Cafe Panache, a top New Jersey restaurant, is empty at lunch

The Fish du Jour on today's lunch menu at Cafe Panache in Ramsey was pan-fried soft-shell crabs served over crunchy Jersey corn.

My friend's Crispy Duck Vegetable Salad included roasted apples and grapes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I finally met a friend for lunch today at the three-decade-old Cafe Panache in Ramsey, one of New Jersey's top restaurants, and we had the place all to ourselves.

The lone waiter said the restaurant seats a total of 67 in two dining rooms.

Cafe Panache doesn't have a liquor license, and can't rely on big profits from the sale of wine, beer and cocktails.

Lunch prices are what lesser fine-dining restaurants charge for dinner entrees.

I brought a bottle of Sangiovese red wine from Tuscany to toast my friend, who celebrated his 79th birthday on Sunday, and bought him lunch. 

A Mixed Green Salad with Olive Oil and Vegetables -- radish, grape tomatoes and beets ($5). I especially liked the tart dressing, which tasted of lemon juice.

Our gift from the chef, for my friend's birthday, came at the end of the meal: Guava Sorbet with fresh baby mint leaves. 

Duck salad, soft-shell crabs

My friend chose the Crispy Duck Vegetable Salad ($26) and I had the Fish du Jour, Soft-Shell Crabs over Jersey Corn ($23).

To start, I had a Mixed Green Salad with a pleasantly tart dressing ($5).

I enjoyed my food, but wonder why Cafe Panache -- to attract lunch customers in August -- doesn't offer the kind of two- or three-course, fixed price meal that is available at many of the best Manhattan restaurants year-round.

A few quibbles

When I asked the waiter the price of the soft-shell crabs, he said he thought they were $20. The hand-written check listed them at $23.

The warm rolls we were served were just OK. There was a large pat of butter on the table, and I had to ask for extra-virgin olive oil in which to dip mine.

I had mentioned we were celebrating my friend's birthday, but we declined dessert and coffee.

Then, the waiter brought us scoops of Guava Sorbet with fresh baby mint, a nice surprise, but the leaves garnishing my friend's portion were blemished with black holes.

Cafe Panache and the Saddle River Inn are the only Bergen County restaurants on New Jersey Monthly's 2014 list of the 25 best restaurants in the state.

The smaller of two dining rooms at Cafe Panache, which has fewer than 70 seats.

The restaurant shares a parking lot entrance with a strip mall.

The lunch menu at Cafe Panache. In July, Chef/Owner Kevin Kohler celebrated 30 years in business at the Ramsey restaurant.

Cafe Panache, 130 E. Main St., Ramsey; 201-934-0030. BYO. Free parking in lot.

Web site: Eclectic Dining in Ramsey

Is Sapphire Thai Food Express any reason to eat in Teaneck?

Meing Kham at Sapphire Thai Food Express in Teaneck are Chinese broccoli leaf roll-ups with fresh ginger, dried shrimp, fresh chili, roasted peanuts, lime and browned coconut with a sweet sauce on the side.

There is very little dried shrimp on each leaf.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Wondee's in Hackensack has spoiled me for other Thai restaurants.

I haven't tried Thai Palace on Degraw Avenue in Teaneck, despite a recommendation from friends and a three-star newspaper review last year.

Now, a woman who cooked at that restaurant helped open a new place, Sapphire Thai Food Express, in a storefront on Teaneck's Cedar Lane.

Sapphire also got a favorable newspaper review recently -- 21/2 stars -- but the two dishes I ordered on Sunday evening were just good, not great.

There was so little shrimp in Meing Kham, one of the restaurant's specialties, that I could not taste it, especially if I added the optional sauce.

The broccoli leaf roll-ups have a crunchy filling and a too-sweet sauce of brown sugar, coconut and galangal, a member of the ginger family ($10).

Hand-held food

I ordered the dish because I can't resist the appeal of food you eat with your hands, such as tacos and anything stuffed into Middle Eastern pocket bread.

I liked the Papaya Salad, which I asked for medium spicy, but the strands of green papaya could have been cut thicker, as they are at Wondee's ($7).

The papaya, peanuts, string beans, tomato, chili and tart lime-juice dressing are served over crunchy chopped romaine lettuce, but I prefer Wondee's whole leaves, which allow you to wrap up the salad and eat it.

The shredded green papaya in Sapphire's Papaya Salad was thinner than the crunchy strands in the salad served at Wondee's Fine Thai Food & Noodles on Main Street in Hackensack.

Sapphire Thai Food Express seats fewer than 30, and on Sunday evening, the dining room was too cold when the air conditioner cycled on.

Sapphire Thai Food Express, 445 Cedar Lane, Teaneck; 201-928-0770. Open 7 days. Call for hours. BYO. Free parking in municipal lot around the corner.

NYC Restaurant Week: A seafood favorite doesn't disappoint

Amalfi-style Fish Soup with Tomato and Chili Bruschetta at Esca in Manhattan.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

It's the little extras that make lunch such a pleasure at Esca, a southern Italian trattoria in Manhattan that celebrates fresh seafood.

