Breakfast (and more) for Dinner, Diner Style

Every once in a while, eating breakfast for dinner is a must. It's equally rebellious and delicious, and quirky enough to somehow make the food taste better—waffles eaten with eyes widen open rather than half closed can be that way.

On a recent Thursday night at about 6 p.m., my appetitie said it was time for breakfast, and who was I to argue? I grabbed the car keys, and taking along my usual breakfast companion—my son, Nick—I drove over to the Caldwell Diner.

They've Built It and They've Been Coming

The location of the Caldwell Diner at 332 Bloomfield Ave., was previously the spot of The Colony, another diner that this writer frequently visited during his youth.

While logic dictates that as long as the food is decent, customers will continue to dine at an establishment even after it's changed ownership.

But resting on laurels is not on the menu with Caldwell Diner owners Penny and Gus Apostolopoulos, who have exceeded expectations with a selection that's a cut above the rest, while retaining old-school classic diner charm.

The couple also owns the nearby Taximi Restaurant and Bruschetta: An Italian Experience in Fairfield.

A Diner Design With Distinction

Outside of the Caldwell Diner, there's a botanical blast of flowers along the building, making the most of a somewhat compromised locale and parking lot layout.

Inside, the front area contains the counter and a battery of booths that uses "diner-standard" only as a starting point. There's stylish tile at the counter and some recessed lighting in the ceiling. The most unique feature comes from walls, where there are hand-painted floral patterns. The vivid art prompted my son to exclaim, "someone drew on the walls!"

The back dining room (where the salad bar is also located) is away from the kitchen access and more restaurant-like, featuring soft orange and tan hues, framed artwork and additional ornamentation on the walls.

A Smart Menu

The breakfast menu is not extensive. Instead, it has enough of everything you'll probably want and is not heavily padded with unusual concoctions.

Pancakes, French toast and egg dishes (including omelettes) are all offered. Surprisingly, there are no waffles in sight.

A special emphasis is placed on the toasted bagels, smoked salmon and bermuda onion combination.

For this special visit, I opted for French toast ($7.50), a spinach and feta omelette with egg whites ($6.50) and decaf java.

"The Kid" went for a couple of eggs over easy and bacon ($6.50) with a side of pancakes ($4.95). He opted to wash it down with a chocolate milkshake ($4.50). His commercial-like impressions: "thick, rich and chocolatey—with ice chunks in it. It's good."

After our waitress, Mary, took our order, we started talking with the Starkes in the next booth over. The Verona couple was actually eating dinner food.

"Yes, we do come here often," Carlene Starke said as she literally finished eating. Her pork chops were "delicious."

Her husband, Bill, was also pleased with his Chicken Oreganato. Moving his doggie bag aside for an arriving hunk of strawberry cheesecake, he noted the size of his dinner and said, "I'll get a couple more meals out of it."

The Starkes were taking advantage of the diner's current Monday through Thursday dinner special, which if you're not doing breakfast for dinner, is an amazing way to go.

The special, which runs from 5 to 8 p.m., includes a choice of dinner entrees—each for $10—that range from Mediterranean Sole to Veal Marengo, a dish of slow braised cubes of veal with shallots and mushrooms in a "bouquet of herbs" over pasta.

As Mary gave them forks, Carlene Starke added, "The staff is very nice ... (you can tell) they work hard at that."

Good Morning, Dinner Food

Just then, our pancakes and French toast arrived, along with a big container of Aunt Jemima syrup.

Nick's flapjacks were fairly large, well-cooked on the outside and of medium consistency fluff wise—he enjoyed them.

The French toast was excellent. Two, six-inch long, almost two-inch high hunks of Challah bread were on my plate and done up in style with a generous amount of powdered sugar. Once making contact with them, my syrup immediately absorbed into the "toast." A little butter (from individually wrapped patties) completed the dish.

We were ready for our egg plates soon enough.

Nick enjoyed his eggs. The diner's "over easy" was "medium" cooking wise, which meant that he could use the wheat toast to get to the yolk of things.

My omelette was good; it was more feta than spinach, which was diced, and had a lot of flavor. It was uniform overall, cooked just right.

Though certainly fine—we still ate them up—I was surprised that the home fries and bacon weren't up to the same high standards of the French toast and omelette.

More than a Typical Diner

After we collected ourselves, I spoke a bit with Penny Apostolopoulos, who was in full hostess and working-the-register mode, but all smiles as she greeted each customer warmly.

She said the Caldwell Diner prides itself on providing an all-around menu that's more than just breakfast.

"We feel we're more than a diner," she said. "Diners sometimes get a bad rap. 'Oh, the food isn't really good.' But, look at our dinner specials ... people tell me that they are great. That's how we know we're good."

Address: 332 Bloomfield Ave., Caldwell

Phone: 973-228-2855

Web site: www.caldwelldiner.com

Serving: Sunday to Thursday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Cost: $—Affordable

Recommended: The French toast

Bottom Line: For breakfast anytime, the Caldwell Diner is simple and delicious.