Hide the Villeroy & Boch Stemware... Susan and Mike are Coming to our Beach House! How 'Bout a Cup of NewWave Caffe Instead?

We have a long-running joke with our dear friends Susan and Mike that involves the kind of tit-for-tat that sends each couple running to hide the good crystal when the other comes to visit. It started almost three years ago with the 2005 Children's Holiday Open House we hosted at our home in the Roxiticus Valley, New Jersey. Unbeknownst to host Rex or hostess Roxy, Mike broke one of the Villeroy & Boch white wine glasses in our dining room armoire. He believed he had cleaned up the damage, never to be discovered, though I never understood the mysterious shards of glass in our cutlery organizer. A month or so later, Rex, London, Maddie and I were having dinner at Susan and Mike's house when I whacked a glass full of Cabernet clean in half and sent it sailing and spilling into my steak and across their dinner table. Instead of being horrified, Mike got a big grin on his face, said "we're even," and proceeded to reveal his secret Christmas party crime. This chain of events has continued across so many visits that Susan told me as she made plans to visit our beach house in Bay Head that she's found a Villeroy and Boch online replacement shopping site and is prepared to stuff our stockings before this year's Children's Holiday Open House.

In addition to re-stocking the stemware at our beach house (we're down to three white wine glasses here), we've discovered Villeroy & Boch's cool NewWave Caffe mugs that you can see in the image at the top of this post. With an innovative design (yet a stable base to avoid the anticipated risk of breakage), these mugs seem just right to serve up an after-dinner cappucino and biscotti to sober up the crystal-breakers before our families head out to Take a Walk on the Boardwalk in Pt. Pleasant Beach. We don't have a cappucino maker here at the beach in Bay Head, but I did bring the Keurig down from our Mendham home so that I can make single-serve flavored coffees (or an individual mug of decaf for Grammy) through Labor Day weekend.

I'm pretty sure I've also seen these NewWave Caffe mugs in action over at Bay Point Prime, where Dennis Foy serves up big white mugs of crispy french fries as an appetizer for London and Maddie while Rex and I enjoy his signature Tian of Crab. My Southpaw Rex will be happy to learn that the NewWave Caffe line includes a left-handed mug, as well as a sister pattern NewWave Dinnerware, though we're quite content with our Villeroy & Boch Basket Weave pattern. The best news of all? It's all 50% off through the end of August, so no matter how many Villeroy & Boch mugs or dinner plates our guests break, we can replace it on the cheap before Labor Day. Wish us luck!

Fourth of July Weekend 2008: Another Great Dinner at Dennis Foy’s Bay Point Prime Restaurant on the Jersey Shore

We had quite a crowd on Saturday night after the Fourth of July at our beach house in Bay Head, New Jersey and all sorts of reasons to celebrate, including Rex's birthday. PostBoy and MathGirl came for the fireworks on the beach and stayed for the weekend, and TallBoy showed up in time for dinner after a round of golf with a friend from college. I had booked a table of seven at 7pm, so as soon as the crazy downpour ended we headed over to Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime for another spectacular meal. We had the same waitress as last time, Lindsay, who made sure everyone got what they wanted…with one not-so-minor exception that she really had no control over.

Over Father's Day weekend, London had ordered the Cherry Hill Farms Roasted Rack of Lamb with Ratatouille ($42). It was so beautiful I wish I had taken a picture, and Rex stole one bite and declared it the single best bite of lamb he'd had in his life. So I was ready for Rack of Lamb on Saturday night, and brought my appetite. Uh oh…it wasn't on the menu…but no problem, Lindsay announces that one of the entrée specials is a Rack of Lamb. Lindsay also recommends the Sautéed Wild Atlantic Salmon, with Grilled Fennel and Spring Pea Ginger Emulsion ($31) for Rex, but warns that Dennis is running out of salmon, so Rex puts in his order ahead of the rest of us. But when Lindsay returns to our table to take our order, she's got some bad, bad news: while eyeing a blonde beach couple making out on a nearby banquette, oblivious to the appetizers on their table, Lindsay says she just gave away the last two orders of Rack of Lamb. "Can't you tell them that you only have one order left, and let them share? He's really only interested in another kind of rack…" But it's too late…my Rack of Lamb is being served to someone else. So I start with the appetizer special, a Jersey Tomato Salad (which turns out to be tasty, even though it's really too early in the season for real Jersey tomatoes), and order the appetizer size of six Classic Shrimp in a Basket ($15), new to the Bay Point Prime menu this year, as my main course. The girls each start with an order of French Fries ($6), then share the Prime Aged Sirloin with more Steak Frites ($34).

TallBoy wisely chooses Dennis Foy's signature Sautéed Tian of Crab ($19) -- the word crabcake doesn't even begin to do it justice -- and also orders the steak. Rex starts with the Warm Confit Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart with Chive Oil ($15) and, as always, is surprised when it is warm, not cold. PostBoy starts with the shrimp appetizer and has the Veal Bolognese with HomeMade Fettucine ($26), so hearty I frequently get my leftovers wrapped to go and then tragically forget them on the roof of our SUV. MathGirl enjoys the Ten Spice Cajun Chicken with French Fries and Salad Verte ($25). Everyone at our table thought that their meal was the most delicious, with very little sharing allowed.

Of course, we all had our eye on the couple with the rack, and before we even finished our appetizers, they packed up to go, leaving one full rack and most of the other chops completely untouched. I guess I've got my excuse for an imminent return to Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime. The menu changes daily, so I'll plan to call ahead (732-295-5400) to reserve my table and my Rack of Lamb! I see that the Bay Point Prime team (and menu) is also available for off premise catering, and my attentive readers may remember that we've got a Bay Head Family Reunion coming up in August!

Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime; Phone (732) 295-5400

Also available for off premise catering; please contact Estella Quinones at (732) 295-5400. You can visit their Manhattan restaurant Dennis Foy in Tribeca (Phone 212-625-1007 for reservations). Web site: http://www.dennisfoynyc.com/ (the web site is only for Dennis Foy's Manhattan restaurant, menus and wine....everything looks yummy but we haven't been there yet)

Best of the Jersey Shore: Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime -- Point Pleasant Beach, NJ

Even though we've been down to our beach house a couple of times already this season, I couldn't tell from the road if Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime would be open for dinner this summer. The good news is, I called their phone number and got the message that Bay Point Prime IS open, starting with Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in the month of May. Hooray!

I'm going to make reservations for Rex's birthday dinner at the end of June.

Bay Point Prime is located right down the street from Bay Head at 1805 Ocean Avenue (aka Route 35), Pt. Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. Phone (732) 295-5400 for reservations.

Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime -- Point Pleasant Beach, NJ

I'll have to wait until we get down to the beach in May to review Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime, as we never know for sure whether Dennis and his wife will decide to show up.

July Update: I've posted several times about Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime since this original short note, but I'm leaving this post here because it seems to be Google's favorite link. Just click the link within the post for a more recent review of one of our summer dinners at BayPoint Prime. Thanks!