No town in America packs more history into one square mile

Thursday, January 8, 1778. Midnight and iron cold. A new moon hides behind scudding clouds. Ice in chunks swirls south in the fast-flowing Delaware River. Out of the northeast, a frigid wind drives all life to cover.  It’s a night that begs for shutters firmly latched, for boots resting atop the fender of an open fire, a tot of rum in hand and the family watchdog  asleep on the hearth rug. Who would choose to be abroad on such a frigid night?Neither man nor beast.

But in Bordentown, on the river’s edge, a bold scheme unfolds—a scheme hatched to unleash terror in the heart of every Britisher aboard His Majesty’s ships, moored 25 miles downstream in Philadelphia. The contraption, an 18th century version of a 20th century Kon Tiki,  consists of  dozens of kegs—each packed tight with gunpowder—all lashed together into a crude raft to be set adrift in the icy river. Protruding iron rods hammered into the kegs will, on impact, activate a flintlock, which ignites a spark to detonate the gunpowder. The result: a resounding explosion calculated to send any British ship to the icy bottom of the Delaware River. History books called it the Battle of the Kegs. The redcoats only lost one vessel and four men, but the chaos it created was celebrated throughout the colonies with a popular song.

Bordentown, hard on the banks of the Delaware River, dates back to 1682, when an enterprising English Quaker, Thomas Farnsworth, moved into what was little more than a wilderness. He built a log cabin and a river landing dubbed Farnsworth’s Landing. So began the quiet stirrings of events that, a century later, would prove vital to the triumphant establishment of the United States of America.

“No single community in the state of New Jersey…and maybe in all of colonial America has a richer historical legacy than Bordentown,” so says Patti Desantis, a native of Bordentown and past president of the Bordentown Historical Society, housed in a colonial Quaker meeting-house. “Only one square mile in size, only 4,000 in population, but look at the history that unfolded here!”

Bordentown wears its historical laurels with a becoming modesty that amply reflects its Quaker antecedents. No souvenir stands hawking Colonial bric-a-brac. No tour buses with blaring loudspeakers. No billboards on surrounding turnpikes trumpeting the historical treasures that are Bordentown’s rightful legacy.

Architectural historians find Bordentown a veritable treasure trove of 17th to 19th century houses, still in prime condition, sturdy survivors in an age that prizes, above all else,  the wrecking ball and the look-alike strip mall.

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Discovery of Bordentown’s treasures is best accomplished by a leisurely one-mile stroll along the old brick sidewalks, shaded by ancient sycamores and maples. Where better to begin than on Crosswicks Street in front of Old City Hall with its Queen Anne clock tower?The Seth Thomas clock atop the tower is dedicated to Bordentown resident William F. Allen, credited with creating order out of chaos in the late 1800’s by coordinating dozens of local times into the single coordinate we call Standard Time.

At the juncture of Crosswicks and Burlington stands the simple, gabled schoolhouse, New Jersey’s first public school.  It’s the Clara Barton Schoolhouse (above), named for the town resident who founded the American Red Cross. Artifacts of her remarkable life are displayed within.

Photo by Susan Kaufmann, Hidden New Jersey/HiddenNJ.com

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places is the Francis Hopkinson House (right), a three-story architectural gem. A signer of the Declaration of Independence, barrister, poet, musician and scientist—and close friend of George Washington—Hopkinson, after studying at Oxford, returned to the colonies to be the first student enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania. He was a fierce patriot who lent more than a casual hand that frosty January night on which those legendary kegs were launched; he also penned the popular tune that commemorated the event.

PAINT THE TOWN RED

Bordentown hosts a full calendar of events from May through October, including the Cranberry Festival, which takes place on October 5th and 6th. The festival draws thousands of people and features handmade crafts, original art, a classic car show and a wide range of gourmet and artisan foods. The restaurant scene in Bordentown is always vibrant, as is the shopping in downtown. History buffs are likely to find the city very walkable and decidedly un-touristy. Many visitors opt for a self-guided walking tour; an excellent one can be downloaded at downtownbordentown.com.

An accomplished student of heraldry, Hopkinson, at Washington’s request, designed our nation’s first flag. The stars he took from Washington’s coat of arms, the stripes from his own family’s coat of arms. Philadelphia’s Betsy Ross is credited with having sewn our first flag.  But it was designed by Frances Hopkinson and formally adopted by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777, a date commemorated nationwide today by our June 14 celebration of Flag Day.

Photo courtesy of Re/Max Real Estate

Just across the street is the Joseph Borden House (see page 15). It was rebuilt in 1778 after the British stormed and sacked the town, burning the original Borden House to the ground. Borden gave his name to the town where he owned the cooperage from whence came the kegs sent down the Delaware to terrorize the British navy. He also established a vital rail link (right) that provided safe travel from Philadelphia, via Bordentown, to Perth Amboy and then by ferry to New York. It was, in the late 18th, early 19th centuries, in terms of travel convenience, the equivalent of I-95. It also, not so incidentally, made Joseph Borden a very wealthy man.

National Museum of American History

Borden and Hopkinson were friends and fellow activists throughout the American Revolution and its tumultuous aftermath. Both men befriended a young transplant from England, Thomas Paine. At the age of 29, Paine journeyed to the Colonies at the behest of his mentor, Benjamin Franklin. He landed in Philadelphia but soon moved to Bordentown, where he built a house on the corner of Church and Farnsworth. Though radically altered, it is still there. In short order, Paine was publishing and distributing pamphlets entitled Common Sense, which advocated independence from England. His pamphlets were avidly read throughout the 13 colonies. Since such writing was highly treasonous (and carried a mandatory sentence of death by public hanging), Paine published anonymously. In 1777 and ’78, he donated all of his earnings to the revolutionary cause. It can fairly be said that George Washington’s army could not have survived its first six months had it not been for Paine’s financial aid. A charming statue (above) commemorating Paine’s days as a staunch patriot graces a carriage turn-around in a leafy park overlooking the Delaware.

It would be a mistake to think that Bordentown’s historical bona fides rest exclusively with the revolutionary era. In 1813, Napoleon Bonaparte’s older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, named King of Spain by his emperor brother, was stripped of the monarchy by a disaffected populace and forced into exile. Banished from France, unwelcome in England, he found his way to America. Political connections took him from New York to Philadelphia. Amorous connections took him from Philadelphia to Bordentown. There, on an estate called Point Breeze overlooking the Delaware, he had ten miles of carriage paths built and imported countless rare botanical specimens. He built an artificial lake, just right for winter skating and summer dips, and stocked it with French swans.  The residence was a wonder of marble fireplaces, sweeping staircases, a vast wine cellar and a library of more than 8,000 books. At Point Breeze, the ex-King of Spain entertained many notables of the day, heads of state, prominent financiers, and internationally acclaimed musicians, authors and artists. With his American love, Annette Savage—fondly known as Madame de la Folie—Joseph Bonaparte fathered two American daughters.

In 1815, when the place was devastated by fire, the townspeople arrived en masse to help salvage as much as possible from the blaze. Reflecting back on that disaster Joseph wrote:

Photo credit: The History Girl/HistoryGirl.com

“Everything that was not consumed, has been most scrupulously delivered into the hands of the people of my house. In the night of the fire, and during the next day, there were brought to me, by laboring men, drawers, in which I have found the proper quantity of pieces of money, and medals of gold, and valuable jewels, which might have been taken with impunity. This event has proved to me how much the inhabitants of Bordentown appreciate the interest I have always felt for them; and shows that men in general are good…”

Of its glory days as home to European royalty, Bordentown today retains only the handsome wrought-iron gates that were the entrance to Breeze Point. Splendid horse-drawn carriages no longer use the lovely turn-around where Tom Paine in bronze stands, pamphlets in hand. Commercial river traffic, once the town’s prime source of revenue, has given way to weekend kayakers, fishermen and mid-summer tubing expeditions. Once a vital hub of colonial transportation, Bordentown is now home base to Ocean Spray Cranberry and corporate headquarters for Prince Tennis Racquets. Yet, as Patti Desantis likes to remind the history-hungry visitors who find their way to Bordentown, it is the town’s lineage, so lovingly preserved despite the relentless pressures of modernism, that makes Bordentown unique among New Jersey’s rich store of tourist attractions.

If you haven’t tried these 20 amazing culinary treasures, then you have yet to experience the full flavor of our state

Photography by Daryl Stone

New Jersey, the bountiful. Our swaths of fertile farmland, our seafood-rich ocean and bays, our orchards ripe with fruits, our bogs famous for berries. And, most of all, our people, diverse and devoted to personal heritage, serving forth the foods of their ancestors and imaginations. Don’t knock New Jersey’s culinary riches when I’m within earshot, because I’m armed with decades of eating experiences that I’ll use to bring you down.

Here’s my thinking, based on 50 years of Jersey-centric chowdowns: I wanted to make this list about the Jersey I knew as a kid, growing up in Somerset County, and I wanted to make it about the Jersey I have watched my home state become during the 25 years I’ve written about food. I wanted this list to reflect New Jersey’s food culture, past and present. I wanted to touch as many diverse facets of New Jersey’s eating culture as possible. Most of all, I wanted this list to reflect high quality, in humble and haute form.

I also wanted it to be fun. To that end, it mixes restaurants fancy and super-casual. It sports specific ingredients and icons. It taps into the ethnic riches that bring us a veritable United Nations of eating opportunities. It spans the length and width of the state and taps places famous and little known. It spotlights foods I’ve been eating since I was a kid and a couple I’ve only just come to know.

Do you have additions to this list? Bring them on…because they’re all likely places I had to, with regret and remorse, 86 from this list of 20 in order to whittle it down to the ultimate must-eats in the Garden State…

A Toute Heure • 232 Centennial Ave. • Cranford 908-276-6600 • atouteheure.com

With 85 farms fortifying the kitchen, it’s no wonder the chefs at this true bistro of local ingredients seem to have an endless repertoire of gorgeous, delicious dishes. But it’s the menu’s list of “Mussel Pots” that brings me to my knees, mussels done both seasonally and soulfully, in portions with or without frites. Farm-to-table is what A Toute Heure is about, but the exquisite simplicity of its plates feeds my soul.

Alba Vineyards • 269 Route 627 • Finesville • 908-995-7800 • albavineyard.com

Alba, located in bucolic Warren County near the border of Hunterdon, is home to some of the most lauded wines on the East Coast. It’s a must-stop on any Jersey countryside tour, and it’ll have you plotting a move, if you live in a suburban or urban locale. Make sure to tote home Alba’s divine Red Raspberry Wine, for this dessert replacement/enhancement is nothing short of world class.

Allen’s Clam Bar • 5650 Route 9 • New Gretna •609-296-4106 • no web site

Ever since I first encountered the French Fried Lobster Tail at Allen’s, I’ve been curious about how the ’tails served here could be so large. I’m not exactly lightheaded when I eat them, usually having polished off some steamed clams and chowder, but I still can’t quite wrap my head around their size. There might be culinary chicanery of some sort, but I’ll keep doing what’s necessary to get to the bottom of this exceptional partnership of the sea king and expert deep-frying.

ARC Greenhouses/Mr. McGregor’s Greens & Herbs 440 Oak Road • Shiloh • 856-451-8800 • arcgreenhouses.com

If you’re lucky enough to come across the Mr. McGregor’s brand of greens in a specialty market, buy them. Don’t think, buy. In a vast expanse of meticulously farmed greenhouses in South Jersey’s Shiloh, the best greens sprout and then are snatched up by some of the region’s top chefs. There’s all manner of produce, but the little guys—peppercress, wasabi mustards, red amaranth—turn me into a hungry rabbit.

Aunt Charlotte’s • 3 West Maple Ave. • Merchantville • 856-662-0058 • auntcharlottescandy.com

Pretty, hand-painted chocolate, nonpareils, choice truffles—art meets sweet at this fourth-generation temple of confections, where folks make pilgrimages to fulfill their kids’ holiday wishes. There’s nothing not worth the indulgence, though there’s one item that likely will exceed expectations: Aunt Charlotte’s malted milkballs. Multiple layers take this humble candy-counter regular to dazzling heights of flavor you won’t believe till you try.

