The man standing in front of his brick oven at Toscana in Mullica Hill, NJ is Chef Mimmo. Four of us had a wonderful dinner there on Friday evening and learned, among other things, that Chef Mimmo is planning on opening a new restaurant on the site recently vacated by Barone’s Tuscan Grill in Swedesboro, Woolwich Township.

As I have mentioned many times on this blog, Barone’s Tuscan Grill has been, and continues to be, the most read article on this blog. After two years I still have no idea why so many people flock to that article. It was a restaurant serving mediocre food with a history of service complaints by both customers and employees. Those may have been reasons for its recent demise but they still don’t explain the interest by my readers.

I am not certain when the new restaurant will be open, I am guessing it should be a fixture there by this summer. The name looks like it will be “a Pizze” and it will be a BYOB with some special features that we won’t mention at the moment but, suffice to say, there will be many nice things about this eatery that will focus on excellent customer service

This is certainly an area of constant growth even now that will grow more as we come out of the housing crisis. It is apparent that the residents are starved (no pun intended) for good places to eat and I am betting that Chef Mimmo’s restaurant will quickly become a” foodies” favorite.

 Villa Nuova Ristorante on Good Intent Rd in Deptford, NJ is a review I have wanted to post since our visit there on a Friday night in early December. It’s a little place I had never heard of and had no idea it even existed. Judging from the sparse gathering at the other tables, not many other folks no about it, either; and that’s a shame because it’s an excellent local eatery for any night of the week. Good food, great service. This place is, in my opinion, a hidden gem.

 Here are some samples reviews from Yelp.com:

Mobile review

• 
  March 15, 2011

  Likes it

  Great Place

  by Joann (1 review)

  We stopped after many months of thinking about it. What a great place!! Service was great…food even better…quantity vs. price is very good. In todays economy…great food for reasonable cost. What a wonderful little place…..will deffinately go again…soon!!!

 

 This was another restaurant I had wanted to try for some time. I pass it every day on my way to work and, more importantly, my nephew works in the kitchen helping to prepare each days menu. Four couples converged on this Main Line eatery in late November. We had to scramble to find a parking space but that may be due to the fact they had two VERY large parties, one of 40 and the other 32, dining there at that time. Our table for eight was located and the only deterrent was the noise but that might be expected when 40 family members are gathered to celebrate a birthday just a few feet from our table.

333 Belrose, not being a BYOB, we perused the wine list (most bottles coming in at about 3 times retail) and selected a couple of bottles of the 2008 Chappallet, Mountain Cuvee, a blend of cabernet and merlot that offers rich fruit flavor with hints of cinnamon and other spices. It went well with all of the entrees chosen and on its own.

 Several in our party selected the Wood Grilled Jail Island Salmon with garlic mashed potatoes and broccolini. I thought the fish was tender and cooked to perfection and the sauce added just the right additional flavor. The garlic mashed potatoes were sumptuous.

 Those who didn’t opt for the salmon gravitated toward the Char-grilled Filet Mignon. Some had it as pictured here with steak fries. My wife substituted the fries for blue cheese mashed potatoes which she raved about. She gave me a sample and although they were good I thought the intense blue cheese flavor slightly overpowered the meat. But, hey, what do I know??

 My nephew popped out of the busy kitchen just long enough to present our table with a complimentary sampling of some of their excellent desserts. We all shared a couple of plates of their New Orleans style bread pudding with a warm whiskey sauce, a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and creme fraiche and a third tasty item that I don’t quite remember its name.

Overall, it was an excellent evening. The noise died down somewhat and what could have been a kitchen disaster with 70 to 80 orders arriving at the same time was handled flawlessly by the staff. 333 Belrose is certainly a Philly Main Line  restaurant that deserves more frequent visits.

  It had been a few months since my friends Gerry, John and myself had met for one of our wine dinners. Since the two of them like to smoke a good cigar before dinner at The Tinderbox on Lancaster Ave. in Ardmore, it made sense that A la Maison would be the right choice for our meal. We had been there a couple of times already and always enjoyed the experience.

