Jersey Bites

In honor of National French Fry Day on July 12, here are a few great places to celebrate this fan-favorite guilty pleasure throughout the Garden State. How do you like your fries?

Amalfi’s Kitchen & Bar, Lawrenceville

The modern Italian spot Amalfi’s Kitchen & Bar serves pizza, pasta, sandwiches, and everything in between! A must have is the signature truffle parm fries, served with crispy fries, truffle oil, shaved parmigiano, and parsley. Order them as an app or as a side. Either way you are in for a treat!

B2 Bistro + Bar, Red Bank

This popular Red Bank bistro serves some tasty signature Rally Fries! This app is served with cheese sauce, ranch, and sriracha. Stop into B2 Bistro + Bar for happy hour or dinner and be sure to order a side of these!

Bin 14, Hoboken

Executive Chef Anthony Pino and Chef de Cuisine Justin Antiorio put an Italian twist on french fries at Bin 14. Their three popular offerings are the pecorino fries, the Cacio e Pepe Fries (cheese, fries, black pepper, yolk), and truffle fries with Romano and black pepper.

Broadway Diner, Summit and Bayonne

While the disco fries at the Broadway Diner rank the highest, the loaded waffle fries topped with melted cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon, and sour cream also have quite a following.

Ho-Ho-Kus Inn & Tavern, Ho-Ho-Kus

Bergen County’s Ho-Ho-Kus Inn & Tavern restaurant serves poutine fries: covered in taleggio cheese and foie gras gravy with fines herbes.

Jefferson Diner, Lake Hopatcong

The often-featured-on-Food-Network diner serves some of the best, classic disco fries around. No fancy ingredients at the Jefferson Diner: fries, melty cheese and brown gravy. Just the way disco fries should be.

Kimchi Smoke, Ridgewood

At his food truck-turned-storefront-restaurant, Robert Cho has created the outrageous, decadent ChoLander Fries. The Kimchi Smoke concoction features crispy fries loaded with smoked kimchi, cheddar cheese, pulled pork and his BBQ sauce named Fatboy Sauce.

New York Fries, Multiple locations

Poutine fans, this is the spot for you! New York Fries has locations in Jersey City and Edison, as well as New York. Check out their loaded fries like Pulled Pork Poutine, Flamin’ Bacon, Nacho Fries, Veggie Fries, and more! 

Pascal & Sabine, Asbury Park

“French comfort food presented in a modern brasserie with a cool vibe.” That’s Pascal & Sabine! Many of their dishes are served with frites (french for fries) and one of their signatures, the Malt Frites.

Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas, Clifton

Truffle fries made with truffle oil, Parmigiano Reggiano and Italian herbs, and—new to the Spuntino menu—herbed polenta fries, made with Pecorino Romano, chopped parsley and cracked black pepper, served with tomato sauce.

State Line Diner, Mahwah

The always-open State Line diner offers many food options, modern decor, a separate bar, and a bakery case. Plus, they have all the fries you could dream of! Check out their Loaded Fries, Chili Cheese Fries, Porker Fries (with pulled pork and carnitas), and Buffalo Chicken Fries. It’s a french fry lover’s dream! 

Taphouse 15, South Jefferson

At this recently opened restaurant, fries take a beefy turn. Taphouse 15‘s short rib cheese fries feature crispy fries topped with braised short ribs and American cheese served in a cast iron skillet.

Twenty/20 Taphouse, Somerset

You heard it here: Twenty/20 Taphouse in Somerset has some tasty poutine on the menu! Their signature “Taphouse Poutine” is served with french fries and topped with brisket, caramelized onions, cheese curds, and short rib gravy. Now THAT sounds good!

Washington House, Basking Ridge

This converted inn sets the rustic scene for an American menu. One of the Washington House‘s specialties is their french fries served with three different dipping sauces—plus a classic side of ketchup of course! The dip-worthy sauces to choose from include spicy wasabi, aïoli, barbecue sauce, and tartar sauce. 

Afghan cuisine, according to the Sidiqees, takes time. It is centered around healthy, whole ingredients. In an interview with co-owner Walli, we learned the meaning of halal food, Afghan culture, the detail-oriented cuisine, and the welcoming ambiance of his two restaurant locations.

