A-List Pets

Pampered pets live good life in North Jersey

Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Last updated: Tuesday April 29, 2008, EDT 10:52 AM

BY EVELYN SHIH

STAFF WRITER

Designer clothing, organic food, spas and massages -- for Fluffy and Rover?

You betcha.

Left: Fab Dog's subway vest for dogs.

Americans will spend an estimated $43.3 billion on their pets in 2008, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA). And although food accounts for nearly a third of that figure, other luxuries are quickly gaining popularity in the dog (and cat) race.

“Everybody thinks their dog is one in a million,” said Kerry Liman, spokeswoman for Nestle Purina Petcare Co.

For that reason, businesses that cater to four-legged friends have struck gold by providing ways to treat pets like royalty.

Here are some of the growing number of luxuries that are available to North Jersey pets.

Apparel

Although pet clothing has been around for some a long time, the idea of stylish luxury gear for pets is fairly new.

“It really has become a fashion market in the past five or six years,” said Alexa Cach, one of the directors of Pet Fashion Week, an event designed to rival its human namesake. (The third annual show hits New York City runways in August.)

The Bada Bone line from Lodi’s Fab Dog, a pet design company, features track suit jackets ($36), collars in the colors of the Italian flag ($20) and even tank tops paired with gold-chain bling and a dangling bone charm ($26).

“We’re across the street from the Bada Bing restaurant. We got inspired by that,” said president of design Cassie Cole of the fictional go-go bar made famous by “The Sopranos.” with a chuckle. “Our motto here is, ‘If I wouldn’t wear it, my dog’s not wearing it.’ÿ”

Fab Dog’s lines revolve around “human lifestyles,” she explained. The Delta Omega Gamma (D.O.G.) fraternity theme line has t-shirts and a chewable pledge paddle toy. The Argyle line comes in preppy sweater vests, collars and a patterned bone.

Stephanie McLoughlin, who carries Fab Dog products at her Best of Breed Pet Salon in Tenafly, says most customers still buy utilitarian sweaters and raincoats, but she has spotted a growing number of pooches sporting designer brands likes Juicy Couture and Louis Vuitton.
Care

Like the U.S. human population, dogs and cats are suffering an obesity epidemic — and are often in danger of developing diabetes, heart disease and joint problems.

“One in four pets is obese,” said Paul Mann, an Englewood native. A 2007 survey by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention estimated that as many as 45 percent of all pets are overweight.

Mann’s business, Fetch Pet Care, added the Go! Fetch Pet Fitness service as an offshoot of its usual pet-sitting and dog-walking services about six months ago. Trained professionals play with dogs or cats to keep them active, just like a professional trainer at a human gym. The California-based firm, which has three branches in North Jersey, is popular with pet owners who lead a busy lifestyle, Mann said.

Some owners are so concerned about their pet’s health that organic food has become the latest industry trend, according to Cach.

For owners who spend time away from their pets, there are options more luxe than your local traditional kennel. If the rest of your life takes you away from your pet for a few days or even a week, the options go far beyond the kennel. The Morris Animal Inn in Morristown, for example, offers an aqua massage ($49 to $79 per session) and a swimming pool for dogs. A DVD screening of moving squirrels and birds keeps cats occupied for hours.

“The public is demanding more services for their pets,” said owner Walter Morris, who has worked in the industry since 1978.

With the Inn’s premium “King and Queen” package ($89 per day, plus boarding), pets get bottled water, an orthopedic bed and a tuck-in service that includes teeooth brushing, and a bedtime story and a bedtime mint, Morris added. Pampered Pet sessions include games of Frisbee and ball or supervised pool wading ($12.95).

Even the language of pet care has changed. At Camp Bow Wow, a national boarding company with two franchises in North Jersey, dogs are referred to as “campers” and the professionals as “counselors.” Nighttime cages are “cabins.”

Pet owners, of course, are “moms and dads” — or “brothers and sisters,” if they’re kids. After they leave, anxious pet parents even can watch their dogs frolic on candid camera, thanks to a camera they can access via the Internet.

Salon

“When a dog looks good, a dog knows it looks good,” said Joey Villani, president of the Nash Academy of Animal Arts in Cliffside Park. A veteran groomer of 33 years, Villani is currently judging what’s fab and what’s not on Animal Planet’s reality show “Groomer Has It.”

Increasingly, pet owners are willing to pay for spa treatments that go beyond .basic grooming, nail clipping and ear cleaning. Services can include massage therapy, aromatherapy, facials, color airbrushing for colorful of nails and even paw treatments — the equivalent of a manicure that “nourishes and moisturizes their paw pads, keeps them soft,” Villani said.

Sometimes, the pet version of a human luxury can be a loose translation, he added. A dog facial, for example, cleans natural tear duct and mouth area stains from a canine’s face and gives it a pleasant scent, according to Villani.

Do the dogs enjoy human-style pampering?

“No. 1, it depends on the animal,” he said. “No. 2, it depends on the groomer and the atmosphere he or she creates.” Like humans, pets find a quiet and unrushed environment more soothing.

Cats have a much harder time adjusting to the good life, he added. Their spa services are generally limited to “de-shedding” treatment, bathing and brushing for long-haired cats.

“Cats don’t like the grooming,” said Villani. “Dogs that get regular treatments will come towards us happily, but that will never happen with a cat."

Spicy Lotus Root!

Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks

Monday, April 28, 2008

"The Asian Vegan Kitchen," by Hema Parekh (Kondansha, 2008)

Author Hema Parekh says that many Asian cuisines are rich with vegan options, a serendipitous fact that allowed her to stick close to food traditions without substitutes. She herself grew up in a Jain family in India and has been a lifelong vegetarian. Her recipes are culled from her friends in Tokyo's international community and span the Asian continent from Thailand to Korea. In America, many of these dishes are not found on menus. The cookbook unfolds the mystery around more exotic dishes like the lettuce wrap.

- Evelyn Shih

* * *

Lettuce wrap with spicy lotus root

8 to 10 lettuce leaves
9 ounces lotus root
2 teaspoons vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
1 carrot, julienned
1 tablespoon Chinese red chili paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce

* * *

Chopped plum sauce, for serving Coriander for garnish

Halve the lettuce leaves and soak in ice water for 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. Peel and thinly slice the lotus root. Soak in a mixture of water and 2 teaspoons vinegar. Drain and dry when ready to use.

In a saucepan, heat the oil and briefly sauté the ginger over medium heat. Add the lotus root and carrot and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chili paste and soy sauce and stir. Cover and cook for 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool. Place the cooled sauté in the center of a large serving dish and garnish with coriander. Arrange the lettuce leaves around the edge of the dish. Place a spoonful of the lotus root mixture into a lettuce leaf and fold to make a wrap. Dip into the plum sauce for flavor.

Servings: 4.

Per serving: 107 calories, 4 grams fat, 1 gram saturated fat, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 17 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams protein, 455 milligrams sodium, 5 grams fiber.

Nellie!

