THE LIFE VICARIOUS

If you vote against one candidate for Bayonne city coucil today.

John Cupo, who is on the ballot for councilman-at-large today in Bayonne, last year quickly moved in and out of Hoboken’s City Diner space, opening and closing a realty office after regaining his suspended license. At the time, he promised the people of Hoboken a catered block party celebrating Hoboken real estate. Really. It never happened, he closed shop then reopened in Bayonne, his new office doubling as his campaign headquarters. (This headquarters recently made headlines when so many campaign workers protested outside it demanding their delinquent pay.)

He may have learned a lesson not promising a block party to celebrate local politics if he wins, but one thing he hasn’t discovered is loving America (or at least pretending) is key to holding office, especially in a blue collar small town. Day after day we’ve passed this scene, hoping it wouldn’t always be the case but we finally snapped a picture of the flag twisted up, stuffed and closed in the front door of his empty office as it's been for weeks. While Cupo should just take the flag down, we're hoping after a loss today he'll just close shop instead.

Meanwhile over on Chilltown Lunch, we have a new post on where to dine like a Hudson County politico.

ChilltownLunch kind of sort of maybe totally underway.

Our new New Jersey centric food and dining blog, Chilltown Lunch, is mostly up and running and there's a week's worth of posts ready for you to read and all about free drinks, Halloween decorations, taco trucks on TV, 15 cent hamburgers, drinking with the New York Giants and Bayonne politicos who ruin street fairs and hate America.

Read ChilltownLunch here and follow it on Twitter @chilltownlunch here.

Bayonne & Jersey City dining news: Kapitan, closures and KAWS.

KAWS has introduced two new Food Friends to the long-running series of food art on his blog.

Ian (sometimes-Topper) Kapitan, who left the ever-evolving Iron Monkey to open Jo's Bistro in NYC last spring has left there too and returned to his roots at the Light Horse Tavern in Jersey City.

Bayonne's newest eateries have had a tough month in a small town with limited dining options. Good-bye again to Queen Latifah's beloved Bayonne Chicken & Waffles, Christopher's Deli which replaced Royal Crest, the decades old sandwich shop, with Cuban food. (Maybe the tombstone signage depicting the new owner's deceased son who lost his life fighting overseas wasn't the most appetizing idea.) The business is for sale for $40,000. And across the street from it on 38th and Broadway, the gourmet waffle shop that's spent months promising to open in weeks has finally removed its signage.

Good news however, Bayonne floated the developers of the future Bayonne Crossings strip mall a (basically zero interest) $23 million loan to open a Longhorn Steakhouse and Ruby Tuesday's which will be joining the planned Lowe's and Wal-Mart next fall.

Last but not least all our bridge and tunnel dining coverage will be moving to a new blog and Twitter this October.

Archie loves Tavern on the Green, Archie writer loves Bayonne.

While the food blogs today are all writing about how Archie Comics writer Hal Lifson devoted a new issue to the menu at Tavern on the Green, it's not the only time Archie's been in the news of late. Recently the Jersey Journal wrote about the 600th issue of Archie written by Michael Uslan, a former Bayonne resident who still goes back there for the food. Uslan has moved on to bigger and better things - he's produced every Batman movie since 1989 - but he still comes back to town for Sabrett hot dogs from Petredis and for Judicke's Bakery, two of the best and longest lasting eateries in town, (a testament to them if not the town.) Like us, he spent his youth buying comics from Vector Books which while primarily a comic book store, is also Bayonne's oldest and now only bookstore.

Law & Order SVU follows us home from Atlantic City.

As we wrote in our previous post, we spent the better part of our Sunday watching a Law & Order SVU marathon on USA and were sad to have it interrupted by actual journalism but lo, look how we've been rewarded. The show is currently shooting in Bayonne, (and in doing so, briefly blacking out the neighborhood) and the cast has been spotted drinking at a bar down the corner known for a shooting (death) or two in its day. (And to the guy collecting signatures for "Cupo" - who's attempting to run for Chiappone's councilman at large seat - you should have worked the set and not an empty Stop & Shop parking lot.)

Joe Jackson dines at TenEast, Bayonne's power lunch hotspot.

