“Our libation offerings include an eclectic mix of bottled American craft beers and two rotating drafts on tap, an affordable list of wines by the bottle and glass (all about 8 bucks,) and a ‘Concoctions’ menu featuring two homemade Bloody Mary’s, one of which called the ‘Wasabi Mary’ boasts freshly ground ginger, soy sauce and wasabi root infused vodka,” Dowling writes on Facebook.

Park & Sixth opened at 364 Grove Street in Jersey City in late 2010 as the second outpost of the popular Hoboken sandwich shop. Since then, Dowling has closed down the Hoboken location and shifted the establishment’s focus from being what Dowling calls “essentially a deli” to a full-service restaurant. The liquor license is a crucial ingredient to completing that transition.

Park & Sixth will also debut a small plates menu on Friday, March 2. The “sharing plates” menu will replace the restuarant’s regular menu every Friday and Saturday night, with the focus being on “elevated comfort food,” according to Dowling. Combined with the booze factor, the small plates menu could well make Park & Sixth a hot early-evening weekend destination.

Here’s a peek at the small plates menu:

Soup
Roasted Tomato, Chipotle, Aged Cheddar Crouton 7

Muzz
House Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil, Balsamic Glaze, Basil Oil 7

Garbage Salad
Zucchini, Rabe, Portobello, Roasted Peppers, Red Onion, Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette 7

Sprouts
Brussel Sprout Hash, Garlic, Hot Cherry Peppers, Bacon, Parmigiana 8

Taters
Dirty Smashed Potatoes, Roasted Garlic, Butter, Cream Cheese, Lipitor 7

Rabe
Broccoli Rabe, Sliced Garlic, Red pepper Flake, Lemon Zest, Olive Oil 7

A Party In You Mouth
Philly Cheese Steak Spring Rolls, Sambal Glaze 8

Rigatoni
Brisket Ragu, Parmigiana Reggiano, Basil 12

Mac-n-cheese
5 Deli Cheeses, Andouille Sausage, Saffron, Piquillo Peppers, Truffled Panko 9

Meatloaf
Bourbon Mushroom Gravy, Dirty Smashed Potatoes 12

Mini Meatballs
19 ingredients, homemade tomato sauce, basil 10

Short Ribs
Soy Vermouth Braised Short Ribs, Star Anise, Potato Blue Cheese Smashed Potatoes 15

Steak
Asian Marinated Skirt, Spicy Gringo Chimichurri, Oil Poached Fingerling Potatoes 15

Fish
Crispy Skin Salmon, Wilted Bok Choy, Braised Pistachios, Soy Ginger Chicken Broth 12

Day Boat Scallops, White Bean & Sage Puree, Bean Broth 12

Chicken
Rosemary Chicken Breast, Roasted Tomato, Garlic, Broccoli Rabe, Parm, Tomato Oil 10

Photo: Laryssa Wirstiuk

The newest addition to Downtown Jersey City’s cafe scene, Steam Cafe, has been opened for a few weeks now on Newark Avenue between Monmouth and 3rd Streets. While many new food businesses have had trouble on that particular stretch over the past few years (the corner spot most recently home to Rue Viet has, for example, seen several establishments come and go), Steam owner Christina Coaker (at right) is hoping to thrive in her new venture by connecting with Jersey City’s arts community and neighborhood customers.

“We are branding ourselves as an ‘Art Gallery Cafe,’ we are upfront and personal, and we [strive] to be connected to every one of our customers,” she says. “We have a personal curator and artist Mark Finne who arranges our bi-monthly art shows.”

The cafe, which seats about 15, will host an official ribbon-cutting ceremony with Mayor Jerramiah Healy this weekend. Coaker, a Harlem native who has lived in Jersey City for eight years, is also being realistic about the profitability of her new venture. Unlike some small business owners, she’s decided to not ditch her full-time job at the beginning of her new venture, which should allow her business to grow at a more traditional pace without the constant worry that it has to put food on her plate and a roof over her head.

“I decided to open a cafe a few years back when I realized how important it was for me to be a driving force in my happiness,” Coaker says. “For me, that meant creating my own space and not sitting behind a desk because I had to. I love meeting new people and I love espresso, tea and coffee, art and music.”

