BOOKBINDER’S BRINGS MEMORIES TO LINWOOD; BLOODY MARY’S OPENS IN CAPE MAY...

September 2007

One of the best memories of my dad is of him taking our family to Bookbinder’s in Philadelphia, the Second and Walnut Streets location. He loved the place, its grandness, its history, even the smell of the place, a combination of furniture polish and clam juice.

I loved the lobster tanks, and the numerous rooms on so many different floors that seemed to wind endlessly through several buildings. The pictures of famous people on the walls, and the Ipswich clams, the clams with the tails, that were served in a basket lined with a linen napkin and served with clam juices and melted butter.

We would always stop at Bookbinder’s when my mom wanted to go to Philadelphia to shop at Wanamaker’s, or when my dad had his meetings with the Delaware River Port Authority. During college, I introduced my dorm-mates to Bookbinder’s, where we enjoyed many dinners. Now Wanamaker’s is gone, and so are both parents, but Bookbinder’s lives on, in a new facility at the same location in Philadelphia and now in Linwood, on Route 9, at the Cornerstone Shoppes.

The Bookbinder’s building in Philadelphia has been rebuilt into condominiums, making the actual restaurant space smaller, but the restaurant is still there. John Taxin, owner and third generation, told us in an appearance on our radio show (July 28th) that the building had fallen into disrepair, and that the gorgeous chandelier in the second floor dining room actually fell one evening when no one was in the room. He knew it was time to rebuild.

In Linwood, the restaurant occupies the space once known as Savaradio, and prior to that was the cafeteria area – now completely redesigned – of the former Prudential building.

A group of us dined at the new Bookbinder’s for lunch – a private meeting – whose food was superb. Taxin himself, an affable, energetic person, drove from Philadelphia just to say hello. Hello John. Welcome to New Jersey. Thanks for the memories. May this be the beginning of many more.

BLOODY MARY’S BAR AND GRILL OPENS IN CAPE MAY’S ATLAS INN

Cape May’s Ballpark Café is now Bloody Mary’s Bar & Grill. It has the same owners but new ambience, menu, and décor. Located at the Atlas Inn, Bloody Mary’s serves lunch, dinner, snacks, and specialty drinks daily.

With its casual island menu and design, Bloody Mary’s welcomes beachgoers, and those who just like to hang out in a tropical setting. The large menu features several sandwiches and burgers, such as the boogie board burger, fish taco, and pulled pork, all under $9, and appetizers, such as island coconut shrimp with orange and ginger sauce, black bean tortilla soup, and geezer’s wings with pineapple curry, orange ginger, or Thai chili sauce for dipping. Entrees include several broiled fish selections, as well as Tommy’s jammin’ jambalaya jerk, and the Don Ho rib eye. Portions are large and most dishes are under $17.

Bloody Mary’s has a little kahuna menu and half price appetizers and drinks from 5 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. There’s also a DJ Friday and Saturday starting at 9 p.m.

It’s located at 1035 Beach Ave. in Cape May. The phone number is (609) 884- 7000.

SPICE ROAD OPENS AT TAJ MAHAL

Atlantic City keeps expanding its array of dining and shopping spots.

New to the lineup is Spice Road at the Trump Taj Mahal. Replacing the Bombay Café at the beginning of Spice Road is Plate, a 24-hour American eatery serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On the menu is everything from waffles and robust brick oven pizza to ample desserts and cocktails. Place seats 300.

Not far away is Burger, a backyard barbecue, fries, and shake joint and Freeze, Atlantic City’s only frozen cocktail bar. Besides unique cool 20 ounce fruity drinks such as the grape crusher, Freeze has many imported beers. There’s seating for 60 that is shared by patrons of Freeze and Burger.

Spice Road is located at Trump Taj Mahal, Boardwalk at Virginia Avenue in Atlantic City. For more information, call (609) 449-1000.