 As usual, I arrived before the smoke fiends and was seated and having my wine opened when they walked in. The cork broke during the process and the wine had to be decanted, not a bad thing considering it was 15 years old. Our wines for the evening were the aforementioned, decanted, 1996 Steltzner, Stag Leap, Merlot, a 2007 Black Coyote, Reserve, Napa Cabernet and a 2003, Arrowwood, Sonoma County, Cabernet. All of them were wonderful and the owner stopped by our table for a lively discussion of primarily French wines. Ted Miller is a very interesting guy. He owns several restaurants and has partial interest in a couple of Napa wineries. He extolled the virtues of several little known appellations in France and was kind enough to open for us a bottle of the 2003 Chateau Hourtin Ducasse, Haut-Medoc. We enjoyed both his wine and his company and it seems we always have interesting encounters with folks when we dine at A La Maison.

I will interject here that I started this review in late November and it is now January 21st and I am attempting to complete it and several others where time has further warped an already fading memory. Thus, the next few reviews will be a bit brief as I once again struggle to catch up and KEEP up with this blog. A sincere thank you to the many loyal readers who still sneak back here to see if I have added anything new.

  John had the Beef Short Rib Bourguignon with braised aromatic vegetables and pommes puree. I have had this dish before and John thoroughly enjoyed it as had I on other occasions.

 Gerry’s Lamb Chop looked delicious and he confirms that it was every bit as good as it looked.

 I was not quite as happy with my choice. The problem started earlier when the server took my order for the Steak Frites, filet mignon. pommes frites, sauce maison. As she walked away from the table I asked her if she was going to ask me how I wanted my filet cooked. She replied. “the chef always cooks the filets medium rare.” I politely informed her I would prefer mine medium and if it went a little further toward medium-well, that would be OK, too. I will have to give her points for her honesty. The chef must ALWAYS cook the filets medium-rare, even when requested NOT to do so. I struggled thru most of it and despite the under-cooking which I could have lived with, it wasn’t the finest piece of meat I had ever seen. Additionally, I thought the frites were bordering on inedible. This may just be a personal objection as I much prefer the thick steak fries to the skinny one with little potato inside.

Other than not being happy with my own choice, my companions were happy with theirs and it’s always a good time when we share wine and have great conversation.

  A few weeks ago, St. Louis Cardinal’s baseball fans were devastated at the news that Albert Pujols had accepted an offer of 254 million dollars for ten years from the Los Angeles Angels. The three-time National League MVP was the heart and soul of the Cardinal team and they won’t be the same without him.

Canal’s Bottle Stop in Marlton has just suffered a similar loss.

Yesterday, I learned that Charlie Beatty, the 18 year veteran wine guru of Canal’s Bottle Stop in Marlton, NJ is no longer Wine Manager at the store. The news was shocking and to make matters worse, no one at the store would say where he went. If each of the employees of the Bottle Stop were soldiers being held prisoner by the enemy, there would be little chance that any of them would break and reveal secrets even under the most extreme torture. Despite zero help from Canal’s staff, I had a hunch. I went back to my car, headed east on Route 70, just a few hundred yards, and pulled into the shopping center that serves as location for Wine Works. Charlie was not there at the time but this IS his new home. Max & Filippo, owners of Wine Works (former owners of Hops n Grapes in Glassboro, NJ) have pulled off a major coup in adding Charlie Beatty to their employee line-up.

Charlie Beatty WAS Canal’s Bottle Stop. He was to that store what Pujols was to the Cardinals, Brady to the Patriots, Labron to the Heat. When I named that outlet my #1 wine store in South Jersey two years ago, I gave Charlie Beatty as not just the number #1 reason but also the 2nd and 3rd reason. His personality, knowledge, expertise and customer service skills are top-notch and have endeared him to his multitude of loyal customers. His ability to stock the shelves with hard to find wines that the true oenophiles appreciate is unmatched in the area.

Wine Works, pre-Charlie, was an excellent wine store. For me, the only problem was that it was located just a stones throw from Canal’s Bottle Stop. That problem no longer exists. Wine Works will now be my go-to destination for adult beverages.

