Millburn-Short Hills Magazine Back to School 2020 | Page 6

BUZZWORTHY To be considered for Buzzworthy, contact Cindy Schweich Handler at [email protected] West Orange LUNA STAGE WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD The LUNA STAGE theatrical company has been awarded a $50,000 grant from The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation to support the company’s ongoing work in 2020-2021. “We are deeply grateful for the Dodge Foundation’s ongoing support as we continue creating meaningful work during the current pandemic,” says Luna Stage Artistic Director Ari Laura Kreith. While the company’s 2019- 2020 MainStage and American Voices series have been rescheduled, it continues to produce a wide range of virtual programs. Performances include The Voting Writes Project, for which the company received a National Endowment for the Arts grant last month, and a year-long collaboration with Ping Chong + Company to create an original play inspired by stories and history from the city of Orange. Maplewood and Summit ANI EXPRESS DELIVERS FOR RAMEN-LOVERS North Jersey residents can’t enjoy the full ANI RAMEN restaurant experience during the pandemic, but they can get the next best thing: Ani Express, an abbreviated menu of takeout and delivery options available at their Montclair, Jersey City, Maplewood and Summit locations. “Instead of six ramens, we are offering three,” says owner and CEO Israel Jiles. Other offerings include bao buns, Japanese-style fried chicken, add-ons such as kimchi and fried tofu, and green tea. To keep the soup from arriving cold or the noodles soggy, Jiles says, each part of the dish is boxed separately, with instructions on how to prepare and reheat. Essentially, diners heat the broth, pour the hot broth over noodles, veggies and other ramen toppings, then “Slurp. Sip. Repeat” — Ani Ramen’s well-known motto. • 149 Maplewood Ave., Maplewood; [phone], and 427 Springfield Avenue, Summit; [phone]; aniramen.com Livingston LITTLE WORDS OF EMPOWERMENT LITTLE WORDS PROJECT, which makes handcrafted bracelets featuring inspirational words, has raised more than $25,000 for Black Girls Code, an organization that focuses on providing technology education for African-American girls. This summer, the jewelry company, which founder Adriana Carrig launched in her parents’ Livingston basement in 2013 (and which Millburn &Short Hills Magazine featured in its Spring 2020 issue), donated 100 percent of the proceeds from their Equality bracelet to the non-profit. Little Words Project has a full-time staff known as the Nice Girl Gang; their bracelets are available online at LittleWordsProject.com and at roughly 1,000 retailers nationwide. Maplewood HAZEL’S COUNTRY KITCHEN OPENS IN MAPLEWOOD Todd Marvel, owner of Sprout, recently opened HAZEL’S COUNTRY KITCHEN, which shares the same space. The concept of the food at Hazel’s is the popular Southern “Meat +3,” said to have been born in Nashville, which includes one hefty Southern protein plus three sides. Offerings include fried chicken, hot chicken sandwich, home-style meatloaf and for non-meat eaters, cauliflower steak. Hazel’s Barn Box includes eight pieces of fried chicken, one pint of mashed potatoes and four slices of house-baked cornbread for $25.99 (you can always share some with the family or afriend or two). • 181A Maplewood Ave., [phone], hazelscountrykitchen.com LUNA: COURTESY OF LUNA STAGE ;CHICKEN: COURTESY OF HAZEL’S COUNTRY KITCHEN; RAMEN: COURTESY OF ANI RAMEN; BRACELET: COURTESY OF STACEY KASPIN 4 BACK TOSCHOOL 2020 MILLBURN &SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE