Friday in Frenchtown

Since there was only one slim day before our week alone was to end, we decided that it was time to finally take off from work to take advantage of the situation! We headed south to Frenchtown to do some wandering, eat a bite of lunch and spend the afternoon tubing down the Delaware. Our first stop was Two Buttons, a warehouse hidden away in a former industrial zone beyond "no trespassing" and "private property" signs, on the edge of town. The shop is owned by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat, Pray, Love," and her husband Jose. Yes, they get married in the end and open up an import business in Frenchtown, N.J. It is a wonderful bazaar of mostly Asian imports. We left with many ideas but only one purchase - a $5 back scratcher for Thibault.

For lunch we decided not to do the Bridge Cafe. We've been there many times over the years and it was quite full. Sylvain wasn't interested in Mexican at Cocina del Sol (though I was) so I suggested the "diner." It looked very inviting and there were a couple of empty tables so we went in.




Why haven't we ever eaten here?! It was very charming (in spite of a tattered seat in our booth -file that under pet peeves), the service was great and diner-speedy and the food was wonderful. I had the Cajun Tilapia Po' Boy special served with roasted garlic and basil mayonnaise, sliced tomatoes and mixed greens on a Kaiser roll with fries and an enormous glass of lemonade. So good! Sylvain enjoyed a chicken and artichoke sandwich on thick sesame semolina bread with an equally enormous iced tea. The menu was a crowd-pleasing combination of diner classics and more sophisticated fare all reasonably priced. I usually feel that diners should stick to what they know - usually it is a big mistake when they try to get fancy - but the Frenchtown Cafe is clearly not in over their heads when they move beyond omelets and Greek salad. We'll be back there soon.

Afterwards, perhaps in response to the magnetic effect of the word "chocolate" painted on the window, we were drawn across the street to a place called Minette's Candies. We sampled Creme Brulee and Tiramisu truffles and picked up some retro candy items like flying saucers filled with sour powder and my beloved Zotz for the kids.

The clouds were starting to look a bit ominous so we took our goody bag and drove over to the tubing outpost in Point Pleasant, PA. and spent the rest of the afternoon floating down the Delaware in inner tubes.

http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/eatpraylove.htm

http://www.twobuttons.com/

http://www.frenchtown.com/

http://www.rivercountry.net/