AROC-NJ Monthly Breakfast Meet, Jan. 18, 2025

January 19, 2025 RichardReina Events AROC NJ Chapter, Bernards Cafe

The New Jersey Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owner’s Club (AROC) got the 2025 season off to a roaring start with our first monthly breakfast meet, held at the Bernard’s Café in lovely downtown Bernardsville, NJ, on Saturday, January 18, 2025. Ten hardy Chapter members made the trek, enjoying the fine food and comforting coffee as served up by the capable wait staff of the Café.

What did we talk about? Where do I start? Much of the discussion focused on our plans for the year. I’ve long maintained that living in the Northeast as we do, and enduring the winter seasons as we must, only makes us look forward to the coming spring with increased excitement. The group anxiously awaits that first drive of ’25. Meanwhile, all of us with older, classic Alfas have their cars in hibernation. Only Steve and J.P. with their modern Giulia, and John and Fran with their Tonale, drove Alfas to the breakfast.

For many of us, our Alfas are our toy cars, and we have “non Alfa” daily drivers. There was much talk around the table about our ups and downs with our Fords, Saabs, Volvos, Hondas, BMWs, Mazdas, and Kias, among others. This led to an interesting discussion about the prevalence in our daily drivers of modern safety aids such as rear-view and 360-degree cameras, and automatic braking for front collision avoidance. Our hobby-level Alfas have none of this electronic wizardry. Does that make them unsafe to drive? Not by a long shot would undoubtedly be our consensus. Our classic cars are fun to drive, and stick shift transmissions, manual steering, and non-ABS brakes require 100% driver focus at all times. We could make the argument that some so-called modern features, such as touch screens, add to driver distraction. At Volvo, I was taught that “active safety” is another term for accident avoidance, and our older classics have lots of active safety features. Precise steering, excellent handling, abundant outward visibility, and well-placed controls enable the driver to take appropriate evasive action when necessary.

Another hot topic: Stellantis, as in, the parent company of Alfa Romeo, which is having some major business issues at present. Alfa Romeo’s new vehicle sales in the U.S. last year were not great, and while these things don’t necessarily directly affect us right now, all of us want to see the brand thrive. The company is under new management and we’re hoping that there are big changes for the better coming soon.

Once we had finished solving the problems of the world, the group headed back into the winter air. The first day of spring is two months from Monday, and the days are getting longer, so there is plenty to look forward to and to be thankful for, including the continued camaraderie of this group.

From L to R: Bob, Richard, Jay, Steve, J.P., Tony (standing), John, Fran, Gene, and Cathy.

Alfa Romeo Club Monthly Breakfast Meet, Oct. 13, 2024

October 20, 2024 RichardReina Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Jr., Drives, Events AROC NJ Chapter, Bernards Cafe

Our AROC-NJ monthly breakfast tradition continues! On Sunday October 13, several NJ Chapter members met at the Bernards Café in Bernardsville, NJ for a delightful morning meal. As is typical for our group, a mix of older and newer vehicles were in attendance, including ‘60s and ‘70s era Spiders, along with modern Giulias and Stelvios.

The wait staff at the Café did their usual exemplary job in satisfying our appetites, and at the end of the meal, a few members broke off and caravanned to a local farm stand for autumnal goodies. I will conclude by stating that I have been overwhelmingly pleased by the way the NJ Chapter has been able to consistently maintain what is certainly now a Club tradition.

NJ Alfa Club Breakfast Meet, July 21, 2024

July 21, 2024 RichardReina Drives, Events AROC-NJ, Bernards Cafe, Triumph TR-3

Make that seven in a row! The New Jersey Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC-NJ) held its 7^th consecutive breakfast meet on Sunday, July 21, 2024, returning to the charming Bernards Café in charming downtown Bernardsville, NJ. Eleven Chapter members made it to breakfast, arriving in a nice mix of older and newer Alfas. In addition to the two modern Giulias were a 164 sedan, your author’s GT Junior, and 5 Spiders.

We were at the Bernards Café for our Chapter breakfast in May, and we thought highly enough of the food and service to make a return visit. Street parking can be tight, so we parked in the NJ Transit parking lot, a 3-minute stroll. The lot is empty on Sundays, allowing us lots of room to park our Alfas, while also giving us a place to hang out and gab, both before and after the meal.