According to the Jersey Journal, last Friday Joe (father of Michael) Jackson dined with friend and alleged actor Paul DeAngelo at TenEast, the Spago of Bayonne. (DeAngelo wrote and directed this straight to inspiration DVD for Jackson which stars NKOTB's Jordan Knight as himself.) Jackson isn't the first celebrity to have eaten at Ten East, Missy Elliott has eaten there with her entourage and Regis Philbin was taken there by Catholic cookbook author Fr. John Orsini and liked it so much he gave it some love on Regis & Kelly. The typo-riddled Riverview Observer reports the restaurant is also frequented by CBS News anchors. TenEast is next to a Super Stop & Shop in a strip mall off Rt. 440 directly behind the Bayonne Golf Club popular with celebrities like Jimmy Fallon and Mario Batali. And it's the first and only Bayonne restaurant participating in Hudson Restaurant Week running through August 7th.

Newport Beach Party tonight and Hudson Restaurant Week recs.

The 7th annual Newport Beach Party (just call it Taste of Newport) is tonight from 5pm - 8pm. Participating restaurants include Komegashi Too, Babo and South City Grill. Fire & Oak inside the Newport Westin debuted here last year as South City Prime so it's safe to guess they'll appear as well.

We're not sure if it's a coincidence but it's also Hudson Restaurant Week, now through August 7th. Lunches are $12 - $18, dinners $20 - $35. Bayonne's Ten East is among the eight new restaurants participating this year, a first for the town. But if you're only looking to see a public official accept a bribe opt for Casa Dante.

We're only sad to see one of you disappear forever.

Union, the store that introduced us to streetwear back in high school. (HS)
Joe Doria, former mayor of Bayonne, now former state commissioner. (NJ.com)

Old Bayonne and new Bayonne restaurant news you can use.

Last night during Bayonne mayor Diamond Mark Smith's seasonal televised address to the city, he focused more on the development of the new Bayonne he's constructing east of Rt 440. (Didn't the mayor try this in The Simpsons, moving the town a a few hundred yards over and starting again?)

Among the highlights? The Shop-Rite torn down only to reopen in the same location will be "the modern supermarket" Bayonne deserves.

A Longhorn Steakhouse has signed a lease at Bayonne Crossings (although so did Circuit City, and they're still in the plans) and while he didn't bring it up, the City Council last week approved raising the number of drive-thru establishments at the Crossings from two to three. While they are optimistic they can be used for big box stores, this is not a guarantee and it's clear they can just as easily be used for fast food eateries.

The Jersey Journal also revealed yesterday Bayonne is following in Woodbridge's footsteps, getting the state's second Off Track Wagering facility on Rt 440, with a restaurant and private party rooms.

In old town Bayonne news, a fro-yo shop remains listed as opening on the corner of 22nd and Broadway, a waffle shop that was scheduled to open months ago remains papered over on 38th and Broadway, Christopher's Deli - the old Royal Crest II - is for sale at the corner of 37th and Broadway and Al Richard's Chocolates is back to its original recipe and back in the hands of its original owners but, as always, closed for the summer.

Bayonne and Jersey City outdoor dining news you can use.

(Zeppelin Hall's Blaue Speck burger, left. Kielbasa, right. Click to enlarge.)

First, to answer a commenter's question: When is American Masala's happy hour? Yes, their website reads they close at 3pm. No, they really close at 7pm. Though we're sure they can accommodate you with midday drinking as well. And just to remind you how good their hamburger is, it just got another shout-out from The New York Times.

As for Zeppelin Hall, we checked it out yesterday so now we can tell you a little more about the food. The sausages come from Schaller & Weber, our favorite upper east side German pork belly purveyor. The portions are worth the price - the dishes above were $10 each and all sausages and sandwiches come with fries that are otherwise $4 a plate on their own. And they're good. They're "best fries in Jersey City" good. We can't speak to the Kielbasa, but the char of the burger had a satisfying crunch and despite being served medium-well had a flavor that held up against the tender speck and crumbled blue cheese.

Ours was the first order of the day so we could understand our order taking a while to be ready, but once the grill was fired up service only seemed to slow. You may be surprised to know you can't order food from the bartenders or servers, you're instead encouraged to go outside and order and pay at the grill. On the plus side, this means you'll get your food faster, a thousand orders coming in at once would shut the kitchen down. On the downside, the table turnover getting up creates means once you get your food there may be nowhere to sit. We'll see how this evolves once the full kitchen is open. No schnitzel or desserts yet.

After the jump, details on free birthday dinners at Ten East and Bayonne's 2nd annual hot dog eating contest...