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Young Cuban Chef's East Rutherford Restaurant Now Open Young Cuban Chef's East Rutherford Restaurant Now Open
Young Cuban Chef's East Rutherford Restaurant Now Open Kassandra Gutierrez has been researching the restaurant industry since she was a kid growing up in Miami. She poured over magazines, books and online articles -- eventually graduating from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. Gutierrez is taking all she's learned over the past decade and giving the recipes she grew up on a little twist at her very first restaurant, Mima's Cuban Cantina. Now open in East Rutherford, Mima's pays homage to Gutierrez's Cuban roots but will also speak to her years of professional culinary experience, she says. "Cuban food is pretty…

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
Franklin Lakes Pizzeria Replacing Momma's Kitchen In Montvale Franklin Lakes Pizzeria Replacing Momma's Kitchen In Montvale
Franklin Lakes Pizzeria Replacing Momma's Kitchen In Montvale Uncle Louie's Pizza will be replacing Momma's Kitchen in Montvale. Momma's announced its W. Grand Avenue location had closed on Friday on Facebook, six years after replacing 15 Grand Bistro. "Bielat Santore & Company, the broker involved in the sale, said the restaurant is "in good hands" under new owner and esteemed restaurateur, Uncle Louie's owner David Brancato, who comes from more than 30 years of experience in the industry. "I am excited to start serving the community of Montvale and Pascack Valley,” said Brancato in a report published by the broker.  "Uncle Louie’s is a great …

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
Rumba Cubana Replacing Dog & Cask In Rochelle Park Rumba Cubana Replacing Dog & Cask In Rochelle Park
Rumba Cubana Replacing Dog & Cask In Rochelle Park A North Jersey restaurant chain will be taking over the Dog & Cask location in Rochelle Park, a recent report says. Rumba Cubana, with restaurants in North Bergen, Clifton, Jersey City and Guttenberg, will be coming to Route 17 Southbound once the bar and grill moves out later this month, BoozyBurbs reports. Last week, Dog & Cask announced it would be closing Oct. 16, and earlier this year, Rumba Cubana was eyeing a Bergen County location. Rumba Cubana began in 2004 as Rumba's Cafe, launched by owner Alan Lopez -- four years after moving to the U.S. from Chambas, Cuba. With a…

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
No Vino? No Problem! Bring Your Own To New Italian Restaurant In Mahwah No Vino? No Problem! Bring Your Own To New Italian Restaurant In Mahwah
No Vino? No Problem! Bring Your Own To New Italian Restaurant In Mahwah Rome wasn't built in a day -- and neither was Novino. George Jamieson has spent more than four years building the Italian restaurant, but is hoping for a July 8 opening. All that's left to do for him and his wife Renee to do is pave the parking lot. Novino will be more a retirement project for Jamieson, who named his restaurant after his wife's maternal grandmother. It also happens to be a play on the words "no vino," implying you can bring your own wine, Jamieson explained. The Italian villa-inspired restaurant will specialize in Neapolitan pizza and other authentic delicacies, which Ja…

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
Johnny Rockets Shutters Garden State Plaza Location Johnny Rockets Shutters Garden State Plaza Location
Johnny Rockets Shutters Garden State Plaza Location Johnny Rockets has closed its Garden State Plaza location. The 1950s diner-style restaurant had been in the mall for more than a decade (on the first floor near Starbucks) but is covered up with advertising. The eatery's closing is a sad day for many who hold memories sweet as the milkshakes. "Hasn't changed in years and I like it that way," Yelper Kellyanne F. from Saddle Brook said.  "It's probably one of the very few places at the plaza that I remember as a kid. Their milkshakes are always delicious and they are always affordable." "My husband and I used to take trips to the mall jus…

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
CLOSED! Joe's Crab Shack Shuts After 6 Months In Bergen County CLOSED! Joe's Crab Shack Shuts After 6 Months In Bergen County
Closed! Joe's Crab Shack Shuts After 6 Months In Bergen County Joe's Crab Shack in Edgewater has shut its doors. The restaurant opened six months ago in the lighthouse-shaped building behind the Edgewater Commons shopping plaza along the Hudson River, not long after the chain was acquired by Landry’s, Inc., out of Houston. Only three Joe's Crab Shack locations remain in New Jersey: Clifton, Deptford and South Plainfield. The 10,676-square-foot facility -- formerly home to Mitchell's Fish Market and The Crab House -- is up for lease. 