Cucharamama • 233 Clinton St. • Hoboken • 201-420-1700 • cucharamama.com

James Beard Best Chef Award-winner Maricel Presilla is not just a celebrated chef, but a scholar, a former Rutgers professor and culinary historian who specializes in the foods of Latin America and Spain. (Her “Grand Cocina Latina” won top honors in cookbooks at last year’s Beard Awards, cementing her place in the food world’s pantheon of superstars.) Her restaurant? Oh, it’s all that—and more. Eat through her menu and you’ll earn a doctorate in Latin foods. At the end of your “studies,” plan a feast with friends around Presilla’s roast suckling pig. A triumph of tradition.

Drew’s Bayshore Bistro • 25 Church St. • Keyport • 732-739-9219 • bayshorebistro.com

Chef-owner Drew Araneo, a multiple James Beard Award nominee, has a heartfelt menu of dishes inspired by New Orleans and Southern cookery. After trouncing Bobby Flay in “Throwdown,” Araneo and his signature dish winner Voodoo Shrimp became famous beyond Jersey’s borders. Justifiably so. Fans can’t resist ordering it time after time after time. Including me.

El Tule • 49 North Main St. • Lambertville • 609-773-0007 • eltulerestaurant.com

A Mexican-Peruvian combo, this Latin destination sports splendid takes on classics as well as more modern interpretations. I find myself in the mood for one or the other every time I eat here, but lately I’m leaning Peruvian: any of the ceviches, so resoundingly fresh, any of the quinoa dishes, particularly the Solterito de Quinoa salad, sprightly with vegetables and popping with the grain’s inherent nuttiness. Where has this food been all my life?

The Flaky Tart • 145 First Ave. • Atlantic Highlands • 732-291-2555 • theflakytartnj.com

The pastries, the cakes, the cookies, the buns, the mousse-y things whirled into artfully angular cups, the sandwiches on croissants, the quiches—oh, everything the lovely and talented pastry queen Marie Jackson does at the mecca she calls “the bakery” is sublime. But here’s a tip: Whenever the “Kerry Nolan Scone” is on tap, grab it. In fact, grab however many Kerrys there are. It’s a scone made of bacon, Cheddar, maple and apple, and it was great cook Kerry’s dream. (Name sound familiar?Kerry’s the morning news host on WQXR in New York.)

Jhupdi • 1679 Oak Tree Road • Edison • 732-906-2121 • jhupdirestaurant.com

One of the largest South Asian/Indian populations in America lives in and around this Middlesex County municipality, where there’s a wealth of Indian eateries. I’m invariably charmed by this South India specialist and its irresistible Thali platters, which offer a panoply of vegetarian selections from the state of Gujarat. Go for lunch one day, try a couple of the Thali platters, and find yourself wishing for seconds of bajri rotla and baigan bharta. And the cauliflower? Oh, my.

Melick’s Town Farm • 170 Oldwick Road • Oldwick • 908-439-2955 • melickstownfarm.com

In the late summer of 1977, farmer-freeholder George Melick introduced me to a white peach—one from his orchards in the village of Oldwick that date back to 1725. Eating that succulent peach changed my life. George and his wife, Norma (“Try a Jonathan apple, Andy”), opened a world of produce possibilities for me. They’ve done the same for generations of New Jerseyans. Now, with children Peter, John and Rebecca running the 650 acres they own (including 120 acres sporting 5,000 peach trees and 20,000 apple trees), the fruits of the Melicks’ labors continue to feed and educate.

Mitsuwa Marketplace • 595 River Road • Edgewater • 201-941-9113 • mitsuwa.com

What Disneyworld is to a 6-year-old, this Japanese uber-market is to me. Prime produce, fishes, prepared foods, sweets and even an aisle with serious sakes. I’m transported to the Far East and inspired to bring home the ingredients for a feast that, however faintly, mimics Japanese culinary artistry. I snatch up the prepared foods and learn by eating at home.

Mustache Bill’s Diner • Eighth Street & Broadway • Barnegat Light • 609-494-0155 • no web site

The first time I had a fried flounder sandwich at this landmark at the northern end of Long Beach Island, I was riveted. The fish was pristine, the frying flawless. Even the tartar sauce hit the mark. That’s because owner Bill Smith buys that flounder right off the boats, from the island’s fishing fleet. In fact, everything at this diner is homemade, except for the French dressing. (Ah, the “why” of that’s a long story.) No wonder this place won a coveted James Beard America’s Classic Award.

Nasto’s Ice Cream • 236 Jefferson St. • Newark • 973-589-3333 • nastosicecream.com

Born in 1939 and celebrating its 75th birthday this year, the ice cream king of New Jersey started with old-family recipes of Sicilian-style ices and gelatos and kept pace with its evolving neighborhood. Now there’s mango and sweet corn in the lineup, as well as sea salt caramel and passion fruit. While proprietors Frank Nasto Jr. and Frank Nasto III give a nod to their vanilla, I have to pledge my devotion to my first Nasto’s love, the incomparable Honey-Fig Gelato.

Rat’s Restaurant • 16 Fairgrounds Road • Hamilton • 609-584-7800 • ratsrestaurant.com

Named for the hospitable character Rat in the childhood classic “Wind in the Willows,” sculptor and Rat’s mastermind J. Seward Johnson’s pet book, this French-inspired spot is set in the Grounds for Sculpture’s Giverny-esque landcape. Sunday brunch, a grand buffet that elegantly defies the same-old, same-old norm, is prime time to fuel on fare both modern and comforting, then stroll through an artful wonderland that hasn’t, and can’t be, duplicated anywhere else.

Shanghai Bun • 952 Route 34/Matawan Mall • Matawan • 732-765-8388 • Shanghaibunmatawan.com

Chinese eateries abound in New Jersey. But Shanghai Bun is different, because of its Beef Sandwich. A few slabs of thinly sliced veined beef on a seeded bun that’s neither a burger bun nor a flatbread are spread with a secret sauce that’s a little soy and a little sweet and then topped with skinny batons of something allium and a flourish of fresh cilantro. It’s an enigmatic sandwich that enchants every time.

Valley Shepherd Creamery • 50 Fairmount Road • Long Valley • 908-876-3200 • valleyshepherd.com

A visit to the Sheep Shoppe at this expansive, idyllic farm deep in the Morris County countryside may well net you cheeses for a year. Or, if you’re like me, cheeses that should last a year but don’t stretch for a week. Valley Thunder? Tewksbury? A tomme or wedge flecked with nettles? OK, it’s agony, but I’ll go with…my original favorite, Oldwick Shepherd.

White House Subs • 2301 Arctic Ave. • Atlantic City • 609-345-8599 • whitehousesubshop.net

Since 1946, this little sub shop has been putting to shame anyone who thinks slapping meat on bread is making a proper sandwich. The folks here hollow out the sub rolls, they calculate the right ratio of meat to cheese to bread to condiments. They are scientists and artists. They make the one and only White House Special, with extra salami, provolone, ham and capocollo. They are New Jersey.

White Manna • 358 River St. • Hackensack • 201-342-0914 • no web site

The slider-size cheeseburgers on potato rolls energized with a slap or seven of sautéed onions are meant to be ordered in threesomes. If you order fewer, you’ve either just had gastric bypass surgery or really don’t enjoy eating. There are fine burgers throughout New Jersey, but these little gems have a singularly sensational flavor, the perfect coming together of beef, bun and condiments. Plus, the close-clustered space surrounding the sushi-counter-like center of operations is pure community.

Zeppoli • 618 Collings Ave. • Collingswood • 856-854-2670 • zeppolirestaurant.com

So where’s the Jersey Tomato on this list, you ask? Well, it’s a sad fact that too many of our farmed tomatoes today are being picked unripe and shipped out of state. But anything with tomatoes here at chef Joey Baldino’s peerless Sicily-centric Italian restaurant is worth ordering. And anointing for saintly qualities. I’m remembering the Panzanella Catania, a tomato-and-bread salad, with capers and a correct proportion of white anchovies. Bliss. Lucky us that Baldino left Philly for this side of the Delaware.

BLUE BY YOU

The Jersey Blue-Claw Crab, popping out of Jersey waters not far from you this summer. When the meat is sweet and the claws are fat with that meat, happiness is a certainty. What can you do with the crabmeat that our fisherfolk work so hard to catch? Make a sauce, with our Jersey tomatoes, and toss with pasta; make a salad, with our Jersey greens and lettuces; make a cake, with spices scored from our ethnic markets. Or eat it straight, as I do.

Editor’s Note: New Jersey’s bounty is both enviable and endless. We hope this list inspires you to make one of your own—and share it with us on our Facebook page.

CHECKING IN ON FUTURE HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

High school students benefit from funding given by the TD Bank Foundation that supports the Health Careers Exploration program coordinated through Volunteer Services at Trinitas. TD Bank’s Beatrice Romao, Retail Marketing Manager (left), and Martin P. Melilli, Regional Vice President, Union-East Essex Lending (second from left), visited Trinitas to present the bank’s latest grant to Gary S. Horan, FACHE, President and CEO, and Nadine Brechner, Chief Development Officer and Vice President of the Trinitas Health Foundation.

BOOSTING NURSING SCHOLARS

The Northfield Bank Foundation supports the Trinitas Nursing Scholarship Program through generous grants that subsidize tuition needs of undergraduate and graduate degree candidates at the College of Saint Elizabeth which partners with Trinitas in this education effort. Nadine Brechner, Chief Development Officer and Vice President of the Trinitas Health Foundation (left), and Gary S. Horan, FACHE, President and CEO, gratefully accepted the Northfield Bank Foundation’s check recently from Diane Senerchia, Executive Director (second from left), and Jean Ringhoff, Vice President, Business Development Officer.

A GIFT WORTH GIVING

In this world of instant messaging, you can tell those you know and love how important they are to you in a way that will have them texting and tweeting.

Honor someone special today with your tribute gift to the Trinitas Health Foundation. A note announcing your meaningful gift will be sent to your honoree or to their family letting them know of your thoughtful contribution.

For more information, please call the Trinitas Health Foundation at (908) 994-8249.

Every trinket tells a story.

You might say I live a charmed life. Yes, life is good for the most part, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Over the years, I have been the recipient—and sometime purchaser—of dozens of charms. In contrast to T.S. Eliot’s J. Alfred Prufrock, who measured the banality of his life in coffee spoons, I can trace much positive meaning in my life from each of the charms I’ve acquired. It’s weird that these inanimate objects, the charms, have come to represent my life, my family, my friends and my spiritual beliefs.

The hodge-podge doesn’t look bad. When I jingle past the jewelry cases at Bergdorf Goodman, more often than not, I am stopped by a shop girl asking, “Where did you get those necklaces?” as though a designer had created the look. The collection has grown to five separate necklaces and, to be succinct, I explain that it’s a compilation of good luck charms I’ve been given over the years.

The saga of this collection started decades ago, in my early 20s, when I was working overseas at the Asian Wall Street Journal and studying Mandarin with a Chinese sage who, locals believed, could tell the past, present and future. People from all over Asia sought him out to help them with decisions big and small—where to bury an ancestor, which boyfriend to favor, whether a potential business partner was trustworthy. When I decided to return to the states, a fellow language student presented me with a Chinese coin. Not an old round one with a square hole in the center, like old Chinese money. No, it was a token for good luck, with the eight trigrams of the I Ching on it. The sage had suggested she give it to me to enhance my luck. I never considered myself superstitious—no rabbit’s paws, evil eyes or four-leaf clovers for me—yet, I put the token on a red string and wore it on my wrist. Over time, the sage gave me another Chinese token with Taoist writing on it, so it joined the other coin. Fine, two coins…

Now that I’m thinking about it, I do have to lay blame for the next set of charms again on the Chinese sage. This time he was in New York enjoying a Cantonese feast with some Chinese beauties and they were discussing what Chinese animal complemented their birth years. This complementary animal can be used for anything from finding a mate to merely bestowing luck. The sage explained there are two ways to discern fortuitous animals. First there was the best animal match for their birth animal. I’m born in the year of the Dragon so those born in the year of the Rooster are best partners. Then there is a more mystical match system called the Three Harmonies, which identifies the animals that are four years before and four years after your birth year. So the Rat and the Monkey create a sort of sacred triangle with the Dragon. You follow me? As the Chinese beauties were discussing whether to get porcelain, jade or stuffed animals to decorate their homes, I thought No tchotchkes for me, hey I like gold, and what could be more auspicious than to constantly wear the symbols of harmony?

Finding those animals was no easy feat, as charms were not in fashion in the early 1980s. Eventually, I located a gold rat, monkey and rooster; my mother bought me a gold chain necklace and had a jeweler attach the charms and, voila, I’m a lucky girl! (Fast forward, I happened to marry a “rat,” our son is a “monkey,” and our daughter was due in the year of the rooster, but was born three months early in the year of the monkey…all further blessing my life.) Meanwhile, I bought a gold chain to hang the original Chinese good luck tokens.

