It was Christmas 1996. My family and another family in the
neighborhood hired a caterer to prepare our Christmas dinners. Both
families were relatively new in the area. The food was to be
delivered Christmas Eve to both houses but the caterer never showed
up. No one at the business address would even answer the phone. We
tried to go to food markets to buy roasts and supplies but to our
dismay every business was closed for the holidays. In a last ditch
effort we decided to go to Red Bank on Christmas morning to see if
we could locate a restaurant that would help us out.
My friend had heard good things about Danny's Steakhouse and we
decided to see if anyone was there. It was about 9:30 AM. We
knocked on the front door and in a few seconds a gentleman with a
black tee-shirt and apron answered. We explained our dilemma
frantically and he listened with both concern and amusement. He said
that the restaurant would be closed all day. He was actually
preparing Christmas Dinner for his own family. He looked extremely
busy. It was Danny himself. He told us that he would be glad to
help us, but that he would have to see what was available in the
freezer. He asked us to return in 2 to 3 hours and said he would
prepare two separate dinners for each family.
We were obviously relieved but we did not know what to expect. We
returned excitedly with some apprehension. When we entered the bar
area Danny began bringing out trays filled with food. He
prepared penne with vodka sauce, string beans with garlic and oil,
honey glazed carrots, garlic-mashed potatoes, a huge bread basket
with fresh Italian and French baguettes and a mixed green salad.
The main courses were huge sirloin roasts on-bone for which he
provided explicit directions on their preparation. For desert I
seem to remember a beautiful NY Style cheesecake. Both dinners fed
about 20 people each and were huge successes. The food was fresh
and the quality was excellent. It even cost us much less than our
original caterer. But the real story was the quality of the
gentleman who helped strangers on Christmas morning who came
knocking on his door asking for help. We've been customers at
Danny's ever since.
Patrick DeRespinis, MD
Colts Neck