EMBERS WOOD-FIRED GRILL OPENS AT CHERRY HILL’S CROWNE PLAZA

The folks who own Cherry Hill’s Crowne Plaza Hotel recently opened Embers Wood Fired Grill.

The new restaurant, which replaces Cooper’s Bar and Bistro, features a large wood fired grill and flame inspired appetizers, salads, entrees, and side dishes.

Intriguing items on the menu are a roasted fresh beet salad, wood grilled meat loaf, fire roasted vegetable lasagna, and a pretzel encrusted jumbo lump crab cake served on a bed of baby field greens with chipotle aioili and toasted pumpkin seeds. Other featured items are the grilled daily home made sausage selection, short ribs, double thick pork chop, and flat iron steak, as well as salmon, swordfish steak, and rainbow trout. Dinner entrees are $16 to $28, and lunch entrees are $7 to $14.

Embers can accommodate small groups of ten to forty for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The hotel also recently unveiled the Embers Lounge.

It offers an extensive wine list, a wide variety of draft beers, and several plasma televisions. In August, the Corner Café, a grab and go style coffee bar with freshly baked treats, has opened near the lobby.

Embers Wood Fired Grill is located in the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 2349 W. Marlton Pike in Cherry Hill. The phone number is (856) 665-6666.

ZIZI’S VEGETARIAN OPENS IN MERCHANTVILLE

New to Merchantville is Zizi’s vegetarian takeout. “We’re trying to put Merchantville on the map for those living a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle,” says Garrett Brood, manager and chef of Zizi’s. “Now people who want this kind of food don’t have to take the time and the expense of going over the bridge to get it.”

Brood, who has cooked at the Kind Café in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia and Essene, the natural food market also in Philadelphia, is excited to bring his fresh and flavorful food to southern New Jersey. The large menu includes sandwiches, salads, and entrees, such as grilled salmon steak and crunchy soy chicken tenders, as well as a variety of fresh fruit smoothies, French fries, steamed broccoli, hummus with pita, brown rice, and other sides. The desserts, including ice cream and sweet potato cheesecake, are all vegan. Zizi’s is open 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. It’s located at 177 Centre St. in Merchantville, and the phone number is (856) 317-1949. For a full menu and other information, please click on www.zizis2go.com.

PEI WEI ASIAN DINER SET FOR GARDEN STATE PARK

The Garden State Park development continues with another new restaurant planned to open in late fall.

A Pei Wei Asian Diner, part of the popular Asian dining chain started by the same people who created PF Chang’s, will be located near a Starbucks and Houlihan’s Restaurant. According to Cherry Hill Mayor Bernie Platt, another 150,000 square feet of retail space will be filled with upscale stores such as J.Jill, Jos. A. Bank, and Talbots to keep the development’s growing lineup of restaurants busy.

Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Pei Wei Asian Diner Inc. has grown in popularity due to its cafeteria style concept.

As you enter, menu boards list the diner’s offerings. You place your order with a cashier and wait for your number to be called. Its menu samples flavors from Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, and China. All dishes are individually prepared and made to order using Mandarin-style woks. Entrees are $6 to $9, and there’s a kids’ menu with a beverage for under $4.

A variety of noodle or rice bowls are on the menu, as well as signature dishes such as the Pei Wei spicy (Pei Wei’s version of the General Chu) and Mandarin Kung Pao made with beef, tofu, vegetables, shrimp, scallops, chicken, or pork. All of its items contain no MSG and gluten-free requests are also honored.

Pei Wei Asian Diner will be located at Garden State Park on Route 70 in Cherry Hill.

SEASONED WOK, BYO, OPENS IN MEDFORD

Medford recently welcomed a new Asian restaurant. Seasoned Wok, a 26-seat BYOB, is open for lunch, dinner, and takeout daily except Tuesday. The restaurant features a wide variety of Chinese and Japanese specialties, including sushi, lo mein, grilled fish dishes, and specialty rolls.