Singer to serve up satire in Ridgewood

Friday, April 25, 2008
Last updated: Friday April 25, 2008, EDT 10:20 PM

BY EVELYN SHIH

STAFF WRITER

Feminists don't have a sense of humor (poor Hillary)

Feminists and vegetarians

Feminists spread vicious lies and rumor

They're far too sensitive to ever be a ham

That's why these feminists just need to find a man

— Nellie McKay

Sung with a straight face, these are the last lines of Nellie McKay's post-feminist send-up, "Mother of Pearl."

"For the longest time, I didn't find the song any good," said the vegan singer and songwriter. "I would introduce it at my show like, 'I wrote a song called "Feminists Don't Have a Sense of Humor," but it's not very funny. So I'm not going to play it.' "

McKay decided to dust the song off and include it in her newest album, 2007's "Obligatory Villagers." In concert, it's one of the songs that gets the best laughs from the audience, she said.

What was she worried about?

"I think anytime you even mention a serious theme, it's like, 'Maybe I'm thinking this sarcasm is funny, but maybe it's just coming across as predictable and preachy,' " she explained. "It's so easy to think to yourself, 'Oh, I'm amusing.' But sometimes you're not."

McKay — who also does a tune called "Zombie," where she exhorts listeners to "Do the Zombie" — will bring her floating Judy Garland vocals and sharpest satire to Blend in Ridgewood on Saturday night.

No prizes for holding in the giggles.

"I think [humor] is a great way to talk about serious things," said McKay. "Music and comedy go together like music and film. Everything is helped by music, and everything feeds into it, too."

She should know. McKay debuted on Broadway as Polly Peachum in "The Threepenny Opera" and appeared in "P.S. I Love You," a movie starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler.

And despite her self-deprecation, her rise in the music world has been fast and furious. At 21, she released her debut, "Get Away From Me" — one of the few, if not only, double discs released by a new artist. Her subsequent release, "Pretty Little Head," continued to receive critical favor.

Although there were some bumps in the road — disagreements with Columbia Records led to a temporary split between company and artist — McKay went on to create "Villagers."

All this has led to some real quarter-life fatigue.

"Once you pass that quarter-century — eh, leave it to the kids," joked the 26-year-old.

McKay has dabbled in music genres from folk to jazz and even rap, using different motifs to play off her lyrics.

"I was just listening to 'London Calling' in the car with a friend, and he was talking about how he loved the bass line in that," she said. "I thought about using the bass line, but then I thought, 'Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should just leave it alone!' "

Nevertheless, McKay still enjoys performing, because "it's a good way to spread vegan propaganda," she deadpanned.

"Some people laugh enormously at the littlest thing, and some just keep it all inside, even with someone like Wanda Sykes, when you'd think they'd be roaring," she added.

"And I just, uh" — she paused, switching to the voice of a Southern belle.

"Ah aim to please."

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Arbor Day!

North Jersey’s love-hate relationship with trees

Thursday, April 24, 2008
Last updated: Thursday April 24, 2008, EDT 6:35 AM

BY EVELYN SHIH

STAFF WRITER

Like many North Jerseyans, Terri Setteducato loves her trees. In fact, Setteducato moved to Fair Lawn precisely because of the town's ample foliage.

One day, two years after moving into her home, she heard a big bang outside. Policemen and neighbors gathered in her back yard. A car had been forced off Route 208 south, which borders her property, but a tall sycamore tree prevented it from rolling into her yard.

"I always thank the sycamore tree, because I feel that it protected my yard and my property," she said.

North Jersey has a love-hate relationship with trees. Living in a tree-lined suburb has its obvious appeal, but it can have its downsides: Windy storms often break weak branches, which then fall and cause damage to cars and roofs; tree roots crack neighborhood sidewalks; arguments about trimming or removing trees can cause painful schisms between once-friendly next-door neighbors.

Arbor Day traditionally has been the time to celebrate trees and teach children husbandry by having them plant seedlings in schoolyards and public areas. But who will take care of the trees when they are fully grown? Will we still think they are worth the trouble? The issue has become more complex as the area has become more developed, and there has been less room for trees — in many cases, towering centenarians — to grow and flourish.

North Jersey has a rich tree heritage that is worth saving, said gardening expert Edith Wallace. As recently as 2000, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that of the 50 states, the Garden State has the highest percentage of urban trees. Older towns such as Hackensack, Glen Rock and Tenafly boast trees planted a hundred or more years ago.

When Wallace recently saw construction workers building a new house in her Glen Rock neighborhood, she wept for the trees that were around the site. "I could see the big equipment squishing their roots," she said. "[Developers] say, 'We didn't harm the trees,' but the tree may die in 20 years when it originally had 80 more to live."

Getting them for free

Staff photo by Record photographer Amy Neman.

As trees age, they need maintenance every three to five years, said arborist Walt Kipp of North Haledon. If a tree becomes so diseased or weak that it is dangerous and all life-saving options have been exhausted, Kipp will cut it down.

In many of those cases, homeowners will try to replace it with a new tree, which can be an expensive venture. A 100-year-old tree, for example, could cost up to $100,000 to transplant into your back yard.

But trees, especially younger ones, may be easier to get than you think.

In Fair Lawn, residents can request a free tree from the town's shade tree division in the name of neighborhood beautification, said Councilwoman Jeanne Baratta. But more often, the division decides unilaterally to plant trees along county roads, notifying nearby residents with letters.

"They try to phrase it like, 'Congratulations! You're getting a gift of a tree!' " said Baratta.

But residents don't always see trees as a positive; some complain about having to water the trees and rake the leaves, Baratta added.

In some cases, tree commissions are at odds with homeowners who would like to remove trees on their property. Municipalities generally oppose the removal of trees that are healthy and of a certain size, because large trees are difficult to replace. Homeowners, however, argue that they should be able to remove trees on their property.

An Upper Saddle River homeowner was recently denied permission to remove a tree blocking sun and causing a mold problem in his home, according to Arnold Friedman, chairman of the municipality's tree commission. The tree, commission members explained, was perfectly healthy.

"I'm an outdoorsman. ... There are many trees on my property," said the homeowner, who asked not to be named. "But I have children, and I don't want the mold getting into my home."

Renewing stringent tree policy has been a new trend over the past few years in North Jersey, and homeowners caught violating tree ordinances could be fined anywhere from $100 to $5,000 and receive up to 90 days in jail in some municipalities.

Tree loss has also been an issue of concern in many towns in recent years because of power line regulations, said Friedman. After a fallen tree in Ohio caused a blackout across the East Coast in 2003, affecting nearly 50 million people, power companies across the Garden State were tasked by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to take down trees that came within a certain distance of transmission lines, he said.

Residents in Closter, Cresskill, Demarest, Franklin Lakes, Mahwah, Montvale, Northvale, Old Tappan, Ramsey, Ringwood, Upper Saddle River and West Milford have gotten letters informing them of impending tree removal, according to officials.

Removing trees without replanting can be costly for towns years down the road, said Friedman.

"There's a cycle of trees in a town," he said. "Trees go through about a 40- or 45-year cycle. If you're not constantly replanting, then your canopy, your forest of trees is going to age all at one time. If you have a forest that is aging at the same time, you're doing a lot of maintenance at the same time."

