'Can’t Afford To Lose' These Belleville, Nutley Eateries: Report

NUTLEY, NJ — A pair of eateries in Nutley and Belleville recently landed on a list of “100 Restaurants America Can't Afford to Lose.”

Last week, a group of editors at Esquire released their list of eateries, including Cowan's Public in Nutley and Nanina's in the Park in Belleville.

See the full list here.

“What if those places were to vanish?” the report queried. “What if you were to wake tomorrow morning and learn that that remnant of your life—and that portion of your community’s lingua franca—had been erased? Such a prospect has been a real threat all year, with the relentless tragedy of COVID-19 leaving many American restaurants, even established classics, on the brink of bankruptcy. The threat will only intensify as winter progresses and restaurateurs have to abandon the outdoor dining that has kept them treading water for months.”

• See related article: Steaks, Pretzels, Music: COVID Shutdown Ravages Nutley Businesses

Here's what the report said about Cowan's Public:

"The craft-beer, proper-drink, good-food revolution arrived in this corner of North Jersey a few years ago with this simple but beautiful Art Deco restaurant. The town has embraced it like something it never knew it was missing. To lose it would be a step backward."

Here's what the report said about Nanina's in the Park:

"Okay, this one’s actually a banquet hall, but it’s a keeper. Generations of Newark-area Italian-Americans and those who love them have celebrated weddings, graduations, and first holy communions at this grand and slightly gaudy (so just about right) Italian villa planted at the north end of Branch Brook park. It’s a banquet hall that actually does Italian food really well, because it has to. An institution."

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