Went to my favorite street today. Since it was a Sunday at 11 am, that ruled out Una Pizza and Flour on First. But I knew that coming in and wanted to try the new bakery in Atlantic Highlands called Cookie & Crumb https://www.originalcookieandcrumb.com/
I got a mini chocolate croissant, three scones, a mini quiche, and a slice of crumb cake. It’s all good so far.
Next we had lunch at Kunya Siam. We started with a Thai salad and a papaya salad. Despite the unusual yellow color, the peanut sauce on the Thai salad was very good as was the papaya salad.
Speaking of First Ave, I spent last Sunday going door to door to every business with a coworker for item donations for our museum’s upcoming event raffles.
It had been a while since inside some of these places, and there were a lot of new faces. I must say, Monty’s smelled incredible inside. Did not stop to eat, but chatting with the counter person for a bit left my mouth watering.
Managed an underground tour of Atlantic House by the owner and GM after telling them some Prohibition facts and the sordid history from the building’s earliest days. They took us to where the old tunnels used to be.
Did grab snacks at Cookie and Crumb. Delectable.
On an unrelated note, new plant shop Kennedy and Vine made a wonderfully generous donation to our organization and I wanted to give them a shout out.
Flour on First was great as usual. They close at 2:30 so it was a perfect stop before Tony opens Una Pizza at 2. Don’t forget to visit on a Friday as they have a farmer’s market in the little park. We got some eggs from somebody’s chickens!
We were pleasantly surprised by Una Pizza now having indoor dining. These pies are meant to be eaten right out of the oven with the bottoms still slightly crispy with char and we enjoyed every bite. We shared a bianca with pepperoni and a margherita with pecorino romano and left very happy.
I had planned on getting some thai take out to bring home for tomorrow but Monty’s BBQ smelled too good to pass up. I got a full rack of ribs. They do the ribs in a dry rub style and they look and smell wonderful but I am still stuffed with pizza and pastry so I will report on those ribs another time.
There was only one other couple in line to get in at 2 when they opened. The pies came out in 10 minutes or so after we ordered. It was great! The only hitch was that it was really hot in there. There was a steady stream of people picking up pies as we ate.
Went yesterday at 1:45, nobody in line so I stayed in my car. At just about 2 the line started, but not crazy like other days. Beach days and all, I’m sure help keep the early lines down.
Excellent as usual, even if a little underdone. Still great just missing that lightness that Anthony gets with his dough that makes you think you can eat 3 pies at one sitting. That may have been a function of time of day (oven temp), heat and humidity, or the fact that my order ticket was temporarily waylaid and they were hustling to get my pizzas out. Or some combo of the three.
Just saw this post on IG:
Taste of Atlantic Highlands Trolley Restaurant Tour & Business Showcase - Sunday, September 19 from 12 pm to 4 p.m., rain or shine. The trolley is back! This event is hosted by the Atlantic Highlands Chamber of Commerce (AHCOC) and presented by Premier Sponsor, Resources Real Estate. Here’s the link to the article.
So…Anthony Mangieri of Una Pizza Napoletana teased us with world class pizza in Atlantic Highlands but made it harder than Dungeons and Dragons to figure out how the hell to get it. So it didn’t work out and he left. However, the former crew that reopened the post-Sandy Beach Tavern (which was the best incarnation thereof) stepped into his sized “Billions” shoes and turned into quite possibly the coolest bar slash pizza slash appetizers slash comfort spot in Monmouth County. Today being National Pizza Day, we felt obliged to check it out. Craft cocktails, excellent service, and fantastic food…two enthusiastic thumbs up for Strada.
Spent some time walking along 1st last night,
Lots of new spots I know little about. Glad to see AH doing wel, always enjoyed this town.
Grabbed some waters and a slice for little one at Julio’s and place was jumping at 545 with tons of take out orders and walk ups plus people eating in. Apparently they do empanadas too). Little one seemed to enjoy slice, did not get to try myself sadly. But looks like another spot doing well on 1st.
Strada was packed to the gills btw. Has anyone been there?
Went to Strada last night. Small, but it felt comfortable with dim lighting and well-placed plants. Service and food were both very good. Seems like parties of 4 would be most easily accommodated. (tables of 4 were split by a few inches for couples and there is a long communal seating, high top table that has room for up to 10)
I would definitely go here again. We had a reservation but I did notice a few couples being seated as walk-ins. Nicholas Creamery is right across the street but we skipped due to a long line.