The next additions—a heart and moneybag, which I attached to an old watch chain—came from a co-partner in a New York restaurant. She wanted to make sure we all were blessed with good luck. For the record, the restaurant thrived until the manager got greedy and we decided to close rather than deal with his crooked ways. Still, we made a profit.

My neck was becoming encircled with charms of whimsy, superstition and serendipity. The next ones were spiritual. When I married my rat in 1985, the Chinese sage arrived at the chapel in New York and presented me with a huge red macramé necklace with a Tibetan Buddha hanging at the end. It really didn’t go with my grandmother’s 1912 Edwardian couturier gown, but how could I refuse? He put it over my head, as if he were knighting me, and I tried to discretely tuck it under the décolletage. All was good: the wedding went off with out a hitch, eventually the macramé disintegrated, and I’m still married to the same rat. Now the Buddha charm hangs from the chain necklace with the auspicious animals, balanced by a jade Buddha from Hong Kong.

The next spiritual addition was a “miraculous” medal. Sixteen years ago, my husband developed an aneurysm in an artery that wraps around his brain stem. Many of our friends sought to provide help and comfort. Besides having a leading neurosurgeon operate, it was an ecumenical effort with monks, nuns, swamis, rabbis and priests of all faiths praying. After successful surgery, I was talking to a friend about the power of faith, no matter what the religion, and he mentioned he had Mother Theresa’s nuns praying for my husband. He gave me a tin medallion of the Virgin Mary, which had actually been blessed by Mother Theresa—which I added to another chain, as I admired Mother Theresa’s good works. The fact that, when the medallion’s attaching loop broke I had the medallion encased in gold, speaks to the deep admiration I have of Mother Theresa’s selfless good deeds.

I cannot attest to any miracles per se, but the medal has helped open doors to amazing friendships and instant goodwill from the few who recognized its spiritual significance: The niece of the French nun who, after dreaming the Virgin Mary instructed her, designed the medal; and an art historian with whom I have spent many hours in discussions of existence and spirituality. Being with them is a celebration of life and our higher selves. Were it not for the medal, we would have never discovered our commonality. I have since introduced them to each other.

I also wear charms on my wrist.  These change according to the Chinese New Years. 2014 is the year of the Horse, so to ensure an auspicious year, I will wear a complementary Ram charm and harmonious Dog and Tiger charms.

To round out the spirituality—as I am ecumenical and believe all religions offer a deep wisdom—I added a Star of David, a crescent moon and star, my children gave me a St. Christopher’s medal, and my son gave me a Lama-blessed Buddha charm he purchased while hiking in Ladakh, India. I also have a blue topaz flower charm designed by a friend (I love gardening) and a tin Eiffel tower (I love Paris) assembled in a mish-mash from a long watch chain I bought as a home for the new additions.

My charms are markers of my life’s journey, as well as expressions of my hope for peace and belief in human commonality.

Beijing after 30 years for EDGE. Some charms, Sarah admits, have proved to be problematic—like the double-swastika charms that the Chinese sage gave to her. The swastika for over a millennium has been a potent Buddhist symbol, which unfortunately was adopted—backwards—by the Nazis. “Should I arrive unconscious at a hospital,” she says, “it might test any doctor’s Hippocratic oath to save my life.”

Editor’s Note: Sarah Rossbach speaks Mandarin, has traveled extensively in Asia and published several books on Feng Shui. In 2013, she wrote about a return trip to

Unusual pets demand something more than the usual commitment.

Americans love their pets. Pet ownership in the United States has more than tripled since the 1970s—when approximately 67 million households had pets—to 2012, when that figure climbed to 164 million, according to The Humane Society of the United States. Cats remain the most popular pet in the U.S., with Americans owning more than 86 million felines. The number of pet dogs totals more than 78 million. What about the more unusual critters—exotic birds, tropical fish, rabbits, ferrets, and reptiles? We may not hear about them as much or see them featured in pet food commercials, but they have just as devoted a following as our beloved cats and dogs.    

If you’re thinking about owning an exotic pet, you need to do your homework. Speak with someone who owns one, or a veterinarian who treats exotic animals. Whether it’s a parrot, a lizard, a rabbit, or a rat, each of them has its quirks and special needs. 

It is also important to know state law. In New Jersey, it is unlawful for persons to possess a potentially dangerous species as a pet. Potentially dangerous species include the following orders: Primates; Carnivora (nondomestic dogs and cats, bears); Saura (venomous gila monsters); Serpentes (venomous coral snakes, cobras, vipers, pit vipers); Crocodilia (alligators, crocodiles, gavials); Psittaciformes (ring-necked and monk parakeets); and Rodentia (prairie dogs, ground squirrels). The law makes an exception for zoos and other exhibitors. They may possess these animals upon showing that specific criteria have been met, such as extensive experience in handling and caring for the animal.

“The best advice I can give anyone seeking to own an exotic pet is to research that pet extensively,” says Dr. Abe Van Beveren, a veterinarian who specializes in exotic pet medicine and surgery at Eagle Rock Veterinary Hospital in West Orange. “Are you able to provide the proper environment for your pet? Is it a social animal, such as a ferret, or more solitary, such as a skunk? Are you aware of the time commitment involved?”

People who fail to educate themselves, he adds, are often surprised and annoyed at pet behaviors that are common to a particular species. “Someone will come in and say, ‘My bird is very loud and it’s annoying when I am trying to talk on the phone.’ Well, you bought a macaw, a bird whose call can be heard for miles in the wild. You really need to research a particular pet’s habits to see if they are a good fit for you and your family.”

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Exotic pet owners should also be aware that the care and feeding of their pets can be costly. Many vets will charge higher fees for exotics. And, many exotics are prone to specific diseases, such as ferrets, which are predisposed to a variety of cancers, the treatment for which can be expensive.

Max Leichman of Montclair worked at an aquarium store called Absolutely Fish when he first became interested in tropical fish and reptiles. He keeps several exotic fish, including dwarf puffers, a rainbow shark, a large corydoras catfish, buffalo heads, and a spiny peacock eel. “The most important thing is to keep the tanks clean,” he says. “I clean the tanks once a month and the filter three weeks after cleaning the tank. I feed my fish twice a day which actually causes them to grow a little more quickly.”

Photo credit: New York Film Academy

Exotic fish are prized for their exquisite beauty and can provide hours of enjoyment, but pet owners need to learn about the proper aquariums, the right kind of food for different types of fish, which fish can co-exist with one another and which cannot, and the types of plants to buy to help control the nitrogen cycle, where toxic compounds are released into the water by waste products produced by the fish. Your $1,000 reef tank could turn into the Arthur Kill if you take your eye off the ball. 

Reptiles and amphibians are other popular pet choices but, as with tropical fish, they are not low-maintenance. “Bearded dragons [pogonas] are a best choice for your first-time owner,” Leichman believes. “You do need to stay on top of cleaning their enclosure, misting them at least twice or three times a day to make sure they stay hydrated, have enough food, and that they are eating. You also need to have a heat lamp that stays on around the clock and a light that you leave on during the day for them to bask in.”

Each type of reptile or amphibian has its own particular set of needs when it comes to living space, air temperature, and food. Whiptail lizards, for example, are very active and can cover a lot of space. The larger ones require a 75-gallon aquarium. They also need a basking area in their tank that reaches 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. And, since they’re diurnal (active during the day), it needs full spectrum UVB lighting for 10 to 12 hours each day.

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

WINGING IT

If you are planning to own exotic birds as pets, it pays to have the patience of Saint Francis. Cheryl Silva, a graphic designer who grew up in East Brunswick, has several exotic birds: five parrots—including a lovebird, two cockatiels, a Goffin’s cockatoo and a military macaw—along with two doves.

Many people, she points out, are unaware that parrots need a lot more attention than a cat or a dog. “They need time out of their cages, but you need to parrot-proof your home since they can get into things,” says Silva. “They are intelligent creatures that need stimulation and challenging toys when kept in their enclosures.” 

If they are not provided with these things, she adds, they can mutilate themselves or destroy things in your home. Silva advises anyone who is thinking of getting a parrot to read up on them and start with a small one first, such as parakeet or cockatiel. Apartment dwellers should also check their leases to see if there is a pet clause that prohibits noisy birds.

Dan Radzik, a realtor from Metuchen, deals with rare bird rescue. He became interested in parrots when he found his first neglected bird, a timneh, while he was listing a house for sale. He currently has around 35 parrots in his rescue, Lonely Grey Rescue, including a calico macaw, a Solomon Island eclectus, a Congo African grey, a yellow-naped Amazon, a white-bellied caique, a Fischer’s lovebird, and two Moluccan cockatoos. “Everything about owning a parrot is challenging, from learning to read their body language so you don’t get bitten, to getting to know thier likes and dislikes, to maintaining them on a healthy—and often expensive—diet,” he says. “You also need to have the proper lighting system, make sure that your bird receives all of the nutrients and vitamins he needs, continuously replace toys or involve him in activities to keep him stimulated.”

FERRETS & RATS

Tamara von Ouhl-Kremer, a teacher from Red Bank, has been operating a ferret rescue for about 30 years. She currently has 15 ferrets in her rescue, Concerned Ferret Owners. While ferrets can make great pets, she underscores that they are not for everyone. “Ferrets are very social, active animals,” she explains. “Most young ones can play rough, as their skin is tough, but they have to learn that their owner’s skin is not as resilient. They can be rambunctious and get into mischief, opening cabinets, stealing items, and climbing up onto things, but not being able to get down.” 

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

They also require a special high-protein diet and their veterinary bills can be expensive, she says, adding that outside play is not recommended for ferrets as they do not like wearing a leash or collar and there is always the possibility of them running off and being attacked by predators. 

Mention rats to most people and they will turn up their noses. But they, too, have their fans. Destiny C. Sweet of Phillipsburg thinks they make great pets as they are affectionate and social animals. She currently owns an albino rat, the kind used in many research laboratories, named Clyde and a tan hooded rat called Arthur. She keeps the two separate because of Arthur’s aggressive behavior towards Clyde. Caring for rats, according to Sweet, involves frequent cage and food bowl cleaning. “Lice are also very common in pet rats and they can be difficult to eliminate,” she says. “The best suggestion is to bleach the cage and everything in it and also use a special shampoo to bathe the rats.”

Along with special pellets and lean meats, rats love fruits and vegetables, pasta (including raw pasta), and crackers. Sweet also recommends that you provide them with something to chew on, such as cardboard. “It’s not good to let their teeth grow too long,” she says. “They need to chew to keep their teeth filed.” Rats are prone to an upper respiratory infection called mycoplasma respiratory disease, Sweet adds. Mycoplasma is an organism that rats (and other rodents) are born with that can become activated by stress or environmental factors. It can be controlled with medication, however. Rats kept in cages with wire flooring can also be prone to bumble foot, a bacterial infection caused by an inflammatory reaction on the feet. For this reason, wire flooring is not recommended. 

RABBIT ERAS

Jen Holsman of Belleville, a digital image coordinator, has had a fondness for rabbits ever since she was a child. She is the proud owner of Pumpkin Spice, an English Spot rabbit, who “loves playing in her homemade tunnels, romping around the playfully nudging, digging, and doing crazy bunny ‘binkies.’” Binkies refers to the bunny jumping into the air and twisting its head and body in opposite directions before falling back to the ground. It indicates that the rabbit is happy and feeling secure.

Holsman says the single most important thing to know about rabbits is that they are a 10-plus-year commitment and are social creatures. “They need attention and socialization,” she says. “They are also domestic and therefore cannot survive in the wild. Releasing them would be a certain death sentence.” 

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Rabbits need indoor shelter to survive, preferably an exercise pen where they can run, Holsman adds. The good news is that most rabbits, like cats, can be litter-trained. “Interaction is not only important for them emotionally, but the more time you spend with your bunnies, the better you know their behavioral tendencies, making it easier to identify any potential health problems or variations from the norm.” 

These animals have extremely sensitive digestive systems and are prone to gastrointestinal stasis, which is essentially a stoppage in their intestinal function. “If your rabbit refuses to eat, drink, or relieve itself, get it to a vet immediately,” she warns. “A few short hours can be the difference between life and death.”

