Rail Paul Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 returning in August at a new location Eric Levin (NJ Monthly) has the details http://njmonthly.com/blogs/from-the-editors/2014/6/18/picnic-the-restaurant-is-coming-back.html Looking forward with great interest 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
E.L.A. Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Christine -- Congratulations!!! All the best. I am very much looking forward to your new place. Please keep us up to date. Thank you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
picnicchef Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Picnic on the Square will open shortly after Labor Day. You all were so helpful when I opened Picnic, do give any suggestions you have! Cheers, Christine Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sneakeater Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Free food! The waitstaff all go home with the customers! Only serve foods that begin with the letter "P"! OH . . . you wanted helpful suggestions. Sorry. Good luck! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rail Paul Posted August 8, 2014 Author Share Posted August 8, 2014 Picnic in Fair Lawn did a lot of things very well. Quality glasses for wines, not just a single "bistro" size as found in some places. Good decanters. I liked the idea of dropping off wines for chilling but I wonder how practical that is with today's busy schedules? Coffee and dessert was done well. I don't recall if you developed an evening coffee and dessert menu (or was that Grange?) for after theater visitors. Seat spacing was comfortable. Relatively low probability of having somebody's butt in your face as they exited an adjacent table. Noise level was acceptable, even when the place was filled. I really liked the idea of posting the day's menu online or on FaceBook. That made BYO wine selection much easier. Humberto Campos at Lorena's has taken this one step beyond with a regular cadre of wine lovers hosting their own Wednesday etc customized menu meals. With the dreaded "empty Wednesdays", that could fill a few seats on a regular basis. Giving the day's menu etc to a nearby local wine shop could also promote their sales, and offer an opportunity for them to have an appropriate chilled selection ready. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
E.L.A. Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Personally, I come from an industry where information is a very valuable commodity. That said -- I like information, and Rail Paul's ideas very much. I also think his comments about what Picnic did very well can be very helpful. If you have the concept and model right -- often, it's in the details. Yes, give daily menu's to local wine shops -- people will know what to buy and enjoy -- and perhaps partner with the wine shop to make recommendations. Maybe a wine/food tasting event to create synergies. An expert's opinion on how to partner a wine with specific dishes can be priceless. While Facebook is the hottest thing going -- or is that Twitter -- it is not the end all be all for everyone. Regardless, with today's technologies, platforms, etc. -- it is not that hard to post daily menu's, specials, etc., online. As Rail Paul said, it fits perfect for BYO. I think coffee/dessert has become almost trivial today. Yes, I get there are turns and if busy, people are waiting and you need tables. That aside -- I for one am not a daily/regular coffee drinker. So, when I order it after dinner, dessert, an after dinner drink -- I want to enjoy it! The food, drink and experience. It's the last part of the experience, make it a good one, a very good one. I don't know the laws intimately, but a BYO I know used to offer, I don't know what you can call it, perhaps, a "gift" of an after dinner drink/liqueur along with coffee and dessert. They did it in conjunction with what you ordered -- they paired it with your food. They partnered up with the local liquor store on this. Compliments of the chef and the store, I don't remember. However they did it, it got people thinking, trying, experiencing new things. I think in today's day and age -- think outside the box. Creativity can go a long way. Differentiation can run far beyond the food. As I said before -- congratulations and all the best. I am very much looking forward to trying your new place. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rail Paul Posted August 8, 2014 Author Share Posted August 8, 2014 Just thinking out loud here. If you print out a daily menu for the staff / menu insert (as Picnic in Fair Lawn did), you're 90% of the way toward up-linking it to the restaurant's own website. Having that feature would seem to be a basic for the new restaurant's website. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
E.L.A. Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Just thinking out loud here. If you print out a daily menu for the staff / menu insert (as Picnic in Fair Lawn did), you're 90% of the way toward up-linking it to the restaurant's own website. Having that feature would seem to be a basic for the new restaurant's website. Agreed. I want to be able to check a restaurant's website and see current specials. It would be very good if the daily menu was up on the site. I don't like going to a website and seeing an upcoming event posted, yet the event was 2 months ago. Or the specials are a month or two old. There seems to be a lacking in technology and current information, content, etc. Good point RP, thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rail Paul Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 Reservations now being taken from the third week of September Christine Nunn's FaceBook page: 201-444-4001, although one person had trouble with that number a few weeks ago Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rail Paul Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Has anyone visited yet? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sneakeater Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Probably picnicchef has been there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
picnicchef Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 We open mid-october. I had a few glitches to get past but things are looking swell. And, yes, Riedel glasses of course. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rail Paul Posted October 21, 2014 Author Share Posted October 21, 2014 Reported open, per Rosie. http://njmonthly.com/blogs/tablehopwithRosie/2014/10/20/chefs-in-the-news.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
E.L.A. Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Roadtrip! Just kidding as we are all local. I have dinner plans in Ridgewood Thursday night and I am going to see if I can get my friends/associates to try Picnic. All the best!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rail Paul Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Any recent comments? I've tried twice for reservations but the availability didn't work out. Good for the restaurant, bad for me. Being filled during the week is a great vote of confidence, though. The restaurant should be up for a Bergen Record review soon, they passed 90 days a few weeks ago. (For the review of Picnic in Fair Lawn, the work was outsourced to a Westchester County reviewer. The Record's Ms Ung and Chef Nunn are known to each other. FWIW, I thought that review was most unfair, and did not describe the restaurant where I already had several fine meals.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.