Beyond courts, rules

For tree lovers, the death of a tree is a loss of life worth commemorating. Trees are with us for decades, standing watch as human neighborhoods move and change. Beyond the hullabaloo of courts and ordinances, private citizens like Setteducato have more personal relationships with their trees.

After the car accident, which happened 10 years ago, "I think [the tree] was in shock," she said. The sycamore was barren for a year. "I said to it, 'Please don't die!' I don't know if this is what brought it back, but I used my silent prayer to try and save it."

The tree lived to bloom again and again over the years. Its first flowers peeked out from winter slumber last week, Setteducato was happy to report.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

New Leaf: Massimo!

Capra has a new cookbook of one-dish meals

Monday, April 21, 2008
Last updated: Monday April 21, 2008, EDT 6:37 AM

Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks:

"Massimo's Italian Kitchen: Authentic One-Dish Meals from a Seasoned Chef," by Massimo Capra (Sellers Publishing, 2007)

The mustachioed Food Network Canada personality comes back with more simple Italian recipes. Born in Cremona, Italy, Capra introduces each recipe with personal tidbits. For "My Mother's Frittata," for example, he explains a local habit in his hometown of enjoying 11 a.m. wine and frittata as a midmorning snack: It's a staple at local bars that easily can be made vegetarian. Italian cuisine usually is filled with vegetarian options, and this book has its share. Be prepared, though, to leave the pancetta out of recipes pairing it with brussels sprouts and the prosciutto out of the recipes with peas.

— Evelyn Shih

* Milanese fennel cutlets
2 fennel bulbs
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons Italian parsley
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
3 cups fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Grana Padano cheese
Extra-virgin olive oil, for frying
1 tablespoon butter

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Remove the stringy inedible outer leaf from each fennel bulb, clean the bottom, and cut the bulb lengthwise into wedges. Plunge the fennel into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and cool on paper towels.

In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk, parsley and thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the fennel wedges, and gently stir to coat.

On a tray, mix together the bread crumbs and the Grana Padano. Coat each fennel wedge by pressing firmly into the bread-crumb mixture, being careful not to crush the fennel by pressing too hard.

In a frying pan over medium-high heat, pour olive oil to about 1/2-inch deep. It should be enough so that the fennel doesn't burn at the bottom of the pan, but isn't submerged. Add the butter. When it has melted, arrange the fennel wedges so they fit comfortably in the pan.

Fry the fennel until golden, turning as necessary for evenness. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Servings: 4 to 6.

Per serving: 471 calories, 25 grams fat, 7 grams saturated fat, 125 milligrams cholesterol, 45 grams carbohydrates, 16 grams protein, 721 milligrams sodium, 4 grams fiber.

Chick, Bobby and Jack

A get-together by 3 jazz stars

Monday, April 21, 2008
Last updated: Monday April 21, 2008, EDT 5:15 AM

BY EVELYN SHIH

Chick Corea has played with Miles Davis. He's played the role of jazz fusion pioneer with his band, Return to Forever — which has reunited for a tour that kicks off at the end of May. He's played with a full orchestra, and he's played alone to great critical acclaim. He's juggled the hats of bandleader, composer and pianist like a seamless trick, rarely taking a moment to breathe in the course of a career that's pushing 50 years.

But right now, the Grammy-winning jazz artist is on tour doing something he's never done before: playing in a trio with Bobby McFerrin and drummer Jack DeJohnette.

"I don't even know what's going to happen," Corea said with a laugh two weeks ago, before leaving on the tour. "We're going to get together for our first gig. ... I know some music is going to happen, but I don't know what."

The trio will be at bergenPAC Tuesday and at Carnegie Hall Wednesday, so North Jerseyans have two chances to see them sink or swim.

Luckily, Corea has played with McFerrin and DeJohnette in separate musical configurations. DeJohnette was a fellow band mate from his time with Miles Davis in the late 1960s, and Corea has been working with McFerrin since their 1991 duet CD, "Play."

"The performance will be, for the most part, improvised, which is the way Bobby and I have done our duet work," Corea said. "We don't really discuss what we're going to do, ever, and we work it all out onstage as we go."

This wouldn't be the first time McFerrin has persuaded him to walk into the unknown. A jack-of-all-trades himself, McFerrin cajoled Corea for years to get him to play Mozart piano concertos with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, which he conducted.

"He kept inviting me to play with his orchestra, and I kept saying no because it would just be too much practice to get it to happen," said Corea of McFerrin. "But between his encouragement and my wife Gail's encouragement, I finally did it."

In 1996, they recorded the "Mozart Sessions," a compilation of concerto performances. And so it was that the two collaborators, who found each other through improvisation, deepened their relationship by doing the opposite: playing composed music.

"In Bobby's orchestral projects, when he's conducting, he's operating with a whole program of pre-written music — very fixed in the way the score goes," said Corea. (In addition to the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, McFerrin has worked with the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Gewandhaus Orchestra, among others.)

"But Bobby is an amazing improviser. So I think the contrast of doing performances that are completely improvised provides a balance. And it's the same for me."

Like other musicians who have straddled the divide between jazz and classical, Corea sees continuity between the genres. It took a shock, however, to open his eyes to the modern appeal of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

In the early 1980s, Corea was invited to be the jazz component of a piano festival in Munich, Germany — "It was all classical pianists," he remembered. There, he played with the late Austrian classical pianist Friedrich Gulda, who happened to have dipped his toe in jazz.

Corea noticed a strikingly beautiful passage that Gulda inserted during an improvised solo onstage. He knew immediately that it must have been written, but he had no idea who it could be.

"I said to him, 'Hey, what was that you just played? Was that some young guy?' " said Corea. "And he looked at me kind of strange and said, 'No, that was Mozart.' It caught me off guard, because I thought I didn't like Mozart."

He began studying Mozart's oeuvre, burying his ears in the harmonic structures and melodies. When McFerrin found out that his friend had caught the classical bug, the rest was history.

Ever the improviser, Corea ended up departing from script for the cadenzas, or the piano solo portions of the Mozart concertos. "That was the original intent, actually," he explained.

The experiment was not without its bumps. At first, Corea injected too much of his jazz background into the cadenzas. "I think I offended some people," he said ruefully.

"After that, I did take the time to delve into the score and the harmonic language and the Mozartian ways a bit more. So that my later cadenzas, like on the 'Mozart Sessions,' pay more attention to the Mozart style."

Now he's embarked on yet another experiment with McFerrin, and he has no doubt that the payoff will be equal to all their previous collaborations. After all, who could manage not to have fun working with the guy who brought us "Don't Worry, Be Happy"?

"Bobby's a very fun-loving guy, and both of us are a little wacky," said Corea. "We get on that way. ... That's the reason we named the first duet disc we recorded 'Play.' Because that's what we like to do when we're together.

"He's a great impersonator, you know," he added.

We can imagine.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Young Lion

Prodigy Eldar opens for Dave Brubeck at NJPAC

Friday, April 18, 2008
Last updated: Friday April 18, 2008, EDT 7:11 AM

BY EVELYN SHIH

Jazz prodigy Eldar will be opening for a giant of his genre, Dave Brubeck, tonight at NJPAC. It might be a rare pairing to see Eldar's 21 years matched with Brubeck's 87. But the young lion isn't intimidated: From a young age, he's been recognized by great musicians like Brubeck and the late Oscar Peterson.

