Jersey City Business: Gringo's Tacos

I had been to Gringo’s Tacos once before when a couple of friends came over from Queens to visit us. I remember really enjoying the place and thought this would be a great place to feature in the future. The restaurant itself is settled on a little offshoot street in Downtown Jersey City that makes it feel like it’s in its own little private area. When you walk in the vibe is all FUN. There are piñatas on the wall, neon signs and sombreros hanging. Not to mention the long bar that feels like a great place to party with friends.

All three owners are there, Darren Conway, Chef Rick and John Polkowski, Beverage Director, and all are ready to get down to business. First, we speak with Darren about the restaurant and the upcoming Gringo’s Block Party on September 29th, that will benefit the Liberty Human Society and will feature food, drinks, music, a pumpkin patch and even a moon bounce. Did you know that on Tuesday’s $25 will buy you all the tacos you can eat???

We then move on to Chef Rick, who handles (obviously) the food portion of this show. We start with my favorite: Nachos. The crispy tortilla chips are smothered in homemade queso, some more chips and queso (layering is key with nachos, people!), followed by some shredded cheese and then thrown in the broiler. They’re then topped with green onions, jalapeños pickled on premises, sour cream, and guac (DUHH). It resulted in the most camera un-friendly bite I’ve ever taken, but 100% delicious. We move on to the “Chicken n’ Waffle” taco— a thin taco shell, filled with a juicy fried chicken tender, spooned on chili honey butter and topped with burnt maple butter. I’m going to be bold and tell you that I don’t really love chicken and waffles. I don’t really feel that sweet and savory have a place in my mouth together, but these tacos proved me wrong. The mixture of sweet and savory, with the crunch of the waffle taco shell was perfect. Lastly, Chef Rick made the “We Found Nemo”, a lightly battered white fish, on a freshly homemade corn tortilla, topped with a slaw, house-made salsa, and the piece de resistance: chili-lime mayo. It was one of the most perfectly made fish tacos I’ve had.

Lastly, we visit with John Polkowski, Beverage Director, and start tasting the happy juice, as I call it. We start with the “El Chapo”, a jalapeño infused tequila, blood orange juice and lime— this is my ideal adult beverage. It’s a little spicy, but light and citrusy, all served in a beautiful skull cup. Up next I try out the cocktail flight of 3, perfect for the person who wants to try multiple drinks, but just can’t commit (did I mention it’s $15???). We go with a flight made up of the “Mex on the Beach”, the “Summer in Mexico” and their signature Frozen Margarita with Hibiscus floater. Each is light, refreshing and strong but well balanced. All cocktails are made fresh daily, and then put on tap to be easily poured, which results in… GETTING YOUR DRINK QUICKER. Side bar: they have a $6 Tecate beer and shot combo. I mean C’mon.

Gringo’s is a great place for a party, dinner with friends, or just a fun, affordable date night. For more info on Gringo’s Tacos, check out their Instagram here, or their website here. Whatever you do, try it out and have some fun.

Hoboken Business: Bum Pilates

When I found Bum Pilates on Instagram I was all about the aesthetic. Between the millennial pink, the butt puns and the general imagery, I was all in. It's what a few big workout chains do with their imagery and advertising, but when you go to a class or meet the owners you discover it's all a shtick. As soon as you meet Cait Kolibas, the owner, it becomes abundantly clear how authentic it all is. Cait has long blonde messy hair, she's covered in the coolest tattoos, and did I mention she has the body we all wish we had? This place SCREAMS Cait, and it's cool AF.

I had never done a pilates reformer class before. Sure, I've tried some floor pilates classes at the gym, where women are essentially piled on top of each other, while Techno played, but this was different. Between my gym experience, and the image I had in my mind of Gwyneth Paltrow in an overpriced perfectly white workout outfit, sipping Moon Juice while some New Age music plays, I've just never had any interest. Pilates always seemed like something that just wasn't my speed. Maybe it was the tranquility, or pretentiousness, but it didn't sound fun. When we talk, I tell Cait that these are the images I've had in my mind and exactly why I've never had any desire to try Pilates. 

