French Week in Jersey City

As mentioned in this week's Community News, this is French Week in Jersey City, promoted and organized by The French-American Academy here in town.

Zinburger To Open Next Tuesday

After spending over a year in the build-out and hiring/training process,  Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar will open at Newport Centre, 30 Mall Drive West, on Tuesday, August 1st. Jersey City is the sixth New Jersey location for Zinburger after an Edison location opened in June.

Weekend Events

Summer is slowly winding down, but there's still plenty going on around town.

Jersey City Pride kicks off today, 8/20, with a flag-raising at the Brennan Courthouse, starting over a whole week full of great, celebratory events. Of particular note this weekend is Brightside Tavern's Sundays are a Drag Brunch from 1p-5pm. Advance ticketing required.

Bone-In has a special deal going through Friday 8/21 when you order delivery through FastBoy. They're offering 15% off for Jersey City deliveries and 10% off for Hoboken.
                              

Jersey City Ties Back to School Happy Hour

Jersey City Ties, in partnership with WomenRising, is hosting a happy hour/school supplies at LITM tonight beginning at 6pm and running until 9pm. 

$1 Taco Tuesday at Dullboy

Dullboy is one of my favorite spots to have opened up in Jersey City over the past six months or so. It's flat out one of my favorite spots in Jersey City altogether. The drinks are excellent, the atmosphere is relaxed, and it's nice to have a space where conversation is promoted rather than restricted.

Recently, they've started working in some rotating specials and events to the weekly schedule like $1 oysters on Monday, gypsy swing brunch on Sundays, and what I most recently stopped by to check out, $1 Taco Tuesdays.

Community News

• Congratulations to Milk Sugar Love on celebrating one year of the shop being open! There will be an offical birthday party on July 12th, marking one year since the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting.
• Talde has officially added star fruit sangria to the menu for summer. Talde and Carrino Provisions are also holding happy hour Monday - Friday from 5pm to 7pm with half-priced prosecco, rose, draft beer, and seasonal margaritas.
• Next Saturday, June 20th, Liberty Humane Society is holding the Hamilton Bark Festival with food, drinks, and live music. 
• I'm sorry to report that La Conguita has announced their final day of service will be June 28th after 35 years in business. 

Midweek Reminders

• Today is the See Spot Rescued "Hair of the Dog" fundraiser at Carrino Provisions from 7pm-10pm. 

Roman Nose is back from Vacation - with Specials!

Roman Nose reopens tonight after being closed all last week for vacation and they have a ton of specials to welcome everyone back with!

They'll be running their nightly "Ora Felice" happy hour specials until 6pm with $4 draft beers, $6 house wines and $8 cocktails.

Covering the Basics at Roman Nose

Roman Nose, conveniently located right by the Grove Street Path, is a fairly casual and family-friendly Italian restaurant that focuses on serving authentic home-style meals. While not exactly brand-new, the restaurant still feels like a relatively new addition to Jersey City, partially because of their recent remodel. The new bar area adds a welcoming touch and the space is very nice; intimate but casual and while it can get crowded, I didn't feel like I was right on top of the other customers.

Not long ago, I stopped in for a casual dinner with some friends. We were waiting for two more people to join us who took longer than expected, but the staff was very friendly and calm about it. They went ahead and seated us and didn't act as though it was a problem which we appreciated. However, throughout the meal, I found our service to be a bit disorganized and slow. We had to ask for wine a couple of times, our food took quite a long time to come out and it felt like we were alternately being left alone for long stretches of time or checked on four times in a row by different people. Those issues aside, I found it to be a welcoming and friendly atmosphere and think they probably just need to work on organization a bit.

As for our actual meals, we pretty much stuck to the basics: salad, meatballs, and pasta although it was hard to say no to several of the delicious-sounding and much-buzzed about pizzas. I did have a glass of wine which was served in a small carafe and proved to be an exceedingly generous pour, especially for the price. While I wouldn't call the drinks menu expansive, it was pretty well-rounded for a restaurant this size and I'd say there's something for everyone.

We started with the house salad which was made with very fresh mixed greens (heavy on the arugula), cherry tomatoes, and a decent sprinkling of Parmesan, all tossed with a simple but tart vinaigrette. I'm a big fan of the peppery flavor of arugula which was complemented by the slight salt of the cheese and the vinegary tang of the dressing. I loved that it came in a large wooden bowl which felt familial and comforting and contained enough to feed a small army.

Community News

• Cocoa Bakery has announced their holiday menu! Check it out here: http://instagram.com/p/h4tAMjHvC2/
• Word Bookstore in Jersey City opened up this weekend! The bookstore is up and running and they're anticipating having the cafe open sometime this week:  http://wordbookstores.tumblr.com/post/69891347456/word-jersey-citys-bookstore-soft-opening-is Can't wait!
• Casa Dante will be running a buy one drink, get one half off happy hour Monday through Thursday from 4:30-6:30pm all through the holiday season so stop by for some festivity!
• New Jersey Craft Beer announced the First Annual Chilltown Craft Beer Festival coming in February! It will be held at the Culinary Conference Center at Hudson County Community College and all proceeds will go to benefit the Visiting Homemaker Service of Hudson County’s Child Abuse Prevention Program. There are two sessions and you can purchase tickets here: http://www.eventbrite.com/o/visiting-homemaker-service-of-hudson-county-4907615507
• This Thursday, Jersey City Ties will be holding their annual Happy Hour and Toy Drive for the Boys and Girls Club of Hudson County at Lucky 7's from 6-9pm. They are collecting new, unwrapped toys  and gift cards for kids and teenagers. More information here: https://www.facebook.com/events/698916796809815/
• ModCup announced they're looking for Jersey City Bakers for their new cafe so give them shout if you fit that description: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mod-Cup-Coffee/192895314196677
• Speaking of ModCup, they also announced that Travis will be in the UK for the next week, so if you have any coffee needs, email or DM ModCup for Justin's number. Talk about personalized service!

Hope everyone made it through the snowstorm yesterday and kept warm! 

Community News

• Tomorrow is the last day for Jersey City Veggie Burgers' Start Something NJ challenge so watch the video and help support their efforts, veggie burgers, and small business in Jersey City! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vs6jYrMa3iU
• Hound About Town and GP's are hosting a happy hour tomorrow with a portion of the proceeds going to help support See Spot Rescued:  https://twitter.com/SeeSpotRescued/status/384427875899682816/photo/1
• The 10th Annual 4th Street Arts Festival (and the last one) is next weekend. Get ready for arts, comedy, fun, food, and the Jersey City Homebrew Competition:  http://jerseycityeats.blogspot.com/p/ca.html

Community News

• Join Barcade and Kane Brewing Co. Founder Michael Kane in celebrating Kane Brewing's Second Anniversary. Kane is a New Jersey brewing company and Barcade will have a selection of their beers on tap to enjoy! More information here: http://barcadejerseycity.com/events/65/kane-brewing-2nd-anniversary-party/
• Keep watching Jersey City Veggie Burgers' Start Something NJ entry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vs6jYrMa3iU The competition only runs through the end of this month, so get your views in now!
• Hound About Town is hosting a happy hour at Razza tomorrow (9/23) from 5:30-7:30pm to benefit See Spot Rescued! Make sure to mention you're there for See Spot Rescued and Razza will donate a portion of the proceeds. https://www.facebook.com/events/633941019970946/