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