Spring has arrived! And with normality coming back, folks are heading out to restaurants once again! Friends getting together, a date night with that special someone, and business lunches.
Whatever the reason, it remains as maybe the main social conduit we all experience. Throughout the pandemic Dining Out Jersey stood committed in supporting restaurants and small, local business. And I am happy to see so many new restaurants opening (see more in New in Town). One such restaurant and lounge happens to grace our cover! I refer to the Concourse Club which is one of the hottest rooftops to open in our area. Their sister rooftop is The Bradford which is in Bridgewater and equally as nice (although Concourse Club has become somewhat of a regular spot for us!).
Other things blooming again this spring are events. Events are back! Carnivale in Brazil will
be held May 26th at Matuto in Newark, an upcoming Broadway Dinner Theater package with Tina
the Musical (more info soon), a rescheduled Armenian Wine Dinner with Aran Winery and hosted
at Mado in River Edge (new date announced soon) and our annual Dining Out Jersey Foodie Expo
to be held on July 14th at The Terrace at Biagio’s where the best restaurants of North Jersey will
be on hand to offer samples from their delicious menus (more info and tickets for these events at
diningoutjersey.com).
People have returned to concerts and shows. The Wellmont Theater in Montclair has some great
artists heading to town. I look forward to seeing The Fab Faux at the Wellmont this June 24th. We
spoke with Jimmy Vivino (pg 60) who not only plays with the Fab Faux but was the leader of the Basic Cable Band for Conan O’Brien. It was great reminiscing with Jimmy about the old days growing up in North Jersey. I highly recommend their show to any Beatles fan. Check out some of the shows at the other great NJ venues as well in our events schedule.
Our good friends at Franco’s Metro are celebrating their 50th Anniversary serving great Italian food and pizza in Fort Lee. Coincidentally, Bazzarelli’s in Moonachie celebrated their 50th Anniversary last year. Franco is the brother of the late Aldo Bazzarelli. These combined families are among the nicest people in the business. And they both serve amazing Italian food! I want to congratulate Franco, Antonietta, Gene, Melissa, and the rest of the family and staff at Franco’s Metro for 50 wonderful years and for giving me such a warm, friendly place to enjoy some classic Italian food since I was a kid.
In this issue (and following issues) we hear from all who are involved in our favorite industry, the restaurant industry! We will highlight some of the biz’s best including mixologists, servers, social media influencers, hosts and hostesses, brew masters, purveyors and suppliers, sommeliers, chefs, and more learning from their experiences and in their perspectives. So, I hope you enjoy this issue and we will keep you updated in future issues as well as through social media (Instagram @diningoutnj and Facebook @jerseydiningout), and our website diningoutjersey.com.
