‘Montclair’ Articles at Sweetnicks

A beautiful public property to tour, the Van Vleck House & Gardens in Montclair truly celebrates anyone with a green thumb.

Mother’s Day was definitely all about basking in the great outdoors. We started with a 1.41 mile hike through the Bonsal Wildlife Preserves (spoiler alert: we saw no wildlife), and with the humidity, it was a sauna-like steam bath, but fun (and good exercise to boot!). After that, we did a picnic in a small, quiet park, and then visited the Van Vleck House and Gardens in Montclair. A six acre, now public property, it originally started as a private home 140 years ago when the Van Vleck family wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of the city in favor of something more along the lines of a “country estate.” Over the years, there have been three different generations of the family staying on the property, and in various buildings, but since 1993, the heirs of the family gifted the estate to The Montclair Foundation. Since then, volunteers have meticulously maintained the property, and the private gardens have been open to the public 365 days a year. The house itself has been reserved for educational purposes, retreats, and special events.

There are a number of different gardens that you can walk through (you can see a full map here), but the highlight is the gorgeous Chinese Wisteria that winds its way around the perimeter of the building, which was originally planted by Howard Van Vleck in 1939. Many people brought lawn chairs and picnics to just sit and enjoy the grounds.

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Over the weekend, we were watching an episode of Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. One of the restaurants profiled were serving up falafel. And all of the sudden, it was all I could think about. I suggested to Mystic that our Sunday outing includes a stop at a falafel place.

I can’t say he was completely on board for a first taste of falafel, since chick peas are on his weird and wonderful little list of things he doesn’t like, but he was more than willing to help me satisfy my own absurd needs for it.

A few early morning text messages with friends to find the best place to go, and we were on our way to Montclair to get my falafel fix. Beyond Pita is a little blink-and-you-miss-it place on Church Street; small doesn’t begin to describe it, but isn’t that how some of the very best places are? There is a little one-person-wide counter where you can place your order, and a tiny spot for about four people to wait comfortably for their food. No place to eat there, so this is a grab and go type of joint. Or grab and sit in your car across the street, which is what we did.

Not knowing if he was going to like falafel, Mystic went with their beef kebabs to play it safe. These are not your traditional kebabs on a stick, though. The meat is stuffed into a pita, along with a dressing, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. In fact, as we were opening up the packages, I actually thought his was mine, because aside from the main component, they look pretty much the same. The beef was pretty tender (even though he gets his meat super well done, nothankyou), but although the meat was not high-flavored, it had a slight hint of something sweet. The most ridiculously messy sandwich to eat, it was one of those that once you pick it up and start, you’re not setting it down until you’re done. The pitas are soft and fluffy, but really do fall apart too quickly.

My falafel was stuffed into a pita with the same dressing/veg combination that Mystic’s kebab was, as well as the addition of crisp pickle pieces. The fritter was crispy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. So.very.good. I could have definitely gone back for a plate of the chick pea fritters on their own after that.

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Visit: The Van Vleck House & Gardens {Montclair, New Jersey}

Review: Beyond Pita, Montclair, New Jersey