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
North Jersey Newlyweds Put Modern Twist On Old-School Deli North Jersey Newlyweds Put Modern Twist On Old-School Deli
North Jersey Newlyweds Put Modern Twist On Old-School Deli A pair of newlyweds are putting a modern twist on the old-school Jewish deli. Sal and Jacqueline Yehudiel of Fort Lee, who tied the knot in August, will be opening Humble Toast on Queen Anne Road Oct. 22. "We want to be a great restaurant that happens to be kosher," Sal Yehudiel said. "We want everyone who enjoys good food to come here and be our guest." Yehudiel, born in Israel and raised in Fair Lawn, is a trained chef who has years of experience. He worked his way up to to becoming an executive chef at Downtown Disneyland in Anaheim, California. As his career progr…

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
Who Bought Allendale Eats? The Guy Across The Street Who Bought Allendale Eats? The Guy Across The Street
Who Bought Allendale Eats? The Guy Across The Street Ed Veseli is going to be working both sides of West Allendale Avenue when he opens a new restaurant on the site of the former Allendale Eats.  Veseli, who owns and operates Mezza Luna Bistro right across the street, said he'll offer breakfast and lunch -- same as the now-gone Allendale Eats, which closed suddenly in May. He hadn't scheduled an opening yet.

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
Wayne Paris Inn Will Be Mexican Restaurant Wayne Paris Inn Will Be Mexican Restaurant
Wayne Paris Inn Will Be Mexican Restaurant The Wayne Paris Inn will be replaced by a Mexican restaurant that could open before Spring 2019, NorthJersey.com reports. Casa Don Manuel, as it will be called, is owned by the Sanchez family of Mahwah, who bought the property for $990,000 at an April auction. The popular 17,000-square-foot banquet hall, a longtime landmark in Wayne and surrounding areas, closed in April 2017. The Sanchez family also owns a Mexican restaurant in Suffern, N.Y., La Hacienda De Don Manuel. Updates to the structure, floors, lights and paint will cost approximately $100,000, and investing in a liquor license w…

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
Waldwick's Circolo Owner Closes Wyckoff Restaurant Waldwick's Circolo Owner Closes Wyckoff Restaurant
Waldwick's Circolo Owner Closes Wyckoff Restaurant The Plum and the Pear in Wyckoff has shut its doors. Owner George Kalivas said in a statement that running the American restaurant along with his Italian eatery Circolo in Waldwick became "impossible." He also said his wife and managing partner at Circolo has been ill and his brother, the manager at The Plum and the Pear, had been looking to retire. "Being a chef and restauranteur is my life’s work and aside from family, my greatest joy," Kalivas said.  "It has been with great pleasure to have been given the opportunity to serve and get to know each and every one …

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by Cecilia Levine
Real Estate
Shortway's Barn In Hawthorne Listed At $2.3M Shortway's Barn In Hawthorne Listed At $2.3M
Shortway's Barn In Hawthorne Listed At $2.3M Shortway's Barn in Hawthorne is on the market for $2.3 million. The landmark eatery opened in the 1930s by the Shortway family and has become home to many people. "An era gone by," the listing says.  "The family is moving on and passing down this wonderful hometown restaurant/bar to some lucky entrepreneur." There always seems to be a crowd at the 28-seat horseshoe bar -- with additional seating around for 80 more.  "Come and make this your 'CHEERS' in Hawthorne," the listing says.

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by Cecilia Levine
Neighbors
Beloved Mahwah Restaurateur Named Chairman Of NJ Association Beloved Mahwah Restaurateur Named Chairman Of NJ Association
Beloved Mahwah Restaurateur Named Chairman Of NJ Association Craig Kunisch of Mahwah has been named the 2018-2019 Chairman of the New Jersey Restaurant & Hospitality Association (NJRHA).  Kunisch, along with his siblings, continue the tradition of hospitality started when their great-grandmother opened the Allendale Bar & Grill in 1935. The three opened the family's second location, the Mahwah Bar & Grill in 1992. Community members rallied around Kunisch and his family in November 2016 after their house burned down in a fire. “As a board member, Craig’s been very involved and acutely aware of the Association’s legislative challenges thes…

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by Cecilia Levine