Max and Filippo are to be credited for having the foresight to make Charlie an integral part of their team. He has a dedicated following that will find him quickly and help him build sales at Wine Works. I really think it won’t be long before I have to re-do my Top Five Wine Stores in New Jersey. Any guesses as to the new Numero Uno???

Best of luck to Charlie and Wine Works. If you would like to leave a message for Charlie click on the “comments”  link below.

 Yesterday, the New Jersey Assembly passed by a vote of 58 – 19 a bill allowing wine shipments into and out of New Jersey. The bill now sits on Governor Christie’s desk awaiting his signature. I will keep you informed.

  With a little bit of luck New Jersey will change colors on the this map tomorrow. The “gold” color that indicates wine shipments into and out of the Garden State are prohibited by law may change to the “grape” color reflecting approval on direct shipments of wine. The NJ State Assembly is scheduled to vote tomorrow on the bill sponsored by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Gloucester County Democrat.

 While most of you will feel little or no impact by passage of this legislation, there are two groups that are keeping both fingers and toes crossed in hopes of approval. The first are the local NJ wineries. Passage of the bill will allow them to ship cases of their wines to customers throughout the country. The other group is folks like me who love wine, seek out wine stores that carry unique wines and have long decried the fact that we were unable to buy some of California’s small production wines that because of the small number of cases made,  never make it to the stores on the East Coast. As an example, if you were in San Francisco on vacation and made a side trip to the Napa Valley to visit and taste at some wineries, you are currently unable to have wines that you may have enjoyed shipped back yo your residence in NJ.

 Opponents of the legislation claim passage will hurt local wine stores. Their argument lacks strength as the states that already allow direct wine shipments have experienced no decrease in wine sales. In reality, it’s the wine distributors (the middlemen) who want their cut of all wines sold. The bill makes sense, will create jobs and will give local New jersey wineries a better shot at competing with the big boys. Come on, Senators, pass this bill!

 There has been a death in the Barone Restaurant family. The much maligned Barone’s Tuscan Grill has died before reaching its 2nd birthday. Many visitors to this blog would claim the sickly child was doomed since birth, suffering from mediocre food and service that they claimed ranged from poor to non-existent.

 To be absolutely honest, my two visits to this restaurant during its brief lifespan were not all that bad. It was far from one of my favorite dining spots but I still felt I had OK meals on both trips.  Obviously, I was in the minority or they would still have their doors open.

 More than the food or the service, the amazing thing about this Barone’s Tuscan Grill was the number of people who visited this blog and read my reviews. No other restaurant that I have reviewed in the past two and a half years has attracted anywhere near the interest that this recently departed establishment garnered. It was a constant amazement to me and prompted me to write an article on here titled The Great Barone’s Tuscan Grill Mystery. Folks would actually take the time to comment, most of them negative comments, and many filled with a great deal of emotion considering it’s just a restaurant. I approved some of them but disallowed many as I was beginning to feel they were coming from a competitor who was engaged in a campaign to defame Barone’s. It now appears that this was not the case. Quite a few of the comments mentioned the treatment of employees. Many suggested that employees were not being paid correctly or on time. Here are a couple of samples.

Karen Says:
September 10, 2010 at 2:25 pm e

I was also directed here when I googled Barone’s Tuscan Grill. I agree, food is good, ambience is fine, I do like a BYOB. BUT, you should know that Barone’s has not paid their employees for over 4 weeks. They did issue a paycheck this past Wed to cover that first missed week ~ and the checks bounced. This is not the first time. In early July, all the paychecks also bounced. The owners have mislead the workers (mostly local teens & twenty-somethings) about what & when they would be paid. For example, many worked in April to help get the restaurant up & running and were never paid for those hours.
The reason for my “google” was to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau!

insider Says:
April 2, 2011 at 9:12 pm e

I work in a bank used by some of Barone’s employees. I am aware of Barone’s habit of bouncing paychecks.