“I still work my day job in corporate America, while my baristas keep my dream alive,” she continues. “Steam is like my alter-ego … through the cafe I can talk shop, have art, and drink espresso be part of the world in a way that I can actually see the effects of my dreams come to life.”

The cafe features TM Ward coffee, homemade muffins and pressed sandwiches, and plenty of local items as well. Steam carries natural sodas from Fizzy Lizzy, baked goods from Sassy Sweet Treats and breads delivered daily from neighboring Pecoraro Bakery. There’s free wifi, and current hours are Monday from 6:30 am to 1 pm; Tuesday through Saturday from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm; and Sunday from 8 am to 6 pm.

Coaker is also turning Saturday’s ribbon-cutting into more than a photo-op for local politicians. The event features children’s face painting with Arts in Action’s Laura Dejean from 12:30 to 2:30 pm, with the mayor’s official ribbon-cutting ceremony at 3 pm, and performances from 4 to 6 pm.

THE DETAILS

Steam Cafe | 274 Newark Avenue | 201.706.2489 | Steam on Facebook | Steam on Twitter

After starting out in Colorado five years ago, Geeks Who Drink has slowly expanded across the nation, currently hosting live weekly pub quizzes at more than 165 establishments in 17 states. The company recently started a weekly night at the Village Pourhouse in Hoboken (Tuesday nights), and generally feels it was the right time to infiltrate North Jersey.

“We expanded into Boston earlier this year, and that is going well, and there really isn’t anything that compares to us in North Jersey,” Geeks Who Drink marketing director Josh Johnson says. “Plus, both John [Dicker, the company's founder] and I are East Coasters, so … North Jersey is a key area for the expansion of our nerdy empire.”

The quiz consists of eight rounds of eight questions and is played in teams of up to six people. Questions are read aloud by the quizmaster; teams write their answers on provided sheets and turn them in at the end of each round. The team with the most points after eight rounds is the winner.

The quiz is free to enter, and winners get bar cash, eternal fame on the Geeks Who Drink website and prizes like these mustache bandages.

Geeks Who Drink says it aims to set its pub quizzes apart from ordinary ones, bringing “more showmanship and originality” to the table:

We’ll ask a round called “Hunting, Fishing and Drinking: The Three Dude Groups” followed by a round entitled “Wildly Inappropriate First Date Movies (think The Accused).” The questions are entertaining so even if your team is being served a deep dish of last place you’re still having a great time.

Geeks Who Drink quizzes are also unique in that they include two rounds of audio questions – like name that tune, but with some bite. Examples: Songs We Lost Our Virginity To in The 1990s, Top 40 hits Butchered by David Hasslehoff, Disco Classics in German.

THE DETAILS

Geeks Who Drink; Every Wednesday night at 8 pm (starting October 26) at Pint, 34 Wayne Street.

Downtown’s Public School 5 is the winner of the Best School Garden award, the Storms Avenue Community Garden is being dubbed the Best Start-Up Garden, the garden at Van Vorst Park takes top honors for Largest Community Garden, while John Mucha’s home garden at 20 Trenton Street and Craig Hayes and Timothy Larimer of Coles Street are both winners in the Amateur Garden category.

Below you will find more information on the gardens, straight from the gardeners themselves. The awards ceremony is Sunday, October 23, at 2:30 pm at the Riverview Farmer’s Market in Riverview-Fisk Park.

PS 5: Best School Garden

Last spring, our vision was to create an urban oasis where our children could take joy in nature and pride in hard work.

It was undoubtedly a collaborative effort:

• City Green was tremendously generous, donating the raw material to get our garden started – the soil, lumber for the garden beds, the seeds and plants.
• Our Parent Council came out in full force, working closely with teachers and students to make the garden a reality.
• The garden was also a hands-on tool to implement the science curriculum ;our science teacher Mr. Padilla was able to show his students a living, growing ecosystem right outside their classrooms.
• Our art teacher Mr. Markman, along with his students, turned once bare, concrete walls into marvelous murals splashed with the colors of nature.
• Throughout the spring and summer, students helped water and weed the garden so that our carrots, potatoes, beans and broccoli flourished.

