La Fusta Restaurant

by Adrienne Wilson on

Since I only went into to La Fusta to pick up my carry-out order I can only go into detail about the menu item I ordered two days in a row. (It was just that good!) If you’re in search for a light yet filling dish and wanting to avoid pastas and steak for whatever reason try La Fusta’s avocado & shrimp salad. One serving is good for either one or two people, but if you like it anywhere close to as much as I did, you’ll want it for yourself or you’ll go back for greedy seconds. Sliced egg, tomato, red onion, beans, lettuce, avocado and shrimp are all found in the salad and with a dash of salt, pepper and their lemon dressing, a simple leafy dish becomes a mouth-watering masterpiece.

I had a full sample of the salad at La Fusta’s North Bergen, NJ location while camping out at the Comfort Suites for work. It’s in an industrial, slightly sketchy part of town, which makes it easy to miss if you’re trying to make it to an area more pleasing on the eyes. Check them out if you’re in North Bergen or if you’re in New York at their Elmhurst location. See the website for more details.

La Fusta is located at 1110 Tonnelle Avenue, North Bergen, NJ 07047. Ph. 201.770.1950.

Riodizio Churrascaria

by Adrienne Wilson on

If my memory serves me correctly, it had been three years since I last pleasured my taste-buds with non-stop meat sliced off the skewer from a Brazilian steakhouse. So to have had the opportunity to samba with well seasoned lamb, prime rib, sirloin, chicken, and all the meat imaginable, I was extremely overjoyed! The only problem was I didn’t have a huge appetite and when you walk into the doors of Riodizio Churrascaria you’re going to want to be very hungry. Having had a large lunch earlier and no plans to swing by Riodizio, I was a little unprepared, but that didn’t stop me from gormandizing for the night.

Green means go and red means halt, but for the most part my coaster was green all night and even when it was red, with a smile I would be offered a warm succulent piece of meat from the skewer. How could I refuse? Yes! With big eyes I said, “yes, yes,” to almost every piece of meat that came around and this was only after I had tackled the salad bar. I knew I was probably way in over my head, but there is something about Brazilian cuisine that has that effect on me. I’ll spare you every greedy detail of my personal feast, but I offer you the same advice as earlier if you plan on going.

Be hungry. The dinner is a flat rate of $40 excluding wine and other beverages to wash it all down.

Riodizio Churrascaria is located at 388 Willis Avenue, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577. Ph. 516.621.4646

Bistro Cassis Restaurant

by Adrienne Wilson on

It is going to sound real sad when I make this confession, but I don’t think I’ve ever eaten at a French restaurant up until now. Gasp! I know. Surely I’ve had French fries, French breads, and oh, French toast and crepes, but nothing real fancy if you catch my drift. Can’t quite explain why I’d never tried more of it before, but I’ll make a guess in that I was probably too busy eating Thai, Indian or other super spicy cuisines. However, that is not the point right now. The point is I ate fancy French food at Bistro Cassis out in Long Island, NY and dug it!

My companion for the evening had her mind wrapped around eating steak tartar and as fond of red meat as I may be, I left her to eat the whole serving on her own. She did share the escargot, which was absolutely delish! It was my first time sampling the edible snail and I’ll be taste-testing this item more often in future French dining destinations. While it’s slipped my mind what she ended up eating for the main course, I remember very well what I devoured: Black fish (which is actually a white fish) with an assortment of vegetables. The vegetables included pieces of sunflower stem if I’m not mistaken. In summary the food was scrumptious and I would certainly visit again.

In regards to the atmosphere, the restaurant is medium in size and fairly intimate. The only thing that bothered both me and my companion was the first server, who just seemed a bit over-the-top in telling us the specials for the evening. He came off a bit creepy, but nice otherwise.

Bistro Cassis is located at 55 B Wall Street, Huntington, NY 11748. Ph. 631.421.4122.

Touring America’s Northeast with HP

by Adrienne Wilson on

Just wanted to give everyone here a quick update on my whereabouts since I haven’t sat still all year. Over the next couple of months you can find me riding around parts of America’s chilly north east as one half of Hewlett Packard’s Color Works dynamic tour staff. I’ll be hanging around the local Staples, Office Max, & Office Depot in places like Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia demonstrating how laser jets and ink jet printers can benefit small and medium business owners. Why am I telling you about all this? Mostly because I’m hoping to see some of the Gadling readers pop into a store from time to time to say “hi!” With a van like the HP Color Works one I’ll be pretty hard target to miss, so if you see it parked in a parking lot come on inside and I’ll give you the 411 on printers and other HP items.

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of October 22

by Adrienne Wilson on

Can everyone say TGIF? Boy, am I glad the first hint of the weekend has arrived. It’s been a long one and if your week happened to have been as hectic as mine then you may have missed some of these Gadling pieces, but never fear – they are here.

5. Paris Too Hardcore for the Japanese?:
Culture reads are always fun in my book and seeing how different tourists react in certain countries is also good info to know, but something about this piece on Paris being too tough on Japanese strikes me as odd. I’ve never heard of a city that caused one to seek psychological counseling after your return. Is there anyone out there who can back this up?

4. World’s Most Expensive Restaurants:
Follow poor Erik as he accidentally gets in on a dinner bill at one of NY’s most priciest restaurants and regrets ever showing up. After sharing his own personal story he points those that like having restaurant tabs starting at about $370 a person to this Forbes List of most expensive restaurants. Chow down for me, because you won’t find me there.

3. New York Times Looks at Los Angeles:
Erik lives in New York. Neil lives in Los Angeles. I live in Limbo. What better set of travel bloggers could one possibly find? While I stay out in the land of Limbo I can thank Neil for holding his ground in LA to help provide honest criticism on the City of Angels when folks like the NY Times try to sum it all in one go. If you’re considering travel to LA, read Neil’s blurb and this pretty good read from the NY Times as well. Then let us know what you think.

2. Dirty, Filthy, Nasty, & Unclean Airplanes:
Some find horror in film, but I find horror in real life. I call it soiled seats, filthy carpet and greasy windows 35,000 feet in air. I’m sure you’ve been on a dirty airplane a time or two. Well, reading this piece will probably have you reaching for that barf bag next time you fly.

1. Smoke-Free Hotel Rooms:
With this news I’m sure some non-smokers lungs are singing praise and screaming hallelujah! Yes, it looks as though Westin Hotel & Resorts along with the Marriott are banning smoking altogether in their chain of hotels. Good news for us, but I’m sure those not ready to kick the habit are either pouting or puffing it up in some shady smoked-filled motel room.