On December 21, 2015, Austrian DJ Joe Kohlhofer reported to his radio station to begin his 8 a.m. drive time radio show. He promptly barricaded himself inside the studio and played "Last Christmas" by Wham! 24 times in a row. More than 120 listeners called the station to complain about the repetition. Repeatedly, Kohlhofer told those angry callers they weren't in a festive enough spirit before spinning the record one more time. We swear this story is true. Salute to Joe Kohlhofer for going to extremes to get his listeners in the Christmas spirit. There are plenty of other ways to get fired up ..read more

Graduation is food for the soul. It's achievement, gratitude and hope gathered in a single day. With any luck, it will help propel some kids who grew up way too fast as they take a running leap into a future. For those of us who have been there, we know there's more than a faceplant or two waiting for them on the other side. That's why we're suckers for a good graduation speech. A good quote captures the energy of the moment in the context of the challenges we all come against. Here are a few of our favorites that help keep us going. Bill Watterson at Kenyon College, 1990 "Letting your mind p ..read more

Did you know that in the build up to the Super Bowl, our country's demand for chicken wings surges to the point that they become the most expensive part of the chicken? For people like me who can barely remember a time before this Domino's jingle was haunting our collective dreams (Gotta be, gotta be Domino's… BUFFALO WINGS), this isn't a surprise. What else are people going to eat while they watch football and drink beers? This is America. However, chicken wings did not always reside at the pinnacle of the pyramid of desirable poultry parts. There was a time, before the Super Bowl itself, wh ..read more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQV6CijIzrc I’ve always loved the dinner in prison scene from Goodfellas. You’ve got Bobby Darin crooning “Beyond the Sea” in the background while Paulie slices fresh garlic with a razor blade. Meanwhile, the camera zooms in on the meatballs Vinny’s adding to his sauce that may or may not include too many onions, and suddenly whatever room you’re in smells like your grandmother’s kitchen on Sunday afternoon. Next you’ve got Johnny Dio searing a New York strip on a hot plate while a shady prison officer drops off a crate of lobsters. Finally, Henry rolls in with ..read more

As TNT reminds us for 24 hours every Christmas, the Bumpus’s dogs broke into the little Ralphie Parker’s childhood home and ravaged his family’s turkey to the bones. It was a tragedy. Until Kevin Malone fumbled his heaping pot of chili in The Office decades later, it stood as this great nation’s undisputed standard of agonizing food loss. Check the footage if you don’t believe me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK2Pq86xgOc Adult Ralphie narrates the carnage and its aftermath this way: “The heavenly aroma still hung in the house. But it was gone, all gone! No turkey! No turkey sandwiches! No t ..read more

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall," wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald. Assuming those words are true (and since The Great Gatsby was required reading in high school English, we'll assume they are), there's lots of living to be done in in The Garden State starting right now. As of this weekend hoody season is officially upon us, autumn foliage is reaching its peak, Rutgers won their first Big 10 football game in three years, and all of our cool weather dishes are back in stock in Far Hills and Basking Ridge. To get in the proper mindset for another fall in the 908, we thought w ..read more

Remember this place? It's been almost 6 months since we consolidated operations in Basking Ridge to give our first shop in Far Hills some much needed TLC. It simultaneously feels like just yesterday and a lifetime ago. Under normal circumstances that probably wouldn't make sense, but it's 2020 so you probably get it. In that time we refreshed the exterior with a new coat of paint, added a wheelchair ramp, and made some tasteful landscaping decisions. We made some upgrades on the inside as well, and even made this nifty video to show you around. Check it out with the sound on. https://video.wi ..read more

Online ordering is available for our Far Hills or Basking Ridge locations. We offer limited menu for same-day pickup (think lunch-type items like salads and sandwiches) as well as our full catering menu (orders placed through this menu must be made a minimum of two days in advance). Please select the appropriate menu to being placing your order: If you want to pick up your order today... Basking Ridge Same-Day Pickup Menu: Use this link to order sandwiches and salads from our Basking Ridge location from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Orders placed through this menu are available ..read more

Embarrassing story: The first time I had brisket from a proper Texas barbecue joint, I was 24 years old, and I had no idea that brisket was a part of a cow. I just assumed “brisket” was the name of the tender, salty beast that was making my knees buckle as I shoveled genuinely concerning quantities of meat into my mouth. When it was over, and I thought about something other than my next bite, I almost felt cheated. How did I go nearly a quarter-century before I got to experience brisket done right? I suppose my experience isn’t unique for folks who grew up in New Jersey. Don’t get me wrong, t ..read more

Earlier this year, we took a massive leap into the 21st century and offered online ordering for the very first time. Since it was a new experience for us, we put some training wheels on the process to ensure that we could keep up with the orders that came in online and continue to deliver the type of quality and accuracy that you've come to expect. That meant orders placed online were available for pickup 48-hours later. Three months later, we're pleased to announce that orders placed through our brand new Same Day Pickup Menu will be ready within 30-minutes. To begin with, this will be a lun ..read more