LATIFAH IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF what The New York Times called a “reawakening” in Newark. “Besides an economic resurgence and ambitious real-estate developments, Newark is seeing a much less publicized flowering of artists, writers, and musicians — honest-to-goodness bohemians,” reported the Times. “It may be transforming itself into a cool city.”
And the Queen herself is part of that. “We’re trying to put together some affordable housing, as well as some commercial development,” she says. “Primarily, my dream is to make Newark beautiful, to put some beautiful homes there, and kind of get more of a middle-income population moving back into the downtown area.”
She insists that the distance from her current home in Hollywood to her real home in Newark isn’t all that far.
“I’ll tell you one reason why you should come to Newark,” she says. “The first film was invented in Newark, New Jersey. Invented and created. So if it wasn’t for Newark, our nice little industrial town, Hollywood might not be here.”
When I dare ask for proof, for documentation, she says, “All you gotta do is go to
www.NewarkNewJersey.com, a website the city has that will give you the whole rundown about what Newark is about.”
She’s quickly back on her Newark sales pitch. After breakfast and Branch Brook Park, we’d resume shopping, she says. “You can’t beat downtown Newark. You’ve got all the clothes you want and you can actually haggle with people.”
“You mean, like you can say, ‘I’ll give you $5 for that $10 item?’ ” I inquire.
“Sure,” she says. “When you’re shopping in certain parts of Manhattan, you ain’t making no deals. The price is the price.”
Specifically, Dr. Jay’s and Lady Dr. Jay’s are her spots, she says. “Every time my trainer comes in from L.A., she goes out of her mind when she goes into Lady Dr. Jay’s. It’s like a sporting goods store, but she can never find half the things they have in this one store in all of L.A. And she could never get these kind of deals.”
“All this shopping is making me hungry,” I tell her.
“One of Jersey’s favorite foods,” she announces, “is the Italian hot dog, or an Italian sausage on a quarter piece of round bread. You can get anything you want on it: sautéed onions, peppers, ketchup, the works. There are a bunch of places you can get it, including right on Bransford Place and Holiday Street.”
“And what does Newark have to drink?” I ask.
“Now there’s a good question,” she answers. “You can get drinks at the Theater Square Grill, or you can go right across the street to the Robert Treat Hotel bar and get pretty much anything you like. Me, I like El Patron.”
“A few shots of tequila might make me forget New York City,” I suggest.
“I don’t think you’ll make it back after too many of those, so you’ll have to crash at my place,” she says. “But you shouldn’t be doing all that drinking on an empty stomach anyway,” she continues, as she begins rattling off more dining options.
First and foremost is Maize, the restaurant at the Robert Treat Hotel. “You can get some Asian dishes, some American, some French/Italian. It’s a great mixture,” says Latifah. “The head chef there really has it going on.” But the restaurant she says that would best convince me to forget the Big Apple is John’s Place. “We gotta go to John’s and get us some soul food,” she says. “There is no soul food in Manhattan as good as John’s Place in midtown Newark. I’m sorry, I have eaten at all the spots. It’s good, it’s clean, it’s tasty. Baked chicken and the best short ribs around. It’s also a great bar, and they make a peach daiquiri that’s off the hook.”
Okay, enough, I’m telling her. It’ll be midnight by now, and I’ll have to get back to New York.
“Oh, we would find an after party,” she says. “The good thing is, midnight is too early. You don’t even go to a club until midnight. Clubs don’t close until 4 in the morning in New Jersey, so you don’t have to worry about that. You could sleep at my house, ’cause we’re hanging out.”
So I imagine myself waking up in the palace of the Queen, attempting to slip out the door before she rises and begins hard-selling Newark anew. But I’m too late for that. She’s blocking the doorway before I can make a move, all dressed for a day at the beach.
“We would get up around 9, have breakfast, and then drive out to Jersey’s beaches. We have some of the best beaches around,” she brags. “We would go to Belmar or Point Pleasant. Or maybe even Seaside Heights. They have a nice amusement park. If we go to Point Pleasant, we would go onto the boardwalk, where the stores sell saltwater taffy. Nobody makes it better than we do in New Jersey.”
We’ll race into the sea, the salty spray drenching our hair. “The water is nice and clean,” she insists. “We have so many beaches*, and they’re all really long and wide, and not overcrowded. There’s good surf. You can get good four- to five-foot waves out there on a regular day. There’s jet skiing, boating, and really good fishing in Jersey. We would definitely have to drop a jet ski in the water and play around a bit.”
We’ll be hungry after our swim, she says, so it’s back to the boardwalk, where a cornucopia awaits. “I go to the beach to eat,” she says. “I go there for fried shrimp, fried calamari, pizza, and, of course, hot dogs. You can get all that at Point Pleasant, Belmar, or Seaside Heights. Or you could go to Long Branch or Asbury Park.”
“Honestly, Latifah,” I interject, “thanks for everything, but I have to …”
“You’d be tired from swimming,” she continues, undeterred, “so you’d have to relax for a minute and maybe sack out on the beach for a while. Or if you were really up for some fun, we would drive right on down to Great Adventure. That’s Six Flags, man! There are rides there that would scare you [to death]. If you want to see some animals, they have a huge safari park, and there’s a water park nearby.”
After that, she insists we have dinner in Ironbound, the neighborhood where she once lived, now a melting pot of Spanish, Brazilian, and Portuguese culture, whose dozens of restaurants are all heartily endorsed by the Queen.
“Spain is probably my favorite,” she says. “One of my favorite appetizers is their garlic shrimp. There’s gotta be about 50 shrimp in garlic and olive oil. Another one of the staples, of course, is the paella. Both Spain and another place called Iberia are known for their fresh seafood, lobster, and all kinds of fish dishes. They’ve got good steaks down there, too. You’ll find waiters dressed in white shirts and vests with the little bolero jackets. They usually have a white napkin over their arms and are ready to serve.”
Once dinner is done, and before Latifah can lure me to a house party raging until dawn, I’m back on the train to New York. I envision her running alongside the track as the train begins to roll. Take a walk on the wild side! she seems to be admonishing me. Come to Newark! Join the renaissance! And I’m leaping off the train, surrendering to Latifah, succumbing to Newark.
Because where else can you party in the palace of a queen?
MARK SEAL is an American Way contributing editor whose writing has also appeared in Vanity Fair, Esquire, Playboy, and Time.
Newark: The City of New Jersey
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