I love this board. Shut down all the food trucks because they don't pay what restaurants pay, make them have permits, etc etc. But someone with a grill charging $45, serving food in the middle of summer doesn't have to abide by any of these rules??? Sorry, you can't have it both ways. Everyone else has to abide by the food safety rules but Ramon Ruiz doesn't? Give me a break. While I agree the "rules" are ridiculous, either everyone abides by them, or no one does.

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They love "Hush Hush Dining Societies."

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.....what do hipsters have to do with any of this?

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So you've got two request; asking the homeless to leave and to ask nicely. We'll put it on the laundry list.

I've looked on the facebook pages of the Harsimus Cove Cemetery and the website of Underground Supper Club. I've looked at all the copy I could find, announcing and publicizing the event and selling tickets for it.
Nowhere have I found any mention of it being a fundraiser for the cemetery except in the news article written after the event was shut down.

Anyone remember this?

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerse ... 67428329316470.xml&coll=3

I'm sure a lot of people liked the food from that truck too.

And nobody seemed to mind when Ducky's and Dumplings was shut down for violations.

I understand the frustration some people have with getting permits in this city. But the law does apply to establishments, or in this case, non-establishments, that hipsters frequent as well.

I agree that the priorities of the law enforcement need to be closely, closely examined.

Instead of busting up charity events, how about starting out nice and easy by asking the homeless people sleeping in Van Vorst Park to take it elsewhere...

That's awful. The priorities of this City government really need to be examined. The cemetary project is such a worthy cause and they have been working so hard to try to raise much needed funds to preserve a hidden gem in our community. I feel bad for the cemetary and for the chefs who so graciously offered to help.

Perhaps the City should really start enforcing real quality of life issues in this city. For instance, we have graffiti and trash everywhere but the police don't seem to care about finding out who is trashing the streets, businesses and homes of this City. Instead they pick on chefs at a charity event.

This city is so pathetic.

Looks like the Health Inspector decided to take action on this.

Link: Jersey City health inspectors shut down fundraising BBQ at cemetery

A fundraiser for the Historic Jersey City & Harsimus Cove Cemetery in Jersey City was stopped in its tracks Friday when city inspectors buried the event?s ?underground? chef with a slew of health violations.

A ?beautiful event? with flickering candlelight at the Newark Avenue cemetery was ruined, according to Eileen Markenstein, president of the cemetery?s board of trustees.

?I tried to explain (to city inspectors) this was to help our cemetery restoration,? Markenstein said yesterday. ?It was terribly embarrassing. We worked so hard.?

Shortly before 7 p.m. Friday, H. James Boor, the city?s chief inspector with the Division of Health, along with a fire inspector and a police officer arrived at the grounds and found chef Ramon Ruiz Delos Santos, 44, grilling food for the 45 paying guests.

Ruiz, who organizes culinary events under the name ?The Underground Supper Club,? was charged with selling food without a license and preparing food in a residential kitchen for sale, Boor said.

Boor said all food for sale must be prepared in commercial kitchens that have been inspected by state or municipal health inspectors.

The rice was prepared at the Ruiz?s home and food cooked on grills was not being stored in proper containers for keeping the food above 135 degrees, he said..

With a risk the food was contaminated with bacteria, the dishes had to be destroyed, he said.

?If he had been a proper chef, he would have been more prepared, rather than let the food in pans at room temperature,? said Boor. ?The food wasn?t properly handled.?

Ruiz said yesterday the dishes he was preparing for the ?Graveyard Barbecue Bash,? including steak kabobs and organic chicken breasts, were perfectly fine. He had only finished grilling the meats and had checked them to make sure the internal temperatures were correct when the inspectors arrived.

?They (the city inspectors) descended on us like it was a drug bust,? said Ruiz, who has held four previous events in Jersey City.

A former emergency worker at St. Vincent Hospital in New York City, Ruiz said he has been a personal chef since moving to Jersey City two years ago.

He said he went to the Division of Health on March 18 to find out how to obtain a food license but was told that until he had a permanent kitchen authorities could not help him.

The $40- a-ticket fundraiser was completely sold out after being promoted on the cemetery?s website, Markenstein said, adding some of the guests booed as the food was being carted away in a wheel barrow.

?It was a huge drama,? she said. ?It was just unfortunate for a poor little cemetery that is trying so hard to survive.?

I agree entirely. I bet half the restaurants in this town wouldn't pass an inspection. But it's easier to write tickets for this stuff than to actually do anything worthy. You know... like stop open drug dealing on the streets. I guess that would mean the cops would have to stop the car, get out, and put themselves in potential harm.

I think we have far more important laws to enforce....ya know like why is our police chief not a resident of the city....and why our law department thinks its okay to go along with it???

Exactly. Not so secret anymore. I wonder if the board of health will be in attendance?

Correction: it should be "...a formerly hush-hush dining society..."

The Underground Supper Club is a hush-hush dining society in Jersey City.

Ramon Ruiz, the founder of the club, offers an assorted menu that features locally supported agriculture and meats. His main goal is to bring together foodies, art lovers and people from all walks of life to share food and conversation.

To finish the article, click this link:

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... round_supper_club_pl.html