But Bum is entirely different. There's hiphop music I actually listen to playing, the space is cute and pink, there's a calm pit-bull sleeping on the sofa, and Cait's teaching in Adidas leggings and a vintage soccer shirt. She's saying things like "this one makes your ass burn, right?". Not to mention the workout actually kicked my ass. 

I tell her I've recently (a year ago) had a baby, and haven't really been working out. And that's when she unloads some knowledge on me-- Pilates is one of the best postpartum workouts. Pilates is perfect for strengthening the pelvic walls that lose their strength after birth. The same walls that make peeing when you sneeze or laugh a possibility. The same walls that ache after a day of walking around. And after one class I can feel that it's true. But let's not forget about your butt. I'm sure Pilates is a great overall workout, but between all the squeezing and tightening and extending, my lower body is where I feel it all. Cait also uses TRX in her workouts which I've always found fun and hard. It brought in an ab element I didn't really get from the reformer exercises, and from what I've heard, is rare in a Pilates class. 

Cait and Bum Pilates make working out fun. In an hour I felt toned, strong and like I had actually done something really good for me. It doesn't hurt that the body you're aspiring to have is teaching the class, which is a lot of motivation to keep going when it starts to get too hard. For some exercises watch our episodes below, or go take a class. I assure you, you will feel good afterwards.

For more information on Bum Pilates check out the website here, and the Instagram here. And don't forget, we've partnered with them to giveaway 1 personal training session with Cait herself. 

Hoboken Business: The Law of Donutgineering

Full disclosure, I had never had a Law of Donutgineering donut, but I thought, "it's a donut. It can't be bad". Talking to Eddie and Flavia, the engineer and lawyer, and real life couple who own The LoDG, about what kind of donuts we would make on the show, I started to get really excited. They started saying words like "cajun" and "fried chicken" and "maple glaze" and "Reeses", so I was pretty into it.

Made completely out of a commercial kitchen facility in Hoboken, there's no storefront for The LoDG. They're primarily a delivery service at the moment, but also sold at Parker Cafe in West New York and Roost in Hoboken on select days, as well as Jefferson Coffee in Hoboken and 9bar Cafe in Jersey City on weekends. 

Having traveled around the country and loving the specialty donuts they were finding, they realized there was a lack of great donuts in the Hudson County area. And who better to change that? They started The LoDG and began developing amazing donut recipes, taking influence from the donuts they encountered on their travels, as well as their own Cuban and Argentine cultures. Current flavors include Deez Nuts & Jelly (a peanut butter filled donut with a jelly glaze), the El Basero (a guava cake donut with a cream cheese filled yeast donut hole in the middle, topped with guava glaze and a little cream cheese icing), the El Guachito (a yeast donut filled with dulce de leche and pineapple, topped with more dulce de leche and pineapple bits), the I’M BLUE-BERRY-DEE-BA-DAA (a blueberry cake donut), the Nuts for Chocolate (a chocolate cake donut topped with milk chocolate frosting, crushed peanuts and drizzled white chocolate), the Platanough (a yeast donut with a plantain filling, dipped in cinnamon sugar glaze), and The Pig N' the Fig (a cheesecake stuffed donut hole, covered in figs and caramelized bacon).

All those flavors sound amazing, but what we made together was THE BEST. First we made the Lil' Chickie, a donut hole sized version of The Sweet and Foul. It's a piece of cajun buttermilk fried chicken inside a donut, covered with maple glaze. Every step of the process made SanMartin (Director and cameraman extraordinaire) and I salivate. The chicken alone had us stealing pieces in between takes. But all the different ingredients come together to make a perfect, delicious bite. Next we made a donut specially named after our show. Hold on. Did you hear me? THEY NAMED IT AFTER OUR SHOW, which is basically the coolest thing ever. The Straight out of HudCo is a red velvet cake donut covered with cream cheese frosting and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and KitKat pieces on top (those are my favorites btw, and I have a birthday coming up... wink). The cake part of this donut alone is delicious-- it's shaped by hand and then deep fried, so like...OMG.

To learn more about The Law of Donutgineering, and to place an order (don't f**k this up guys) check out their website here. Now go get your fat kid on!