CASINO NIGHT, MUSIC, POETRY, LOOKING FORWARD

We are honored to have been chosen by the Frenchtown Lion's Club as the venue for their 75th anniversary celebration!  They do so much for the children in our area, that we're thrilled to be gearing up for next Saturday night's Frenchtown Lion's Club Casino Night fundraiser, 7 - 11 p.m. ... it's going to be FUN, FUN, FUN.  We hope you'll join us too, and support this wonderful organization that strives day in and day out to raise money for projects that impact the lives of children and their families, right here, in our community.  Last year they helped 170 children in Hunterdon County.  And you have to see just what they have planned to make sure the winter blues disappear next Saturday night!

Alright, how do you get involved?  Contact Pete directly (908.996.3200) or contact Sally/Andy at 908.996.7900 or via email.  The tickets are just $95/couple or $50/person and include a specially designed menu by The National Hotel and 1 beverage.  You'll get $75 in Casino Money to be used for Casino PRIZES at the end of the evening.  What's not to love about this special night to close out this bitterly cold January month?!  Do come out and support our local institutions and let them know how much you appreciate the humanitarian work they've done for the past 75 years.

  

  

And January isn't over yet.  There's still over a week left to enjoy the snow, the ice storms, the incredibly cold temperatures we've had--and for those of us with children, the school closings and delayed openings.  But yesterday as we brought in the firewood into The National Hotel's cellar pub, The Rat, I realized what a great month it's been already.  It might be 8 degrees Fahrenheit outside, but inside, next to that beautiful wood-burning fireplace, with a drink in hand and listening to the melodic sounds of Teri Rambo and Jesse Ketchel last night...there's just no better way to spend a January evening.

And just wait until next week, when we have Beannacht on Saturday evening, and then Chuck Schaeffer brings the house to their feet on Sunday the 30th.  He's actually going to celebrate his 40th birthday with us that Sunday.  He's one of our faves and has never disappointed, sharing his unique sounds featuring contemporary music, rockabilly, americana, and folk music.  Oh yes, foot-stomping, get-off-your-seat-and-dance kind of music.

Photo courtesy of Lois Heyman

It's truly been quite a month!  We were featured in Lois Heyman's Food Blog (The Food Chain), as well as her food column in The Courier News and MyCentralJersey.com.  Thank you, Lois, for the detail with which you covered our executive chef's accomplishments.  Lisa Frederick has been with The National Hotel since we opened, but some months ago, she became our executive chef and has been instrumental in incorporating many of the ethnic and exotic flavors and ingredients into our new menu.  Lois' coverage of Lisa's new status and ability to translate our vision for meals that consistently exceed expectations, providing visually stimulating dishes that tickle all the other senses, while still creating classic all-American favorites, summed it all up.  Kudos to Lisa and her staff!

More kudos to give out:  our local musicians and artists, who come week after week to inspire us, to entertain us, and to make sure we all get out of our homes and escape that dreaded winter "cabin fever."  They bring their favorite songs, and they bring the songs they've composed that they want to share with us and our friends.  I don't think that 2011 could have started off better than to know that we already had a line-up of musicians willing to commit to come to Frenchtown, NJ, regardless of the weather, right from the beginning of the New Year.  And equally important, are you, our friends, our patrons, who also come out, whether it be on Wednesday evenings for our By the Fireplace singer/songwriter series, our Thursday Open Mic Night (actually, Alex Wolfson renamed that:  The Frenchtown Underground!!), our Saturday Night Live Music series, or for our Sunday Musical Afternoon series.  Check out some past performers:





And let's not forget about our monthly poetry open mic, the People's Poetry, on the 3rd Sunday of every month from 2 - 4 p.m. in our Rathskeller Pub Lounge.  We were disappointed to have had to cancel December's installment due to our broken boiler situation, but we're off to a great start having had many of our good friends take the mike last Sunday, the 16th.  Here are some webclips from previous months--and there are others posted on our youtube channel:





For more up-to-date information, like us on facebook, follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our youtube channel, follow this blog, or visit our website.  Thank you for making us feel so welcome.  Pete and I truly feel like you've embraced us, like you've wrapped your arms around us and are holding on tight.  And so will we. Let us know if there's anything else that you'd like us to do, to add to our programming, or just send us your contact information (either by posting a comment below or sending it to marie@thenationalhotelnj.com) so we can add you to our e-distribution list for upcoming events and information.  Thank you again, and best wishes for a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2011!