The wife and I have a strategy for living in New Jersey: we cook almost every night and save our money to eat out in Manhattan a few times a month. We almost never go out to eat in New Jersey.
Last night I got out of work early and was not in the mood to cook. Someone I work with had recommended Restaurant 89 in Mountainside so we decided to check it out. It was fondue night. Twenty-five dollars a person. Two choices: cheddar and swiss. The regular menu is not available on fondue night. There were six people in the restaurant and it took 15 minutes to bring out the fondue, which was not good.
After five minutes of eating, the fondue dish erupted steam boiling water on to my wife's arm, who was burned and screamed. The waiter had apparently overfilled the pot under the fondue dish with water before setting it over the sterno. When he saw that she had been burned, he took the pot away, poured off some of the water, and brought it back without saying anything.
And the same question haunted us that we always discuss in New Jersey: why can't these restaurants get it right? Why is every restaurant in New Jersey so completely inferior and just as expensive as the lesser restaurants in Manhattan?
Next time I'll drink a Red Bull and cook something.
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