It is truly wonderful to see the joy on our children’s faces as the consume the fresh produce, discover new tastes and textures, learn healthy eating habits, and feel a connection to the earth.

Storms Avenue Community Garden: Best Start-Up Garden

The Storms Avenue Community Garden (SACG) is collaboration between the Jersey City Episcopal Community Development Corporation (JCECDC), Bergen Communities United (BCU), New City Kids (NCK) and community volunteers. The garden site is owned by JCECDC and is located on a deep lot behind two houses the organization constructed several years ago. The original gardening organization disbanded and the site was fallow until the project was revived this year with BCU member organization NCK serving as the lead organization. NCK engaged a team of volunteers from one of their corporate sponsors, Mercedes-Benz North American Marketing, to construct the first phase of the garden. This included mulching the front half of the site and building raised beds. Water for gardening is supplied from an underground tank that is supplied by run-off from the roofs of the two houses in front. It is accessed via a spigot powered by ab underground electric pump. A lot of work has been done this year by volunteers and sponsors, but there is more to be done.

Van Vorst Park: Largest Community Garden

Van Vorst Park was one of Jersey City’s center of community growth and pride until the 1960s when the economics of the city started to deteriorate and with it, the condition of the park. In 1991, Cliff Waldman and a few neighbors who lived around the park formed the Friends of Van Vorst Park, a nonprofit, in order to bring community input into the process of renovating this historic park.

The Friends of Van Vorst Park, along with the help of then current mayor, Bret Schundler, New Jersey’s Green Acres fund, and community driven ideas, renovated the park in 1999, and brought it back to the design of 1851. Since 1999, the volunteers of Friends of Van Vorst Park have added every plant and over 50 new trees that you see in the 19 community gardens, with capital raised from donations and volunteer’s out-of pocket funds. We now maintain and continue to improve the park on a daily basis, with the support of the City of Jersey City. We have added a Farmers’ Market, the first dog run built in a public park downtown, various children’s events, plays, music and with the Van Vorst Park Association, “Films In The Park.”

We are proud to be part of the renaissance of this historical park and are always looking for community members who would like to volunteer in maintaining the gardens, join our organization, make suggestions regarding additional events, or ways we can improve our oasis in an urban setting.

John Mucha, 20 Trenton Street: Best Amateur Garden (TIE)

I have this garden every year. This year it was 13′ 7″ long by 7′ 4″ wide and contained 40 tomato plants of various types, 2 eggplants and 15 corn planted in between the tomato plants (not all of which came up). A small windmill painted red and green makes the garden look like it is in the country on a farm.

These first two photos below show the garden when everything was planted on May 27. The blue flags represent where the corn was planted but had not sprouted yet. I started all the tomato and eggplants from seeds in March 2011 inside my house in large coffee cups.

The next photo below shows the garden in early July 2011 when the plants really started growing big because of all the rain we had. It turns out the plants grew even taller than shown in this photo by late August, but unfortunately I do not have a photo of that.

Today, the harvest is almost complete although I still have quite a few plants left but the garden does not look so nice as it did at the beginning of the summer.

My backyard/side yard also has four white peach trees, one pear tree and two small apricot trees which I just planted this Spring but did not produce any fruit. The white peaches and pears were harvested in July and August.

Many neighbors and people just passing by have voiced their appreciation to me for having such a neat garden in the middle of a large city. As many tomato growers will attest, tomatoes grown in your yard taste the best compared to those bought in a supermarket. So growing a garden in a city is not only an enjoyable hobby but also produces healthy and free organic fruit and vegetables for your diet. By the way, it is a lot of work but the appreciative words of neighbors and people passing by make it worth it.

Craig Hayes and Timothy Larimer of Coles Street: Best Amateur Garden (TIE)

My roommate Tim and I have lived in Jersey City since July 2010 in a rented duplex on Coles Street opposite the 58 Gallery. Last summer in front of our building there were two small, neglected fenced-in plots of dirt; prime space for a modest garden. After getting the building owner’s nod of approval, we began to create what has come to be known among our friends and new neighbors as the “Bus Stop Garden”. It’s clear once you see the garden, why it got the nickname.

