Fauborg is our go to for a nice night out. In fact we are going on the 30th since it was way easier to get a sitter than on NYE. We've also had great meals at Turtle + Wolf and Mesob. We haven't been to Mesob since they flooded so I'm not sure if they are back 100%. Samba has some fantastic food but their customer service has become militant since covid so I'm not sure we will be back soon after a weird lunch a few months ago. I'm interested in Porto but haven't been yet.

We haven't been to it yet since the changeover but Parkside Social in Verona looks promising. It used to be Ariane which was our favorite. Bloom in Verona is also very good, we recently did an anniversary dinner there. The menu is small and Korean/French fusion so you might want to do some recon first to make sure it's up your alley.

In Caldwell there's a BYO tapas restaurant called Xunta that we like to bring family and friends to because most people have never been to an authentic tapas restaurant around here. Bring a bottle of wine for their sangria and I think you'd be very happy with how far that $150 goes.

A little further west from when we lived in Parsippany is a little strip mall BYO Italian place called Gourmet Cafe. Unassuming and surprising with a friendly executive chef who greets every table and loves to share his homemade limoncello.

My wife's company has given her "get dinner on us" offers in the past and after her supervisor promised there was no limit or strings attached we lived it up at Ruth Chris on the company card. There's one in Parsippany and Short Hills.