Editor’s Note: A good starting point for information on exotic pets are the various clubs, web sites and social media pages devoted to them, such as NJ Ferret Rescue & Sanctuary, Turtles and Tortoises, Reptilecare, Birdchannel and Fishlore. 

Keeping Things Personal

PICTURE THIS

The best memories stem from pictures when you have the custom-made brick  Memory Vase. Available at uncommongoods.com.

SWEET TALK

The custom chocolate assortment from Totally Chocolate can say whatever you like to whomever you love.

Available at totallychocolate.com.

X’S & O’S

Game theory never looked better than engrave-able 3D Tic Tac Toe. Available at gifttree.com.

COUPLES THERAPY

Couples will feel great about themselves when they share the Famous Couples Throw Pillow with some truly significant others. Available at redenvelope.com.

PILLOW TALK

Send your favorite photos to Ronda J. Smith and a few weeks later you’ve got custom-sewn plush Picture Your Baby Pillows.  Available at uncommongoods.com.

IN THE KEY OF ME

The toddler in your life can start making a name for him/herself with the personalized Learn to Play Piano. Available at melissaanddoug.com.

Pet Projects

SUPER BOWL

Your fish will have almost as much fun as you do with the Labyrinth Aquarium.  Available at opulentitems.com..

FLYAWAY HOME

Your feline friend will have hours of fun (okay—minutes of fun) in this  Airplane Cat House, modeled after a WWII P-47. Available at uncommongoods.com.

SCRATCHIN’

Can’t afford a DJ at your next party? The Paws the Music  cat scratching pad turns kitty into a party animal. Available at modcloth.com.

GOING COACH

Give your rodent a first-class ride with the Super Dazzle Hamster Exercise Carriage. Available at wag.com.

OUR TOWN

Your puppy will be proud to display its NJ heritage with the  custom Doggy Tee. Available at cafepress.com.

Watches with an EDGE

FIT FOR A KING

Classic styling with a fresh, casual feel make the Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph  a true standout timepiece.  Available at audemarspiguet.com.

ALL THAT GLITTERS

A gold-sprinkled dial with the iconic signature dot helps the Movado  Bold Glitter Watch stand out in a crowd. Available at nordstrom.com.

NUMBERS GAME

Keep your eye on the hands, not the numbers, of the What Time? Watch from Rakani.   Available at rakani.com.

LINE ITEM

The Ora Unica Watch, by Denis Guidone for Nava Design, tells time with the ends of the signature squiggle. Available at shop.walkerart.org.

PETAL TO THE METAL

The diamond-studded mother of pearl  Floral Watch features Art Deco styling and an interchangeable strap.  Available at michele.com.

FAIR & SQUARE

The rugged men’s Block Watch is stamped in squared-off brass surrounding a circular face. Available at shop.walkerart.org.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Trinitas President & CEO Gary S. Horan presides over the ribbon-cutting for the new Ambulatory Surgery Center. Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage does the honors along with

(l to r) TRMC Vice-Chairman Victor Richel, Chairperson Sister Rosemary Moynihan and NJ Sen. Raymond Lesniak. Surgical team members from the hospital’s existing operating room services will staff the $5.2 million facility.

STOUTHEARTED MEN

The January 2014 class of the Trinitas School of Nursing included a record number of 20 men among the 89 graduates awarded their diplomas and their Associate degrees. This is the largest number of male graduates in the school’s 123-year history.  The multiethnic program is recognized as one of the largest nursing schools in the nation.

THE RIGHT PRESCRIPTION

The Bergen Pharmacy has opened a new convenient location to serve patients at Trinitas in the lobby of the Medical Office Building at the Williamson Street Campus.  Nancy DiLiegro, FACHE, PhD, Vice President of Clinical Operations and Physicians Services, and Chief Clinical Officer (right), welcomed Pharmacist-in-charge Nirav Halani, RPh, and Pharmacy Technician Amelia Nieto.

TOUCHDOWN!

With parents Patti and John Dougherty of Summit, Colm Dougherty, a linebacker, running back, team captain, and MVP for the Hilltoppers, was named to the New Jersey Football Coaches Association Super 100 team of the Top 100 players in the state.  The team’s leading tackler with an impressive 102, Colm ran the ball 160 times to gain 1,267 yards. With 22 touchdowns to his credit in the 2013 season, the 17 year old senior heads off to the gridiron at Gettysburg College in September.  John Dougherty is Director of Security at Trinitas.

REFRESHER COURSE

Staff from Trinitas’ Institute of Healthcare and Community Education visited the Roselle School District to conduct CPR training for the district’s athletic coaches, health/physical education teachers, nurses, security guards and custodians. Trinitas staff members contributed to the knowledge base of those who attended the program.

HAIL TO THE CHEF!

Orietta Rodriguez, Executive Assistant to Gary S. Horan, President and CEO (right), received thanks and a plaque from Ken Richuso, Chairman of the Elizabeth Rotary’s 2013 Taste of Elizabeth, for her menu offerings during the food tasting event.

PASSING OF A “DYNAMO”

Trinitas lost one of its most devoted and tireless Auxilians in January when Liz Weishapl of Union passed away following a brief illness.  Serving as an Auxilian for nearly 40 years, first with the St. Elizabeth Hospital Guild and then with Trinitas, Liz was a valuable asset to both organizations. From service as Auxiliary President, to arranging vendor sales and participating in numerous special events, Liz was dedicated and generous of spirit.

News, views and insights on maintaining a healthy edge.

Happy Days

A recent study out of University College in London has shed some light on why everyday physical activities are more difficult for some seniors than it is for others. Happiness may make the difference. People over 60 who considered themselves to be unhappy or dissatisfied with life were 80 percent more likely to have problems preparing food, bathing and dressing. The study followed more than 3,000 people over an eight-year period. Only about 4 percent of the people who said they enjoy life had problems with basic tasks.

Patient, Heal Thyself

The goal of employing stem cells to grow new organs for transplant has hit a number of snags, most notably that it requires either harvesting of cells from embryos, or manipulating DNA. Scientists in Japan may be on to a clever shortcut that does not involve either of these methods. Researchers at RIKEN, the nation’s largest research institution, found that soaking normal blood cells in a mild acid bath caused them to “revert” back to pluripotent stem cells. These new cells were injected into mice brains, hearts and other organs and proved adept at transforming themselves into regular cells. This surprising “shortcut” suggests that patients could one day produce their own stem cells on an as-needed basis.

Crisp Reminder

Americans consume a billion-and-a-half pounds of bacon each year. “You may be surprised to learn that in the healthcare setting, bacon is a favorite menu item,” reports

Michelle Ali, RD
Director, Food and Nutrition, Trinitas Regional Medical Center 908.994.5396

Michelle Ali, RD, Director of Food and Nutrition at Trinitas. “Bacon is not just a favorite of our patients, but also of our staff—so much so that bacon is in the Top 10 foods purchased on a regular basis for Trinitas.” That probably wouldn’t come as a surprise to those who were part of Bacon Week, a festival held at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City this past February, just one of about two dozen similar events scheduled to be held around the country in 2014. Among the highlights (aka lowlights) were bacon beer, bacon vodka, bacon milkshakes, bacon cupcakes, bacon cologne, bacon toothpaste, and bacon floss. Ali explains that bacon enjoys high marks for two reasons: fat and salt. “Fat is integral to the flavor and texture of bacon. The role of salt is as a preservative added during the brining process, otherwise known as curing.” When you combine these factors—high saturated fat and high sodium content—Ali recommends that it’s best to eat bacon in moderation. In other words, remember to eat healthy and don’t pig out.

Where There’s Smoke…

If you “use” cigarettes but don’t consider yourself a “smoker,” guess what? A) You’re not alone and, B) you’re not doing yourself any favors. A recent article in Tobacco Control cited a recent study in California that looked at two groups of “non-identifying” smokers—people who smoke at least once a month, but don’t think of themselves as smokers. One group consisted of older adults who quit smoking in the past, but still indulge in the occasional cigarette. The other group was made up primarily of people in their 20s and 30s who smoke “socially” but do not believe they are addicted to nicotine. Incredibly, 22 percent of non-identifying smokers actually admitted they smoke at least once a day. Researchers are drawing some troubling conclusions. For example, the number of people who do not identify themselves as smokers in health-related surveys may throw off the data. Also, smokers who don’t think of themselves as such are unlikely to avail themselves of quitting strategies, and thus run the risk of getting hooked on cigarettes. Why is the number of non-identifying smokers so much greater than previous estimates? As smokers become more marginalized, they don’t want to admit they are part of a socially unacceptable group. The Surgeon General recently added diabetes, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, and erectile dysfunction to the long list of smoking’s list of diseases and health problems.

The Wrong Kind of Tweeting

Late last year, an Illinois man was arrested for keeping nearly 500 birds—both alive and dead—in his suburban Chicago townhouse. Besides being arrested for animal cruelty, the man was also ordered to undergo therapy for hoarding. He admitted that he had become obsessed with acquiring birds after rescuing a parakeet in 2006. Between new bird purchases and their geometric breeding practices, the situation got out of hand within a few years and he felt powerless to address it. The creepy thing was that there were more than 100 dead birds that he couldn’t bring himself to throw away. Hoarding is a debilitating mental health condition that does not always respond to psychological treatments that are effective on other obsessive-compulsive disorders—and it’s a lot more common than you’d think. According to psychologist David Tolin, author of Buried Treasures, between 2%and 5% of Americans may meet the criteria for hoarding, and rarely do their homes show outward signs of the occupant’s disorder.

Patricia Neary-Ludmer, PhD
Director, Trinitas Family Resource Center
908.276.2244

Patricia Neary-Ludmer, PhD, Director of the Trinitas Family Resource Center in Cranford, concurs. “While the outside of their homes may appear normal, the inside, in many cases, has been reduced to mere pathways,” she explains. “The individuals are paying high rents or mortgages but their living space has been reduced by upwards of 80-90% in some cases.” These circumstances are compounded by their inability to address the issue, Dr. Neary-Ludmer notes. “Making decisions on what should stay or go is very painful; when meaningful or frustrated relatives clear the possessions of hoarders, the possessions are often replenished.”

Going Deep

Deep brain stimulation has been utilized with great effectiveness to treat the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Now this type of treatment is showing promise for individuals suffering from severe depression, who have not responded to antidepressant drugs or psychotherapy. According to neurologist Helen Mayberg of the Emory University School of Medicine, this treatment involves inserting electrodes to targeted areas of the brain, which are connected to a device that sends high-frequency electrical stimulation at regular intervals. The device is implanted in a patient’s chest. Ninety percent of the participants in an ongoing experiment have had positive results two years after the implantation surgery. “What we have found with patients is their psychic pain is gone with the treatment,” says Dr. Mayberg. “The constant brain stimulation takes away the profound mental suffering which allows the patient to re-train to do things they haven’t done in years.” This is far from a simple solution, she cautions, requiring a skilled team of brain-imaging specialists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, psychiatrists and psychotherapists.

When it comes to hands and shoulders, Dr. Richard Mackessy connects the dots every day.

Dr. Richard P. Mackessy, a board-certified microsurgeon, ranks among the region’s preeminent “hand guys.” Which is why he loves to talk about…shoulders. “The shoulder is the pivotal joint to the hands, so pardon the pun,” he smiles, “but they do go hand-in-hand.” Indeed, much of Dr. Mackessy’s practice actually involves shoulder issues.

And, not surprisingly, most of his shoulder surgeries involve the rotator cuff. That being said, he has also performed more extensive shoulder surgery, mainly in the 60 to 65 age group.

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Yet, at the end of the day, Dr. Mackessy is a board-certified hand surgeon, and that is where his passion lies.

Carpal tunnel issues predominate, especially among his patients in their 40s. Fortunately, he points out, they usually present with trauma requiring physical therapy before surgery even becomes an option. Their complaints range from difficulty opening a jar of peanut butter, to grasping a tough-to-turn doorknob, to extracting a stubborn car key. His professional advice to these patients?

“Get a special kitchen wrench for the jar situation, leave the door open, and get a car with a pushbutton start.”

Richard P. Mackessy, MD Chairman/Orthopedics, Trinitas Regional Medical Center 908.486.1111

Dr. Mackessy chose to focus on hands because that was a popular area when the time came to pick an orthopaedic subspecialty. More importantly, he felt that hands represented an opportunity to focus on microvascular techniques, thereby broadening his surgical skill set. In recent years, those techniques have been accompanied by technological leaps in surgical science.

