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New York Fries, a concept featuring a variety of plain and loaded fresh cut, cooked-to-order French fries, recently made its New Jersey debut.

Located in the dining pavilion at Menlo Park Mall in Edison, the corporate-owned outpost opened Feb. 11 as the brand’s second restaurant in the U.S.

Billed as a “premium French fry restaurant,” New York Fries’ niche menu consists of fries made with Idaho potatoes cooked in non-hydrogenated sunflower oil and served plain or loaded with toppings, like beef chili, pulled pork, queso and crumbled bacon.

Additionally, the concept serves a classic Canadian delicacy, poutine, topped with beef gravy and Wisconsin cheese curds, as well as all-beef grilled hot dogs with an array of loaded options. The menu also includes vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free items.

After starting 40 years ago as a small fry shop at Manhattan’s South Street Seaport, the brand went on to become a staple at food courts throughout Canada.

Now owned by Recipe Restaurant Group, a Canadian food conglomerate, the chain has more than 130 locations through Canada and the Middle East. Last month, New York Fries returned to the U.S., unveiling a spot on Long Island at Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City.

The fries have it

The brand expects to follow up its Edison launch with an opening at Newport Centre in Jersey City during the first quarter of 2024.

New York Fries at Menlo Park is open Monday to Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday noon to 6 p.m.

A grand opening ceremony with Edison Mayor Sam Joshi is scheduled for Feb. 29, according to New York Fries.

“Off the heels of our exciting reentrance into the United States with our Roosevelt Field Mall opening, expanding into New Jersey is an amazing next step towards our continued growth across the East Coast and beyond,” Craig Burt, New York Fries’ chief operating officer said in a statement.

“We’ve received such a warm welcome from our opening in Long Island and expect a similar response from the Edison community. We’re thrilled to bring our premium fresh-cut fries to guests across the area and can’t wait for Menlo Park mall goers to try the perfect French fry,” he added.

EDISON, N.J. — The opening of New York Fries at Menlo Park Mall is bringing a new kind of sizzle to the local foodie scene.

New York Fries offers a gourmet take on the fresh-cut fries concept, and it had its official New Jersey grand opening Feb. 29 at the mall, with Mayor Sam Joshi leading the township presence.

"New York Fries has opened its first location in New Jersey and second in the USA right here @menloparkmall Edison. They serve high quality fries with all kinds of toppings. Check it out!" the mayor posted.

With its soft opening earlier last month, the Edison restaurant is the brand’s second restaurant to open within the U.S. this year, the company says, with its first at a Long Island mall.

Under its NYF logo, the company has more than 100 restaurants across Canada and 25 throughout the Middle East. So the next time you're at the Dubai Mall, stop by!

Find out what's happening in Edison-Metuchenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The company's name originates from the two New York City brothers who came up with the idea, the company says, but made it happen in Canada. Now its coming back home, in a way, to the metro area.

It's an admittedly niche menu, with high-quality, fresh-cut fries that are cooked to order.

New York Fries, operated under Recipe Restaurant Group, features fries made with Idaho potatoes, served plain or loaded with a variety of toppings, including beef chili, pulled pork, queso and crumbled bacon.

Also on the menu is a classic Canadian delicacy - poutine - topped with beef gravy and Wisconsin cheese curds for guests across Edison to discover and enjoy.

Additionally, the New York Fries menu features all-beef grilled hot dogs and an array of loaded "dog" options. Ingredients are sourced from Idaho and other local sources here and in Canada, the company says.

New York Fries offers a selection of vegetarian options and the fries are gluten free and vegan, the company says. Potatoes are cooked in non-hydrogenated sunflower oil, using a three-stage method. As nothing else goes into the fryers except potatoes, the brand can appeal to those with dietary and allergen restrictions, serving vegan, vegetarian and gluten-friendly items.

Also recently, there was an opening of the restaurant in Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island, the company's first location. One is planned for Smith Haven Mall in Long Island and now Newport Center in Jersey City later this fiscal quarter, the company says. The locations are corporate owned.

"Expanding into New Jersey is an amazing next step towards our continued growth across the East Coast and beyond,” said Craig Burt, Chief Operating Officer at New York Fries. “We’ve received such a warm welcome from our opening in Long Island and expect a similar response from the Edison community. We’re thrilled to bring our premium fresh-cut fries to guests across the area and can’t wait for Menlo Park mall goers to try the perfect French fry.”

Here are some helpful tips about the new Edison restaurant:

The Canadian 130-plus restaurant chain is located in all major mall food courts there, as well as select highway rest stop locations, the company says.

As for its parent company, founded in 1883, Recipe Restaurant Group is Canada’s largest full-service restaurant group, and the brands sound intriguing:

The company franchises and/or operates such brands as Swiss Chalet, Harvey’s, St-Hubert, The Keg, Montana’s, Kelseys, East Side Mario’s, New York Fries, Bier Markt, The Landing Group of Restaurants, Original Joe’s, State & Main, Elephant & Castle, The Burger’s Priest, The Pickle Barrel, Marigolds & Onions, Blanco Cantina, Añejo, Fresh Kitchen and Juice Bar.

