Dinner & Whipped

It's no secret I don't watch or care about any sporting. Superbowl, whether it's down the road or across the country, is of no interest to me. We made a house call appointment to assess a room for a very large chandelier for late last Sunday afternoon. All the way down in the Red Bank area.

We normally don't go that far for this kind of thing. But the woman who wants the chandelier is really nice and she loves our stuff. We also like that area and had no other plans so it seemed like a good day to go. The weather was nice, mild and sunny so we took our drive down. B went to Monmouth University so he feels nostalgic about the whole area.

The house call went well and decided to stay down there to go to eat. We went to the main strip in Red Bank and found a nice restaurant to try. It's called Blue Ocean Grill. It looked on the fancier side and it's definitely in the higher price range. Like, Houston's entrée pricing. When we came in it was only 4:30p & empty, so they didn't mind Ethan in there, carrying his bagel. I assume they expected it to be quiet that night because of the Superbowl. They were out of some stuff because we were early and they were waiting on a delivery. So they were REALLY accommodating and let us put our own meal together. They had no scallops so I had Chilean Sea Bass with butternut squash risotto and pumpkin seeds. It was SO good. B had Tilapia with cous cous and it was also very good. It was just a really nice meal and Helen, our hostess and server, was really helpful. She also took cards and said she'd recommend Shades of Soho so that really was excellent service in my book!

http://bluewaterseafoodredbank.com/

THEN....

I'd seen a pink & brown awning on our way to the restaurant that said something about a dessert café. I knew I wanted to find THAT place. After dinner we walked over a few streets and there it was. The name is "Whipped Café". It looked like they were closing but the two guys there let us in. I only caught one of the owners names- Nick, but he was very nice and told me all about the place. ***Was just informed the "other guy" is Mike. So thanks to you too Mike***

They specialize in crepes. The crepe machine or accoutrements were off already but I could choose pastries and/or cookies. I was a bit skeptical they'd be good, if I'm being honest. I've had A LOT of cake. And usually, those fancy pastries look better than they taste. The only ones that I think taste as good as they look are from La Promenade in Tenafly. But I digress.

I remember asking Pam (a la cupcakes) last year why hers taste so much better than the competition. She explained about different ingredients and also the difference between fresh-that-day cake and cake that's been made one day, frozen and thawed another day. I've definitely had hard or crumbly cake that either had less than the best ingredients or wasn't made fresh daily.

I picked a "strawberry shortcake" from the case. They look pretty. Like fancy little cakes. But perfect size- not chintzy at all. Nick put it in the box and showed me- he put FRESH STRAWBERRIES in the box next to my pastry to put on top. I thought that was such a cool touch. I had to take a photo.

I'm not usually into food "presentation" but this was a nice little extra they could've skipped but didn't. B and E got chocolate chip cookies. My son declared- "It was the best cookie, EVER."

I saved mine to eat till after we got home. Now, imagine- we got there when they were closing around 6p. They said they don't usually close that early on Sunday but they were anticipating a slow night because of the Superbowl. The whole street seemed kind of dead. Most bakery type places by the end of the day have hard cake. They just do. That's why they tend to give stuff away by closing time. Even Crumbs has a deal for lower prices at the end of the night- at least the one in Garden State Plaza.

I opened up my cake at 9p. I dug in. Oh. My. God. All I can say is thank God this place isn't in Bergen County. It was AMAZING. It was the softest, melt-in-your-mouth cake with what tasted like real, fresh whipped cream. It was better than pastries like it I've had at weddings, bar mitzvahs, etc, at catering halls. I poured my little cup of strawberries over it and it was like little bites of heaven. It was white cake layered with whipped cream and strawberries inside. But not too many strawberries inside. It was the perfect amount. Not too much cake and not too much whipped.

I really can't rave enough. I'm actually torn. I don't know if I could handle them up here but I want that cake. REALLY WANT. That's one thing we are definitely lacking. I don't care about anyone else's reviews. I'm a cake snob. And I haven't found any worthy of writing about since Pam. I've seen pretty, and I've had "just ok". Now I want to try everything this girl Erica makes. Although I'm a creature of habit and will most likely just bring home like five strawberry shortcakes. I wonder how long they stay like that for. Maybe I'll do a little test. Leave one in the fridge overnight and freeze one and defrost. See what happens. I've had people's cake made in the same day that wasn't as good as this one.

I would totally try the crepes though. We'll have to go for lunch. They make sweet & savory. They also have a whole bunch of other stuff. But I was so intent on what I was getting, taking pictures, and asking questions, I didn't even get to really pore over the whole menu. I have a feeling we may be foregoing "Crazies", the ice cream place we go to on our way home from Long Branch in the summer, for my new fave- Whipped Café. At least until I get it out of my system.

It looks like they have two sites so I'm going to put both out there and their Facebook page-

http://www.whippedbites.com/#&panel1-1

http://whippedcafe.com/

https://www.facebook.com/whippedbites