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Ed Hitzel's Current Column
MARGATE'S ZOOM NIGHTCLUB
PLANS UNIQUE RESTAURANT
Yiani Galanos, owner of Zoom Nightclub in Margate has been dreaming about and developing a very special restaurant concept for over six years. On July 25, the Margate City Planning Board approved plans for a massive reconstruction project at the club, setting the wheels in motion for a facility that will be unique to the downbeach area.
Galanos, who also owns several eateries inside the food court at the Hamilton Mall, said the upgraded facility would cater to couples who want to get dressed up and enjoy "evening out." His ultimate goal is to create an experience that will simulate an ocean voyage.
The exterior of the building will be retrofitted to resemble a yacht. That theme will be reflected in the interior, as well. Futuristic elements include liquid crystal displays that will depict scenery from around the world and rotating booths with individual lighting controls.
"The liquid displays will allow us to take people to many different places," Galanos said. "There won't be any windows because I don't want the outdoors to interfere with the mood inside."
Galanos plans two seven-course dinner seatings in the downstairs area of the building, which will include innovative high-end cuisine from around the globe. "The cuisine will match the places we'll travel to," he said. "It will be a completely interactive experience since the displays, food and lighting will all reflect a theme."
A dance floor will also be installed in the dining room, which allow for a "supper club" type atmosphere, according to Galanos.
The upstairs area will be quieter and include both a lounge and an outdoor deck. It will be accessed through a glass elevator. There won't be any live music upstairs since he wants it to be a place where couples can go to relax and reconnect through conversation.
Galanos anticipates that the facility will open in summer of 2004. The name of the restaurant will not be announced until then, since he plans to dedicate the building as one would a ship.
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HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM OPEN VALARIE'S PLACE, SEA ISLE CITY
Valarie and Scott Kirby fulfilled their dream of having their own restaurant when Valarie's Place opened Memorial Day weekend in Sea Isle City.
The Kirby's have a strong background in the restaurant business. During her childhood, Valarie's father owned a luncheonette in Millville. Being around the business she knew a restaurant career was right for her, and she began waitressing and bartending at A Touch of Italy. Scott is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and is a chef at the Stone Harbor Yacht club. It was only natural for the couple to open their own restaurant. Valarie's Place is very family-oriented and kid-friendly. They have a daughter whom they adopted from Guatemala, so they know how important family is. They have even included a play area for children in the restaurant.
Valarie's Place is open for breakfast and dinner. The breakfast menu, priced from $2.95 to $9.95, offers many breakfast favorites including a large hungry man's special designed for big appetites. According to Valarie, "The most popular items are our omelettes. They seem to be the big thing." The lunch menu, priced from $2.95 to $7.95, features homemade crab chowder, sandwiches, and salads. "Even if you don't see it on the menu, if we have the ingredients, we'll make it." Although her husband is the chef of the family, Valarie does much of the cooking herself at Valarie's Place. "I used to be a front of the house girl, but I ended up in the back and that's where I'll stay."
The restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week, but they serve more than just breakfast and lunch. Valarie, along with her staff, prepares oven-ready meals designed to serve 6 to 8 people. These meals include lobster ravioli, chicken cacciatore, and spaghetti and meatballs and range from $25-$45. Just place an order for a tray and Valarie will meet you at the restaurant between 5 p.m. and 6:30pm to pick up your order. All other menu items are available eat-in or take-out.
Valarie's Place is located at 5900 Landis Avenue, Sea Isle City. The phone number is (609) 263-5400.
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AVALON COFFEE COMPANY OPENS NEW FACILITY
The Avalon Coffee Company's new flagship store in Rio Grande opened to the public on July 2. Owner Sean Ford said the facility will also serve as the commissary kitchen for the company's three other properties located in Cape May Court House, Cape May and Avalon.
Ford is pleased with the new building, which is double the size of his former Rio Grande store. It also includes two rental units, which have not yet been occupied and a parking lot with 49 spaces.
"We have a lot more room to work with and it's more efficient," he said. "We created this design based on lessons we've learned at our other stores and it's working well."
The 32-seat restaurant, which includes a soup and salad bar, serves breakfast and lunch. Baked goods are prepared on site. The menu includes hand-rolled bagels, croissants, cupcakes and sandwiches made with house-roasted meats.
The facility offers both indoor and outdoor seating.
Visit the new Avalon Coffee Company at 3167 Route 9 South, in Rio Grande.
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LOBSTER HOUSE JUNE WAS UP
Keith Lauderman at the Lobster House in Cape May said his initial instincts told him that June would be an off month. "The first two weeks this year seemed soft," he said. It turned out that "June was better than last year. I was surprised. People keep saying that the area is not as busy or that the economy is down and it gets in your head."
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VERY COOL SCOOPS
Paul Russo of Cool Scoops Ice Cream Parlor in North Wildwood told us he does very well on weekend nights, although during the day there is not much interest in ice cream, so he closed for the early day hours. He plans to stay open until October and he may change some of the menu items to accommodate an off-season audience. The ice-cream parlor with a 1950s décor features booths made from the tailfins of cars. He said the back of the Cadillac cost $12,000 to make. "They're expensive," he said. "You have to order them custom made."
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A HEAVY (KEVIE) MOMENT
I was talking with Mike Corsetti in his Corsetti Pasta offices in Woodbury when a gentleman walked in the door wearing a dress shirt and pants, business attire. I could not help but notice that there were spots on the shirt. Mike noticed it also, and when the gentleman introduced himself as "Heavy Kevie," I started to laugh. Heavy Kevie is one of the participants in wing-bowl, a successful promotion by radio station WIP in Philadelphia.