More information about the Company is available at http://www.recipeunlimited.com.

The Veteran’s Memorial Home at Menlo Park in Edison, which was the target of federal sanctions earlier this year over major shortcomings in care, has embarked on a costly, months-long mold remediation project after a whistleblower said he raised an alarm over conditions in the building.

Officials would neither confirm the presence of mold, nor rule it out, describing the dark staining on walls that could be seen in photos of the facility only as a “discoloration.”

At least 11 rooms were found to have discolored drywall, according to officials at the 312-bed state-operated nursing home for veterans and their spouses. They said the problems were discovered not by the whistleblower, but in the course of regular inspections.

“We are concerned about mold,” acknowledged Lisa Kranis, the chief executive officer at Menlo Park, in a letter to staff, residents and families last Friday. She said an outside consultant conducted two site visits the week of May 15, leading to the decision to immediately move forward with an abatement plan.

“Abatement will involve cutting and replacing portions of the drywall in impacted rooms,” she wrote.

Another 17 rooms had leaky toilet issues, which officials blamed on failed wax rings.

The cost of the entire project was estimated at approximately $500,000, said a spokeswoman for the facility.

In a followup letter to staff and residents on Thursday, Kranis said standard practice was to conduct mold testing at the conclusion of abatement. But she noted that an air sample “pre-test” will be conducted to “help inform the level of effort required for the abatement.”

A maintenance worker and painter who claimed he was suspended after refusing to just paint over the stained drywall, however, said there was extensive mold behind many walls.

“The whole building is full of mold. They are just remediating what they find,” complained Jean Lormine, a former union leader who is appealing his suspension. “I reported it to my supervisor, but they did nothing about it.”

He said mold has to be tested, treated and remediated.

“Even if they wipe it down, the mold is still there,” he said. “You need a deep cleaning.”

Earlier this year, the facility was hit with more than $340,000 in federal penalties, following charges of improper care and abuse that put the lives of residents in “immediate jeopardy” and threatened a shutdown of the facility. Those violations led to a suspension of new admissions by the state Department of Health and a warning that the facility could be terminated from federal assistance programs.

State officials in February indicated that they had turned the corner at Menlo Park, announcing that the facility had improved its infection control strategies, made key personnel changes, and had been permitted to resume admissions.

In response to the staining and leaks, the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, or DMAVA, said it has developed a contractual work order for the scope of repair work of the walls and plumbing.

The agency said it just finalized two purchase orders, one to retain an outside firm for inspections and consulting and the second for the actual abatement work.

In her letter, Kranis said the wall and toilet issues were uncovered during scheduled routine maintenance as part of a deep cleaning and inspection of each occupied room at Menlo Park.

“To do this, in small groups of rooms at a time, we ask residents to relocate for 1-2 days in order to allow our facility staff the chance to move the furniture and furnishings to thoroughly inspect the residents’ rooms and bathrooms,” she wrote.

When one resident room was found to have discolored drywall on May 4, the maintenance staff and DMAVA’s Environmental Management Branch began conducting multiple maintenance checks, leading to the identification of more than two dozen rooms with issues, officials said.

“We relocated all of the residents from these 28 rooms to mitigate any health concerns and to avoid further disrupting them with the work and testing ahead,” Kranis wrote. “We are treating the issues we see as mold, however the industry standard for mold testing is the sampling of both outside air and internal air, and comparing the findings at the end of abatement.”

Sampling will be done in each room where the abatement work is ongoing upon completion. Air ducts will be inspected as well, she said.

A spokeswoman said the work is planned to continue over several months.

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A New Jersey investigative agency issued a scathing report about state-run veterans homes' response to the COVID-19 crisis, noting "an astounding number of deaths in mere weeks" — more than 200 residents and staff members at facilities in Paramus, Menlo Park and Vineland.

Vineland, though, fared better in the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation report than its North Jersey counterparts.

COVID infections spread later to South Jersey, and with infection rates here "far lower," the report states, Vineland's veterans home "had a warehouse full of (personal protective) equipment with no shortages," even as the Paramus and Menlo Park facilities struggled with supplying masks, tests and other material to employees fearful of getting sick and bringing the illness home to their own families.

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Communication with patients' loved ones was difficult at Menlo Park and Paramus, where residents had to share a limited number of electronic devices for FaceTime and other communications, and facilities' WiFi access was unreliable, forcing some to rely on hotspots.

Menlo Park and Paramus, built in 1999 and 1986 respectively, were not physically set up to quarantine or isolate sick patients, the report added, and it was challenging to move sick patients through facilities without exposing them to others.

However, "Vineland is a modern facility that starkly contrasts with the other properties," the report states. A 2005 redesign meant the facility has upgraded WiFi. Residents also had communal living areas spread throughout the facility, as well as recreational spaces, a large patio area and other amenities like a bowling alley, movie theater, salon and bank.

