I’m curious as to what I have seen a lot of lately while doing my food shopping here in NJ , Wegmans, ShopRite, Trader Joe’s
With my hearing aids turned up ( lol) I have heard versions of “ Hey let’s get some brioche’s or croissants basically anything resembling French food because the Olympics starts this week. “ Has it occurred to anybody to buy French food stuff other than fries because of the Olympics.?
When the Olympics were in L.A I was not aware of any trends in California food then .Any thoughts anyone?
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That IS interesting… hadn’t occurred to me! I’m betting there are people hosting watch parties for the opening ceremonies who would go this route, though.
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I’m sure there will be many watch parties, so many different kinds of sports and all our communities celebrating their national countrymen.One of my favorite things to watch is the Olympics. Pass the Brie please
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And the champagne. 
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Eat like a kid lately ?
Weekend duties included dinner with 18 month old grandson.
Not really my grandson but it’s not that important, I had to find a “ kid friendly place” for Friday & Saturday nights.
First stop was Loaded Spoon in Freehold which is attached to an indoor amusement park. Nice menu poorly executed except for the cocktails that were excellent and the dessert that was delicious a raspberry pistachio pastry with fabulous pistachio ice cream. So adults were good and child was a bit wired from the park so pro tip, dinner first play later
Saturday night and I picked The Greek Spot in Manalapan.
FYI it’s very rare for me to dine out on Saturday nights .
After this disaster it will remain that way.
It’s the loudest ( entire place patrons all are 90 & scream all night) place on earth except for inside a steel mill.
They were under staffed and though the food was great sitting in those torture chamber chairs in excess of 2 hours and being inside thunder dome, my grandpa card didn’t get a gold star Saturday night. Also tried to get to Jersey Freeze after dinner and the line was in excess of 40 people long.
So from here on in its Friday out , Saturday remains in
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Eating with young kids means 5/530 for us. Usually less crowded and mostly surrounded by others in same spot so we don’t disturb people eating later looking for quiet. Also means I haven’t been to a quiet bistro type spot in years. Otherwise it’s takeout or eat outdoors. Is all seasons over on freehold as good as one in eatontown? That usually a go to for little ones
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Diner options totally slipped my mind. Rainy nights and cranky old man is not a good mix.
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Not sure if this counts as news, but Big Ed’s BBQ is getting more obnoxious. First they instituted a mandatory 18% tip when dining in. Then they took the prices off the web page and said to call to find the current price. Now they have decided that if you order take-out you are always charged the dinner price, even at lunchtime. So I said, “You mean if I come in, sit down, make you do a whole set-up, then eat one bean and ask for the rest to take home, it’s cheaper?” The hostess agreed that made no sense.
Actually, with the forced tip, it isn’t cheaper, and it isn’t even guaranteed that the wait staff gets the tip. Last time, the hostess told me that the management pockets any tips on take-out orders, so I’m not sure I trust them on tips in general.
All in all, I’m not rushing back there.
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Used to be a regular there, haven’t been back since pandemic, good to know
Just read about the new spot called Sun and Waves in Spring Lake and thought “that’s nice” until I read that the Chef is Rob Ubhaus, formerly of Rob’s Bistro and Redux in Madison. I used to live in NNJ and was a big fan – and all the moreso after he offered his kitchen up to chefs who had lost theirs during Hurricane Sandy. Good guy. I’ll certainly get over there and report back!
And… I just did a search on HO and found that I had written about him a zillion years ago - @coldbeer70 I’m making sure you don’t miss this, because you knew who he was. And here’s the link about his former spot in Madison if anyone is interested. I’m laughing at myself because I’m so consistent to this day about what I like!!! #IYKYK
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This is awesome! Thought he moved to Colorado or something. I will be there soon!
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I sent an email to the address I had–hope to hear back.
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The other “kitchen help” listed makes me think we may have some interesting thoughts on this spot.
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Ask @MsBean if I already expressed THOUGHTS. 
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That you did. Anyone who knows you, and I’m sure @Metsfan86, does will know you have opinions!! To be honest, I would have almost no interest in trying this place based on the menu they have posted but would do so based on your recommendation.
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Happy to say I heard back from Chef and he just asked let him get over the hump of Labor Day and opening pains but I’ll certainly plan to get over there after that!
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I used to love Rob’s Bistro. Chef Ubhaus is very talented. I remember that he ended up marrying his head waitress. I wish him the best of luck.
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Follow up to the Sickles posts above: https://patch.com/new-jersey/middletown-nj/new-owner-attempts-take-over-sickles-market
(sorry if it’s a duplicate – still getting familiar with this site)
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Ooooof. And you posted it correctly! That’s the first news I’ve heard about it.