That's especially true during NYC Restaurant Week, when the restaurant offers deeply discounted three-course lunches and dinners ($25 and $38, respectively).

On Friday, my lunch began with a gift from the chef -- a white-bean crostini bursting with the flavor of preserved mackerel.

Other nice touches were complimentary olives with a thin, hot pepper and a small bowl for the pits; the crusty heel of a large Italian bread with fruity extra-virgin olive oil, and both lemon and lime for the whole fish I ordered.

For my first course from the bilingual menu, I chose the Amalfi-style Fish Soup with Tomato and Chili Bruschetta.

The filling, mildly spicy broth held several pieces of perfectly poached fish.

My entree was Spigola Nera, whole roasted local black sea bass with salty caperberries and olives.

Except for the scorched head, the fish was perfectly cooked and delicious right down to the crispy tail.

One quibble was the scorched head of the Whole Roasted Local Sea Bass, denying me the tender, juicy "cheek" under the eye. But the other side of the head wasn't overcooked and yielded the juicy morsels. A smaller plate for the bones was provided.

This crositini -- a gift from the chef -- was packed with the flavor of preserved mackerel.

Changing menu

My Friday lunch at Esca came during the second week of the semi-annual Restaurant Week promotion, which ends on Aug. 15.

About 300 restaurants in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens are taking part this summer.

At Esca, skate wing and whole porgy with salsa verde were offered, but neither was available on Friday.

My waiter explained the Restaurant Week menu changes slightly on an almost daily basis.

Still, the black sea bass was perfect for me, a lover of whole fish who delights in extracting every sweet morsel of flesh. 

Complimentary olives.

If you order the whole fish, you don't have to ask for lemon.

Part of the well-done heel of a large Italian bread -- soaking in extra-virgin olive oil -- an indulgence on my no-bread, no pizza diet.

New this summer, outdoor seating at Esca (Italian for "bait") means you'll have better chance of getting a table without a reservation.

Esca's Restaurant Week lunch menu on Friday.

Dessert to go

The waiter wasn't sure if I could substitute sorbet for the one dessert offered on Friday, Pistachio and Olive Oil Cake, so I asked for it to go and brought it home for my wife to enjoy.

I may try a forkful with its accents of watermelon, lime curd and aged balsamic vinegar.

I paid for my meal with an American Express credit card I registered, and will be getting a $5 statement credit.

That will bring the cost of this wonderful lunch to $27.22, with tax ($2.22) and a 20% tip ($5). That's a great deal at this white-tablecloth emporium of pristine seafood.

Take-out Pistachio and Olive Oil Cake.

Esca comes through

I've been enjoying Restaurant Week lunches summer and winter at Esca for years, and prize it even more now that I eat only seafood.

I've had only one disappointing meal there -- in 2011 -- when I was served a whole John Dory by a waiter who didn't warn me the fish was all bones, leaving me hungry and cursing under my breath as I searched in vain for flesh to eat.

See: An ugly fish shows up at lunch

Esca, 402 W. 43rd St. (Ninth Avenue), New York, N.Y.; 1-212-564-7272. The restaurant is two blocks from the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Web site: A heavy Italian accent on fresh seafood

NYC Restaurant Week Web site

Something is rotten in my bag of peeled garlic from Costco

Organic whole-wheat pasta spirals in marinara with added chopped garlic, anchovies, sardines, red wine, extra-virgin olive oil and seasoning.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss mold on peeled garlic from Costco Wholesale and a new organic pasta sauce with sugar.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

More than a week ago, I pulled a bag of peeled California garlic out of the refrigerator and was shocked to see what looked like mold and other discoloration on some of the cloves.

The 3-pound bag of Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic from Costco Wholesale ($5.99) makes it easy to add this healthy accent to pasta, frittatas, mashed sweet potatoes and fish dishes, and I have been using it with abandon.

The bag is marked, "Best Before Aug. 4, 2014." 

On Thursday night, I had to throw out or trim about half of the remaining cloves for a dish of fusilli with anchovies and sardines.

This is not our first bag of peeled garlic from Costco Wholesale, but it is the first time the cloves deteriorated so badly before the expiration date.

Did one of the other cooks in the family leave the bag open in the refrigerator? Or is there another reason the cloves deteriorated well before the expiration date?

Changes in Classico pasta sauce

On Thursday, I stopped at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack to pick up a few items and saw a new Classico Organic Pasta Sauce in 32-ounce bottles (3 for $8.99).

That's a great price, but when I looked at the ingredients, I was disappointed to see "organic sugar" listed.

The non-organic Classico Tomato & Basil pasta sauce also now contains sugar.

Kirkland Signature Marinara is made without added sugar, but you can taste the sweetness of the tomatoes used.

Three 32-ounce bottles were $7.99.

I used one bottle that night to make organic whole-wheat fusilli with anchovies, sardines and chopped fresh garlic.

A new item at Costco Wholesale, Classico Organic comes in 32-ounce bottles at a good price, below, but the pasta sauce contains added sugar.

