DINING AROUND...WITH Jimi Hilton  Food editor to Currents Magazines

 SNOOPING AROUND...AND DINING AROUND IN CURRENTS MAGAZINE'S NEWEST TURF, JACKSON, NJ
When we heard from the publishers that they would soon be rolling out a new ‘zone' for Currents - the Freehold, Jackson, Howell and Millstone areas, we figured we'd better do a bit of market research to scope out the dining around possibilities.

Sure, we'd written up quite a few excellent dining around places in the general area, like Basile's in Freehold (one of grandpa's favorite places for home-style Italian food), Luchento's (the home of Mrs. Hilton's favorite eggplant-parm of anywhere she's tried, and she's tried plenty) in western Millstone, and in the last issue, the improbably located but downright awesome Sushi by Kazu in Howell...But Jackson? Nothing much came to mind...or to anyone else's mind when we asked around.

We're here to tell you that Jackson is one heck of a fast-growing place...with an amazing amount of new, luxury homes going up on great big lots...and with lots of booming, and very nice looking ‘active senior communities' too...with LOTS of people who do LOTS of dining around...But as far as our research has taken us to date - and we've done a fair amount of snooping already - the really fine dining around opportunities are surprisingly limited.

At the first place we tried, which we'll generously allow to go unnamed, we had the worst steak we've ever had at a restaurant - where ‘medium rare' came out as uniformly gray, swimming in a pool of water that had drained off the veg - tough as nails and cold to boot. (Even the waiter was ashamed when we cut through and showed him what had been served up. He took it off the bill...and offered us any other choice we might want, but by the time he'd come around to check, Mrs. Hilton was half done with her entrée and our appetite had been mostly spoiled by the leathery, gray and waterlogged meat).

But fear not...In our travels we soon found at least one restaurant in Jackson that we really love - and that we'll review in this issue - Solo Bella. We also have a bead on at least one other place that merits a review...a place our little grand daughters absolutely loved, which is always good for some extra points. And if ever there was a town where we'd predict that fine dining experiences will soon begin to bloom - and in fact, to boom - we'd be betting on the big and currently ‘under-served' Jackson/Howell area.

Readers; when last we looked, Jackson is the biggest town in NJ - in square miles, that is - so there's an awful lot of ground to cover. If you have a favorite spot you think we should visit in Jackson - or in Howell, Millstone or even Freehold, where we've been visiting pretty regularly, email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to give us a heads up.

DINING AROUND AT SOLO BELLA... "Hearty portions of fresh, honest Italian-American style food...which really IS like Mama used to make...If you had a nice Italian-American Mama, that is"

What a wonderful discovery Solo Bella turns out to be...even though you very soon discover that it has been ‘discovered' by what seems like half the town.

Good news about good food spreads fast - anywhere one lives - and Solo Bella, in Jackson seems to be booming every night of the week (except Mondays, when it's closed). In fact, the close-packed tables - typically with larger than average parties of young, old and multi-generational groups - and lots of "active senior groups" too - all out for a nice meal they don't have to cook themselves - adds a nice, bustling, family-party kind of atmosphere. And once the food comes out, no one seems to notice much of anything else.

If there are any Italian-Americans in your family background, the Solo Bella menu is like a trip down memory lane - and especially so for its owner/author, who describes every dish the way Mama used to make it, the day of the week she'd typically serve it...and to whom.

While there's a longish list of appetizers, DO start with what the menu calls "A Nice Salad" we'd urge. It IS a "nice salad" - and it's just the way a nice Mama would make it; A big portion of crispy assorted greens, a few onions scattered in, a few shavings of pecorino, or maybe parmigiano, and just the right balancing of wine vinegar and olive oil...and, if you're lucky, with a few green and black olives tossed in before the tossing, although they were missing - and much missed, Solo Bella, on the last of several visits we made. (This forced us to get our ‘olive fix' from the hot breadsticks and side of olive-laced olive oil for dipping, which we tried to resist, to no avail).

Next on the Solo Bella menu is a long list of baked pastas - essentially every kind one might think of, and all very soul-satisfying in the way that only Italian-American baked pastas can do when the mood comes upon you. (Mrs. Hilton, who is part Italian American herself, loves the rigatoni Siciliano...and the Italian meatballs too, which we say are almost as good as her late Grandma's).

Next comes a big assortment of other main dishes, including a very fine rib-eye steak, if you're in that mood...a very "nice" piece of baked salmon, if you're in that mood...some top quality tuna, if you're there on the right night, and a huge choice of freshly made veal, chicken and seafood dishes. On our last visit we had a major bout of orderer's remorse as we watched the next table put away huge portions of fresh mussels, clams and shrimp served Marinara and Fra Diavolo style...even though Pop's shrimp Francese and my crisply breaded veal cutlet A La Milanese were delicious too.

If you have a really hearty appetite, the best buys on the menu - by far - are the multi-course specials, keyed to the day of the week. They're cooked up and served up the old-fashioned Italian-American way, and include "A Nice Salad"...a side of pasta, or some nights a small pizza (the spaghetti with clam sauce - "white, of course" - and almost as good as mine - is a meal in itself for some people)...followed by the "main course" of the day, which tracks the owner's Mama's mostly unvarying weekly meal plan. If you're wanting a slightly lighter bite to eat, Solo Bella also makes a very fine, brick-oven baked pizza and serves up a wicked-good burger too. 

Desserts? We must confess we've never been able to find room for one, but the espresso is superb. Be sure to bring a "nice" bottle or two of wine to go with what we guarantee you'll find to be a "really nice place" to eat a "really nice meal"...at "really nice prices".

Solo Bella is located at 426 Chandler Road in Jackson.  The main cross street being Jackson Mills Rd.  (Google up a map, or use Mapquest if you're not from Jackson - or if you are and haven't found Solo Bella already).  Tel: 732-961-0951