City Belt

BUT I DIGEST … IN SEARCH OF SKORTHALIA

By Kimberly Kaye

Alright. I am going to begin by throwing down the gauntlet. Because my life is missing something, and I am growing concerned that I will not be able to fill this void anytime soon … at least not without taking the short but irritating trek into NYC. And it’s not that I don’t enjoy NYC, the nearest Mecca of world cookery, or even a good old-fashioned train ride. It’s just that I want some phenomenally good Greek food right away, and I want it in New Jersey. A region with as much cultural diversity and outstanding ethnic cuisine as NJ should have a great Greek food place. But I’m starting to worry that one might not exist. So here’s where the gauntlet throwing comes in.

BUT I DIGEST … A CUBAN CURE-ALL

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By Kimberly Kaye   

To some, it would seem that fate had set out to prevent me from eating the breathtakingly good, soulful cuisine slung at Hoboken’s Cuban masterwork, La Isla.

It was fate that had sent Hurricane Ernesto two weeks earlier to force my ever-present dining partner, Ramon, and I off the road en route to La Isla with flooding and a flourish of fallen tree branches.

And it was fate that again thwarted our journey the following weekend with an even greater and more sinister obstacle – recreational men’s-league softball.

BUT I DIGEST ... A THAI GEM

By Kimberly Kaye

Editors’ note: Today marks the launch of our newest City Belt column, But I Digest…, which will feature restaurant reviews and food features from Kimberly Kaye. We’re very happy to have such a well-versed and inquisitive food writer on board – enjoy!

Let me begin by explaining that I happened upon Thai cuisine completely by accident several years ago. I had stumbled out of bed at noon, like most college students, bleary eyed, smelling faintly of cheap beer, and hungry. Having long before sworn off any of the “food” in the dining hall -- hangover munchies only once justified consumption such culinary travesties -- I made my way to the pile of delivery menus stationed at the entrance of our dorm for such occasions.