Eldar, whose full name is Eldar Djangirov, performs under his first name. He immigrated to Kansas City, Mo., from Kyrgyzstan as a child. By 12, he was regularly featured on Marian McPartland's NPR show "Piano Jazz," and he attended the Brubeck Institute at age 15. He took a few minutes to talk about his understanding of jazz.

Q. Are you excited to be working with Dave Brubeck on this performance?

I'm psyched about it. ...

It's going to be a variety of things: pieces from my latest project, "re-imagination," which was nominated for a Grammy this year, and a mix of standards.

Q. You performed "Place St. Henri," a tune by Oscar Peterson, at a tribute to him last year. Is that one of your favorite pieces?

It's hard to say what my favorite piece is. I try not to have favorites, and it's hard to do at this point. But it's among my first influences, the first pieces I've had to learn. It's because Oscar Peterson was the first piano player I'd heard.

At first when I heard him, I admired the power, the drive, the technical sensibility. But the more I listened to Oscar, the more it became the inexplicable things: the phrasing, the ideas and how he presented them. For me, those were life-changing.

Q. Did you ever meet him?

I met him a couple times before he died. I was certainly lucky to do so.

The moment that I met him he was a very nice human being. And he recognized me. I was very young when I met him, about 14 years old. He said, "Hey Eldar, my man. How are you doin'?" And it felt good.

Q. How did you first learn music?

My first connection with the music was ever since I was born — my father was a music lover. I was always in an environment where there was a lot of music. Among the recordings he had were ones of Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson and Dave Brubeck. They were certainly among the first exposures to not just jazz, but to music. That was where I started picking up an interest.

It was very convenient for me to have one of the greatest teachers I've ever had: my mother. My mother was one of those quintessential Russian piano teachers, and not in a bad way. She wasn't slapping my wrists or anything. But she provided the foundation of my music. I was around 5 years old when I started taking lessons.

Q. Do you think your mother minded when you turned to jazz instead of classical music?

One of the great piano players, Bill Evans, would say that he looked at jazz as more of a process than a genre. If you think about it, in the classical days, people would improvise, but they had no means of recording it. Now with recording, I think jazz has become the music of evolution. I don't think my mother would be upset with my choice of music. And I think the music really bonded me and my dad.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Quickie: Film Fest

WEDNESDAY, Fort Lee; THURSDAY, Rutherford
Asian America on film
The Fort Lee Film Commission's fifth annual Asian American Film Festival connects with young viewers.

TELL ME MORE: The event, one of the original film festivals coordinated by the Fort Lee Film Commission, has been doing better each year. Last year's festival winner, a film about a Chinese-American rabbi called "Oy Vey," went on to do well at the Garden State Film Festival in Asbury Park.

"It's important that we have diverse programming that reflects Bergen County's population," said executive director Tom Meyers.

Like Tomoko Oguchi's 2005 short animation "Folklore Restaurant," at left, most films are relatively recent and come from all over the country. This year, there will be two additional screenings of Taiwanese films, courtesy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York.

The festival winner will be played at the Bergen County Film Commission's Williams Center in Rutherford.

QUOTE: "The most difficult thing for small films is getting them played at all. That's where we can help them out." — Tom Meyers

DETAILS: Films show 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Fort Lee Community Center, 1355 Inwood Terrace, Fort Lee; 201-592-3663 or fortleefilm.org. Free. Festival winner screened 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Williams Center, 1 Williams Plaza, Rutherford; 201-592-3663 or bergencountyfilmcommission. org. $7 admission.

— Evelyn Shih

Kewt Wittle Puppies

A hound finds a home

Thursday, April 17, 2008
Last updated: Thursday April 17, 2008, EDT 6:36 AM

BY EVELYN SHIH

Emma Jackson, a Northern Highlands Regional High School freshman from Upper Saddle River, was hoping for extra credit in English class. But she ended up playing school librarian for her classmates when she pulled out a mock-up of her children's book, "A Home for Dixie," which will be in stores Tuesday.

"They started yelling, 'Story time! Story time!' " said the 15-year-old author. The class gathered in a circle, with permission from the teacher, and Emma began reading her own words aloud.

It was an exciting moment for the first-time book writer, but "I got called 'Pippi Longstocking' for a week," she said ruefully, referring to the school-aged redhead featured in the Astrid Lindgren children's books.

By Page 6 of "A Home for Dixie" (Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins Children's Books, $16.99), at Emma's first appearance, the comparison becomes clear.

The illustrations in this picture book consist of photographs of a strawberry-blond Emma in pigtails and jeans, playing with a redbone coonhound puppy. But the real star of the work is her canine co-protagonist, Dixie, a lovable pup that Emma and her family adopted last March from rescue shelter Aunt Mary's Doghouse in Hope. The puppy is shown, only a month after its adoption, so lively and eager she's almost jumping off the page.

The book tells the story of Emma's quest for dog ownership. While many children have begged their parents for a dog, and some have their wishes come true, few find their story resulting in a children's book. In this case, it's because Emma is not just any teenager: Her mother is Kate Jackson, the editor in chief of HarperCollins Children's Books.

She's also "a 15-year-old with a point of view," said editor Maria Modugno, who worked with Emma in a relatively short time frame. Emma's age "did not factor into it," Modugno said — except for the fact that a list of questions she sent by e-mail was answered in bright pink print.

The story came together with relative ease: As a young only child, Emma saw other people walking their pets in public and asked her parents for a puppy. Instead, she was given a goldfish, a hamster and a guinea pig in succession.

"Probably mostly 'cause they didn't think I would take care of [a dog,]" said Emma of her parents.

Though she loved all her pets, it just wasn't the same. "You can't really take them out to play and talk to them like you can with a dog," she said.

About two years ago, Emma's parents finally agreed to her request. Finding the dog, however, took the family another year as they explored adoption options. It was this journey — and the irresistible cuteness of the dog in question — that inspired the book.

"We found out that there are 4 million dogs that are left in shelters every year," said Emma. According to the Humane Society, a combined 6 million to 8 million dogs and cats enter U.S. shelters annually. Three million to 4 million of these animals — or about half — are euthanized when shelters hit capacity.

The appropriately named Dixie was one of three puppies born in a litter in South Carolina. The dogs traveled up the coast from a shelter to Aunt Mary's no-kill facility, thanks to a string of volunteers, Emma explained.

"It's almost like an underground railroad," she said. "They give the dogs to one person, who drives them about 100 miles, and they're given to the next person who drives another hundred miles."

Mary Cody, owner of Aunt Mary's Doghouse, received a Bravo for Bravery medal from the American Red Cross in 2007 for her rescue work. To ensure a proper match between pet and owner, Cody wouldn't allow the Jacksons to take the puppy home right away. Instead, she asked the family to sleep on it.

"She doesn't want people making fast decisions that they might regret," said Emma of Cody. Although the Jacksons wanted to take Dixie home, "it was definitely the responsible thing to do."

Impressed by Cody's work, Emma decided to donate all her royalties from the book to Aunt Mary's Doghouse. After all, getting Dixie was reward enough.

