| Recently, the movie "Julie & Julia" has | | | | conveniently located very close to Route 80 near |
| debuted on silver screens across the country and | | | | Budd Lake and the hamlet of Mount Olive. |
| has reignited in many of us our passion for | | | | Arriving an hour earlier than our 5:00 reservations, |
| exceptional cuisine. While Julie and Julia of the | | | | we were, none the less, greeted by the "Grande |
| movie explore the enormously challenging tasks | | | | Dame" of the Inn herself, Jacqueline Ivaldi. |
| of mastering French cuisine at home, my wife | | | | Standing with perfect posture at the reservations |
| Fran and I had our palettes reignited for the | | | | station, she smiled and said, "Bienvenue! Welcome |
| equally satisfying joys of eating at a fine French | | | | to Silver Spring Farm." |
| restaurant. | | | | "Thank you, we are an hour early and we're |
| But where to go? | | | | wondering if we could get an early seating." |
| Living 48 minutes from Midtown Manhattan and its | | | | Feigning, seriousness she actually walked back into |
| seemingly endless inventory of elegant French | | | | an empty dining room peered around and then |
| restaurants, bistros and cafes definitely has its | | | | returned to the station. "Yes, you are in luck" she |
| advantages; but this time we decided to aim our | | | | said, "We can squeeze you in." |
| GPS West to see if we could discover a more | | | | We all had a good laugh and knew immediately |
| "country inn" type of establishment to fill the bill. | | | | that we had made the right decision to visit with |
| We recognize that our Garmin Novi GPS is, in | | | | Jacqueline, her husband Chef Guy Ivaldi, and their |
| reality, a marvelous electronic Ouija board. We | | | | son Jean-Jacques (who trained at the renowned |
| touch the screen, ask a question: | | | | Hotel School of Lausanne, Switzerland) They have |
| "Hermione, (that's what we call our GPS because | | | | been running The French Restaurant at Silver |
| she speaks with a British accent) is there a fine | | | | Spring Farm since the early 1940's. Here refugees |
| French country inn within a half tank of gas west | | | | from a devastated Post WWII France could get |
| of our home here in Maplewood, New Jersey?" | | | | out of their strange and unfamiliar New York City |
| "Re-Calculating... at the bottom of the driveway - | | | | environs and "vacation" not too far from the city |
| turn - left." | | | | for a weekend or sometimes longer with |
| And in an instant [well, more like 45 minutes], we | | | | conviviality, bonhomie and, of course, |
| arrived in Flanders, New Jersey and Silver Spring | | | | incomparable French cuisine. |
| Farm French Restaurant. This charming Inn is | | | | |