“We are unique,” said Walli Sidiqee. He talked about Afghan food as a healthy option, with incredible flavors. Sidiqee also pointed out that it hasn’t been done “in a proper setting” in the Garden State. “My goal is to make sure to honor this cuisine and take it to the next level,” in Basking Ridge and surrounding towns.

Walli is the chef, manager, and co-owner of the Hills of Herat. At 36, he immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan. He has worked in restaurants for the 13 years he’s been in New Jersey. For the past seven years, he’s taken pride in his perfectionist attitude with the opening of a small restaurant in Martinsville, and now a restaurant double that size, in Basking Ridge. At his side are co-owners, Mustafa Sidiqee and Saboor Sidiqee.

“Our meat quality is at the highest level, and it’s all halal which has more accountability,” he went on to explain the concept of halal. The “animal has no health issues and no hormones injected in it. So, the meat is more flavorful and extremely healthy for you.” 

Qorma

One of the staple food items on the Hills of Herat menu is qorma, which is an Afghani stew. “We serve traditional dishes like the meatball qorma—a mix of ground beef and ground veal, and there’s no fat so the meatball can hold together,” explained Walli.

“We add onions, black pepper, salt, a lot of garlic, and mix it. And we make a stock with tomato, onion, garlic, and tomato paste, and cook meatballs in the sauce and steam it with those flavors. The meatballs are so much better rather than keeping those separate.” The veal qorma consists of a similar stew-style chock full of pressure-cooked veal chunks.

From the Grill

Hills of Herat also offers items from the charcoal grill. “Our tenderloin kabobs are very flavorful,” stated Walli, who explained how his kitchen cleans the meat. “What we do is patiently take off every single tendon… Cooking on the grill, tendons make the meat chewy. So, we clean the tenderloin or filet. Then we marinate for at least a day in onion puree, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and different spices. The next day we skewer the meat and cook it on top of a special char-broiler for kabobs.”

Other cuts like the ribeye steak and lamb chops are “out of this world and have just the right amount of fat,” said Walli.

“We have something for everyone: Carnivores get steak and kabobs. We have eggplant and cauliflower for vegans. And we don’t use a lot of nuts or ingredients that people are allergic to,” said Walli. “For people with celiac, we don’t use a lot of flour. I would hate to be limited or not give folks a chance to have a good meal.”

Food for Everyone

During the conversation with Walli, it became apparent that there was no good reason not to try Afghan cuisine. What’s more, there’d be no better place to start than the Hills of Herat.

“This is something new,” said Walli about his restaurant and concept. “And it caters to everyone’s palate. It’s very healthy. We only have two or three fried items on the menu, and we’re not using a ton of oil…”

Walli brings his work ethic, ingredients, and cooking methods straight from his home country. He’s got an idealistic view of what food should be, and he seemed like a trustworthy man that any customer would be happy to have serving him or her.

“The real Afghan food is some of the healthiest and flavorful cuisine there is,” he said. “The recipes and cooking methods are authentic and never evolved because of war for hundreds of years. That was the idea: To serve what we eat at home.”

Growing up, Walli learned the importance of emphasizing hospitality for guests. His goal is to distill his experience and relay his upbringing to those dining at the Hills of Herat. For example, he was raised apart from the Western world and mass production.

“The majority of beef and chicken, they inject hormones, and that becomes part of fat and dairy. Animals are kept together and stressed. But back home no one has cancer, or intolerance, or heart issues. I think it’s because there’s no mass production. So, we source from different farms. And with halal food, none of that stuff happens to the animal.”

Growing Up in Afghanistan

Many people in the United States may have a preconceived notion of what being in Afghanistan is like. These visions and ideas, are often shaped by the narrow view through the cable media lens. However, Walli Sidiqee offered a different perspective.

“Growing up, I was a farmer in a valley town village that was self-sufficient. It was like living 200 years back. You grow vegetables, and raise animals, and use wood [for fire], and drive horses, no cars, no cell phones, no gas, no electricity. It was a really pure lifestyle,” he shared.