"She gives me so much love every day," said Emma of her dog, now a 60-pound yearling. "She's not perfect, obviously. We had to train her, and she chewed up my flip-flops, but it's definitely worth it."

A year into the relationship, Emma has learned to love Dixie's idiosyncrasies, such as snacking on ice cubes and sharing carrots with Wilbur, the guinea pig. The pup also has been a big hit with young children at Emma's karate school, where part of her duties as a black belt is to help teach.

"I like little kids, and I want to be a teacher," said Emma. "So I was always really excited when the kids would come up to me and say, 'Aw, look at your doggie! She's so cute.' "

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Vegetarian Seder

Vegetarian options for Passover Seder
Monday, April 14, 2008
Last updated: Monday April 14, 2008, EDT 6:42 AM
Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks:

"Jewish Holiday Cooking," by Jayne Cohen (John Wiley & Sons, 2008)
Image courtesy of jewishholidaycooking.com

As a non-Jew who has celebrated Passover Seder at a friend's table, I know by taste that there are vegetarian options on Jewish feast days — and they are quite spectacular. Jayne Cohen seems to agree. Next to the other menu suggestions for Passover and Sukkot, she includes an entire vegetarian Seder. Other occasions like Rosh Hashana and Hanukkah also have ample options: After all, it was olive oil that burned in the temple for eight days, not poultry fat, Cohen writes. Oil-drenched latkes are a cruelty-free food. The vegetarian Passover Seder menu includes the chopped eggs and onions below, as well as an artichoke matzoh ball soup, zucchini frittata, wild mushroom potato kugel, fresh asparagus and, of course, bitter herbs and oranges.

— Evelyn Shih

* Chopped eggs and onions
3 to 5 tablespoons olive or avocado oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced onions
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut into eighths
Olive oil schmaltz, optional (see note)

Heat oil in a medium skillet and add sliced onions. Sauté over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until rich golden-brown. Salt and pepper lightly and remove from heat to cool.

Scrape the sautéed onion and all the oil remaining in the skillet into a wooden bowl, and chop coarsely. Add the eggs and raw onion and continue to chop until the mixture is well-blended but not pasty. Mix in salt and lots of pepper with a fork. The mixture should hold together loosely. If you need, add more oil or olive oil schmaltz. Chill well.

Remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before serving with garnish.

Servings: 4 to 6.

Per serving: 218 calories, 18 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 318 milligrams cholesterol, 4 grams carbohydrates, 10 grams protein, 167 milligrams sodium, 0.4 grams fiber.

Note: Olive oil schmaltz can be made with 2 cups of finely chopped onions, salted and drained, and 1/4 cup olive oil. Cook the onions in the oil over low heat for 60 to 75 minutes, then emulsify in a blender.

Earth Day Comes Early

Ridgewood holds environmental fair
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Last updated: Sunday April 13, 2008, EDT 10:32 AM
BY EVELYN SHIH

With plenty of sunshine, tables of free handouts, balloons and crafts for the kids, it was almost as if the summer street fair season had begun early at Ridgewood Village Hall on Saturday afternoon.

Recycling at Ridgewood High, courtesy of Ridgenet.org

The public event, complete with a small cluster of booths, a lineup of presentations and live music, was the second annual "Environmental Celebration" organized by Ridgewood's Environmental Advisory Committee to mark Earth Day and Arbor Day.

"It's bigger this year, and hopefully it will be even bigger next year," said Councilwoman Kim Ringler Shagin, the committee's chairwoman.

"It's good to find out about the recycling and other things going on about town," said Stacy Hermann, who moved to Ridgewood with her family one year ago. Holding a sheaf of informational fliers, Hermann commented that she "didn't know Ridgewood had so much to offer."

Hermann's daughter Sydney, 7, was eager to plant a free red oak sapling she had received from the village's booth. With her mother's permission, she procured a Norway spruce for her brother Kory, 11.

Nearby, the Interfaith Environmental League was giving out temporary Earth Day tattoos for children. The organization has participants from all over Bergen County, but houses of worship in Ridgewood anchor its efforts, said Jacqui Riordan of Christ Episcopal Church.

"We need to indoctrinate kids at an early age about the value of recycling," she said, adding that the league promotes both secular and non-secular initiatives.

Girl Scouts provided recycled material to children for craft activities and lent out tin-can stilts. Toyota brought in hybrid vehicles for test driving, and Whole Foods Market handed out sample snacks.

Inside the community center, presentations ranged from a live reptile showcase with Patrick Scheuer of the New Jersey Audubon Society to a composting primer by Jen McDonnell of Whole Foods.

Mayor David Pfund signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement at the Sierra Club booth and pledged to initiate efforts to reduce the greenhouse gases emitted by the village.

"It's a good thing to do," Pfund said. "Other towns should also consider it."

The Sierra Club's Cool Cities program has persuaded 973 mayors nationwide, and more than 80 towns in New Jersey, to sign the agreement. Other North Jersey towns that have made the pledge include Closter, Cliffside Park and West Milford.

"Signing is easy," said Stefano Crema, who runs the New Jersey Cool Cities program out of Denville. "It's figuring out the efficient way to improve the towns and implementing changes that is hard."

One action that is close to implementation in Ridgewood is an energy audit by Green Living Solutions, a Ridgewood company that had a booth at the celebration.

Owner Edward Schwartz, a certified energy professional, evaluates private homes and businesses for energy efficiency, and may soon do the same for the Ridgewood public buildings. The state Board of Public Utilities has committed to covering 75 percent of the audit costs for the village, but has not yet made an official announcement, Schwartz said.

"It's the cool environmental thing to do," he said. "But right now, the reality is that it's also cost-effective." Rising energy costs are a pain, but "the dollar factor" may finally move the average consumer to think about conservation, he added.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Art for Peace

Hope shines in the eyes of the young
Friday, April 11, 2008
BY EVELYN SHIH
Most recent images we see of the Middle East involve some kind of violence. But Rachel Banai, an artist living in Teaneck, believes that positive images are what will bring Israeli Jews and Arabs together in harmony.

"I know how much photography can bring people together," said the Israeli-born Banai. "I think photography can [bridge] any conflict, anything."

Illustrating that point is "The Land Between Us," an exhibit at the Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel. It features photos of Israel through the eyes of Jewish and Arab teens, as well as images of daily life there from Banai and her Israeli-Arab collaborator, Rauf Abu Fani.

Banai has been art director at Camp Shomria, a secular Jewish summer camp in the Catskills, for more than 20 years. About six years ago, she began working with Fani, who teaches a mixed group of Arab and Jewish teens at the Givat Haviva national education center in Israel.

Schools in Israel are mostly segregated, but Fani's project, "Through Others' Eyes," brings the teens together to take photos in one another's homes. The teens also travel to Camp Shomria each summer to interact with their American Jewish counterparts. There, they work with Banai.

"They have to solve problems in photography, first of all, so they have to talk to each other," said Banai, who also teaches art at the Puffin Center. "They have to travel together to the United States. They have to learn how to communicate."

Communication is often lacking between Jews and Arabs in Israel, she added. In fact, most of the Arab teens speak Hebrew, but in some cases Fani has had to translate. All the teens have learned English in school and will be putting that skill to use this summer at Camp Shomria.

