The holiday hustle and bustle hasn’t officially started yet, but that hasn’t stopped us from getting a head start on just how we’re going to get through the next few weeks of marathon shopping. We’ve had the kids make their lists and check ‘em twice, set our budget (always flexible, of course), and pulled our cutest, most comfortable shoes out of the closet. We've also located our favorite Garden State Plaza restaurants to get us through the long shopping days.
One thing we won’t have to worry about? Chain drinking coffee to keep our energy levels up. Instead, we’re planning on making a second visit to Bazille, a new restaurant (previously Nordstrom cafe) located inside Nordstrom at the Westfield Garden State Plaza.
Serving up contemporary American cuisine in a relaxed but ravishing environment (this is Nordstrom after all), Bazille is the perfect place to pit stop for lunch or dinner when you’re holiday shopping. We stopped in last week with the kids to test out the menu and were impressed with the recent renovation. Beautiful modern metal-and-rustic-wood touches abound in the large dining room, which features lovely soft lighting and a cool neutral color palette.
A friendly hostess sat us at a four-top and we got to work on ordering from the newly revamped menu. There’s pretty much something for everyone, from familiar starters (Crisp Calamari, $10.50) to salads (Caesar Salad with Roasted Chicken, $12.50) to soups (the Crab Bisque, $6.25, was out of this world), sandwiches, sides, and specialty dishes (if there’s one thing you need to do before Dec. 25th, it’s dive into Bazille’s deliciously decadent Crab Macaroni & Cheese, $14.95).
We also loved that the kitchen here uses local and organic ingredients whenever possible, and the every item on the menu comes with a handy calorie count, always helpful for those of us who are watching our waistline during the holidays. Not that that stopped us from finishing our feast with a few scoops of Nutella and Banana Ice Cream, which our kids proclaimed as the “best ice cream ever!”
Bazille
501 Garden State Plaza,
Located inside Nordstrom
Paramus
(201) 712-5930
Mon-Sat 10am-9pm
Sun Closed
