After the thrill of seeing The Late Show in person (and getting the chance to shake Colbert’s hand as he walked by the seats :D) in late September, decided to look up whether he was doing any shows/appearances. Turns out he would be appearing with Meryl Streep at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, and I hastily booked a ticket for the event.
Fast forward to late November, ticket prices had dropped significantly (I’d initially paid US$60 but there were tickets available for half that price eventually) – whoops. Nevertheless, I was still excited to get out of New York City for a change and see what Newark was like.
Besides knowing that Newark had an airport, I knew precious little else about the city, but started digging in by finding what possible places to have dinner at, before the actual event at 8 p.m.
Always on the hunt for decent soul food, I started scouring the surrounding neighbourhoods which were somewhat close to NJPAC, and found a really promising place called Redwood Cafe Supper Club (they closed down :() – ticked a lot of the right boxes for me since it was family-run, a little off the beaten track, reviews about their ribs were great – but it was a bit further in than I’d have liked.
Went to look up a crime zoning map (which aren’t always accurate, but served as a good enough gauge in NYC) and realised it was a good 10-minute walk on the border of the seediest areas of the city from the closest rail station.
Streets looked even rougher than what I’ve been used to in the rougher parts of NYC – like a combination of industrial bits of Red Hook and some East New York streets I saw on Google Maps – and I’d been walking around at night, in a fancy Gucci coat for the event – really asking to be jumped if I did go for it.
After toiling with the decision for several days, decided to abandon heading here and to check out another neighbourhood called Ironbound (also known as Little Portugal), which was southeast of NJPAC and much more walkable (and safer). Read up more about Newark and became more informed about it as a whole, and decided to play it safer for the first visit, since the level of blight is almost at a city-wide level.
Made some final preparations of a rough itinerary of which places to hit up in the Ironbound section (wasn’t easy too, had a ton of nice restaurants/cafes to check out) and made my way over that afternoon.
After reaching Newark Penn Station, tried to orientate myself a little about the surrounding areas, since I’d be passing through again to get to NJPAC later that evening. Snapped a photo of this monument while walking by, and took a lot of effort to find the meaning behind it (finally succeeded in finding out tonight – failed on previous attempts).
There is also a poem, inscribed by a local city councilman, at the base of the monument.
More recently, saw on a Reddit thread about Newark that the quote has been defaced though..
Moving on into Ferry Street, the main thoroughfare of the Ironbound neighbourhood, was welcomed by this banner.
I didn’t check Google Street View much for this area, so it was actually a nice surprise and a pleasant walk through the area, as I made my way to the restaurant I’d decided on indulging at for the night – Casa d’Paco.
Was already well-versed in their menu, and immediately ordered a paella Casa d’Paco, before they’d even asked if I’d like to see the menu.
Had a lengthy chat with the server here, who hailed from Caracas, Venezuela. I name-dropped having had arepas at a couple of spots around NYC and his eyes immediately lit up (it’s always amazing when food becomes that bridge for building connections across cultures). I knew enough about how bad the situation was in Venezuela, and asked him about it. He said he got out of there almost a decade ago, and was so thankful all the time that he managed to make it out, before it became a total anarchy in some parts of Caracas. He was a firm believer of the American Dream and just having the opportunity to work in the US already meant the world to him. I just had a lot of respect for the grit he had and he had that sort of hustler/go-getter + fire in his belly vibe, since he started with almost nothing but an opportunity to work in the US and build his way up from that opportunity.
We were suddenly interrupted by the arrival of my paella, and it was an absolutely monstrous portion!
At this point, it became abundantly clear that this portion was meant for 2 people (it wasn’t stated in the menu) – should have known better since I’d already seen photos of it on Google Reviews, but didn’t have a sense of scale of how large it would be.
Throughout the meal, we chatted about more light-hearted stuff, including where I was from/where I was staying in NYC and how did I find NYC so far. Another server joined in at the bar after a while, and I eventually asked if they’d seen anyone finish this on their own, and the two servers laughed and said so far, nope. I half-jokingly said they should make this an eating challenge, and give this to me for free if I could finish it and they said they’d consider it haha – really nice guys. I tapped out at about the halfway point – then one of them cheekily said, “That means no free paella on the house though, are you sure?” and I tried feebly to make a comeback by saying in life, you sometimes have to know when to throw in the towel. They packed the rest of it into two flat takeaway bowls (which filled up almost all the way) – just nice that I could stuff them into my bag.
Gave my server a little extra over the usual 20% and as I was about to leave, he popped back by the bar again after serving another table to give me a fist bump – really nice guy. Really wanted to bring my friend back to try this place and at the time, fully expected to return to Newark at least once more, but sadly, that never materialised..
Stepped out of the restaurant at about 5.40pm to find that night had fallen over the area. The streets comparatively were not as well-lit as what I was used to in NYC, but it was more of a calm vibe than anything else. Making my way back to Ferry Street, a slight drizzle started to come on – I usually have an umbrella on hand, but I just personally like the feeling of the small droplets on rain falling on my face (to the chagrin of my Asian mother when she has to beg me to use an umbrella as a kid all the time).