For example, he cites Dupuytrens Disease, a seriously debilitating genetic contracture of the fingers. What used to require invasive surgery—followed by three to four months of rehab—has now been replaced by a single injection of Ziaphlex to dissolve scar tissue, with a mere two to four weeks of physical therapy. Another advance is the development of specialized plates that result in minimal impact on the patient’s daily activities for injuries such as a distal radius fracture (aka a broken wrist). And recently, a man in Denmark received a hand prosthesis that has enabled him to actually “feel” the items he touches.

In the area of shoulder repair, months of post-op recovery and cumbersome external fixators (such as casts and splints) are no longer required. Rotator cuff surgery is now arthroscopic and, in the extreme, reverse total shoulder replacements are available, much like those for knees and hips.

Leonor Gonzalez of Elizabeth who suffers chronic shoulder dislocation is one of the many patients under the care of orthopedic surgeons at Union County Orthopedic where Dr. Richard Mackessy practices. Physical Therapy Assistant J.L. Tracy Witter at the Trinitas Health and Rehabilitation Center guides the patient in the use of a Thera-bar to perform resisted shoulder flexion.

In analyzing his patients further, Dr. Mackessy says the younger ones typically show up after a sports-related injury and lean toward rehab. The over-35 group is ready for whatever state-of-the-art surgical solution is available to quickly solve a problem. Women, who outnumber his men patients, are typically more circumspect and weigh their options more carefully. Why so many female patients? “They just take better care of themselves,” he believes.

Editors Note: Chris Gibbs pulled this assignment because she has a long history with carpal tunnel syndrome. In other words, it’s personal. Is the computer, she asked, the culprit in the rise in cases? Dr. Mackessy says the jury is still out on that connection. The same goes for texting and thumb issues. Instead he is convinced that almost everyone will suffer from some degree of rotator cuff or carpal or other hand damage once they reach a certain age—through the normal wear and tear of everyday life.

New procedures are changing how we treat lung disease.

Heavy breathing is music to Carlos Remolina’s ears. No, it’s not what you think. Dr. Remolina is a man who takes breathing—all breathing—personally. As an asthma sufferer himself, he is in his third decade of practicing pulmonary medicine, treating diseases including chronic bronchitis, asthma, COPD, sleep apnea, pulmonary emphysema, lung cancer, pleural effusions, and other conditions. At Trinitas, Dr. Remolina is breathing new life into his field with procedures that are slashing the length of hospital stays, streamlining procedures and improving patient outcomes, and, of course, saving lives.

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

“It’s very important to me to make a diagnosis as early as possible to save a patient from having to undergo a major surgical procedure,” he says. “So the fact that we’re able to be on the cutting-edge and perform the procedures that are only being done in major medical centers is very rewarding.”

Dr. Remolina’s latest groundbreaking procedures is what he refers to as EBUS: an endobronchial ultrasound. “We can go right to a mass and then an ultrasound allows us to get inside the tumor itself and access areas of the lung we never could,” he says. By performing a bronchoscopy with the help of an ultrasound, he explains, patients need only undergo one procedure that will allow his team to diagnose and treat a bronchial condition—saving them from having to pay a visit to a surgeon and await the results of a biopsy. “The value of this procedure is that now not only can we make a diagnosis of cancer, but we can also stage it—we’ll know right away if the cancer is too advanced to operate and what the most effective method of treatment will be.”

Anyone admitted to Trintias in need of an endobronchial valve treatment can also rest assured that Dr. Remolina will spare them from unnecessary, painful surgeries; his endobronchial valve procedure enables doctors to perform a bronchoscopy and inflate a balloon to locate and stop a leak without the need for an uncomfortable chest tube insertion. “We send the patient home and six weeks later, they can come back to have the valve removed,” he says. “Hospitals are always focused on reducing the length of patient stays, so by taking away the need for patients to remain in the hospital in order for us to monitor a chest tube, we’re making it easier on the patient and preventing them from having to admit themselves for an extended hospital stay.”

Carlos Remolina, MD, FCCP, PA Chief/Pulmonary Diseases, Trinitas Regional Medical Center Director, Care One LTACH 908.241.2030

Dr. Remolina is working to ensure that the entire staff at Trinitas is trained to perform the latest in pulmonary medicine techniques. Among the hospital’s future plans, he says, is the acquisition of a navigational system that will enhance the capabilities of tools such as a bronchoscope. “It’s basically like a GPS that would allow us to find even the smallest tumor and do a biopsy,” he explains. “That way, we can detect cancer sooner and enable surgeons to operate more efficiently and with greater precision. Nobody else around here is doing what we’re doing…our ultimate goal is to provide the best pulmonary medicine in the area.” EDGE

Editor’s Note: Carlos Remolina, M.D., F.C.C.P., P.A. is board-recertified in internal medicine and pulmonary medicine. He currently serves as the division chief of pulmonary diseases at TRMC and medical director of Care One LTACH (Long Term Acute Care Hospital) at Trinitas. He completed medical school at the University of Medicine in Zaragoza, Spain before moving on to complete his residency at the New York Infirmary Hospital. Dr. Remolina completed his fellowship in pulmonary diseases at the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry, Rutgers Medical School in Piscataway. His practice is located in Linden.

Who among us would be caught dead without her handbag?

To the handbag-obsessed, personal space is a moving experience. Which explains the centuries-old addiction to our purses. The handbag industry generates many tens of billions of dollars a year and, according to one survey, the average woman owns six—with an average price range of $40 to $65. At least that’s what we’re admitting to. Consumer goods guru Kellie Styring, interviewed on cnn.com recently, reported that 95 percent of women aged 18 to 64 carry a purse every day, with two or three favorites. That works out to 212 million “active” purses at any given time. As part of her study, Styring examined the contents of 100 purses and found that they housed an average of 67 items, ranging from the mundane (lipstick,  phones and gum wrappers) to the highly unusual (knives, marital aids). One purse produced a summons for prostitution.

Sigmund Freud also had a thing or two to say on the subject. In his Interpretation of Dreams, he associated the purse with a female’s most personal space, her womb. So typically Freudian…but certainly the handbag can offer a peek into a woman’s id, as well as her ego. It usually contains the keys (literally and figuratively) to her routine activities (cell, wallet, checkbook and credit cards), along with more intimate clues (lipstick, supplements, and even the occasional contraceptive). On a more serious note, sometimes items are included to ensure physical safety (a mini-flashlight, a can of pepper spray, or a street-wise personal protection alarm).

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Statistics and psychoanalysis aside, for all of us, the real value of our purses as personal space lies in their portability. We literally can take them with us wherever we go. And they say so much about us, too. Spill out a handbag’s contents and the owner is revealed as a clutterbug or a neatnik, young or old, wealthy or not so well off. The type (not to mention the price tag) of a handbag generates more clues as to the personality of the carrier. Is it a clutch, a sac, a hobo, a tote or a satchel?Is it worn over the shoulder, carried by hand, or even slung cross-body? Is it an animal-lover’s favorite print or a collector’s vintage item? Does it reflect the season (fur in winter, straw in summer)? Is it leather or leatherette, color-blocked or quilted? Is it a designer item, a discount store purchase or a high-grade knockoff? Is it so small it could qualify as a wallet? Or so large it might incur extra baggage fees at an airport check-in? The EDGE editorial team decided to look for some answers…

Bag Ladies

Many of us would consider it a violation of privacy were someone to peek uninvited into our purses. With the promise of anonymity, however, five New Jersey women volunteered to reveal the handbag contents they won’t leave home without.

• “I always keep two Benadryl pills in my purse since I’m allergic to bees. Unfortunately, the Epi-pen that my doctor recommended I carry with me doesn’t fit in my purse, so I keep it in my glove compartment instead…shame on me. Maybe it’s time for a bigger purse.”
• “I use my purse as a medicine bag, a food pantry, a closet, and a library. I have to tote along an inhaler for my son because he has asthma and an Epi-pen for his nut allergy. If I am away from the house, I carry snacks—healthy and nut-free of course.  It’s like a repurposed diaper bag for older kids now, filled with hand sanitizers, tissues and wipes. Pre-kids, I was a wristlet/clutch carrier.  One day again maybe!  I love purses, but I hate carrying things. I only have boys, so it’s unlikely I can look forward to the day they have purses of their own.”
• “Not only would I never leave the house without my purse, I would never leave without my one-a-day Sudoku paperback puzzle book and a freshly sharpened #2 Mongol pencil safely tucked inside. I regularly use it to while away the time—not only at prolonged appointments, but I have even been known to whip it out when stopping for gas or standing in line at the supermarket. I think I may need a 12-step program.”
• “Stashed away and almost forgotten in whatever wallet happens to be inside my current purse is a slightly tattered St. Jude prayer card. Several years ago, while sitting in the waiting room of the hospital where my Dad was undergoing serious surgery, my concern must have been evident in my body language—so much so that an elderly lady sitting nearby came over and handed me this card. She explained that she believed St. Jude, the patron saint of desperate causes, had helped her through her own personal crisis. Without hesitation about parting with it, she said, ‘You look like you need this right now much more than I do.’ With heartfelt gratitude I thanked her and returned to my worrying. I was holding onto the prayer card when my Dad’s surgeon approached to tell me he had come through with flying colors. I thanked the doctor profusely and then sent some thanks St. Jude’s way as well. You never know.”

Unzipped

Though most people are timid when it comes to talking about contents, everyone has a handbag story to tell. A close friend had received a very personalized gift from her Tuscan father-in-law—a beautifully monogrammed shoulder bag of the palest butter-soft yellow suede—as a memento of her first visit. On a stopover in London, her husband suggested she save the Italian beauty for special occasions, but she couldn’t resist taking it with her as they ventured out in search of fish & chips. In an idyllic park-like setting, they settled upon a small food vendor who specialized in authentic newsprint funnels of crispy battered cod filets, jammed in with the quintessential twice-fried chips. Taking special care to avoid even the remotest possibility of an oily drip desecrating her handbag, my friend carefully removed it from her shoulder and placed it next to her on the park bench. Once the last of the chips had been devoured and all fingers properly licked and paper-napkined clean, she reached for her precious purse. As she reached for her handbag, she heard from above the cooing of a large pigeon with an apparent digestive issue. She glanced down just in time to see a very wet, very lethal stain spreading across the suede nap of her formerly flawless purse. There was nothing to be done. The stain resisted all attempts at removal. The bag was beyond redemption. She had lost her bag to the birds.

A lot of “lost bag” stories I’ve heard have more positive outcomes, including my own. I once forgot I had placed my purse on the roof of my car while loading it with groceries in the supermarket parking lot, and carelessly drove off. When I arrived home, I realized it was missing. I zoomed back to the market to check if anyone had turned it in to the Lost & Found. No luck. I surveyed the area around the original parking spot. No luck, either. Resigned to canceling all my credit cards, getting a new driver’s license, dealing with my lost cell phone, etc., I walked back to the car—and spotted it, still on the roof. I no longer feel ashamed of my heavy, overstuffed hobo bag. Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn’t have moved that off the roof.

Star Gazing

Sometimes the bag itself is the story. Anna Gunn, star of TV’s Breaking Bad series, appeared on the Red Carpet at the January Screen Actors Guild Awards carrying the most perfect personalized accessory—given that she won a SAG award for her performance. What was the accessory? A sparkling, palm-sized clutch emblazoned with the show’s Br/Ba logo. No other fashion statement, carried or worn that evening, rivaled it.

Awards season also thrust Cate Blanchett’s Birkin bag into the spotlight. It took on a life of its own in the film Blue Jasmine, for which Blanchett won a Best Actress Oscar. Woody Allen is known for his shoestring budgets, and in this case the bag’s price tag was equal to the cost of the rest of the film’s wardrobe. Blanchett drove costume designer Suzy Benzinger crazy by flinging her Birkin all over the set. “She was having conniptions,” Blanchett reported.