Chapter member Bill DiPrima, who’s been doing much of the event organizing for us this year, made arrangements for a country drive immediately after breakfast. About 5 drivers took him up on his offer. I needed to head home so I missed the tour this time. If there’s another opportunity later this year, I’ll do my best to join the caravan.

ADDENDA

From Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary:

addendum n, pl -da [L] : something added, esp a supplement to a book

This word, taken directly from the Latin (note the [L]), is neutral (neither masculine nor feminine) with its singular form ending in in -um and plural form ending in -a. I’m using the plural form to name this new blog feature because I intend it to be a recurring item.

Our oldest granddaughter was at our house last month when we decided to visit the local pizzeria. And what did we spot as we left but this gorgeous Triumph TR-3. My granddaughter, who has not expressed any interest at all in Pop’s old cars, jumped out to take a closer look, and I snapped these pics to memorialize the event. Look at that smile!

NJ Alfa Club Breakfast Meet, May 19, 2024

May 19, 2024May 19, 2024 RichardReina Drives, Events AROC, AROC NJ Chapter, Bernards Cafe, The Stable

The NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (NJ-AROC) held its monthly breakfast meet on Sunday May 19, 2024, and we finally caught a break with the weather! As anyone who lives in the metro NY/NJ area knows, it’s been a damp and cool spring; many of the wettest days have occurred on weekends, which has been especially disappointing for those who work Mondays through Fridays. Although it was cool and partly cloudy when I departed my house at 8:15 a.m., by the time I reached Bernardsville, about a 30-minute ride, the sun appeared and had warmed things up nicely.

Our host restaurant was a new choice for this group: The Bernards Café, on Route 202 in lovely downtown Bernardsville. While the café is not as spacious as most diners, it comfortably accommodated the 12 of us, helped by a phone call placed the day before by our café contact Gene. I’m especially pleased to report that this was the first NJ-AROC breakfast where I was able to drive my ’67 GT Junior. We had a nice mix of classic and modern Alfas in attendance, as the photos show.

Four classics and a Stelvio; despite the age differences, the styling link is obvious

The size difference can be a shock when seen side by side

The food, in my opinion, was a step up from your typical diner fare. I have nothing against diners, as their extensive menus and consistent quality mean you will almost always find something to please the palate. However, the Bernards Café was a step above, with a great choice of specialty egg dishes, pancakes, and the like. We were arranged in two tables of 6, and were done with our meal by about 10:30. Rather than hang out near the cars to continue the chit-chat, club member Bill D. had arranged a special visit for us, so we caravanned from Bernardsville to Peapack-Gladstone and paid a visit to the classic car dealership known as The Stable.

Tom, the proprietor, was ready for us. He parked a very rare 1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 outside for us, and opened his showroom, workshop, and lower storage area to our wandering eyes. He even had some coffee and donuts on hand, and of course, a few of us had to dip into the second breakfast of the day. Tom explained a bit of the business’s history: The Stable opened inside an old stable (hence the name) in 1973. At that time, there was a Chevrolet dealership in town just down the street. A few years later, the Chevy dealer closed up (or moved), and The Stable moved into the building which the dealer had vacated, but kept its name.

It appeared that every car on the premises was for sale; most had asking prices posted to the glass. The stock is eclectic: the small showroom held a 2012 Bentley Continental GT and two Jaguar XKs; the workshop was a smattering of mostly British and Italian classics, with a few pre-war domestic cars mixed in; and downstairs held mostly Mercedes-Benzes of various models and model years, as well as a C2 Corvette, a ’54 Buick Roadmaster, a Datsun 1600 roadster, and a few BMWs. As one club member whispered to me, “Many of these cars are not really in saleable condition”, a remark made based on the observation that it looked like these downstairs cars may not have moved under their own power in years. Nevertheless, we appreciated the hospitality, and it’s good to remember that The Stable is probably the closest classic car store to my house. We bid our farewells to each other, I climbed back into my ’67, and 30 minutes later I was home. It was a great day, and I can’t wait to do it again!