

Bread basket.  The little rolls do bring to mind the Philippine pandesal. Some overly sweet mini blueberry muffins were also included.

Treasure chest; this includes three lobster puffs (top) and three mini crab cakes (bottom).  The lobster puffs were light and you could taste the meat in them.  The crab cakes were rather ordinary.

Fried shrimp appetizer with a sweet fruit-based sauce.  DJKung's dad liked it.

Steamed littleneck clams in white wine, butter and garlic sauce.  These were tiny, yet briny and flavorful little suckers.  The sauce was good too, and it was too bad there were no hard rolls or crusty bread to go with them.  DJKung's dad and I agreed that the broth was rather sandy (!).

Trio of soups; these are three little ramekins of their specialty soups: Maryland-style crab soup (left), creamy crab bisque (top) and Manhattan style clam chowder (bottom).  Of these, I liked the clam chowder the best; the clams were sharp and briny, in lovely contrast with the veggies.  The bisque was on the lean, floury side (I like mine super-creamy).  The Maryland crab soup (tomato based) was just a strange thing, and tasted more like a sweet pasta sauce than anything.

For our mains, I got crab, DJKung got oysters, and his dad got fish.  You get to choose two sides with your entree.

The baked crab imperial ("Voted Best on the Shore!") piqued my interest, because it had a very classic roaring-twenties sound to it (like waldorf salad).  I wasn't sure what it was, and the waitress simply described it as crab in a ceramic dish that was very good. 

Crab imperial is a casserole whose primary ingredients are crab meat and mayo/white sauce, topped with crumbs or cheese, and baked.   So not so fancy after all.  But, like the waitress promised, it was very good.  The portion was chock-full of sweet lump crabmeat and the mayo was not overpowering.  It was even better the next day!   I ordered this with some french fries and coleslaw, which was a bit overkill with all the mayo in the crab.

DJKung ordered the Long Island oysters (background)  and the PEI oysters (foreground).  Just from appearance, not all of them were as plump as I would've liked.  One also tasted distintively off.  The rest were a briny delight.

DJKung's dad got the Patagonian toothfish (aka Chilean seabass).  The fish was sweet and very fresh.  I am forgetting what sides he had with this dish ... I believe it was sauteed cauliflower and zucchini (not pictured).  Cannot recall what the red stuff on his plate was.

DJKung remarked at how different it was eating dinner here compared with lunch/twilight dinner.  Not only are there less crowds to contend with, but the menu selection seemed better.  It seemed that the dinner prices were a tad steep when considering what we got. 

SIPtember Wine Festival at Brookdale Park this weekend!

SIPtember Wine Festival
Brookdale Park, NJ
www.newjerseywines.com
!!!this weekend!!! (Sept. 26-27)

We picked up this flyer on a visit to Tomasello Winery last weekend. It's for this weekend, from noon to five.


The small print says:

"Sample more than 200 NJ wines!
Sway to live music!
Taste delicious foods!
Discover artisan vendors!"

This looks like a really nice opportunity to sample the local stuff, which even us Jerseyans don't even see in our neighborhood stores. It is also a great way to support our local farmers.

Admission is $25 ($2 discount with the flyer), which is not so bad if you really get to sample 200 hundred wines, no?

Seriously good Italian at Chef Vola's

Chef Vola's
111 South Albion Place
Atlantic City, NJ
(649) 345-2022
http://www.chefvolas.com/
(by reservation only; cash only; BYOB)


I recall being intrigued by a NYT review of this joint that was published a bit back. However, being infrequent visitors to Atlantic City, this place stayed in the back burner as one of those "if-i'm-ever-in-the-area-then-perhaps . . ." Few years later, it just faded away from my head. Then we had this AC trip planned, then we got Food Lovers', and everything fell into place. I must say that what really piqued me was the whole mystique of it all--- its a tiny, tucked away spot right in AC, that's been around for decades, and is one of the really good places to eat in the area.