Other celebrities recently caught toting pricey designer handbags include…

Nicky Hilton

Balenciaga Magenta City Bag ($1250-$1345)

Victoria Beckham and Khloe & Kim Kardashian Hermes Birkin Bag

(customizable between $7400 and $150,000 by waiting list only)

HRH Kate Middleton

LK Bennett clutch

(a relatively plebian $475)

Taylor Swift

Ralph Lauren Calfskin Ricky Lock Crossbody Bag ($1950)

Miley Cyrus

Edie Parker Jean evening bag ($1295)

Jessica Alba

Prada Madras Top Handle Flap Tote ($2650)

Sarah Jessica Parker

Balenciaga First Bag ($1395)

Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez

Gucci USA Flag Boston Bag ($895, designed in support of UNICEF)

THE CAT’S IN THE BAG

A close friend has found a solution to the long lines at security checkpoints. Atypically, she has an aversion to just about all handbags and carries one only when absolutely necessary. At a recent theater evening, she opted to bring along her favorite—a delightful purse of the smallest possible proportions flaunting the cutest bejeweled feline face. As her turn approached for the inevitable security check, she began to remove the purse from her wrist in order to present it for inspection. Before she could do so, the screener laughingly told her not to bother, since he was sure that her adorable mini-bag could in no way ever conceal anything that could possibly pose a security threat. Without further ado, he waved her on into the lobby. The cat in the bag had worked its charm once again.

Making History

The origin of the saying about making “a silk purse out of a sow’s ear” is attributed to 18th century author Jonathan Swift. Even without easy access to a sow’s ear these days, handbags still are among the most popular of personal spaces, at least for women. Yet, handbags actually date back more than 5,000 years. The original purpose of a purse was to carry around one’s personal net worth—often in the form of coins, making ancient purses the accessory of choice of men not women. The Bible refers to Judas as having worn a purse.

Many centuries later, European men turned to leather pockets in their trousers (called “bagges” in the 16th century) and later on to small wallets in their pockets, where they stashed their cash.

European women began to devote their domestic skills to producing a fashionable feminine accessory known as the reticule, a delicate silk or velvet pouch with drawstrings and wrist straps to facilitate hand-carrying. By the end of the 17th century, the handbag had become—and remains to this day—an almost exclusive feminine accessory, the oft-maligned fanny packs and “man bags” notwithstanding.

Putting style, size and seasonality aside, a handbag represents a composite of its owner’s life, her taste and the times. Unlike the royals, who technically don’t need to carry anything for themselves, we commoners are on an obsessive quest to find the perfect container for our everyday belongings. Whether it’s called a handbag or a purse or a pocketbook (or a bolsa, borsa or sac a main for that matter), this predominantly feminine accessory has gone on many a personal journey…some anecdotal, others indelible, and still others preferably forgotten. Even when it has outlived its usefulness or its appeal—when its original newness has faded to a timeworn shabbiness—an old handbag can still hold a pocketful of memories.

Score One for Sports… Literally

By Steve Urena

Offer kids an opportunity to attend a writing camp, and you’re likely to be greeted with blank stares. Offer those same kids a chance to write about sports and it’s a whole new ballgame. That’s the concept behind Write On Sports, the brainchild of veteran sportswriter and editor Byron Yake, who opened the afterschool program and summer camp in 2005. Since then, hundreds of aspiring scribes have pursued their passion, while honing skills that will serve them for a lifetime.

Yake, who worked for the Associated Press for two decades, wanted to give back to the journalism community by passing down his knowledge to the next generation of sports journalists. The Write On Sports director designed his program so that children could strengthen their communication and literacy skills by using sportswriting as a learning tool. The high-interest subject matter keeps them motivated, as does the 4:1 student-to-instructor ratio.

Write On Sports has focused primarily on middle- schoolers in order to prepare them for high school and beyond. One of its success stories, Kevin Lopez, parlayed his success in the program to become class valedictorian at Newark Technology High School for 2012, and now attends Princeton University. Lopez credits his own personal successes to being a three-time participant in the Write On Sports program.

“Write on Sports helped me, overall, in school,” he says. “My self-expression skills have improved and a blank piece of paper is no longer a fear. Before, I used to think writing was something they made us do. Now it’s something I like to do.”

Among the high points of the program are the visits from working sportswriters, including writers from The Daily Record, The Star-Ledger, Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine and several TV and radio stations. During Super Bowl week this year, NFL writer Peter King took four young writers out to lunch to talk shop. Another popular feature of Write On Sports is attending and writing about live games, as well as interviews with players and coaches. The curriculum has expanded to touch on sports blogging and also video journalism, with the kids getting to work with microphones and video editing equipment.

“Seeing children who are not very confident about their writing transform at the end of the program with a new sense of confidence is the most rewarding part of this job,” explains lead instructor Andy Beutel. “This is their summer vacation. They are choosing to do this and are enjoying themselves when writing. I don’t think schools give children the opportunity to do that very often, so Write On Sports definitely gives kids that chance to have fun while learning.”

Editor’s Note: Steve Urena began writing about a wide range of sports as a teenager, and is currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment. For more information about Write On Sports camps and after-school programs, log onto writeonsports.com. At right, former Tampa Bay Bucs linebacker Al Singleton shows off his Super Bowl ring during a visit with an aspiring sportswriter.

News, views and insights on maintaining a healthy edge.

In the Blink of an Eye

High-powered blue handheld lasers—which some parents purchased for their children this past holiday season—are anything but toys. So powerful is the light from these devices that the normal blink reflex isn’t quick enough to prevent damage when they hit the human eye. Blue laser pointers resemble lower-wattage red and green laser pointers, but can cause much more severe retinal damage in just a fraction of a second—including hemorrhaging in multiple retinal layers, macular pucker and a retinal cavity. Ouch! A recent study in Ophthalmology stated that the lack of public knowledge about blue handheld lasers could lead to an “epidemic of ocular injuries” and called for government intervention.

Eating Away the Blues

While newspapers and magazines are full of stories about “holiday blues,” you don’t hear much about the sadness and mild depression that can kick in after the wind-down of endless parties and presents. In many cases, the problem is related to extra pounds we pack on in December and January. The good news is that healthy eating in February and March can not only help you shed that weight, it can also improve your mental well-being. For example, study after study has shown that adding foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids can be effective in staving off depression. These foods include salmon and tuna, dark leafy vegetables, nuts and flaxseed. Fish (along with low-fat dairy foods) can also boost your mood by boosting your B12 levels. There is also growing evidence that a diet high in selenium can improve mild depression. Fish, nuts, lean meats, beans and whole grains are rich in selenium. Some other rules for avoiding diet-related moods swings include eating a healthy breakfast every day, drinking plenty of water and consuming a healthy snack or small meal every four hours or so for sustained energy.

16 Going on 17

How much exercise is too much exercise? For teenagers, this question almost seems superfluous. Study after study shows that kids simply aren’t active enough. According to sports medicine authority Dr. Michele Gilsenan, by mid-teens, when participation should be high, the opposite occurs and sedentary living becomes the norm for many teenagers. As reported in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, seven hours a week is the recommended “dosage” of sports for most teens; for kids on teams, an average 14 hours delivers the maximum benefit in terms of fitness and proficiency in a sport. However, 17 hours is the tipping point at which strenuous activity becomes detrimental for athletic teenagers. Once that 17 hour maximum is reached, the benefits of sports participation, including improved self-esteem and mental acuity and the reduced risk of depression, appear to diminish. In fact, researchers from the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Switzerland found the risk of depression, irritability and anxiety actually starts to increase. “As young athletes frequently choose a single sport that they play year-round, overuse of the same muscles occurs,”

Michele Gilsenan, DO
Member, Family Medicine Department 732.388.7300

Dr.Gilsenan observes. “In general, early burnout from the sport or physical activity occurs. As a result, we’re seeing a type of injury in younger athletes that was once reserved for those older. Also, with too much sports activity, there is the possibility of reduced concentration, which can lead to potential injuries, too.”

Nuts to You

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this winter reached the startling conclusion that people who eat a handful of nuts every day have a lower mortality rate by 20 percent compared to those who do not eat nuts at all. That statistic covers death from all causes, but the study pointed specifically to significant differences in death due to heart diseases, cancer and respiratory illnesses. This news is exciting because it involves a relatively simple, un-dramatic lifestyle change. “Nuts contain unsaturated fatty acids, the good fatty acids. They help lower bad cholesterol, the low density lipoprotein (LDL), which is linked to the hardening of coronary arteries that can lead to heart attacks,” asserts

Fayez Shamoon, MD Director, Cardiovascular Services 973.877.5160

Fayez Shamoon, MD, Director of Cardiovascular Services at Trinitas. “Nuts, especially walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, and peanuts, as recently shown, are also rich in fiber and are an extremely beneficial part of a heart-healthy diet as suggested in a July 2003 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) statement.” The New England Journal reporting further found that nut-eaters were more likely to consume fruits and vegetables, be non-smokers, and get a decent amount of exercise. These links may have something to do with the fact that nuts quell hunger pangs between meals compared to less nutritious snack foods. In a nutshell, Dr. Shamoon adds that eating one to two ounces of nuts daily is highly recommended.

Vacation Souvenir

The growing popularity of “nip-and-tuck tourism”—the blending of a tropical vacation with lower-cost cosmetic surgery procedures—is not without risk. In Boston this past fall, hospitals reported several cases of Mycobacterium abscessus infection, involving bacteria that are particularly stubborn when it comes to antibiotics. When doctors looked for a common vector, they found that the patients had undergone cosmetic surgery while vacationing in the Dominican Republic over the summer. Soon, they found that hospitals in New York, Connecticut and other states were reporting similar cases. Mycobacterium abscessus is spread by contaminated medical equipment and supplies, and bad surgical technique, but doesn’t show up until many weeks later. Fortunately, the infection is not contagious. A word to the wise from Board Certified plastic surgeon

Joseph D. Alkon, MD Chief, Plastic Surgery 908.583.5630

Joseph D. Alkon, Chief of Plastic Surgery at Trinitas: “When considering aesthetic plastic surgery, or any type of plastic surgery for that matter, it is important to seek out a board-certified plastic surgeon who is trained and experienced in your desired procedure. Verify the training and credentials of the physician who will be performing your surgery and the certification of the facility where your surgery will be performed. An excellent resource for this is the American Board of Plastic Surgery’s website, www.abplsurg.org. If your physician is not listed here, yet claims to be ‘board-certified,’ then that should serve as a warning and prompt you to ask specific questions about their credentials and training, and their ability to perform your plastic surgery safely.”

Autism Breakthrough at Yale

Research published in late 2013 by the Yale Child Study Center shows promise for oxytocin (OT)—aka the “love hormone”—in the treatment of autism. Areas of the brain governing social functions such as empathy and reward had greater activity after subjects were given an inhaler spray of oxytocin. The effects were temporary and the number of subjects (17) in the study small, but the really encouraging news may be that the brain regions involved in autism may not be irrevocably damaged. Another interesting finding in the Yale study was that children whose saliva had higher levels of oxytocin exhibited more activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain that plays an important role in the processing of emotions. “This encouraging study at Yale challenges what we know about treatment being effective in children only when given by three years of age,” asserts

Romulo Aromin, Jr., MD
Medical Director, Child/Adolescent Partial Hospital Programs 908.994.7028

Romulo Aromin, Jr., MD, Medical Director of Child/Adolescent Partial Hospital Programs at Trinitas.  “Children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders may still be responsive to medication and may still be malleable more than what we thought. Currently, Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) has been the evidence-based treatment recommended during this window period. Without such treatment, prognosis will be adversely affected. This study opens utilizing occupational therapy and Applied Behavioral Analysis as intervention arms.”

After five-plus years at Trinitas, the da Vinci Robotic System continues to surprise and impress

By Erik Slagle

If there’s a certain level of art that goes along with the science of surgery, the wave of advances taking place in robotics-assisted procedures could be considered its Minimalist movement. Less cutting. Less blood loss. Less pain. Less recovery time.

Less is usually more when it comes to surgery, and the procedures made possible by innovations such as the Single-Site da Vinci System are bringing surgeons and their patients to the cutting edge—which in many cases means a lot less cutting than in years past. Nowhere around New Jersey is that more evident than at Trinitas, where robotic equipment has transformed the concept of surgery in fields such as gynecology, colon and rectal, and gallbladder removal. The surgeons carrying out these operations often turn to robotics for maneuverability and visibility—consistently leading to more positive outcomes and faster recoveries for their patients.

“The ability to carry out robotic surgeries at Trinitas enables us to be more aggressive in how we treat, while giving us almost unlimited access within the surgical field,” says

Labib E. Riachi, MD, FACOG Chairman, OB/GYN
Director, Robotics 908.282.2000

Dr. Labib Riachi, Chairman of Trinitas’ OB/GYN Department and Director of Robotics. Dr. Riachi has carried out more than 700 procedures since 2009 on the da Vinci System. While at a console, a surgeon can manipulate the “arms” that maneuver a camera and carry out cutting, holding and coagulating all through a single or multi-port precise abdominal incision. Dr. Riachi has used the system to perform corrective surgeries for conditions such as prolapse, fibroids, bleeding, lysis of adhesions and endometriosis, and now trains other surgeons to do the same.