Seasoned Wok is owned by Lee Pak, a Medford resident, and has been open since June. It serves lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner starts at 5 p.m. Prices are moderate. It’s located at 15 Jackson Rd. in Medford. The phone number is (609) 654-8588.

MORRESTOWN TO HOLD ELECTION FOR SIX RESTAURANT LIQUOR LICENSES...

Southern New Jersey may have one less dry town if proponents of allowing limited alcohol sales at selected restaurants in Moorestown are successful in November.

Moorestown, which is one of thirty nine remaining dry towns in New Jersey, would be allowed under New Jersey law to issue one liquor license for every 3,000 residents if the proposal is passed. It would be limited to six licenses, which could be sold to six restaurateurs for approximately $1.5 million each.

Supporters of the plan must gather 1,800 signatures to place the proposal on the November 2007 ballot. The township council voted 3 to 2 this spring to put the referendum process in motion.

Twice before, a group of Moorestown residents have tried to allow limited alcohol sales, but both efforts were defeated. Proponents of the new push say that if the licenses are approved, they will most likely be sold to restaurants along the Route 38 corridor and not in the center of town.

ITALIAN BISTRO LIQUOR LICENSE TO GO TO BRIO TUSCAN GRILLE

The Italian Bistro on Route 38 in Cherry Hill shut its doors in early July. The owners sold its liquor license for $1.5 million to the developers of Garden State Park on nearby Route 70. They plan to use the license for a Brio Tuscan Grille, of the casual Tuscan dining chain, at the Park’s Towne Place lifestyle center area near the Cheesecake Factory. The former Italian Bistro space will not be a restaurant. Plans have not yet been finalized for its redevelopment.

FROM THE OWNERS OF P.J. WHELIHANS AND THE CHOPHOUSE, A NEW CASUAL SEAFOOD RESTAURANT, DOCKHOPPERS

What fun it must be to imagine a restaurant concept and be able to see it through to bricks, menu and customers.

Bob Platzer, who conceived and built such operations as The Chophouse and P.J. Whelihan’s, has a new idea: A casual seafood restaurant, with food made from scratch and with a dressed down, comfortable atmosphere.

Food is all fresh made, including the French fries and the onion rings. Platzer knows that if the socalled under-products are excellent, the public is even more inclined to return.

That new seafood restaurant is now open, on Haddon Avenue, in Westmont. It’s called Dockhoppers, and it has the welcoming feel that a tavern / restaurant might have in a waterfront neighborhood in Boston or on a cove along the Chesapeake.

We found Platzer on opening day, doing paperwork in the first floor lounge and dining area, prior to the opening. The building, the former Inn on the Avenue, was completely gutted and rebuilt. Platzer took us on a tour of the basement storage area, which is now air conditioned, dining areas (there is seating upstairs and down) and also the kitchen, where employees were busy breading seafood for opening day.

Platzer gave us a menu, which might have been tweaked by opening, which includes whole Maine lobsters, tempura battered lobster tails, old bay-kissed Chesapeake wings, she crab soup (Thursday, Friday and Saturday only), as well as sandwiches and fried, steamed and broiled seafood.

We wondered if Platzer ever feels burned out, but it was obvious from his answer that he loves coming up with an idea and seeing it through to profitability. “I enjoy opening new places,” he said.

Will we see more?

Most likely.

Platzer also developed Kitchen 233, which opened about a mile from the Seafood Shack last year along Haddon Avenue. That menu has been tweaked and the upscale offerings have been relaxed a little. A new outdoor deck is under construction at Kitchen 233.

Ed Hitzel is publisher of Ed Hitzel's Restaurant Magazine as well as Ed Hitzel's Restaurant Newsletter. He is also host of "Table for One" radio show, heard Saturdays from 10 am to 1 pm on Newstalk 1400 WOND. You can access information about Ed Hitzel enterprises at edhitzel.com For more information about Ed Hitzel publications call 609-909-9755.