NYC Restaurant Week lunch is a far better deal than dinner

Skate Wing with Chickpea Puree, Roasted Vegetables and Arugula at Fulton, a Manhattan restaurant owned by Citarella.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Fulton -- named after the famous fish market of the same name -- is a restaurant from Citarella, known for upscale markets selling pristine seafood, meat and produce.

The Upper East Side restaurant also is one of hundreds offering three-course lunches for $25 and three-course dinners for $38 during the city's semi-annual Restaurant Week, which ends Aug. 15.

Lunch is a far better value, as I discovered at dinner on Wednesday at Fulton, where the two fixed-price menus are virtually identical.

I enjoyed my meal: An appetizer of the tenderest octopus I have ever had, a generous portion of skate wing with roasted vegetables and two kinds of sorbet to finish.

The restaurant is just around the corner from a Citarella market on Third Avenue.

An appetizer of Grilled Octopus with Potato, Chermoula and Cured Lemon. The waiter said the octopus is tenderized for three hours in boiling water, and it showed. 

Moroccan marinade, stacked skate 

The octopus was marinated in chermoula, a Moroccan seafood sauce made with cilantro, parsley, garlic and other ingredients. 

Two pieces of local skate wing were stacked with chickpea puree and roasted vegetables.

Skate is normally tender, which this one was, but some of it was annoyingly chewy and stringy.

I left a 15% tip, and took advantage of an American Express promotion during Restaurant Week by registering my card and using it to pay for the meal, giving me a statement credit of $5.

That brought the cost of dinner down to $33, plus tip and tax. As I was leaving, the hostess handed me two cookies.

Still, I plan to stick with lunch during the rest of Summer Restaurant Week.

Mango and raspberry sorbet with fresh mint leaves. Fulton's Restaurant Week dinner menu offers tiramisu, but I asked the waiter for something lighter and to tell the kitchen not to cook my food with butter. 

Bread service: Crusty rolls and extra-virgin olive oil.

You can't tell from the dining room, but Fulton was busy on Wednesday evening, with most customers sitting at outside tables, enjoying $1 oysters and $6 glasses of prosecco during Happy Hour, below.

Happy Hour menu.

Fulton Restaurant, 205 E. 75th St., New York, N.Y.; 1-212-288-6600. 

Web site: Citarella's seafood restaurant

Mayo-less tuna salad, Love Beets and pasta with anchovies

A homemade salad of solid light tuna gets most of its flavor from Dijon mustard and fresh lime juice. Sharing the plate are organic beets, Campari Tomatoes and Earthbound Farm salad greens. Just about everything is available from Costco Wholesale.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss a tuna salad with Middle Eastern and Asian Indian spices, cooked organic beets from Costco Wholesale and the robust taste anchovies give to pasta sauce.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Why settle for a humdrum tuna salad dressed with mayo when you can have one flavored with Dijon mustard, fresh lime juice and exotic spices?

Add crunch with chopped sweet pepper, onion, carrot, celery or scallions.

This week, I used green pepper, onion and a little carrot; three cans of Genova Solid Light Tuna in Olive Oil; Dijon mustard to taste; three limes and ground cumin, sumac and garam masala.

If the salad isn't moist enough, add extra-virgin olive oil.

Six 7-ounce cans of Genova yellowfin tuna were $11.89 at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

If you are concerned about mercury, you can make this salad with one can of tuna, one of pink salmon and one or two cans of sardines.

Do you love beets?

If you love beets, you'll love refrigerated Love Beets, fully cooked organic beets sold in a 1-kilogram package at Costco Wholesale for $7.99.

There are four ready to eat 8.8-ounce portions in plastic shrink wrap that you cut open with a scissor over a colander to drain the juices.

I slice the beets and dress them with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

No fuss, no muss.

Organic whole-wheat pasta from Italy in a reduction of red wine, chicken stock, tomato sauce, organic diced tomatoes, chopped garlic and triple-washed greens. The dish looked and tasted good, but there was something missing.

I also used fresh herbs, but didn't have a can of anchovies to give the pasta sauce a robust flavor.

Pasta with anchovies

I felt like pasta and even wanted to assemble my own sauce, but didn't have the can of anchovies that has always lent the dish a distinctive flavor without a hint of the assertive little fish.

Recklessly, I went ahead, and the result was a good plate of pasta, but not a great one.

And I made an entire pound so spent the week being disappointed, shaking my head at several meals and using grated cheese to add flavor.

For one thing, the anchovies are all the sodium I need, even when I drain the oil and rinse them to reduce the salt content of the finished dish.

They go into the boiling sauce and completely disappear, but leave behind their flavor.

For 1 pound of spaghetti, I often open a 32-ounce bottle of one of Costco Wholesale's pasta sauces and add anchovy fillets, red-pepper flakes, dried Italian seasoning and a couple of ounces of extra-virgin olive oil.

Once the drained pasta is added and mixed with the sauce, you can sit down to eat.

Six 2-ounce cans of Season Fillets of Anchovies in Pure Olive Oil were $6.99 at Costco Wholesale.

Love Beets are non-GMO and grown organically in the European Union. They are fully cooked and ready to eat. Nothing is added to the beets.