The garden was planned with the intention of extending our living space outdoors, to make room for a vegetable and herb container garden and the general greening of the block. Money being tight these days, I challenged us to spend as little as possible on the materials for the garden. Our biggest expense was probably the organic soil for the edible plants. Other than the plants and soil, everything else was found abandoned, donated or simply free. It’s amazing what you can get when you ask for what you want.

The 14th Street Garden Center was nice enough to give us two rough-hewn stumps that act as end tables to the bench we found abandoned along the Embankment. We found the mismatched and oddly shaped pavers in the alleys of Harsimus Cove. And most of the pots and containers were recycled from the garbage, purchased for a song at stoops sales or found under “Free – Take Me” signs after stoops sales were over. Also the raised planting bed in which we grew basil was made from wooden beams salvaged from a dumpster near Hamilton Park during someone’s home renovation.

This summer the Bus Stop Garden produced heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, mint, chives, oregano and rosemary. We also grew lavender, morning glories, Corsican mint and creeping thyme (as ground cover), and book-ended it all with tall sea grasses. While most of the plants thrived in the direct sun we still have some kinks to work out with others. We also need a creative solution for the greedy hands of passersby unable to resist helping themselves to our tomatoes.

From the minute we began the garden we’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of the people in the neighborhood and enjoyed their company on our bench “waiting for the imaginary bus” we hope never stops. What we have learned is that with a tight budget, creativity and a scavenger’s eye while cruising the neighborhood on one’s classic Schwinn, an unused modest space can be turned into a functioning green space and bring new friends right to your front door.

“Big changes are coming for education in Jersey City,” Fulop promises, pointing to the recent agreement of superintendent Charles Epps to leave the district — a move that was engineered in large part by the new board majority that Fulop’s political power has helped put in place. “Today we are starting the process of looking for candidates to run for the board next spring.”

Fulop says his bottom-up approach for selecting candidates involves a committee of PTA parents, community leaders and volunteers from across the city to choose a slate in an effort to empower “regular residents” and even find some who might want to serve.

“The goals are to attract new people to enter the process, to find consensus, and to eliminate the Jersey City tradition of Board of Education members using these seats as stepping stones,” Fulop writes, noting that he doesn’t personally vet each candidate but pledges to support the candidates selected (and do “my best” to raise cash for them).

We have very different views on the committee — the committee members come from across the entire city and represent a spectrum of ideas — but this is a strength,” he writes. “We have found over the past two years that process produces pragmatic, reasonable, qualified, and non-political candidates who can win.”

If you are interested, you can submit your information via the Volunteer page on Fulop’s website.

Photo of Fulop with 2011′s winning school board candidates on election night by Steve Gold

“The Green Awards is our way of thanking and recognizing the City’s green pioneers,” Mayor Jerramiah Healy says. “These awards are part of a community of trail blazers who are lending our environmentally responsible development approach now taking hold in our city and the state.”

This years development winners are:

• Hoboken Brownstone Company, for its ambitious seven-acre Van Leer Place development on Hoboken Avenue near the Hoboken border (rendering seen at right). Parts of the mixed-use development on the former site of the Van Leer chocolate factory are slated to have up to 90-percent energy savings compared to traditional buildings through the use of geothermal and solar energy, as well as other green technologies.
• United Associates of Journey New and Apprentices Local Plumbers Union No. 24, for its solar hot water training.
• Jersey City Episcopal Community Development Corporation for its construction of affordable energy efficient homes.
• Franklin Development Group for its Mary Norton Manor Condominiums, a workforce housing project on Duncan Avenue.

Also being honored this year are Bike JC, city planner Tanya Marione-Stanton for her work on the city’s revamped Adopt-A-Lot program, Grove Street Bicycles and the newly reformed Jersey City Environmental Commission. City Green, the nonprofit arm of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA), and Garden State Urban Farms will also receive Urban Innovation awards.

“We pride ourselves on selecting a number of applicants who ordinarily would not be recognized for their contribution,” JCRA executive director Robert Antonicello says.