  333 Belrose is a restaurant that I would pass by daily on my way to work in King of Prussia. It was a place I always wanted to try because it is in the area (Radnor, PA) where my wine buddies and I would have frequent wine dinners, we always went somewhere else  because it wasn’t a BYOB.

I recently learned that my nephew, Ryan, worked at the restaurant. In addition, researching the menu online, it appeared to offer some interesting entrees and on top of all this, the review from diners were invariably very good. So, when I suggested the site as a possibility for some of our friends, there was no dissent.

We made reservations for a Friday evening for a party of eight (8). Parking near the restaurant on weekend nights can be a bit of a hassle but we found something nearby and arrived right on time. We had a nice table in the corner of the bustling eatery and while the others conversed, I reviewed the not very extensive wine list, which consisted of about 12 reds and 12 whites, a few by the glass with most bottles being priced between 2 and a half and three times retail.

We settled on a couple of bottles of Chappellet, Mountain Cuvee, a $25.00 red blend listed at $63.00 on the wine list (THIS is why we love BYOB’s). Made up of mostly cabernet and merlot, this one had vibrant fruit flavors with hints of spice and cinnamon and went well with both the meat and fish dishes on the menu.

I should point out that we arrived at 333 Belrose just as a party of forty (40) were entering to celebrate a birthday. In addition, another party of thirty-six (36) were seated adjacent to us in another room. Although this could have thrown a wrench into service for the evening, I would offer serious kudos to the kitchen and service staff for handling things well.

Several of us began our meal with the Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Salad, applewood smoked bacon with blue cheese dressing. As I have mentioned many times, any variation of the Wedge Salad is tops in my book and this one with its fresh produce was no exception and a great way to start the meal. Those who chose to forego the BLT Salad selected the Belrose Butter Lettuce Salad which consisted of crumbled blue cheese , candied walnuts and shaved Granny Smith apples.

With lots of interesting items on the menu and a couple of nice “specials” it was difficult to settle on an entree choice. After a lengthy deliberation I decided to go with the Wood Grilled Jail Island Salmon served with Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Garlicky Broccolini and Sauce Bernaise. The salmon was nicely charred, full of flavor and went perfectly with the absolutely delicious sour cream mashed potatoes. The broccolini was fine although not my favorite choice of a veggie.

Several in our group chose the House Cut 14 oz. Strip Steak with crispy salt & pepper steak fries, grilled asparagus and 333 steak sauce with truffled aoili dressing.

My wife had the Char-grilled Filet Mignon with blue cheese mashed potatoes, honey-glazed carrots and a cracked-pepper brandy demi-glaze. She thoroughly enjoyed her steak and even shared a portion of her meal with me. I thought the steak was great but felt there was too much blue cheese flavor in the mashed potatoes, As usual, she thought I was nuts!

 My nephew surprised us with a complimentary dessert tray he had created featuring the New Orleans Style Bread Pudding with Warm Whisky Cream Sauce, a New York Style Citrus Cheesecake and a Flourless Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce and Chantillty Cream.

It was just the right ending to a wonderful meal.

If 333 Belrose were a BYOB we would be making frequent trips to Radnor to sample more of their enticing menu. For those of you who are not as finicky about being able to bring your own wine to a restaurant, 333 Belrose should be one of your choices for fine dining on the Main Line.

This turned out to be an unexpected visit to this very local eatery. We had just walked out of Arugula after a disappointing wait for our 8 o’clock reservation. Pasta Pomadoro was the closest place to eat and so we pulled in without a reservation and were quickly seated. This place may not be gourmet dining but you can always count on some nice entrees at excellent prices and this was true on this Friday evening.

                                     I had with me a nice bottle of 2006 Stefania, Eaglepoint Ranch, Syrah while our friends, Jerry and Sue shared a 2009 Folie a Deux, Menage a Trois, an interesting California red blend. Both these wine went very well with most of the pasta dishes on the Pasta Pomadoro menu.

  I ordered the Linguini Matriciana with Chicken. It was a great choice full of rich flavors and nice tender chicken pieces. The portion, as usual, was large enough to serve as two meals and I enjoyed what I didn’t finish the next evening at home.

Good food, great prices.