New restaurante

It is so nice tip toeing through a quiet house at 6:10 am on Monday mornings again carrying way too much stuff doing my best not to 'crinkle' bags and bang my giant duffle bag against anyone else's bedroom door on the way to my room. I manage to get my own door open and love being pleasantly surprised with how I left it.

It's a nice feeling. A clean room that is. Especially after an hour and a half drive and usually I can mange a twenty minute power nap before shower time.

The weekend was ok. I spent a lot of time with my mom, did some serious cooking and cleaning and made a semi-homemade cake that was banging! I'm a fan of using cake mixes but adding stuff to them to make a home-made-ish type cake that does not require icing to taste 'decent'. This had pudding and apples in it and I served it warm with with vanilla bean ice cream and dulce de leche over top. Yummy.

Mike and I had fun and hit up a brand new restaurant Friday night. Upon leaving I had visions of writing a review for the place. That came and went. However, if ever in Jersey, be sure to go to the Skylark Diner which is not a diner at all. (Route 1 North in Edison) The design, furniture, lighting fixtures will blow your mind. The food was absolutley amazing and fresh and the menu was almost too big but nothing you will find in a traditional diner. For example, no wings but spicy asian egg rolls served with blue cheese yogurt. Instead of a plain old cheeseburger, tour the country and pick out any region's own masterpiece. (I almost got the fog city burger but can't remember why it stood out.)

Have a beer or martini in the lounge, retro atomic style shaped bar, brightly colored bar stools, retro lighting fixtures galore. The tile and mosaic work is so cool to look at it. The music was tolerable, flat tv's scattered the walls at time showing the kitchen, sometimes a movie, sometimes the making of the restaurant.

The service was unforgettable and managers every few feet catering to your every need, checking coats, saying hello, assisting hosts and wait staff. I enjoyed observing.

The cost:

Bar:
2 yuenglings plus tip - $10.00
Dinner:
2 sodas, 2 cups deliciously creamy and hot seafood chowder with giant loster pieces, 1 grilled chicken sandwich on rosemary foccacia bread with melted brie and pesto spread with a greens salad, one italian style mozzarella burger with crispy french fries plus tip - $30.00

Trying out an awesome brand new restaurant with Mike - Priceless

The entrees were a bit more of course but damn, did I want one. Next time. After watching so many shows on the Food Network about not only cooking, but restaurant opening, I had a blast going somewhere new. This is new for NJ no doubt but I read on the diners website that their goal is to bring a more upscale quality american cuisine to NJ and give us somewhere new to go. My first thought was hey, this is hip and even swanky but not so much that anyone would feel 'uncomfortable' or out of place.

I highly recommend it.