Hey everyone...hope you're lucky enough to be enjoying one more day of your weekend! I feel like my days have been PACKED TO THE GILLS lately, so we took a nice lesuirly Sunday afternoon to enjoy a little 'foodie trip' to South Jersey and visit one of our favorite restaurants, Treno, in Westmont, NJ.
I fell in love with Treno for their perfectly stupendous food & their 'pretend you're on vacation' outdoor patio for those warm, summer nights. But on this chilly day in January, the inside is all dark wood & cozy loveliness. In short, Treno is great all year roundJ
We started with one of my favorite salad combos: Arugula tossed in a tangy lemon vinaigrette topped with diced beets, pistachios & a crumbled goat cheese. Sweet, savory, tart & CRUNCH all in one. My favoriteJ
And if I had had a "BEST OF 2012" list last year, my lunch choice for today would CERTAINLY have been in the running. My Mom & I had went to Treno right before Christmas last month and indulged in....
...wait for it...
...SHORT RIB PIZZA with Fontina & caramelized onions. I mean...
Fork-tender short ribs, sweet caramelized onions, savory & gooey fontina on a perfectly charred crust, I can't even begin to tell you how PHENOMENAL this was! It was so damn good that the 2 leftover slices I had from lunch last December, turned into breakfast promtly the next morning because I just COULD NOT STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. All stragglers slices were gone by 8am SHARP! And despite about 12 things jumping out at me on the menu yesterday, there was no way I could pass up having this again!
If you're in the area, do yourself a favor and go try this N-O-W!
I luckily got to sample another item I would have picked though, thanks to Scott's lunch:) (sharing is caring, after allJ) He tried the crispy porchetta sandwich topped with caramelized onions & arugula.
It was really good, but in all honesty, I was so into my pizza that everything else just quietly fell into the background.
Yes. It was THAT goodJ
Meanwhile, in Miss Katie's Corner...
Besides snacking on the beets & arugula from my salad, she also sampled the meatballs...
...and crispy Parmesan potatoes...
AND she was kind enough to share with her Daddy & me...who happily polished off the sage-accented meatball and the 'crispy on the outside/pillowy soft on the inside' Parmesan dusted potatoes. I'd say Katie had a pretty good lunch tooJ
We all left Treno, happy and full!
OK, that's a bold face lie as we had one more stop on the way homeJ
Dessert turned out to be one of those great finds we just happened to stumbled upon on our drive down. You see, I'm a SUCKER for "old school valentines" decorations and my eyes were completely drawn to the cute & festive cut-out hearts posted in a storefront window we were passing by. But they didn't hold my attention long enough to not notice the sign on the building...
Ummmmm....DREAM PUFFZ???
AS IN 'A STORE FOR CREAM PUFFS'?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!?!?!!?!?!?!!?!?!?!
(Actual conversationJ)
Obviously, I could NOT be more excited! Cream puffs, much like French Macarons, are one of those things I have ZERO interest in tackling. All that dough-making & filling creating...I'm just exhausted thinking about it. I'd MUCH rather leave it to the experts!
And once I got inside, Dream Puffz just got THAT much more exciting.
Ummm...Caramel Macchiato? Maple Bacon?? CANNOLI????
Oh hellllllllll yes!
And best yet: After you place your order, each cream puff is HAND FILLED right in front of you! No soggy 'puffs just hanging out in the case. Nuh uh! I thought these were gonna be a HOT MESS of melted goo by the time we got home, but they held their shapes & flavors perfectly.
Not that ALL of them made it home, anyways. We barely made it to the car before cracking open the box and diving in for a cannoli puff...
Delicate & airy shell, smooth chocolate topping & a perfectly flavored cannoli creme, these were just DELIGHTFUL.
And maybe, just maybe, I happened to indulge in a VERY SWEET Maple Bacon & an absolutely PERFECT "classic" vanilla eclair complete with vanilla bean cream. (what's the shelf life of cream puffs anyway??)
Both nearly EXPLODED with filling & flavor. I truly think the classic vanilla was my favorite. It was just smooooth & vanilla-y, just the way you'd hope.
Well, besides hot lemon water in the AM, this was all my eats for today...and my only exercise came in the 2 hours it took to hook up my Mom's TV in the afternoonJ Hope you enjoyed my peek at Treno & Dream Puffz, both DEFINITELY worth a visit.
Have a great (hopefully workless!) Monday!
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