I found making the reservation (this is essential) pretty straightforward. The person at the other end of the line was pretty clear in explaining the unusual venue, and asked that if our plans changed, we needed to cancel our reservation because it was such a small restaurant. I called a day in advance, and they had spots open for 5:30 pm and 8 pm on Thursday night.

It was good that we did a bit of research on the place because we would have had a hard time finding it, even with the GPS. We knew beforehand that it was in smack dab in the middle of a residential area, in a basement of a house, and that we had to look for either a Virgin Mary statue or palm trees in the front, because there are no signs outside. Even with those little landmarks, and with directions given by the restaurant, we were still like unsure when we parked by a lot in a quiet dead end street lined with some very plain rowhouses.



The entrance is on the left side of the house. As we waited for our table, we looked at the pix of celebrities that have graced the Chef Vola's. There's quite a bit of plaudits on the wall too.



The venue is really in a basement, but it is all done up rather festively. The waiters recite an impressive list of specials --- each one better than the last --- and it was really hard deciding what to get. They had quite a number of veal and seafood specials that night.

Bread basket. Not pictured is a ball of the sweetest butter we'd had in a long time.



We picked this bottle up from a local liquor store in Absecon, which is next to AC. This merlot was pretty smooth, rich and went well with the food.

The menu here is divvied up into the typical Italian menu, with an app course, a pasta course, a meat course and dessert. Upon espying the humongous dishes the other tables had, we decided to skip the pasta course.

DJKung started off with some chicken noodle soup.

This was roasted peppers with anchovies dressed in some olive oil. It was very simple and very satisfying.

Broccoli rabe with roasted garlic. This was our veggie dish, one of the specials that evening.
Also prepared very simply; the broccoli rabe was bitter, but not too bitter, after being sauteed. The roasted garlic cloves added a great sweet, smoky and umami feel.

I got the halibut with asparagus and more roasted garlic. It was simply divine. The halibut was a very generous and thick cut, roasted with salt and some olive oil. It was so incredibly superfresh and cooked so perfectly, I was very impressed.

DJKung's dad got the macadamia-crusted chilean sea bass. Incredible. The crushed macadamia nuts added a sweet and nutty note, but never overwhelmed the fish, which was superfresh.

Our waiter probably recited about six veal dishes from the specials, which was a strong hint that the veal here is good. DJKung picked veal with a shitaake mushroom glace. He's not really a veal kind of guy, but really liked his dish.

We were too full for desserts, and I actually had a lot of fish left over to bring home. It was too bad, because the couple at the table next to us strongly urged us to try the cheesecake.

Chef Vola's is definitely SUPERROTATION-worthy for us. This was the best Italian food we'd ever had, and hands down kicks ass compared to other fancy-pants places we've been to. It is one of the few places that not only recognize what quality seafood is, but also treats it with real respect--- the clean flavors of the fish really shine through. It is a bit of a drive for us, but you know what, we're definitely looking forward to our next AC trip and trying their other specials!

Food Lovers' Guide to NJ

Food Lovers' Guide to New Jersey

by Peter Genovese (2d ed. 2008)

We picked this up at our local library, more out of a sense of curiosity than anything. The author writes for The Star Ledger and is part of the Munchmobile, a roving van that goes all over the Garden State in search of great Jersey eats. I remember that the Munchmobile received a lot of press when they reviewed all the good hot dog spots here in NJ, and the article that they wrote was really fun to read.

Food Lovers' is divvied up into North Jersey, Central Jersey, South Jersey and the Jersey Shore, and I think that the Central and South Jersey parts seemed to have the better coverage in terms of places to eat. Not only are restaurants (from all over the price spectrum) included, but there are also references to food markets, NJ-produced food (e.g., Goya and Nabisco), wineries, and food-related events. I especially liked how Genovese highlights the ethnic enclaves that we have, where the food is always awesome and authentic.

The book ended up being a good resource for our trip to Atlantic City last weekend. I'm so glad DJKung picked this book up.