The Fourth Annual Green Awards Ceremony is slated for Thursday, October 19 at 1 pm in City Hall’s council chambers.

The free program is an educational initiative of Pass the Roc basketball apparel company, which is run by Jersey City native Jarrod Greene. Joining Greene at this afternoon’s kickoff will be former NBA star Kenny Anderson.

“We are extremely excited about the impact that YESEP will have on these young minds,” Greene says in a statement. “Science and technology is such a major part of our future and it’s important that this generation is equipped with as much knowledge as possible.”

The program, which is supported by volunteers from the National Society of Black Engineers and engineering students from local schools including, NJIT, Stevens and Seton Hall, is currently scheduled for every Friday at 4:45 pm through the remainder of the year at the Boys & Girls Club (1 Canal Street). There is a maximum of 25 students; for more information email info (at) passtheroc.org or call 201-333-4100.

The program, sponsored by a state Department of Environmental Protection grant, helps ensure that potentially dangerous waste is correctly disposed of.

“Removing dangerous materials from our homes … is a smart way to protect our families and the environment,” County Executive Tom DeGise says in a statement.

You no longer need to bring latex paints or alkaline batteries; both now fall below state and federal hazardous waste standards and can be tossed out with your regular garbage, and neither will be accepted on Saturday.

You can now bring thermostats from your home heating system, vehicle tires, and compact fluorescent light bulbs. For the bulbs, you have to either place it back in its original packaging, in an air-tight container or wrap it in cellophane, newspaper or duct tape — this helps prevents mercury contamination if the bulb breaks.

In addition to the items mentioned above, here’s what you can bring:

• Cleaners and corrosives
• Pool and photo chemicals
• Oil-based paints and varnishes
• Rechargeable and car batteries
• Propane tanks from grills
• Solvents and thinners
• Pesticides and herbicides
• Formaldehyde
• Used motor oil
• Old gasoline
• Fire extinguishers
• Antifreeze
• Marine and auto flares
• Computers, printers and monitors
• Consumer electronics
• Cellphones

And here’s what you can’t bring:

• Explosives
• Smoke detectors
• Compressed gas cylinders and tanks
• TCBs and TCCD (like freon or helium)
• Woodlife
• Dioxin
• Asbestos
• Kepone
• Infectious waste
• Silvex 2,4, and 5-t
• Radioactive materials
• Ballasts
• Washers, dryers, refrigerators and air conditioners
• Over-the-counter or prescription drugs

THE DETAILS

Fall 2011 Hazardous Waste Collection Day; Saturday, October 15 from 9 am to 1 pm; JCIA, 501 Route 440. For more information, call 1-800-540-0987.

- SEC Sanctions JC Exchanges: The Securities and Exchange Commission has sanctioned Jersey City-based Direct Edge Holdings and two electronic exchanges it operates for having weak controls that led to about $2.8 million in trading losses and a systems outage.

- ‘Kitchen Cousins’: The Jersey City contracting business Brunelleschi Construction is the star in HGTV’s new Kitchen Cousins show.

- Judge Forces Landlord’s Hand: A Jersey City judge has ordered landlord to pay to house five families at a hotel after dragging out repairs and leaving their building without gas and hot water for more than two months.

- Global Terminal: As container ships keep getting bigger and bigger, Global Terminal — which straddles the border between Bayonne and Jersey City — is on track to more than double its capacity to stay competitive with other regional ports

In Statewide News:

- Flood Assistance: Two measures to help flood-ravaged communities make emergency repairs and buy out homeowners were advanced by an important Senate committee yesterday at the urging of mayors whose towns are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Irene.

- Utilities’ Response to Irene: The state is broadening its investigation into how New Jersey’s four electric utilities handled events in the wake of Hurricane Irene, a storm that left 1.8 million people without power at one point or another.

- Facebook Comments Lead to Investigation of Supposed Anti-Gay Remarks: School officials in Union Township are investigating allegations that a teacher at Union High School posted comments on her Facebook site criticizing a school display recognizing Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender History Month and calling homosexuality “perverted.”