LOL no! That was part of their garden market design. Their actual chairs for sitting were bigger.
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I did! Took restraint to not buy one. They looked incredible and LOADED with chocolate. We’re saving the chocolate croissants for later.
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By the way, the “All About Matawan” Facebook group has apparently gone private.
Tried to hit up Barnacle Bill’s tonight but it was a fruitless endeavor. Both lots were packed and the crowd was enormous. Given the limited outdoor seating (not sure if inside was opened) it looked like multiple hours of waiting. I’ve waited nearly two hours on a week night in the winter, so I cannot imagine what waits will be like now. I’ll try again in a week or two.
Instead we headed over to Red Bank for Greek takeout. They had orders lined up so deep that they were swinging from the proverbial chandeliers. Good crowd outside too. Passed Broad Street which they had closed for outdoor dining and it looked like a festival. It would not be an overestimate to say THOUSANDS of people. While it looked like tremendous fun, we were happy to drive on by.
My takeaway from this evening: very uplifting to see restaurants thriving again and people having fun. I just hope that we don’t see a spike two weeks from now.
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What percentage of people not eating were wearing masks?
Hard to see because I was driving but large unmasked groups walking/hanging out everywhere. The vibe from what I could tell was that it appeared like a normal night.
I neither support nor condemn anything from this evening. If large crowds aren’t your thing, be sure to avoid Red Bank for the foreseeable future.
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Same with Asbury Park. Identical situation.
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Did another family style package from Patrizias last night. I can’t believe the amount of food we got. Honestly a ridiculous break these days and we’ll get at least three meals out of it. Food was delicious as always. Current meal is up on FB, but includes salad, An interesting take on garlic bread, eggplant parm, penne vodka, chicken primavera which is white meat chunks with broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini in a garlic lemon sauce, really nice def a good contrast the heavy tomato and rich cream of the other courses. Among The included desserts were cookie, tiramisu, Nutella stuffed pastry, and a slice of chocolate cake. Throw in a half loaf of nice Italian bread to dip and it’s an incredible value.
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Funny you mention this. I went to Gabriella’s over the weekend and they too had an “interesting take on garlic bread”. I don’t know about Patrizias, however Gabriella’s wasn’t really different just so well done with fresh herbs etc. it was by far the best prepared, including the bread they used, garlic bread I’ve ever had. It was simply delicious!
(My prior favorite garlic bread prior to this was from Arthur’s Steak House in North Brunswick. Their version was more crude, just a soft white loaf of bread that they pretty much soaked in a pot of buttery garlic and topped it with parmesean cheese. Nothing “interesting” or fancy, just in your face garlic bread that I LOVED)
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Not local restaurant specials, but a general observation: Shanghai Bun in Matawan offers more Covid-19 assurance than many restaurants. Why? Because when you go there, you can see right into the kichen, and so can see that all the people there are masked. It’s not just Shanghai Bun, of course, but many other small strip mall places: Wing Hing, Golden Dragon, etc. While places such as Sichuan Cottage, Jing Li, West Lake, and others may be every bit as diligent, people who are being extra-cautious may decide seeing is believing. (My friend whose 90-year mother lives with them is more cautious than I am, and I’m pretty cautious.)
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Whatever or wherever people can find comfort in today’s world is a good thing!
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