The benefits are easy to see—literally. “This technique provides us with ten times the magnification that we’d have with conventional open and laparoscopic surgeries,” Dr. Riachi says. “When treating endometriosis, for example, we have unparalleled precision in identifying, lifting and excising the lesions. At the consoles, we can manipulate surgical equipment with 360-degree rotation—superior even to laparoscopy. We can hold, dissect, and clean at better angles, and bring in a second surgeon if necessary without having to scrub out—that doctor can sit down at the adjacent console and see exactly what we’re seeing.”

A recent patient of Dr. Riachi’s, only in her 30s, had consulted with nearly a dozen doctors over a 15-year period to treat endometriosis that threatened to claim her ovaries. Still hoping for the opportunity to one day become pregnant, the young woman was desperate to avoid losing her reproductive organs, but appeared to be running out of options. Through the da Vinci method, however, Dr. Riachi was able to clean and correct all of her adhesions and excise all the endometriotic lesions in a single surgery, saving her entire reproductive system in the process.

“For 15 years, this patient had lived with chronic pelvic pain,” Dr. Riachi says. “But thanks to robotics, in cases like hers we no longer have to take out an ovary. We can clean and clear the reproductive system instead. At a follow-up appointment, she said she hadn’t felt this good in years.”

Preserving organs and saving body functions are primary goals of systems such as the da Vinci. Even in cases where Single-Site isn’t an option, surgeons are finding that introducing other types of robotics into the process can yield great results.

Andrea S. Zimmern, MD, FACS Colorectal Surgeon 908.994.8449

For Dr. Andrea Zimmern, colon and rectal surgeries can be carried out using a combination of laparoscopy or open surgery along with a robotic “helping hand” to gain the most favorable outcomes. In Dr. Zimmern’s field, robotic precision can help surgeons carry out procedures that might otherwise prove impossible.

“The visualization [using robotic equipment] is far beyond anything we’ve had previously,” Dr. Zimmern says. “With robotics, we can perform surgeries that used to be impossible even via laparoscopy. We recently treated a patient who came to us with an abdominal tumor that took up his entire pelvis. The patient was also suffering from obesity, which made his case especially complicated. Even with laparoscopy, we wouldn’t have been able to remove the cancer without giving the patient a permanent colostomy. But the precision of our robotic equipment allowed us to do just that. So we’re learning there are particular instances and cases where the ability to carry out robotics-assisted surgery isn’t just advantageous—it’s really the ideal.”

The use of robotics in surgery is quickly becoming common across a range of fields including cardiology, endocrinology, and general surgery. Robots are now key players in helping surgeons tackle aggressive cancers of the bladder, uterus, prostate, throat and more. With skilled, talented, trained surgeons at the controls, the robots at work in the operating theaters at Trinitas are driving modern medicine into a future that used to exist only in the realm of science fiction. Like its namesake, the da Vinci System is redefining an art form: the art of complex, life-changing and life-savings surgeries.

Rodolfo Colaco, MD, FACS, FICS Chairman, Surgery
908.353.4177

Pioneering surgeon Rodolfo Colaco, MD, underwent specialized training and performed the region’s first robotic single site procedure at Trinitas in 2013. The patient’s gallbladder was removed through one tiny incision in the belly button, making the procedure virtually scarless.

SOAR! addresses the retirement needs of the ‘religious elderly’

By Diane Alter

In the secular world, we don’t think much about the retirement needs of Catholic priests, sisters and brothers. Yet, as exceptional and unwavering as they are in their devotion to others, they are just as susceptible to the challenges of aging as we are. Perhaps more so, in fact.

Many turn to Support Our Aging Religious (aka SOAR!). Based in Washington, D.C., SOAR! is a non-profit, grant-generating organization that connects people of all religious denominations, all across the country, whose lives have been touched by unrivaled contributions from the professional Catholic community. Its aim is to raise funds, educate the public about serious retirement needs of the “elderly religious” and develop a national network of those who want to help.

“We support priests, sisters and brothers of religious orders,” says Sister Kathleen Lunsmann, President of SOAR!. “While we don’t support diocesan priests, we do support Franciscans, Dominicans, Benedictines, etc. However, it’s primarily sisters who are most in need of our help.”

Born and raised in New Jersey, Sister Kathleen is a former member of New Providence’s Our Lady of Peace Parish, where she remained until entering The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Scranton, Pennsylvania. However, with siblings and their families still in the Garden State, Sister Kathleen frequently comes back across the Delaware. A recent visit included a stop at the Conventual Franciscan Friars in Seaside Park to bring them a grant check for $25,000. The money will be used to replace windows in the home of retired Franciscan priests.

“In my position at SOAR!, I am honored to raise money to help elderly sisters and brothers,” she says. “These dear religious men and women have given their lives in service to others and now it’s time for us to give back and care for them. For most of their working years, sisters who are now retired received little compensation for their work in schools, hospitals and parishes. Today, it’s different. Congregations are compensated for the work of the sisters. But retired sisters need to rely on benefactors like their former students to help them in their aging years.”

The sisters are not asking for much, explains Sister Kathleen. For example, they might need funds for a bathroom renovation to accommodate a wheelchair. Or there might be a need for money for a stair lift so sisters can access a floor on their own.

For more information on SOAR! log onto soar-usa.org.

Five of the Costliest Legal Mistakes You Can Make

A recent poll revealed something we all secretly knew. More than half of the people who make a list of New Year’s resolutions fail miserably when it comes to following through… and nearly one in five blows it within the first 24 hours. 

There are some lists, however, that you would be wise to tuck away. As lawyers, we are often asked about the kinds of legal mistakes people commonly make that are either costly to resolve, or impossible to undo. Many, if not most, of these mistakes involve being “penny wise and pound foolish.” Then again, diplomacy aside, some of these mistakes are just plain stupid. And yet we see them made again and again.

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

If you must make a list of resolutions for 2014, try this list of the Top 5 legal blunders to avoid. Although they may not sound as exciting as dropping 20 pounds, or getting around to organizing your basement, we promise that your year will turn out all the better for being safe rather than sorry.

Hitting the “Reply All” (and Send) Button When You Don’t Mean To

We’ve all done it. We receive an email that has been cc’d to a group of other recipients who may be friends, (or not), or co-workers (or not), or—in a business situation—on “our side” (or not). Often we are tempted to make a snarky comment to one of the other recipients, but instead mistakenly hit the “Reply All” button. Oh no! Well, you can’t take it back. Usually this is just embarrassing, but in the context of a business transaction or litigation, it can be devastating, especially if the “Reply All” reveals confidential information, such as strategy or facts unknown to the unintended recipient(s). Imagine you are selling a company and you receive an email from one of the bidders. Your “Reply All” message, intended for only one of your partners, says, “I hope the dope doesn’t know he’s bid twice what anyone else has.” Enough said. Bid withdrawn!

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Venting on Social Media

Social media is a blessing and a curse. Venting your rage at someone or damning something online may feel good at the time, but before you tweet or post in anger, consider the consequences. If the target of your rage is a person or group of people, or even a company (indeed, especially a company), you could be sued for harassment, libel or defamation. Most of the time, you cannot undo what you’ve written, which will live forever somewhere on the Internet. Rage, exaggerations, negative commentary or false statements—these can lead to reputational damage, negative employment consequences, and a costly legal mess. You may recall in the headlines the case where Donald Trump sued a contestant in the Miss Universe Pageant (which Trump owns) for making defamatory statements about the pageant on Facebook. Trump won a $5 million judgment! Even those without such means can take to the Internet and respond in kind, or file an action publicly in the courts. A few words can cost you thousands.

Failing to Document Contractual Relationships

Ah, trust. How quaint. So-called “handshake” agreements are very dangerous things. This becomes frighteningly apparent when a dispute arises among the parties. It can be very difficult to establish the existence of a valid oral agreement (as opposed to an agreement in writing). And even if an oral agreement is established, its terms are often difficult to interpret or define. It is not uncommon for us to see a client who believed he or she was a “partner” in a business only to discover he or she had no rights at all. Or, take someone who thought he or she had purchased or sold an order of goods or services, only to discover the other side was not obligated to provide or pay for the order at all. Handshakes are yesterday’s news, today’s blues. “Get it in writing!” We like to see written agreements as road maps, with clear directions and goals on which the parties can agree at the outset of the relationship are reasonable and fair. In nearly all cases, both parties benefit from putting pen to paper after that handshake. 

Using Legal Documents Downloaded from the Internet

Really? Think you can save some money this way? Think again. This is not a matter of professional jealousy or “guild mentality.” We are constantly having to do remedial work, which is far costlier than the original work that might have been performed, for clients who have used downloaded documents. The fact of the matter is that there is very little that is “cookie cutter” in legal relationships. A well-drafted legal document requires the attorney to fully understand the circumstances and desires of the client and, the client’s counterparty, to suggest key provisions or alternatives that should be in a contract—be it an employment contract, a lease, or a limited liability company operating agreement. The location of the parties is relevant; the place of business is key; and many laws vary from state to state. We have found that these “one-size-fits-all” documents are incapable of that. In addition, they often contain poorly drafted language or outright errors. A lay person attempting to modify a document to suit his or her circumstances can often miss key issues or alternatives that are available to a competent attorney. The result can be disaster when key elements work in favor of the other party or the document itself is invalid. 

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

A couple of years ago, we were presented with an agreement obtained by the Executive Director of a non-profit organization, laudably trying to save his organization money. But in the end, he cost it a bundle and lost his job in the process. The E.D. had fired another senior employee (who happened to be female, older than he, and next in line for the top spot), using paperwork obtained “for free” online. His first mistake (perhaps after the termination decision itself) was having downloaded the Separation Agreement from the Internet. Bad enough the “free” legal form related to a different state—but it was not actually applicable to a senior executive, it omitted legally required terms, and it involved a terminated employee under 40 years of age. In short, it did not apply to the organization’s situation where a female senior officer, 40 years of age or older, was being let go without any prior notice. It was the wrong agreement.

Federal, state and local requirements kick in to require that certain terms be included in a Separation Agreement that has a general release of claims following the termination of an older female…none of which were reflected in the downloaded form agreement the E.D. had obtained. Making matters worse (for the organization), he had already handed the employee whom he was firing the downloaded Separation Agreement during the actual termination meeting. Now that was warm and fuzzy. The E.D. then told the soon-to-be-ex-colleague that the (incomplete and illegal) Separation Agreement was a “take it or leave it” offer that would expire in three days. (What was he thinking?) Among other things, the federal age discrimination laws permit older employees who are being terminated from employment to have 21 days within which to review and consider a Separation Agreement and, after signing, seven more days to revoke it. This was one of numerous omissions in the “free” downloaded version. (We suspect a different agreement was used when the E.D. was later fired.) In the end, the misguided effort to save his organization some money cost the non-profit tens of thousands of dollars to forestall a lawsuit by the ex-employee and fix an agreement that a seasoned employment lawyer in the right state would have taken just a few hours to prepare.

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Founding a Company without Having an Employment Agreement

A company founder/CEO should always consider having an employment agreement, because once the company has taken in substantial amounts of outside money from any sophisticated investor, he or she may become an endangered species. We know of a situation involving a senior executive who was in distress after he had just been fired by the company he founded. Bad enough that he got squeezed out of his own company, but it got worse. Without an employment contract, he had no rights, no severance and no recourse. He had founded a tech company with an innovative concept that was just beginning to achieve wide acclaim. As is the case with many others in his circumstances, he needed more funding and brought in a well-known venture capital firm. The founder still controlled the largest block of stock and thought he was set. He avoided signing an employment agreement because he did not want to be subject to restrictive covenants like non-compete and confidentiality agreements. However, a typical executive employment agreement also contains protective provisions, such as an employment term of years, or severance if things don’t work out—which can be a multiple of the executive’s compensation if he or she is terminated without cause or quits for “good reason.” 

In this case, as is typical, the venture capital firm took two seats on an already small board. The (now fired) founder had handpicked two other directors and, with them and himself as a director, believed he controlled the board. Within less than a year, however, the venture capital firm had co-opted one of the founder’s handpicked directors, and convinced him that the founder was not the right guy for the job of leading the company to success. The company was in an “at will” state where the laws provided that an employee could be terminated for any reason (or no reason) at all, at any time, without notice or severance…which is exactly what happened to the founder, who thought he was pretty crafty to keep away from signing an employment agreement. So much for being the smartest guy in the room.