Participants try to eat as many wings as possible. Heavy Kevie, aka Kevin O'Donnell, a mortgage banker, described himself as the all time reigning champion. "My best performance," he told us, seriously "was 138 wings in 22 minutes." To qualify, he had to eat a dozen donuts. "I did it in 7 minutes, with 16 bites." Heavy Kevie was attempting to impress area businesses into sponsoring him, but I saw the opportunity to book him as a guest on my radio show. Hear him on Aug. 31.
What should we get him to eat?
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BACK TO THE LOBSTER SHANTY
Many years ago we remember visiting The Lobster Shanty in Toms River. We returned recently to find a well-oiled machine. The servers and hostess/host team were very businesslike, almost too businesslike. Have you ever noticed an employee or employees so intent on doing their jobs that they forget their job is to service customers? They walk around quickly, with a look of determination on their faces, and no doubt the job is getting done. However, from the customers perspective, these folks are focused on everything but them. That's a small distinction, but it's an important one in a service business. That's how we felt in the Lobster Shanty, everyone so intent on doing the job that no one was smiling or saying hello or good afternoon.
Our food selections were fine, and our server was fine also. We liked the broiled salmon a lot, served rarish as requested, but the swordfish was a little dry. We love that the restaurant serves Ipswich clams, which are available only at the Knife and Fork Inn in Atlantic City. The corn fritters are a treat. Now if we can get the employees to smile a little bit, not phony smiles, but relaxed, -nice-to-be-here smiles.
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Lunch to Go is new at Melissa's in Margate. The menu features salads, sandwiches and sweets. Dessert Works, the facility that featured excellent cakes and pies near the Shore Mall, has closed. Fireside Steakhouse, Winslow Township, featuring an extensive play area behind it with airplanes and fire engines, has closed.
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ED'S HOT LINE
Lisa Provence writes for Ed Hitzel Publications and contributed to this report. Ed Hitzel reviewed restaurants for The Press of Atlantic City for 16 years, and despite that remains reasonably fit.
Find out more about Ed Hitzel's projects at www.edhitzel.com. Email him and his office golden retriever at edhitzel@earthlink.net. Call him at 609-909-9755.
Hitzel has three publications:
- Ed Hitzel's Restaurant Newsletter features honest restaurant reviews and restaurant news and is available by subscription.
- Ed Hitzel's Restaurant Magazine, available free in restaurants throughout southern New Jersey and by subscription, features hundreds of capsule reviews of area restaurants, columnists and features.
- EdHitzel's Favorite Menus is available free in local restaurants.
Ed Hitzel's popular radio show, featuring food and beverage topics and industry guests, "Table For One," airs Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on WOND-AM 1400 in Atlantic City and WGYM-AM 1580 in Hammonton, and Sundays from 10:30 a.m. on 92.1 FM in Vineland. The show can be heard on the internet by logging onto www.1400wond.com.
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By Ed Hitzel
U.S. Foods, after merger,
is largest in the region
When you sit down to your next restaurant meal, think of the people who buy, transport and deliver - to the restaurant - the pieces of the meal you are about to enjoy.
Think of folks like Tom McGettigan, Ed Custer and Charles Conwell. If you know who these folks are, you are probably in the restaurant or food business.
But most diners don't know McGettigan, Custer and Conwell. All are in management for U.S. Foodservice, which is now the largest food distribution company in the region, and which is likely responsible for feeding anyone who dines in an area restaurant at one time or another.
Usually in this column, we address something related to eating. This month, we're thinking about how the food gets to you.
Tom McGettigan, president of the regional branch of U.S. Foodservice, recently talked about how the merger of the former Alliant and U.S. Foods will better serve restaurants and ultimately you, the customer seeking food safety and innovation.
"Both U.S. Foodservice and Alliant will blend together nicely," said McGettigan. For example, both served divergent clients. U.S. Foodservice favored hotels and white tablecloth establishments while Alliant was more focused on healthcare, national chains and pizza restaurants. Together, the new U.S. Foodservice will bring customers the strengths of each company, more products, more efficiency, and a national computer system.
Alliant used a state of the art national computer system. With this system, U.S Foods takes all orders electronically, which means that customers are able to receive delivery of products within 12 to 24 hours of ordering.
While you dig into your soups, appetizers, salads, entrees, and desserts, consider that U.S. Foodservice employs more than 300 salespersons, and sends 300 trucks from its 250,000 square foot warehouse in Bridgeport, Gloucester County, every day.
"We put the number two and number three distributors together in order to become the biggest food distributor in the tri-state area," McGettigan said. "We service 5000 customers, including a variety of independent restaurants, casinos, hospitals, and healthcare providers. We are now one branch out of eighty in the country, and we serve the entire Delaware Valley."
U.S. Foods is one of many foodservice companies in the region, from small mom and pop companies whose trucks are hand-lettered, as well as medium-sized operations that specialize in certain products and services. Many of the employees of U.S. Foodservice once worked for smaller companies. For example, Ed Custer, vice president of sales for U.S. Foodservice, once worked for local companies such as Menz, Polokoff, and Rykoff-Sexton, the latter which became U.S. Foods. Custer grew up in the foodservice business in southern New Jersey.
The goal, said Custer, is to build relationships.
"We want to build a bond with our customers, not just be their distributor. We are always looking for different ways to provide better services. We don't want to just sell them a product, we want to help them run a more profitable business." One way they do this is by not only providing the customer with equipment and supplies, but also layouts and designs for new establishments, in addition to offering menu engineering by designing and costing out a new menu. One recently added feature is what they have dubbed "Steak Night Out." Restaurants pick a night to feature high quality steaks at reasonable prices; U.S. Foodservice provides menu boards and marketing materials to help make the promotion a success.
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