Perry Rosenstein and Gladys Miller-Rosenstein, the president and executive director of the Puffin Foundation, have provided Fani's project with crucial support, said Banai, adding that they help fund the Israeli students' travel.

"We wouldn't be able to run this program here without their help," she said.

Many of the photographs in the exhibit illustrate kibbutz culture. Kibbutzim are communal communities in Israel, formed with the idea of achieving a utopian lifestyle. Banai was born in Kibbutz Sarid, and her siblings still live in Kibbutz Samar, which they helped found in 1976.

Banai's photos on display show life in Kibbutz Samar as well as Kibbutz Sarid. There are also archival images of the early years of Sarid, which was founded in 1926.

Fani's photos depict everyday life at Kfar Qara, the Arab Muslim village where he lives with his wife and children.

Both Banai and Fani will attend the opening reception of the exhibit Saturday.

There is still a long way to go before Israeli Arabs and Jews live together in peace, but Banai and Fani hope that the children will lead the way. One photograph by Banai shows two girls sitting in front of a mural. They are students at one of the first integrated Arab and Jewish schools in Israel, located near Kfar Qara.

"It's called Bridge Over the Valley School, because the idea is to have children from both communities come to school together," said Banai.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Lee Speaks Out

7:30 P.M. THURSDAY, WYCKOFF

LIFE-CHANGING Moment

Lee Woodruff talks about her memoir, "In an Instant."

Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Last updated: Wednesday April 9, 2008, EDT 6:36 AM

TELL ME MORE: Journalist Bob Woodruff was the one who suffered near-fatal injuries from a roadside bomb while covering the war in Iraq, but it was the whole family that had to cope with his recovery from brain trauma. He and his wife, Lee, have four children, and Bob had just become a co-anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight" when the bombing occurred.

The two co-wrote a memoir, "In an Instant," about the 2006 explosion and its aftermath. Lee Woodruff kept a journal during Bob's recovery, and it was extremely useful for reconstructing their story for the book. She speaks to the public at the Wyckoff YMCA on Thursday, detailing the effect the war has had on her family.

EXCERPT: "I wasn't ready to start making decisions. I didn't want to take my first step into this new world. I wanted to relish my old life for just a minute more. All four of my children were blissfully sound asleep beyond my door. Inside my room their secure little lives were being hacked apart while they dreamed, oblivious to the chaos.

" 'OK,' I said in a small voice. 'Tell me what you know. Please tell me what happened.' "

DETAILS: $20, includes softcover book. Wyckoff YMCA, 691 Wyckoff Ave. 201-891-2081; wyckoffymca.org.

— Evelyn Shih

Harlan Keeps Them Close

2 P.M. SUNDAY IN RIDGEWOOD

SPYING ON YOUR KIDS

Author Harlan Coben signs his new book and talks about the perennial parents' struggle.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Last updated: Wednesday April 9, 2008, EDT 6:35 AM

 TELL ME MORE: Best-selling author Harlan Coben is back with "Hold Tight," a new thriller (in stores Tuesday) that highlights the issue of child privacy, focusing on a Livingston couple who install spy software on their home computer to follow their teen son's Internet activities.

A Ridgewood resident, Coben recently wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times on walking the fine line between keeping your children safe and invading their privacy. Coben says the topic has been on his mind because he has four young kids of his own.

Coben will be at Bookends in Ridgewood to sign the book — and share tales of parental espionage.

EXCERPT: "We have the right to invade his privacy?"

"To protect him? Yes. He's our son."

Mike shook his head.

"We not only have the right," Tia said, stepping closer to him. "We have the responsibility."

DETAILS: Bookends, 232 E. Ridgewood Ave. Call 201-445-0726 or visit book-ends.com for more information.

— Evelyn Shih

Mary and Carol Higgins Clark

Mary Higgins Clark, daughter Carol are on the same page
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Last updated: Tuesday April 8, 2008, EDT 11:59 AM
BY EVELYN SHIH

See the Video!

Staff photo by Chris Pedota. Courtesy of northjersey.com

In the summer of 1974, Carol Higgins Clark was home in Washington Township after finishing her freshman year at college. When she wasn't working as a hardware store cashier, she found herself parked at the kitchen table with her mother's second suspense novel, a scribbled-over manuscript titled "A Stranger Is Watching." She had promised her mother she would retype a clean copy for the publishing house.

"She was like, 'Oh gosh, I don't know how I will get this done!' " said Carol of her mother, Mary, who at the time was juggling deadlines on more than 40 scripts for a local radio station.

Neither Carol nor Mary knew that the book already at the presses, "Where Are the Children?," would soon become a bestseller. Its success, and the success of subsequent books, catapulted the widowed mother of five into the world of mainstream publishing.

Before J.K. Rowling, another struggling single mother, rose to astronomic literary fame, there was Mary Higgins Clark. But success came to Clark later in life than it did Rowling. Carol, her youngest daughter, remembers the early stages of her mother's literary efforts, and grew into a collaborator — not to mention an accomplished writer.

Both Carol and Mary, now a Saddle River resident, have new books coming out today.

Mary Higgins Clark's "Where Are You Now?" tells the story of a young woman who decides to search for her brother, whose absence has tortured their mother since he walked out of his dorm room 10 years earlier. Carol Higgins Clark's "Zapped" features her longtime protagonist, Regan Reilly, chasing down a man-mutilating female criminal during a power outage in New York City.

Touring together

Not only has Carol become a best-selling author in her own right, but she and her mother have written four Christmas-themed books together using characters from their previous stories. For the past three years, they have done book tours together in the spring, leading — appropriately — to Mother's Day.

"It's lovely to be with someone" on tour, said Mary. "When you're finished [with hours-long public appearances], you're hungry and tired. So we can go out and have a hamburger and a glass of wine together."

The mother-daughter creative connection began early on, when Mary was an unknown author.

Carol was in seventh grade when her mother published her first novel, a fictional account of George Washington's life, but the book didn't sell. By Carol's sophomore year of high school, Mary had made the fateful decision to try suspense writing.

Mary developed a regimen of writing from 5 to 7 every morning for years as she struggled to become a fiction writer, first through short stories, then through novels.

With her publisher on her back that summer before her big break as a novelist, Mary was relieved and touched that her daughter had time to help out. But she was about to find an extra benefit from having Carol lend a hand.

"She was a good editor from the beginning," said Mary, adding that Carol saw inconsistencies in some of her writing. Mary said Carol would often advise: " 'I don't think he would say that. I don't think she'd say that.' And she was right."

Acting came in handy

Carol attributes her grasp of character motivation to her training in acting, which she explored during and after graduating from Mount Holyoke College. She went on to perform audiobook versions of her mother's work and her own. She also played the lead character in "A Cry in the Night," a television movie version of her mother's novel.

But the writing connection was a mother-daughter relationship that would go on for years, even after Mary was able to turn her full attention to writing novels. When People magazine called "Loves Music, Loves to Dance" an accurate portrayal of the singles bar scene in New York in 1991, Mary had a private chuckle: It was Carol who updated all the names of the bars.

