THE UTJ JOURNAL DINNER

It was a magical night- handsome men. lovely ladies, distinguished rabbis- all out to celebrate all the good that the UTJ does and to honor three special couples for the work that they do for the UTJ.

The dinner was at the Glen Pointe Marriot in Teaneck. Catering was by Main Event Kosher Caterers.

The UTJ dinner is always a buffet- that way you can eat what you want to eat. And what a feast it was!

Highlights of the buffet include:

Chicken Kabobs, meat kabobs: succulent, tender, with just the right amount of marinade

Kufta kabobs- spicy, marinated beef on a stick. Perfect buffet food as you don’t need to use a fork or a knife!

Sliced lamb- holy mackeral, it must have been a whole lamb. A huge hunk of lamb meat on the carving board was a magnet for many. In addition, the nearby schwarma was also quite tasty.

The Pasta station featured all the usual pastas you would expect, some cold, some hot. The various sauces offered all tasted molto delicioso.

The Crudites station was neat. We have never seen so many veggies in one place. In addition to the usual cut veggies, they had a salad of hearts of palm and a marinated bowtie pasta and spinach salad.

The Filet Mignon station proved most popular and had a line for most of the night. Give the people what they want and they will come. And what did they want? They wanted incredibly tender two-inch cuts of center of the eye beef, grilled to perfection. Those who prefer their meat black and blue were heard to exclaim over and over that they were in meat-eaters heaven!

The Sushi bar proved to be extremely popular, too. We do not eat sushi (it tends to come back for additional visits!), but people told us that the sushi was fresh and tasty.

Our favorite was the BBQ beef. We loved it! Spicy, tender beyond belief, the bite size nuggets of beef were perfect! We went back over and over again just to remind ourselves why we liked it so much.

There was much more: grilled chicken, stuffed cabbage, meat balls (the only disappointing item on the buffet), a carving board, wine, superlative desserts, and more.

We took careful notes and queried people all night. The total consensus was that it was a memorable buffet.

The rest of the evening rushed by in a blur. We remember some wonderful speeches, an incredible video and really good company with which to share it all.

All in all, a night to remember. Kudos to the good folks at Main Event. And a most hearty mazal tov to the UTJ for an incredible evening. May we have the z’chut to do it again next year.
(RJR)