Sunday Guides, Jersey City Edition

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3 minute read below!

Sunday Guides, Jersey City Edition 

By Michele Rosenthal

For several years, we have been going to Bon Vivant in NYC for their Petit Fours. They are fabulously delicious! Soaked in a variety of flavors like rose, lavender, coffee, and lemon; they are decorated in delicate floral detail by the talented hands of artisans. We love gifting them to friends. They recently moved their “Cake Café” to Jersey City and it is beautiful. The interiors are chic, fresh, and a feast for the eyes. You can place orders in advance on their website or you can choose in person. 

“The exquisite creations are made with the finest ingredients and crafted with care and attention to detail. Discover the art of indulgence at Bon Vivant.”

“Create your own beautiful box of delicate cakes for a special celebration. Personalize by composing flavors and including a message card. Please check online for hours. Order ahead to ensure stock and on time delivery. Choose between

• Same Day Delivery to Manhattan / Jersey City / nearby areas

• Nationwide Shipment

• Café Pickup”

“Cake Café located in Jersey City at the entrance of the 1,200-acre Liberty State Park and Light Rail station. On the corner of a new luxury 300+ unit residential building featuring 21,000 sq ft of courtyard.” 295 Johnston AveJersey City, NJ 07304” 

“Bon Vivant is a luxury boutique that specializes in miniature cakes and petits fours.Whether you are looking for a decadent treat for yourself or a stunning gift for someone special, Bon Vivant has something to suit your taste and style.”

We like to begin our day in Jersey City enjoying cappuccinos & petit fours. Then it’s off to Liberty State Park, where the wonderful views of the incredible skyline and Statue of Liberty never get old. Liberty State Park is one of the state's most beautiful parks. It is located on the shores of the Hudson River with views of the Manhattan skyline, Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. There are popular restaurants nearby with views that will dazzle, like the Liberty House Restaurant.

For dinner, we decided to try something more casual yet still beautiful with a European bistro atmosphere and menu. We went to Satis Bistro where the service was incredible. The outdoor seating had a quaint atmosphere. There is a charming little bar area tucked away. You must pop in there; it’s so cute! My endive salad was balanced perfectly with a lemony truffle dressing & the gnocchi dish melted in my mouth. It was so delicious! My husband loved the steak frites. The streets are lined with cute shops, restaurants, bars and more!

Steak frites and a glass of red wine transports us back to a Bistro in Paris, France

Let’s Take our “Out To Dinner Bistro Look” to the next level! Elevate Fall fashion with a two piece sequin outfit! Swap out that jacket for a cashmere sweater. We love Faux leather dresses and stunning florals. Shorter to mid length polished nails in rich autumn hues with chunky gold bracelets and stacked rings are so chic! These looks are all about putting the “ooh la la” in Fall fashion! Book Michele at Paris House for a fashion consultation & personal shopping!

Steak Frites (With the easiest shortcut to make delicious Truffle Gorgonzola Fries) We top our Steaks with Maitre D’ Hotel Herbed Butter!

Steak Frites & a glass of red wine transports me right back to a bistro in Paris. We make ours with fillet tenderloins and they are so delicious! We love The Balthazar cookbook and use their recipe. I will outline here & go over making “Maitre d’hotel butter”

Let’s start things off with a very quick & easy version of Gorgonzola Truffle oil French fries ( I also included a lengthier version below from a recipe graciously given to me from The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach Florida). I have taken cooking classes & shopped food markets & mercado around the world for years. I love bringing back inspiration from my travels to my home kitchen and hopefully inspiring our readers, friends, & family to “Get Cooking”

Shortcut Gorgonzola Truffle Fries

1 bag thin cut frozen French fried

Good quality truffle oil (we used black truffle oil

A small sprinkling of sea salt (optional)

Fresh ground black pepper

Block of Gorgonzola cheese

Preheat oven to 375

Spread thawed fries out on baking sheet

Add a little sea salt & cracked pepper

Bake in oven until they begin to crisp up

Remove from oven

Drizzle a small amount of truffle oil over fries & toss

Crumble Gorgonzola on top of fries ( use as much or as little, depending on how much you like) I typically use about half of the block of Gorgonzola. Don’t over power the fries.

Return to oven and continue to bake

*** I like to then broil for a few minutes to get the fries nice and crispy. But please take care to NOT walk away as they can burn very quickly. I watch them closely

I typically do this while my steaks are cooking, either on the stove in a grill pan ( we love Le Crueset) or on an outdoor grill

Remember to let your steaks rest after grilling to lock in all that delicious juice.

Maître d’hotel Butter

(Herbed Butter)

FOR THE MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL BUTTER

Adapted from Balthazar, (however, we made several changes in our version below)

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (personally we like using one stick salted & one stick unsalted)

2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

½ teaspoon chopped fresh sage

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Combine ingredients & roll into cylinder, wrap in plastic or parchment and chill in fridge.

•FOR THE STEAKS

Adapted from Balthazar Cookbook

We used fillet

4. steaks, about 10 ounces each, about 1 inch thick

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

Plate your steaks and Gorgonzola truffle fries and add a little Pat of Maître d’hotel butter on top of steaks letting it melt gloriously onto hot steaks!

*** adapted from The Breakers Hotel & my article was published for a cooking sit several years ago. For those of you who prefer, we added a lengthier version, if you feel like trying this instead of our quick shortcut recipe above! Gorgonzola Truffle Oil French Fries with Citrus
6 Idaho potatoes, one package of gorgonzola cheese, a triangle wedge 1 cup of heavy cream 2 tbsp of truffle oil (either black or white) – I used black, because that is what I had on hand. The juice of half an orange, sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste Scrub potatoes clean, keeping the skin on. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and place the potato half in the slicer, pull down the lever to make even fry-shaped slices.
Fill your deep fryer with vegetable oil to the appropriate level indicated in the directions. Fry potatoes in batches until golden brown, taking care to not crowd them.
Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sea salt
Add the heavy cream to a saucepan and reduce over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in chunked up pieces of the Gorgonzola cheese. Add the truffle oil, continuing to stir. Remove from heat and add the juice from half an orange slat and pepper to taste. Place French Fries on a decorative platter and drizzle with gorgonzola sauce and serve.

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