After half a mile, finally reached another spot I had my eye on – Teixeira’s Bakery.
The owner, Manual Teixeira, started this bakery in Newark in 1980, but hails from a family that has been baking for a staggering 150 years! Even though private investors took over the bakery in 2001, you would not be able to tell it from the mom-and-pop store atmosphere within. The entire shop was lined with all sorts of baked treats and I took a few moments to admire their array of pastries, cakes and ever
Like a kid in a candy store, it was very hard to resist not ordering one of each item that caught my eye – as I usually did in other bakery stores like Rudy’s Pastry Shop in Ridgewood, Queens. But still being very full from the paella, I decided to be disciplined and got one of their specialties – the Pastéis de Nata, or what most Singaporeans would know as, the Portugese egg/custard tart.
Should have just ordered half a dozen to go, but somehow I thought I’d be returning to Newark again really soon and decided to just get ONE (really stupid eh, after coming all the way here..). There were actually quite a few tables in the bakery and it would not be a bad place to spend an afternoon.
Exited the bakery to find that the drizzle was getting slightly heavier, though I still decided to soldier on without an umbrella. I really liked walking through Ferry Street – a lot of shops were already closed, but it was still nice to check out what they were selling. Remembered seeing a somewhat tacky menswear store, with suits that looked like they dated back to the 90s, with huge star-shaped price tags, at the storefront. Another shop sold kids’ toys, such as four-wheeled bicycles – think the stores in the main neighbourhood thoroughfare really helps to paint a picture of what demographic is living in the area.
While passing through Newark Penn Station again (this time at night) – couldn’t help being reminded of the Brussels-Noord area where the Rue de Quatrecht cuts across the station from Schaerbeek (though this was more run-down, with people publicly urinating and hobo-ing around – I suspect during the warmer months, one might see similar views in Newark Penn Station too though).
Was a pretty far walk (about 1.1 miles), but soon I spotted the NJPAC from afar – I was the only one walking these streets, while everyone else was driving through. Turns out I was standing right next to the FBI building while taking the photo below.
Walked through a bus terminal with not another soul around, before finally reaching the entrance of the NJPAC. There was a bag check at the entrance and the chap took out my paella and custard tart, before reminding me with a slight grin not to eat this inside and I assured him resoundingly that I won’t take them out haha.
After clearing security, saw a poster of the main event that was taking place that night.
The NJPAC actually looked pretty swanky and well-maintained – definitely could not tell that it’s been around since 1997. Found a bench along one of the alcoves and tried to do some reading, before more people eventually streamed in.
There was an announcement that we could head to our seats and I eagerly leapt up and bounded off to the nearest usher. Had a nice central view, although was a tad far away on the upper floor.
Sharing some photos of Colbert with his usual banter to soften up the crowd:
And after Meryl Streep joined him on stage:
And then Colbert made martinis (with a lot of theatrics) for both of them on-stage:
Will not pretend I remember most of what was said that night – was in a bit of a stupor with the food coma. Found a page that describes bits of what I can recall, so I will defer to that here if you are interested in what they talked about during the event.
After about two hours or so, the event came to a close, and I was inwardly groaning about the somewhat tiresome journey back to NYC (including the same walk back to Newark Penn Station). Streets were even quieter during my walk back (everyone else had the good sense not to walk around late at night in Newark I guess), but definitely nothing dodgy or shady.
Initially made plans to return to the Newark Museum of Art, and dressing down (a lot!) to make the trip to Redwood Cafe Supper Club to get my hands on those ribs – but December passed so quickly and there was so much to explore and do in NYC that those plans fell by the wayside 😦
On hindsight, I probably still wasn’t fully aware of how rough things might be in Newark (or at least, I still hadn’t fully committed to make the trip, and didn’t do my homework about the area thoroughly yet). I knew Newark has always had a rough reputation, but still did not realise what city-wide urban blight looked like (in NYC, it’s usually at a neighbourhood-cluster level at most, like the South Bronx or Brownsville/East New York). Think I would have had a heart-thumping walk back to the rail station in the evening if I did go for those ribs.
Historically, there’s been a ton of problems plaguing Newark, especially the 1967 Newark Riots – don’t think the city has managed to fully walk out from under its shadow from all those decades ago – along with lead-contaminated drinking water (though the turnaround with replacing lead pipes throughout the city moved along surprisingly fast – in 3 years, instead of the projected 10 years).
Was also checking out recent videos of Newark, including a video of a young family moving into Newark without doing much research beforehand(?!) – and facing the consequences. Pretty sure there’s more decent soul food spots to discover throughout the various neighbourhoods here, but you definitely can’t go wrong with spending a day in the Ironbound section – perfectly safe, tons of great food options and quite off-the-radar too.
Oh and how did the Portugese custard tart taste? I feel like I didn’t have it at its best since I brought it home and refrigerated it before heating it up in the oven again the next day, but it was still fairly decent.
Have a couple of smaller adventures to cover (mostly in the Bronx), but will have to see when I have time to write about them again (don’t expect anything anytime soon).
Would you venture into the rough streets of Newark to get your hands on some authentic soul food in the hood? 😀
Finding hidden gems in the underbelly of NYC 