la côte Celebrating Ribbon Cutting on Friday

New restaurant la côte will be celebrating their ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, 5/11 beginning at 1:30pm.

Interview with the Candidate: Madeleine Giansanti Cag

Jersey City elections are right around the corner and I wanted to offer the opportunity to get to know the candidates a little better and let people learn more about who's running to represent them.

These interviews are available to any candidate running in Jersey City and are not indicative of an endorsement or political support. If you're interested in learning more about any of the candidate's policies, please click on the links to read more.

Read on to learn more about Madeleine Giansanti Cag, running for Ward E City Council. 

cag4citycouncil.com

www.facebook.com/Cag4CityCouncil

https://twitter.com/MadeleineCag

What are some of the changes you've seen in Jersey City in the time that you've lived here? What changes would you like to see in the next four years?

I’ve lived in Paulus Hook since 2004, at that time the only residential high rise in downtown, outside of Newport, was Portside Towers. So the number one difference from 2004 is the amount of high-rise living.

Get to Know JC Eater: JC Muddy Sidewalk

Welcome to "Get to Know JC Eater" where every week I post a profile of a local resident who wants to share where and what they love to eat in Jersey City.  This site is meant to be useful to the community so what better way to do that then involve the community itself? If you'd like to be featured, please leave a comment below or email me directly.

This week's JC Eater is a neighborhood Twitterer who loves checking out new places and like so many of us, has a deep love for Second Street's cinnamon bread.

Greene Hook Opens to the Public

(photo from Greene Hook Press Release)

Greene Hook, the new restaurant from Light Horse Tavern owner Bill Gray, is set to officially open  to the public at 70 Greene Street tomorrow, Saturday, 9/12. The bar will be open, drinks will be flowing, and they are going to debut their signature dish, a mangalitsa pork burger (mangalitsa pork comes from a special breed of domestic pig, usually humanely raised,  and is a well-marbled, very flavorful and juicy meat reminiscent of beef but with more pork flavor) topped with bacon.

The restaurant itself is quite spacious, has a shuffleboard table, bar seating, reclaimed wood floors and handcrafted tables.

Construction Updates #3

Expect another round of new places to check out, Jersey City! Some of these have been long term projects, others seemed to have popped up almost overnight, but we've got more restaurants and coffee shops headed our way. Here's a round-up of some of the new food and beverage spots coming to town.

On Newark Ave, past the pedestrian plaza, there are three new spots all opening within fairly close proximity to each other, extending what has become known as "Restaurant Row":
Archer Bar, which was previewed at JC Project Eats, will be opening in the former Box Spring space at 176 Newark (they moved in with More on Grove) and will focus on specialty cocktails with a limited menu available, along the lines of elevated and revamped bar food. Their original projection for opening was mid to late September and I did recently see what looked like booth seating being moved in so it seems like they're close to meeting that timeline. I think we can expect to see them open within the next month.

Two Aprons: A not-quite-hidden gem

Two Aprons is a small cafe with a Mediterranean-inspired menu that serves everything from croissants to a turkish cheese sandwich to hormone and antibiotic free rotisserie chickens you can take home.

The store is on Warren Street, a tiny space with a table inside, sometimes one or two outside and a tempting display case of the day's pastries. They have their menu written on the walls for those who need to ponder and with so many delicious sounding options, I definitely needed some time. For breakfast, there are the afore-mentioned pastries, yogurt parfaits, and bagels while the rest of the extensive menu is made up of a wide variety of sandwiches including wraps and paninis, salads, and sides; many of which I was happy to see were vegetarian. While reading the menu, I was intrigued by the fact that the Mediterranean influence is seen in just about every item I saw - even if it was just in the form of an ingredient or the way the ingredients were put together, creating a slight twist on some of the more "classic" menu options.

Sam a.m. Opens

During the past few months, Sam a.m. has been sharing pictures and info as work on their new cafe in the Paulus Hook neighborhood progressed. As they worked on menu items and showed off their coffee skills and got closer and closer to opening, I (and many others) watched all of this with growing excitement and hope. Over Labor Day weekend, it finally happened: Sam a.m. opened.

Here's what I don't like about Sam a.m.:
1) it's relatively small (although this is also part of the charm) so there will be crowding and wait issues.
2) I don't live in Paulus Hook so it's a bit out of the way for me.
Yeah, that's about it. Seriously.

The first time I walked in, I was immediately impressed with the space. There's lots of sunlight, gleaming copper, white walls, and warm wood and while it is small, there's still room to move around and more seating than I would have thought. It's cute without being cutesey and there's a definite charm to the place. A lot of that comes from the very friendly, enthusiastic staff. Considering how much time and work goes into opening a restaurant, I am amazed at how nice and how dedicated the entire team seems to be. They have a very small prep/kitchen area and yet seem to have the flow down pretty well. Everyone is happy to pitch in where needed and there's just this incredibly happy, welcoming vibe to the place.