Unfortunately, sushi is not raw fish. Sushi is rice with vinegar in it. Sashimi is raw fish. Tartare is a term to refer to raw meat of fish as well, such as Steak Tartare is eaten in Germany and consists of raw ground beef with a raw egg.

I went to Catherine Lombardi's with 8 friends last week. I personally thought the meal and service were barely average and certainly not what you would expect after reading some of the reviews. We were one of four or so tables in the place that night which might explain why our waitress was at the bar wine tasting throughout the night. No one particularly enjoyed their meal. My was especially bad - their recommended fish which both smelled and tasted fishy! Our bill was excessively high. My recommendation: Don't go there! DKNJ

We have never had such exquisite food accompanied by such awful service in our lives! We were seated at six-thirty for our pre-paid Valentines' prix fixe dinner and finally managed to get our check at nine-thirty. When we were not being ignored, we were being treated as an interruption or a burden to the staff. We saw our main server 7 times - to order, receive our drinks, second drinks, to be offered grated parmesan for our pasta, to be offered coffee or cordials, to receive a second bottle of water and to receive our bill. Our food and table water was delivered by two other individuals who failed to describe the food or ask if we had any requests. I spoke to the manager upon leaving, telling him of our dissatisfaction and he responded that he was sorry I felt that way, but that other guests had not made any remarks. True; all the tables around us turned over twice in the time we were there. He commented and I agreed that he, the manager, had passed our table a number of times. I noted that we had seen him but he seemed to be avoiding eye contact because he was hurrying off to be somewhere else. He again said, "I am sorry you feel that way." Oh well... As an added bonus, the check included a 20% gratuity which was added *after* the valet parking and *after* the sales tax. Is that appropriate? I believe that the gratuity ought to be calculated on the value of the food and beverage total, not the sales tax. Secondly, why did we pay a gratuity on the valet service? In fairness, I checked the menu and the website advert for a notation that the gratuity was fixed. I did not find any such notice. In cases when a gratuity is fixed, it usually indicates that the evening is a holiday or special event situation and the management has scheduled a larger staff and must be able to adequately -- even generously -- compensate the team for the extra effort. It is a big task to handle a full dining room for a five or six hour stretch and the team needs to be motivated. This management team failed to adequately staff the dining room with properly trained people. As a result we did not receive proper service and the restaurant did not turn our table efficiently -- a prime table in front of the fireplace -- and likely turned away other diners and their money last night. Oh well... When we left to find the valet, they were over at the Heldrich. When we walked over they were surprised to see us, since they were told they would be called by the restaurant in time to bring the car up before we exited. It was cold and we were grumpy, but we weren't amazed that the lousy service we had received continued even after we were out the door...

We have never had such exquisite food accompanied by such awful service in our lives! We were seated at six-thirty for our pre-paid Valentines' prix fixe dinner and finally managed to get our check at nine-thirty. When we were not being ignored, we were being treated as an interruption or a burden to the staff. We saw our main server 7 times - to order, receive our drinks, second drinks, to be offered grated parmesan for our pasta, to be offered coffee or cordials, to receive a second bottle of water and to receive our bill. Our food and table water was delivered by two other individuals who failed to describe the food or ask if we had any requests. I spoke to the manager upon leaving, telling him of our dissatisfaction and he responded that he was sorry I felt that way, but that other guests had not made any remarks. True; all the tables around us turned over twice in the time we were there. He commented and I agreed that he, the manager, had passed our table a number of times. I noted that we had seen him but he seemed to be avoiding eye contact because he was hurrying off to be somewhere else. He again said, "I am sorry you feel that way." Oh well... As an added bonus, the check included a 20% gratuity which was added *after* the valet parking and *after* the sales tax. Is that appropriate? I believe that the gratuity ought to be calculated on the value of the food and beverage total, not the sales tax. Secondly, why did we pay a gratuity on the valet service? In fairness, I checked the menu and the website advert for a notation that the gratuity was fixed. I did not find any such notice. In cases when a gratuity is fixed, it usually indicates that the evening is a holiday or special event situation and the management has scheduled a larger staff and must be able to adequately -- even generously -- compensate the team for the extra effort. It is a big task to handle a full dining room for a five or six hour stretch and the team needs to be motivated. This management team failed to adequately staff the dining room with properly trained people. As a result we did not receive proper service and the restaurant did not turn our table efficiently -- a prime table in front of the fireplace -- and likely turned away other diners and their money last night. Oh well... When we left to find the valet, they were over at the Heldrich. When we walked over they were surprised to see us, since they were told they would be called by the restaurant in time to bring the car up before we exited. It was cold and we were grumpy, but we weren't amazed that the lousy service we had received continued even after we were out the door...

Very pleased to find this article. My family has patronized Mr. Burry's Fudge Shoppe since, oh, probably 1960 or so. Even though we have scattered to Texas and Maryland, treats from The Fudge Shoppe are part of our holiday tradition. Gilder (Lewis) McCarroll

Thanks for this article. The couple that me and my boyfriend go out with often are vegetarians, and we always have trouble finding a spot. We'll try out the New Brunswick place next!

I usually would not do this, but when I read your reply in the Nov. 2007 issue of Gardenplate regarding how to make Chinese fried rice...I had to write to tell you and your reader (Anita, Bernardsville) that the way to make Chinese Fried Rice come out like the Chinese restaurants is to use either leftover rice or cook the rice and then put it in the refrigerator overnight. Fried Rice traditionally is a leftover dish where you have too much white rice leftover and you can then combine leftover meat, and the rice and just add vegetables/eggs to it. Soy sauce makes the rice brown. However, if you want to make fresh rice, then by refrigerating it, the moisture will be gone, thus no saggy rice. Perhaps you can write to Anita from Bernardsville to let her know this from a traditional Chinese woman who has made fried rice for decades and knows what the secret is :-). - Beatrice Chung

Thanks for the reviews. I live in Madison and have never tried C&J. I will stop in for lunch soon.

Baking bread makes sense! Delicious, healthy, and not too hard to do! Bread is good for you. So funny you learned that in the home of the "South Beach Diet" Great article.

i need a job

We love the energy of this place! The eggplant and pizza is delicious as well.

We love the energy of this place! The eggplant and pizza is delicious as well.