Baristanet | My Favorite Place

My Favorite Place: Bangz Salon and Wellness Spa for Mother’s Day

BY Holly Korus | Wednesday, May 09, 2012 3:54pm | COMMENTS (4)

The one thing we do not have a shortage of in the area is salons. As to why one person goes to one salon over another is usually because they get hooked on a stylist and stay. One bad cut or color can send the most open and happy woman into a fit of sobbing, wine guzzling and throwing glassware. I have long hair, and at this point of my life I have thrown too much glassware and no longer trust my hair to just anybody. My most recent cut and color at Bangz Salon and Spa, done by my fabulous stylist Cory Marc, has made me a silly vain woman. Admiring my own hair in the mirror like a storybook princess. The man is a hair genius. Continue Reading

The Most Enchanting Place in Montclair

BY Holly Korus | Wednesday, Apr 18, 2012 3:00pm | COMMENTS (20)

If you have never seen the wisteria blooming at the Van Vleck Gardens in Montclair, stop whatever you are doing right now and go (assuming you are not in the middle of surgery or reading Baristanet). When wisteria is in its full glory, as it is now, it is in two words, breath-taking. Hundreds of massive purple grape-like racemes dangle from the vines that wrap the back of the house as the lovely scent wafts through the air. Continue Reading

Blowout’s Clubhouse of Cool in Montclair

BY Debbie Galant | Friday, Apr 06, 2012 12:01pm | COMMENTS (4)

If you need some cool martini shakers, a James Bond poster, a military relic or if you simply like high-end mid-to-late 20th century kitsch, you now have a new place to look around. Blowout Gallery, which opened in mid-January at 209 Glenridge Ave. in Montclair celebrated its existence this past Sunday with an April Fool’s party and it was the first time I’d gotten a look-see, even though I’ve known one of the co-owners, Charlie Potters, for years. Continue Reading

My Favorite Place: Montclair’s Glenridge Ave. Post Office

BY Jenn Schiffer | Sunday, Apr 01, 2012 2:27pm | COMMENTS (8)

April Fool’s!

Van Vleck Goes Through a Phase

BY Christina Gillham | Friday, Feb 17, 2012 1:39pm | COMMENTS (1)

The gardens at the historic Van Vleck House are getting a facelift. The second phase of a $2.2 million improvement project called “Pathways to the Future” began in January, when construction workers removed part of the fence running along North Mountain Ave. and began clearing some of the trees in the southeast part of the property.

Fran Wong, the “Pathways to the Future” Capital Campaign Manager for Van Vleck, tells us that the work is part of a master plan created by Rodney Robinson Associates, a Delaware-based landscape architectural firm that specializes in public gardens and conservatories.

My Favorite Place: Pals Cabin

BY Frank Gerard Godlewski | Wednesday, Feb 15, 2012 10:30am | COMMENTS (41)

What was Thomas Edison ‘s favorite dish? Just a mile away, he had an industry producing over 2,900 patents of the world’s first electrical appliances, while his wife received international scientists and other inventors. Did the Edison houseguests, like Madame Currie or Eastman (Kodak) try the famous mushroom soup? Edison’s daughter, who also lived in nearby Llewellyn Park in a fairytale inspired rustic French Style Castle, affrescoed with madrigal scenes, did she take her kids to Pals for hotdogs? Or her brother Governor Edison, who lived next door in his Buckingham Palace inspired stone mansion? Of course!!

Pals Tap Room was a favorite spot for the local industrial age millionaires, who ventured over the Mountain at Eagle Rock to enjoy local grilled fare, while hobnobbing with other celebrities. They came to enjoy the view of the dawning of the new world, the spectacle of the skyscrapers rising in the distance, illuminated by Mr. Edison’s miraculous invention of electric lights. Guests from the nearby five star Hotel Montclair, (now the site of the Rockcliffe) would venture to Pals for the famous grilled meats and mushroom specialties. Montclair and Llewellyn Park, perhaps the wealthiest neighborhoods in the world at that moment, lay just at the foot of the hill. At that time, the roster of names was said to be like opening one’s medicine cabinet….Colgate, Yardley, Wilkenson, Merck and then there were the Sinclairs, the Goodyears, Auchinclosses and Roosevelts, many of whom enjoyed cruises together on luxury liners or trips to nightclubs in Bermuda, some “hot spots” designed by the very same internationally famous nightclub designers of Pals Tap Room. Continue Reading

My Favorite Place: Joe Strupp’s Love Letter to Maplewood

BY Carolyn Maynard-Parisi | Monday, Jan 23, 2012 10:30am | COMMENTS (4)

Investigative reporter, blogger, pot-stirrer and die-hard Maplewoodian, Joe Strupp shared this video billet-doux with Baristanet. Filled with images of the people and places that make Maplewood great, it is an unabashed early Valentine to the town.

An Even Cozier Trend Starts Open Mic Nights

BY Debbie Galant | Thursday, Jan 05, 2012 11:06am | COMMENTS (0)

The sunny bay windows were what attracted us to Trend Coffee and Tea House last March. Then, last month, as promised, owner Eliott Alex opened up a large back room with sofa groupings that give the space a kind of Cafe Eclectic vibe — a nice addition to the block since Eclectic said its au revoirs. Cozy electric fireplaces add a little warmth. In addition to desserts, there’s a menu of salads, sandwiches, soups and even chocolate fondue. My personal favorite is the skim chai latte, made from coconut chai supplied by our own local Chai Guy.

Starting tonight, Trend will also hold open mic nights on Thursdays from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Singers, poets, comics and instrumentalists — anybody brave enough to hold a mic and bellow forth — is invited. Performers get a free large. coffee. Admission is free.

One More Reason to Visit the Van Vleck House (Hint: Bring Your Cell Phone)

BY Christina Gillham | Sunday, Oct 23, 2011 9:00am | COMMENTS (3)

Living just a block from the Van Vleck House & Gardens, I have long been aware of its charms. Still, my visits there have been mostly guided by the behavior of my children: when things get a little too rambunctious inside, the close proximity of Van Vleck has provided a much needed breath of fresh air.

Recently, however, after hearing about a new self-guided audio tour of the historic property, I went to explore the gardens on my own. The tour is done by cell phone and visitors can phone in to hear a recorded message from one of 10 locations around the property’s 5.8 acres. The tour is self-paced, so it can be as quick or as leisurely as you want.

Watchung Booksellers Turns 20

BY Debbie Galant | Tuesday, Sep 20, 2011 11:55am | COMMENTS (8)

Readers of Montclair, do you realize how lucky you are to live in a town that has not one, but two independent booksellers? And venerable ones at that? Two years ago, Montclair Book Center on Glenridge Ave. celebrated its 25th birthday, and this Saturday, Watchung Booksellers at 54 Fairfield St. in Montclair, turns 20. There are activities all day, starting with music for the kids at 10 a.m. and winding up with a champagne toast at 5 p.m.