Majestic dining at Moghul Express

Moghul Express
1670 Oak Tree Road #A
Edison, NJ 08820
(732) 549-6222
www.moghul.com/edison/index.html (this leads to the Moghul Restaurant website)
(other locations available)

My coworker, V, swears by this take-out place in Edison. Last weekend, DJKung and I decided to drop by en route to Atlantic City. We initially had a hard time finding it because the GPS for some reason was not recognizing the name. We were really glad that we persevered, because it was a worthy stop.

From its earlier online reviews, it appears that the current location has been long overdue. It is now housed in a sleek glass-fronted storefront, with very contemporary decor, and plenty of seating. It was around 3 pm when we arrived, so it was understandably empty.

The menu is divided into Chinese, Thai, northern Indian and Southern Indian fast food. They even had kulfi! They had a nice flat screen tv playing a satellite channel with old movies.

Masala dosa. This is a paper-thin crispy crepe made from rice and black lentils, stuffed with masala-flavored potato, and rolled up into this humongous thing. It was very light, so despite its size, it was easy to gobble up. DJKung's dad quite liked it.


These were the sauces that came with the dosa. Left, from top: coconut chutney, a mild sauce, and a more spicy red sauce. The large cup has some type of fiery veg curry. With the dosa, it like having these flavor explosions in your mouth with each bite--- there is just nothing like it!

Potato filling inside the masala dosa. This was cooked real Keralan style, but toned down. I could taste the mustard seeds and curry leaves in it!

DJKung ordered the lamb seekh kababs, which reminded him a lot about Bademiya. These kababs are spiced ground meat, molded to a metal skewer, and grilled. This came with a bit of onions, chili-onion salad and some green sauce. DJKung did not say much about the food, but at the end, had a very big smile on his face.

Some naan to go with the kababs.

DJKung and I really liked the food here. I'm not sure if it would exactly qualify as fast food, because most of the food was made fresh to order (I think the naan was reheated, but still tasted very fresh), and took more than a few minutes. We were quite ravenous, and the food was very flavorful and hit the spot. We're looking forward to trying more from their menu, and definitely will make this one of out pit stops whenever we go to South Jersey.

Way to have fun at Wawayanda State Park!!!

Wawayanda State Park
Hewitt, NJ

On one of the nicer weekends we've had this summer, the UFC was lucky to finally have a little picnic. We picked Wawayanda because it's relatively close, and we wanted to scope it out for canoeing later on.

Wawayanda (Lenape for "water on the mountain" or "winding water") sits in the northern part of Passaic County at the NY/NJ border. The terrain is mostly very hilly. The NY/NJ Trail Conference lists 29 miles of park trails, including a bit of the Appalachian Trail, in 17,500 acres. Besides hiking and canoeing, there is a beach area for swimming, some picnicking and camping facilities, and plenty of fishing spots (the lake is even stocked with landlocked salmon!).

Most of the picnic/grill areas were already taken by the time we got there (1 pm), so we had a short trek along the lake to reach a second, less crowded picnic spot.

Most of the picnickers here look like regulars, with tents, hammocks, camping chairs and coolers and coolers of stuff. Lots of kiddies on bikes, and a lot of furs too! Chibby and Babams were so excited!

Furs hanging out in Wawayanda.

Superfatty grillin' some kick-ass chickens.

"Is them chickens ready yet???"

This is what we had for lunch: cold ampalaya (bitter gourd) in black bean sauce, rice, some kick-ass bbq chicken, and some home-style bbq ribs. Everyone was really hungry!

After lunch, DJKung and his dad tried their luck fishing. They did not have any bait with them, but it was not so bad foraging for worms and bugs for bait. The furs went for a lilttle swim and fetched some sticks.

The furs relaxing by the water after a nice lunch.

Babams and DJKung fishing. It was too bad that the fishes here were just too wily--- they were fast and readily gobbled up the bait.

Wayayanda was a great experience. We have to try the hiking here with the furs next time... I remember from past hiking trips that the rocks here are pretty spectacular. I'm sure the furs would love it!