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"Some of the building’s features, and given that COVID infection rates were lower in the southern portion of New Jersey and at the Vineland home during the pandemic, enabled it to more easily cohort residents, reduce the spread of the virus and permit residents to continue to engage in activities," the report says.

The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation presented its findings to Gov. Phil Murphy and members of the state Legislature. Among the hardest-hit states early in the 2020 pandemic, New Jersey saw its most vulnerable populations, including the elderly and disabled, devastated, especially as virus raged through group living facilities like nursing homes.

"Three years later, with the public health emergency now over and more than 35,000 New Jerseyans' lives lost to COVID-related causes, the public deserves a full accounting of what led to the extreme devastation inside the veterans homes," the report says.

The state was "wholly unprepared for the devastating virus and the havoc wreak inside the residences," it says, alluding to a federal Department of Justice investigation that found the state failed to keep veterans in its care safe.

"Further, it found ongoing failures by management continue to leave them in peril," the report adds.

The report points to failures including "massive absenteeism" among staff members early in the pandemic, which left residents without basic care; a lack of means to get employees to report to work or to find replacements for them, as staffing agencies refused to fill vacancies due to the state's low per diem reimbursement rates; failures to communicate rapidly-changing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control to managers at veterans homes; the absence of a system for family members to receive updates and communication from loved ones in the facilities; and outdated physical layouts in Paramus and Menlo Park that weren't designed for quarantining sick patients.

The three facilities, which care for nearly 950 residents, are available for honorably discharged veterans and their spouses, as well as parents of those who lost their lives in a wartime military action.

Phaedra Trethan has been a reporter and editor in South Jersey since 2007 and has called the region home since 1971. Contact her at ptrethan@gannettnj.com, on Twitter @wordsbyPhaedra, or by phone at 856.486-2417.

Two state-run veterans homes that saw a high number of deaths related to COVID-19 would get mandatory upgrades under a new bill advanced in the Legislature’s lower chamber Monday.

The bill (A4923) would require the state veterans homes in Menlo Park and Paramus to convert at least one ward each to single occupancy rooms. Those rooms would be required to be equipped with ventilation systems that would prevent the spread of harmful airborne particles, and both homes would need to upgrade their heating and ventilation systems.

Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker (D-Essex), prime sponsor of the bill, said during a hearing of the Assembly Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee that the main goal of the legislation is to ensure the upgrades will be funded. The measure calls for federal funds to be allocated to complete the conversions and upgrades, with state funds used if federal funding is not sufficient.

“I know as time goes on, years go on, standards change, and we have to make sure that these two nursing homes get a chance to have the proper opportunity to bring their facilities up to the standard that is required,” said Tucker, the committee’s chair.

COVID-19 devastated the two nursing homes, which saw 200 deaths of residents and staff members and more than 400 infections as the virus initially swept through the state. Since then, a report from state health inspectors reported episodes of improper care and abuse in Menlo Park, the federal government halted admissions to Menlo Park and threatened to cut off funding, and Gov. Phil Murphy announced his administration would outsource management of the Paramus, Menlo Park, and Vineland veterans homes to a private vendor.

The Murphy administration has faced criticism over how it managed COVID-19 outbreaks at veterans homes and nursing homes across the state. According to NorthJersey.com, a November 2021 outbreak in the Menlo Park facility led to 17 deaths and hundreds of infections, while a federal inspection found employees of the Paramus facility allowed COVID-positive residents to mingle with those who were not testing positive.

Robert McNulty of the Vietnam Veterans of America criticized the bill as a knee-jerk reaction to COVID-19, pointing to its exclusion of the nursing home in Vineland and noting that extended construction could close off wings in the homes, limiting how many people can be admitted. Adding an additional wing would be preferred, he said, because that would lead to fewer disruptions for residents.

“We need to do it systemwide across all three homes, and we want to do it in a fashion that we’re not here five years from now still waiting to raise a hammer. There’s no guarantee in this bill that any of that’s going to occur,” said McNulty.

Tucker said the Vineland home isn’t included because it’s in “much better shape than the other two facilities.”

Luddie Austin of the New Jersey Veterans of Foreign Wars said the pandemic exposed problems that veterans were experiencing in the places they call home. Austin praised the bill as a call to action and stressed a sense of urgency in helping the struggling homes.

“They have that right to live comfortably, and by adding these extra expansions in these two homes, and later down the line we see that it’s working, then we build another memorial home in the state of New Jersey,” he said. “But this bill is crucial to help out veterans who are currently living in those two facilities.”

Assemblyman Alex Sauickie (R-Ocean) echoed some of McNulty’s testimony, including his concerns over excluding Vineland and the potential loss of beds.

“We need more beds at these homes. We need more homes in general,” he said.

The bill unanimously advanced, with Sauickie agreeing to vote for it on the floor of the Assembly if language is updated to include more funding. A Senate companion bill was introduced last week in the Senate Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which does not have a future meeting schedule.

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