She also gave a shoutout to the tuna tartar, jumbo lump crab salad and halibut with ratatouille dish, which, alas, is no longer on the menu. One of her favorite dishes is the tarte flambee, an Alsatian dish that has been on the menu since the restaurant opened in 2018. I don't want to go to the shore to eat good oysters.' 'There aren't many places where you can get really good oysters in a beautiful setting and drink good wine. The self-described bad-ass chef likes restaurants that are 'real, solid.' Which is why Gaccione said she loves Faubourg, a modern French brasserie run by two alums of celebrated chef Daniel Boulud's restaurants in New York City: Dominique Paulin and chef Olivier Muller. Leia Gaccione, Passaic native and former chef de cuisine for celebrity chef Bobby Flay, cooks down-home American food using seasonal ingredients at her unpretentious and inviting BYOB restaurant South + Pine.

The River Palm Terrace, EdgewaterĬhef/Owner: Melanie Landano of Mel’s Butcher Box, Tenafly He often just asks the chef 'to create what you feel like creating, he said. 'And the service is great.'Īs for his favorite dishes, he notes that the menu changes so often that it's nearly impossible to choose a dish, though he does fondly recall a pastrami-rubbed short rib that was 'amazing.'

'The food is always consistent,' Merida said. When he goes out to eat in North Jersey, he often heads to the Village Green restaurant, a beloved fine-dine BYOB owned since 2011 by chef Kevin Portscher. Now he owns his plant-based restaurant Rockin' Roots in Hillsdale. In New Jersey, Merida, who lives in River Vale, was the founding chef of Cravings Tapas Bistro in Ridgewood and now-shuttered Montclair Social Club. Michael Merida spent time at some of the world's most acclaimed kitchens, including The Fat Duck (England), El Bulli (Spain), Le Bernardin (Manhattan) and Nihonryori RyuGin (Tokyo).

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