Still think you’re the smartest guy (or gal) in the room? To read about five more legal mistakes that intelligent people make every day log onto edgemagonline.com. 

• Hiring Unpaid Interns or Otherwise Misclassifying Employees
• Failing to Protect Your Intellectual Property (or Infringing on Someone Else’s)
• Collaborating on Original Work without an Agreement
• Getting Married (or Remarried) without Consulting a Lawyer
• Failing to Take Action When One Employee Is Harassing Another…or Creating a Hostile Work Environment EDGE

Editor‘s Note: Helen D. (“Heidi”) Reavis and Neil Patrick Parent are Partners with Reavis Parent Lehrer LLP, based in New York City. The above does not constitute legal advice; readers are urged to seek the assistance of a qualified attorney in their location in connection with any of the areas of law discussed generally above.

HEAVEN SENT

Diego Roldan, volunteer in the Emergency Department and Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) at Trinitas, was recently named one of the five honorees in New Jersey Monthly’s annual Seeds of Hope program.  Roldan was among 65 nominees from around the state who were considered for their influence and impact on others by supporting their communities, helping neighbors, and giving back. He frequently reads passages of the Bible to patients because he believes “God sent me here.”

John Emerson Photography, New Jersey Monthly magazine

PROGRESS IN THE WORKS

Trinitas Regional Medical Center celebrated the transformation of its Emergency Department with a ceremonial groundbreaking at the Williamson Street Campus. The $18 project to be completed in 2017 will expand the current patient exam areas to 45, up from 26, and renovate the center to move services like x-rays and CT scans closer to patients in order to accelerate delivery of emergency care. Donors, local community leaders, legislators, senior management, and members of the Emergency Department staff hailed the progress as a major step toward ensuring quality healthcare delivery to the City of Elizabeth and communities beyond.

POWERHOUSE SURGEON

Labib E. Riachi, MD, FACOG, Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Trinitas, has received subspecialty certification in pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery by the Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Board of Urology. Since completing his training in 2001 under leading surgeons in women’s obstetrical/gynecological and urological health in Europe and the US, Dr. Riachi has performed more than 3500 of these surgeries at Trinitas.

FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

Chatham Day School hosts 4th Annual S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) Expo on Saturday, January 9, 2016 from 2:00-4:00 p.m.  This event is free to the public and is excellent for the entire family.

TWO NEWCOMERS

Westfield Smiles Dental Health & Wellness Center, which has served area patients for more than three decades, recently w

elcomed two dentists to town. Dr. Maral Regas and Dr. Stephanie Arismendi joined Dr. Adam E. Feret’s general dental practice at 440 East Broad Street. “The best part of being a dentist is the feeling you made a positive difference by educating and helping patients protect their teeth and improve their smiles,” says Dr. Arismendi, a Rutgers grad. “Being part of the practice of Dr. Feret will allow me to continue to do that.”

WOMAN OF INFLUENCE

Teacher, clinical educator, and mentor, Dr. Purabi Bharatiya of the Trinitas Department of Psychiatry, was awarded the Archbishop J. John Myers Outstanding Educator Award in Medical Education from Seton Hall University.  Dr. Bharatiya, along with Dr. Anwar Y. Ghali, Chairman of Psychiatry, created and developed the Trinitas Psychiatric Residency Program.  She is shown with, from left, Gary S. Horan, President and CEO, Dr. Anwar Y. Ghali, and James McCreath, Vice President, Behavioral Health and Psychiatry.

THE DOCTORS ARE IN

Drs. Sergio Baerga and Vasyl Pidkaminetskiy, physicians newly-affiliated with Trinitas, invited the community to the offices of Trini-tas Physicians’ Practice located on St. Georges Avenue in Rahway.  Welcoming patients to the practice are from left, Joanna Ayala, Office Manger, Dr. Baerga, Eryn Mckenzie, Medical Assis-tant, and Dr. Pidkaminetskiy. Dr. Baerga is board certified in gen-eral surgery and fluent in Spanish and English while Dr. Pidkaminetskiy is board certified in family practice and internal medicine, with fluency in Ukranian, Russian, Polish and English.

AIN’T IT GRAND!

More than 200 guests, including NJ Senator Tom Kean Jr., attended the Grand Reopening party for The Kenilworth on September 29th. The boutique hotel renovated its 109 rooms and hired Rothweiler Event Designs to create 6,000 square feet of unique party and event spaces, including a downstairs lounge and an upstairs banquet facility. Both rooms showcased the offerings of  The Kenilworth’s Executive Chef, Andrew Proto. “It was thrilling to have been able to introduce our contemporary vision of the Kenilworth,” said co-owner Sonali Mody. The kenilworthinn.com web site features a visual tour of the property.

EDGE takes you inside the area’s most creative kitchens.

The Office Beer Bar & Grill • Grilled Bratwurst

728 Thompson Ave. • BRIDGEWATER 411 North Ave. West • WESTFIELD 32–34 Chestnut St. • RIDGEWOOD

We fire finish our beer-braised bratwurst on the grill and serve it with sautéed onions and peppers on a char-grilled garlic-infused baguette.

— Kevin Felice, 40North Executive Chef.

Paragon Tap & Table • Mushroom Tart

77 Central Ave. • CLARK

(732) 931-1776 • paragonnj.com

In additional to all of our craft beer and craft dishes, burgers, pastas and seasonal, local menu items, we are also very proud to offer our vegan and vegetarian experiences, including mushroom tart with roasted salsify, zucchini and French beans.

— Eric B. LeVine, Chef/Partner

A Toute Heure/100 Steps Supper Club & Raw Bar

232 Centennial Avenue / 215 Centennial Avenue • CRANFORD

(908) 276-6600 • localrootscranford.com

Our restaurants offer the best ingredients from ocean, farm, and garden on their seasonal menus. As we head into winter, the ocean offers up some of our best seasonal options—from briny local oysters and mussels, to gorgeous local catch. The colder water temperatures mean a great abundance and amazing local flavors!   

— Andrea & Jim Carbine, Owners

The Black Horse Tavern & Pub • Summer Smoked Pork Chop

1 West Main Street • MENDHAM

(973) 543–7300 • blackhorsenj.com

A succulent house-smoked chop served with micro spring herbs and Jersey blueberry gastrique.

— Kevin Felice, 40North Executive Chef

Piattino Neighborhood Bistro • Amalfi Seafood Pasta

88 East Main Street • MENDHAM

(973) 543-0025 • piattinonj.com

Sautéed shrimp and clams, tomato, roasted garlic, spinach and white wine lobster broth over linguine.

— Kevin Felice, 40North Executive Chef

The Office Beer Bar & Grill • Jersey “ Wake Up” Call

619 Bloomfield Ave. • MONTCLAIR

(973) 783-2929 • office-beerbar.com/locations/montclair

Sirloin Burger topped with pork roll, American cheese and a fried egg. Lettuce, tomato and onion!

— Kevin Felice, 40North Executive Chef

George and Martha’s American Grille • Sliced Hanger Steak

67 Morris Street • MORRISTOWN

(973) 267-4700 • georgeandmarthas.com

Served atop a sweet potato purée, with a wild mushroom demi-glaze and pan-roasted asparagus.

— Kevin Felice, 40North Executive Chef

The Office Tavern Grill • Slow Roasted Chicken Tacos

3 South Street • MORRISTOWN

(973) 285-0220 • officetaverngrill.com

Grilled flour tortilla, achiote spice, guacamole, queso fresco, cilantro and lime.

Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse • Pan Seared Scallops

1230 Route 22 West • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 518-9733 • partyonthegrill.com

Most guests think to visit us for an unforgettable hibachi meal, but we offer amazing traditional Japanese style dishes such as the pan seared scallops, served with a edamame purée, truffle scented greens, miso lime dressing and bok choy. We also offer the freshest sushi in the area.

Daimatsu • Grilled Oyster

860 Mountain Ave. • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 233-7888 • daimatsusushibar.com

Fresh jumbo Pacific oyster grilled with homemade miso sauce, fried northern puffer fish marinated in light ginger soy coated in potato starch and deep fried crunchy veggie on the side. 

— Momo, Chef

Publick House • Shepherd’s Pie

899 Mountain Ave. • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 233-2355 • publickhousenj.com

Our Shepherd’s Pie is an authentic homage to our Irish roots. The slow braised lamb is so tender it practically melts in your mouth. The meat is mixed with fresh herbs and vegetables, creating a stew of rich, warm flavors. Topped with garlic potato puree and browned until crispy, it pairs beautifully with a pint of craft beer.

— Danilo Ayala, Executive Chef

Luciano’s Ristorante & Lounge • House Made Mafalda Pasta Inverno Style

1579 Main Street • RAHWAY

(732) 815-1200 • lucianosristorante.com

Our goal is to give our guests a pleasurable dining experience, with fresh ingredients and personable service in a beautiful Tuscan décor complete with fireplaces. Our house-made Mafalda pasta features slow-braised artichoke crowns, cippolini onions and oven-dried tomatoes in a saffron cream broth. Luciano’s is available for dining and private parties of all types.

— Joseph Mastrella, Executive Chef/Partner

Morris Tap & Grill • Grilled Brined Pork Chop

500 Route 10 West • RANDOLPH

(973) 891-1776 • morristapandgrill.com

With the turn of the season we always change and add to our menu. We use local product to support area farmers and create seasonally to keep the menu at the peak of freshness. Grilled brined pork chop with roasted acorn squash and BBQ-dusted potato tots, maple garlic glaze.

— Eric B LeVine, Chef/Partner

Spirit: Social Eatery and Bar • Jersey Breakfast Bar Pie

250 Morris Ave. • SPRINGFIELD

(973) 258-1600 • mclynns.com

Get in the Spirit! Our Jersey Breakfast Bar Pie features potatoes, Taylor ham, cheddar cheese and onions. It doesn’t get more Jersey than that!  

— Mark Houlker, Chef

Thai Amarin • Goong Ma Kham

201 Morris Ave. • SPRINGFIELD

(973) 376-6300, (973) 376-6301 • thaiamarinnj.net

Batter fried jumbo shrimps with a tasty house made tamarind sauce,  topped with roasted almonds and served on a bed of stir-fried spinach.  

— Amy Thana, Owner

Café Z

2333 Morris Avenue • UNION

(908) 686-4321 • CafeZNJ.com

Try our fresh mozzarella and roasted red pepper appetizer, perfect with a bottle of Coppola red wine. Every Friday night is live entertainment and dancing!

— Patricia Inghilleri, Owner

Chestnut Chateau • Black Seabass

649 Chestnut Street • UNION

(908) 964-8696 • chestnutchateaunj.com

As the cold weather is in full swing, everyone bundles up and likes to stay warm. I embrace the cold and use the best fish caught in the deep blue waters of our east coast. Black seabass is great whole or filleted. The flaky white meat is served with a browned butter sauce that’s garnished with capers, baby croutons, parsley and lemon supremes.

— George Niotis, Chef

Mario’s Tutto Bene • Vinegar Pork Chops

495 Chestnut Street • UNION

(908) 687-3250 • mariostuttobene.com

Our vinegar pork chops feature three thin-cut Frenched chops that are coated with Italian breadcrumbs and sautéed with sweet vinegar peppers, prosciutto and garlic. They arrive with house-made roasted or mashed potatoes. Our regulars love this entrée.  

Rio Rodizio • Brazilian Meats

2185 Rte. 22 West • UNION

(908) 206-0060 • riorodiziounion.com

We offer an “All-You-Can-Eat” dining experience transported straight from the streets of Rio de Janeiro to your tableside. Each customer gets to witness a never-ending parade of freshly roasted meat and poultry. Our authentic Gaucho chefs carve these melt-in-your-mouth meats to your liking.

The Manor • Petite Filet Mignon & Short Ribs

111 Prospect Avenue • WEST ORANGE

(973) 731-2360 • themanorrestaurant.com

Our hearty petite filet mignon, accompanied by oh-so-rich short ribs that have been braised to tender perfection are ideal for the season. Add to that grilled baby leeks, forage mushrooms scented in bordelaise sauce, caramelized cipollini onions, and a delightfully-presented potato purée in a crisp potato basket and you have a taste of autumn well worth the visit.

— Vincent Raith, Executive Chef