"I'm so lucky, because if it had been the computer age, she really wouldn't have needed my help," said Carol.

And 16 years ago, "when the writing happened, it just seemed like a natural thing," she added. Her plucky heroine, Regan Reilly, solves mysteries and prevents crime just like her mother's PIs — but with a good dose of funny thrown in.

"It came out just using humor right away," she said.

That's no surprise, said Mary: Her father "had a quick sense of humor, a wonderful sense of humor. So [she] came by it honestly."

Character's close call

By contrast, Mary almost killed off her funniest character, Elvira, because the character disrupted the suspense of the novel. As per custom — the Higgins Clarks swap pages of their in-process manuscripts — Carol read an early version of "Weep No More, My Lady," the first book where Elvira appeared as a minor character.

"I said, don't kill her! She's too funny," said Carol.

Instead, Elvira became a major player in each of the Christmas books that Mary and Carol have written together. Humor is a rare indulgence in Mary's work, but not in the collaboration novels.

"It's fun for me, because, you see, I write psychological suspense," said Mary.

In fact, in joint working sessions, they've even been known to have a little bit too much fun, she added.

"We start laughing when we get these people, and when we get dopey names for them," she said. "In fact, one time we were writing, we were laughing so hard in my third-floor office, my husband [John J. Conheeney] came to the bottom of the stairs and yelled up, 'I hope the reading public finds this book as funny as you two do!' "

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Ridley Pearson

Author of young adult crime tale visits Glen Rock on Tuesday

Monday, April 7, 2008
Last updated: Monday April 7, 2008, EDT 6:07 AM

BY EVELYN SHIH

Author Ridley Pearson has written adult novels and young adult novels, but until now he's never done a crime novel for young adults. He's broken the mold with "Steel Trapp: The Challenge" (Disney Press, $16.99), the story of a 14-year-old who solves a crime with his photographic memory.

The father of two took time to tell us about his harshest critics, writing for younger readers and battling middle-age memory loss.

Q. What are the challenges of writing a young adult novel?

I don't dumb the books down, and I think that's one of the challenges.

There are a couple things that I do different. One is, instead of it being an R-rated book, it becomes a G- or PG-rated book. Those changes are simple.

Another thing is, it focuses more on the younger characters. Since I'm about 12 at heart, that's not too difficult for me. It actually was a ton of fun, because I love the idea of a kid who has an absolute perfect photographic memory. It's a blessing and a curse. You think of it as such a blessing, but it's also a curse because he can't forget the lousy times he's had with his dad or his mom, or maybe some time he made a mistake. As humans, we tend to be able to brush these things aside after awhile, but he can't. They stick to him like Velcro.

Q. If photographic memory were a superpower, would you want to have that power?

Yeah, I'd want it. Especially at my age, you'd want even a quarter of it.

I'm noun-challenged. You get to a certain age, and you start going, "Do you remember what's-his-name, with that thingy — you know, where it was?"

Q. Are there kids in your life who inspired you to begin writing more young adult novels?

Well, yes. This is why I began writing these books, I think. I have an 11-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old daughter. I make up stories for them every night as they're going to bed, and I also read to them, even at their age, although they can read perfectly fine on their own.

As a writer, you start thinking, "I could write this book. Maybe I could write a fun book." And you tackle it. It's been really rewarding in my life. ...

But kids are unbelievable critics. They give a book about three paragraphs. If it starts to slow down, or if it starts to disinterest them, they look for another book.

I've seen this time and time again with my own kids. I'm on notice in this whole thing to do it right.

Q. Are your kids fans of your books?

I don't let them sleep in the house if they aren't.

My oldest daughter, Paige, is the first person who reads all my YA books. ... She'll say, "What about this? What about that?" And I'll know I wasn't clear enough.

She doesn't know this, but I also monitor how interested in it she is. Some books you can't get her out of the room with — "Steel Trapp" was one of those. Others, she'll read for a while, and then I notice she's picked up another book. And she'll go back to it, but it still interests me that there was some chapter somewhere that allowed her to put this book down and pick up another book.

Q. Do you enjoy interacting with your younger fans at events?

I have a blast. ... This time, I'm also giving a talk or two each day at middle schools around the country. I do writers workshops and involve them in my books. Right now, I'm working on a memory test that I'll use to talk about "Steel Trapp."

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Travel: New Haven

Spring break in New Haven's Little Italy

Sunday, April 6, 2008

BY EVELYN SHIH

*Note: All the photos in this posting are mine!

Back in my student days at Yale University, this was just about the time I'd start anticipating those few weeks of relative leisure before diving into my final papers. Sometime during those middle weeks of April, I always planned a little excursion away from the campus's gothic architecture and the cute Chapel Street restaurants with their bouquet of exotic international tastes. A leisurely half-hour stroll and I was in a place entirely unlike the campus scene: New Haven's traditional Italian neighborhood of Wooster Square.

In the spring, you can count on a beautiful walk. Cherry trees line the street and the park, and the Wooster Square Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates the glorious blooms each year. The 2008 festival is on April 20, with a rain date of April 27.

For North Jersey residents, the equivalent would be a town's summer street fair — but probably with a lot more Italian food, and with drifting pink-white petals.

Perched on Wooster Street and stretching into the residential area around the green of Wooster Square, the neighborhood is also a culinary goldmine in a town of good eats. The food, after all, is the reason I go back again and again.

First, there is the pizza. Pepe's Pizzeria, founded in 1925, claims to have served the first pizza in America. The light, thin crust plays the perfect partner to toppings so fresh you can almost taste the greenness of the vine in the tomato sauce. Pepe's one-of-a-kind clam pizza goes back to the restaurant's inception.

Today, Pepe's grandson, Gary Bimonte, is in charge of the place, and the smell of pizza may be forever baked into the walls. Photos decorating those walls provide evidence of celebrity visits, including one by President Ronald Reagan in the '80s.

While the late president may not have had to wait in line to get in, you can count on it. Down the street at the competition, Sally's Apizza, (founded in 1938), you'll also notice a line down the block — especially on sunny days. Neither establishment takes reservations — they've never needed to. Anyone in line will tell you it's worth the wait. Get there early, and always budget time for the line.

In the area, too, are Consiglio's, an Italian-American restaurant with hefty pasta portions; Abate, rumored to be a favorite of Hillary and Bill Clinton; and Tony and Lucille's, which lays claim to discovering the calzone.

If you have room afterwards, Libby's Italian Pastry Shop (circa 1922) is the logical — and delicious — next stop. Libby's sells cookies online (libbyscookies.com), but get those to go and head straight for the good stuff: the cannolis, the Italian ice and the gelato.

Walking off dessert, you might wander into Wooster Square, where a statue of Christopher Columbus stands watch over a carefully planned park. The green was named after Revolutionary War hero David Wooster, who maintained a warehouse on Wooster Street before dying in a battle against the redcoats in 1777.

The area was not settled by Italians. It was, by the late 18th century, the center of the seaport activity and home to prosperous ship captains and traders. The area became a fashionable summer resort. But with the Industrial Revolution, many of the elegant homes were destroyed to make way for factories, and Italian immigrants began arriving in the 1870s for the jobs those factories provided.

