For 364 days a year, there might be competition among the fine restaurants that grace Weehawken and surrounding towns. However, on one night each year, the cuisine community rallies together for a good cause.
For the third straight year, the area’s restaurants and food preparers are pooling their pots and pans for “A Taste of Weehawken-Meet the Chefs,” which will take place Thursday, April 10, at the Food Court in Lincoln Harbor beginning at 6:30 p.m.
All proceeds from the culinary delightful festivity will go to help the Weehawken Free Public Library provide special programs for its patrons.
Weehawken Public Library Executive Director Phillip Greco believes that this year’s event will be bigger and better than ever.
“We’re very excited about the new restaurants that have joined us this year,” Greco said. “We’re also glad to have many of the others return for another year. The restaurants we have are the finest in Hudson County. It’s a fun event and everyone has a great time. Not to mention that they all walk away full, sampling from a wide variety of different dishes.”
Several of the participants got together last Wednesday at the library to help promote the event, including Hudson County Community College culinary teacher Paul Dillon, the star of “Let’s Cook,” which airs on CN8, the Comcast Network.
E.J. Laguerra, the executive chef at Arthur’s Landing in Weehawken, is always happy to participate in the charity event.
“It’s a night that definitely benefits everyone,” Laguerra said. “Of course, it benefits the library, but it is also a good way for people who don’t get a chance to come to us to know more about us and see what we prepare.”
Laguerra said that he will be preparing a spicy duck quesadilla dish.
“It’s also a great chance for us to mingle and speak with the community,” Laguerra said. “We don’t get many opportunities to speak with our guests. It’s definitely a fun event and it definitely shows a lot of unity in this field. We’re all striving for the same thing, but we come together to help the community, so there’s definite unity.”
Jeff Carter, the general manager at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, said that his restaurant always looks forward to participating in the event.
“It always helps to get people reintroduced to our place,” Carter said. “We always want to be able to do a little more to help the community.”
Carter said that Ruth’s Chris will serve their traditional carved tenderloin on garlic toast, as well as bread pudding.
Some of the other Weehawken restaurants participating include the Spirito Grill, the Chart House, Rigoletto, Houlihan’s, Riverview Gourmet and the Horizon Cruise Line. Also participating are Amanda’s and The Brass Rail from Hoboken, as well as Hoboken dessert creator Ganache.
One of the new participating groups is the Aruba Tourism Authority, which has been located in Lincoln Harbor for the last decade. The group, which is an official governmental department of Aruba, is offering a weekend getaway as one of the door prizes.
“We’ll be able to provide general information about our hotels and tourism,” said Shahayra Croes of the Aruba Tourism Authority. “We rely on about 80 percent of our industry from the Northeast portion of the United States. Events like this help to promote travel, especially during these tough times. We are part of the business community and the Weehawken community and we believe it is a great way for us to get to know the other businesses in town.”
There will also be other door prizes that will be raffled off this year as well.
Greco was especially pleased to know that there will be a chocolate fountain this year.
“I think everyone is excited about that,” Greco said.
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner is also impressed with the commitment that the local business community gives to the cause.
“The businesses go above and beyond their normal activities,” Turner said. “This fun event enables the library to provide cultural, historic and children’s programs outside of the normal programs. It’s a very tough budgetary year across the country, so an event like this goes a long way and enables us to provide the different programs. It’s a great, fun-filled night and this will be the best one yet.”
Tickets for the “A Taste of Weehawken-Meet The Chefs” event are priced at $50 (from 6:30-9:30 p.m.), or $25 (from 7:30-9:30 p.m.). For ticket information, contact the Weehawken Public Library at (201) 863-7823.
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