“But we’ve been through wars and became refugees three times in my life. Coming to NJ was a big transition because culturally you’re in a place where it’s completely opposite from what you’ve been doing.”

Sidiqee described hard times in his early life when his family had to limit themselves to two meals a day. And if there were visitors taking refuge from war—it was customary for his family to let them eat first and leave themselves—the hosts—the leftovers.

“If I were to dream or imagine a life 15 to 17 years ago, I wouldn’t be able to dream about where we are now,” he said, while describing war in Afghanistan and recalling bullets whizzing by his home. “I’m extremely grateful. The initial four to six years [in New Jersey] were challenging. I was trying to catch up. It’s always been about survival and providing for our families. And making sure you’re the hardest-working person in that room and taking care of the people around you.”

Culture and Cuisine

For Walli, food is his segue to communicate all this information—whether it be by one bite, or by dining with new or old friends and sharing experiences. He enjoys seeing guests’ faces light up after trying his food for the first time.

“In order to learn about culture, you have to meet the folks from those countries and ask what they’ve been through and what they think,” he continued. “Mainstream media is telling you hatred only, but it’s extremely important to travel and get to know people from other regions.”

He pointed out that in the past, his home country used to be a travel destination, a place for higher education, and a hub for trade and culture.

“It gets people closer together and shows people the true Afghanistan,” he said. “The country is amazing. The wars were imposed on us. People don’t know the background, and it’s hard for them to have a grip on what’s going on. The restaurant tells people we’re all the same. We’re some of the nicest people on Earth, and the cuisine some of the best in the world.”

So, customer by customer, and kabob by kabob, Sidiqee and his family will show NJ residents and tourists what Afghan culture and cuisine means to them.

“Food is what I love doing, and it’s the best medium to gather and to connect people, to close the [gaps] between people. Sitting at a table, you can introduce culture and the more you communicate the more you realize we’re the same people, just with a different upbringing.”

Hills of Herat
665 Martinsville Road
Basking Ridge, NJ
609-309-7597

1982 Washington Valley Road
Martinsville, NJ
732-640-2922

Earlier this year, American Dream welcomed Marcus LIVE! In a mall that has plenty of eating—and entertainment—options, Marcus LIVE! definitely stands out. Founded and led by Chef Marcus Samuelsson, Marcus LIVE! is located in Court A, on the third floor, right in the center of the action.

Chef Marcus is a renowned chef with an impressive culinary career. He appeared on the hit Food Network show Chopped, served as the head judge of Top Chef Family Style, and competed as an Iron Chef on Netflix. He has also won eight James Beard Foundation Awards.

This new spot brings to New Jersey a menu that is truly symbolic of Chef Marcus’s cooking style, featuring southern flair dishes such as fried chicken and cornbread waffles, shrimp and grits, ribeye, and more. Plus it adds to the rich culinary culture of fine dining in the Garden State.

My Visit

We received top-notch service. And our server’s name was also Marcus. The ambiance is all about music and vibes, with live performances on the weekends and a great collection of vinyls on the wall. During my visit, the band was fantastic, playing Tina Turner and Whitney Houston classics.

A Fresh Meal

Let’s talk food. Everything was fresh, from the appetizer to the dessert, and to be completely honest, my favorites were the accompanying sauces. I ordered M’s Cornbread, which came with a seasonal jam (blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry). The fried calamari came with a delicious Thai chili and romesco sauce—a pleasant change from the usual tartar or cocktail sauce.

The drinks were also incredible. Each cocktail bursts with flavor. The presentation was excellent, and check out the names: All the Smoke, Not So Hoochi, and Pretty in Pink.

Finally, the recommended dessert was the sticky toffee pudding—the best I’ve had so far. As our server Marcus explained, everything is prepped fresh and in house. Now back to the dessert. I am not exaggerating when I say the combination of the toffee pudding and the ice cream covered with whipped honey butter was awesome!

But don’t take my word for it. Check out Marcus LIVE! next time you are at American Dream. 

Marcus LIVE!
1 American Dream Way
East Rutherford, NJ
201-340-0076