The neighborhood had its ups, and then more prolonged downs. But in the late 1950s, Wooster Square became the first urban renewal project in the country. Homes and stores were renovated and returned to their former charm, and today the Wooster Square area is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Many of the buildings in the historic district were built between 1830 and 1870. Their setting is even prettier with the added attraction of cherry blossoms pleasantly littering the whole neighborhood.

The square functions as the gathering place it was meant to be: All paths lead to the center of the park, where David Wooster's name is engraved in a round black floor stone.

You may go to New Haven to visit Yale University's art museums, or to go back 300 years down at the New Haven Crypt. But for a mix of history, great food and a big dollop of heart, the Little Italy of Wooster Square can't be beat.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

No News is Good News

Paramus man killed, wife near death

Sunday, April 6, 2008
Last updated: Sunday April 6, 2008, EDT 7:25 AM

BY EVELYN SHIH

A Paramus man was killed and his wife left brain dead Friday morning as a result of a one-vehicle accident in Pennsylvania.

Frederick Becker, 78, and Elena Becker, 72, were on their way to North Carolina to meet Elena Becker's sister, Roseann Sanchez of Palm Coast, Fla., for a vacation.

Elena Becker lost control of the vehicle at approximately 9:49 a.m. while driving west on Interstate 78, Pennsylvania State Police said. She and her husband were near the Strausstown exit in Upper Tulpehocken Township, Pa., they said.

Their daughter, Dina Ciparchia of Dumont, estimated that they were on the road for only two hours before the accident. Elena Becker was driving because her husband didn't "like driving anymore," Ciparchia said.

The Beckers' 2002 Chrysler van left the roadway, crossed a grass shoulder and struck an embankment, police said. The Beckers were thrown from the vehicle when it rolled several times and landed back on the highway, blocking both westbound lanes, they added.

Neither was wearing a seat belt, police said.

"I would say that was a bad habit [of theirs]," Ciparchia said.

In addition to Dina Ciparchia, the couple is survived by three sons, Brian Becker of Lodi, Bruce Becker of Reading, Pa., and Bart Becker of Stratford, Conn., another daughter, Donna Ciccarelli of Paramus, and nine grandchildren.

The couple was taken to Reading Hospital by ambulance, but Fred Becker later died as a result of multiple blunt force trauma, police said.

Elena Becker sustained serious injuries and was declared brain dead Saturday, Ciparchia said, adding that her mother was left on life support Saturday evening so that Sanchez could say goodbye.

The Beckers lived in Paramus for 49 years.

Frederick Becker served as a U.S. Marine in the Korean War and worked as a stagehand in New York City before his retirement. Elena Becker was an entrepreneur.

State police said Saturday that they were still investigating the accident.

Investigators were considering the possibility that Elena Becker suffered a heart attack or stroke, causing her to lose control of the vehicle, Ciparchia said.

But "she had no heart problems," Ciparchia added.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Cirque Le Masque

Cirque Le Masque comes to Community Theater in Morristown

Friday, April 4, 2008
Last updated: Friday April 4, 2008, EDT 5:46 AM

BY EVELYN SHIH

Everyone knows about Cirque du Soleil, with its jaw-dropping feats of athleticism and artistic presentation.

But Cirque du Soleil doesn't cater to smaller venues. Cirque Le Masque co-owner Dennis Schussel and his brother Bernie lead a touring company that fills the void Cirque du Soleil left when it became a big deal — and "left behind America," Schussel said.

The family-friendly Cirque Le Masque show, "Fire and Ice," will perform Saturday at the Community Theater in Morristown. Schussel answered a few questions about his own obsession with the drama of the circus.

Q. How did you get interested in the circus, and in cirque theater?

When I was 14 years old, I used to wipe seats at the circus as an usher, did it for about five years. It was at the Island Garden Arena in West Hempstead (N.Y.). ...

I needed money — I needed those quarter tips! You want to be independent as a kid. It's just weird how things happen. How you begin with something like that, and then you end up in this business. It's just meant to be.

Q. What's your favorite act out of the 14 in "Fire and Ice," the current show?

The highlight is every act they watch. My show tends to play off different emotions.

But if I had to point out one, it would be the three-person hand-to-hand balancing, which takes it to another level. Their bodies are painted in silver, and they're balancing each other up in the air. At times it looks like they're suspended in midair.

Q. Are they holding anything?

Yeah, but barely.

Q. Who are the people in the show?

I contract acts for the year. The next year I'll bring in a whole new act. It keeps the show fresh. ...

People are born into it. These are people who start when they're 3 years old. Their families were circus members, usually from Russia or Hungary or Poland.

Q. How do you find the acts?

I get e-mails all the time from performers, saying, "I heard you were great to work for. I'd love to submit my qualifications and my act to you."

Every week I'm receiving 15 to 20 new submissions.

Q. Do you think the kind of circus theater you do is more popular in Europe than in America?

The acts themselves are not rooted here. The acts are rooted in Europe. But the roots of the show are deeply rooted here in America now, and it's becoming more and more popular.

I think it hasn't even gotten near its peak.

Q. What do you like about your job?

We love what we do from Day One to today. Can't wait to go to work. ... A show like this, I say, brings more joy to the audience than a Broadway show, because it strikes a variety of emotions that you don't get in one kind of a show.

I love that aspect of it. When I stand backstage, we get standing ovations 99 percent of the time with screams and yells. I still get goose bumps.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Time for Thai

A New Leaf

Monday, March 31, 2008

Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks:

"Gourmet Thai in Minutes," by Vatcharin Bhumichitr (Kyle Books, 2008)

Vegetarian alert: If you don't eat seafood, Thai cuisine may not be your first choice. Many curries and other dishes in this book of essential Thai food contain fish paste. But if you're making food from home and have ready substitutes, this book is a good way to introduce your family to a different type of taste. The recipes appear to be true to the title: Many dishes can be prepared and cooked within 15 minutes, and all recipes fit neatly under half an hour. Quick introductions to the ingredients and techniques will get you ready for a transporting experience, and mini essays on Thai culture add spice to the collection.

— Evelyn Shih

* Thai fried noodles (gueytoew pad thai)

3 tablespoons oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 ounces fried tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1/2 to 3/4 cup)
1 egg
4 ounces dried sen lek noodles (rice sticks), soaked in water for 20 minutes and drained
1 tablespoon finely chopped chi po (preserved turnip)
2 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts
1 1/2 cups bean sprouts
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 sprig cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 lemon wedge

In a wok or frying pan, heat the oil and fry the garlic until golden brown. Add the tofu and stir. Break the egg into the wok, cook for a moment, then stir. Add the noodles, stir well, then add the chi po, scallions, half the peanuts and half the bean sprouts.

Stir well, then add chili powder, sugar, light soy sauce and lemon juice. Stir well and scoop onto a plate. Sprinkle with the remaining peanuts and chopped cilantro. Arrange the remaining bean sprouts and lemon wedge on the side of the plate; these can be added by the diner as desired.

Servings: 4.

Per serving: 305 calories, 16 grams fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 52 milligrams cholesterol, 32 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams protein, 353 milligrams sodium, 2 grams fiber.