🎅Santa Breakfasts & Brunches 🥞!!

Together With

Good morning Monmouth County! It’s an uncharacteristically mellow start to the week so we made up the difference with a pretty sizable list of breakfast/brunch/lunch with Santa events. They tend to fill up fast so be sure to make your reservations sooner than later.

🎅 Santa Breakfasts and Brunches 🥞

🎄 Magic of Lights at PNC

⛄ Winter Wonderland at Holland Ridge Farms

🍜 Wonder is Surprisingly Awesome

🍸 Le Petit Cocktail Club

🎸 Boz Scaggs

🎥 The Last Waltz at The Showroom

🏃‍♀ Two Turkey Trots

🌊 Ocean Temp/Tides

Thunder Road Books is hosting authors Frankie Kineavy and Chris Malleo for a conversation and book-signing event for their new book, “The ChairLeader: Lead Without Limits,” today at 3 p.m. at the Spring Lake Community Theatre. The book outlines nine leadership lessons drawn from the unique partnership of Frankie and Chris who coached football together at the Peddie School.

Frankie is a highly accomplished author, screenwriter, coach, mentor, and advocate from Sea Girt who was born with cerebral palsy and communicates using a letter board with the help of scribes. He graduated from Villanova University in 2014 and spent five years as a journalist focused on disability employment trends. Frankie is also the screenwriter of "Way We Roll" and a local political advocate who aims to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Chris is a Wall High School and Northwestern University alum, former professional football player, coach, author, and entrepreneur who is dedicated to helping people build lives of purpose, power, and impact. After a short professional stint with the New York Giants and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, Chris transitioned to coaching. He served at institutions like Cheshire Academy, The Hun School, and Lawrenceville Academy before becoming the celebrated head football coach at the Peddie School in 2015. At Peddie he he was also an assistant director of Admissions and led his team to a first-place national ranking by implementing a system of culture, belief, and standards.

Brunch with Santa | 11/20, 12/7, 12/14, 12/21 10am-3pm | Bella Vista Country Club (Marlboro) | info

Brunch with Santa | 11/30, 12/7, 12/14, 12/21 10am-3pm | The American Hotel (Freehold) | info

Santa Brunch | 11/30, 12/14, 12/20 11am-2pm | The Bistro-iPlay America (Freehold) | info

Breakfast with Santa | 12/6 9:00 am | Dave & Buster's (Freehold) | info

Brunch with Krampus & Friends | 12/7 10:30 am | Paranormal Museum (Asbury Park) | info

Mickey & Minnie Christmas Brunch | 12/7 11am-2pm | The Bistro-iPlay America (Freehold) | info

Breakfast with Santa | 12/7 9am-12pm | Marlboro Fire Co. (Marlboro) | info

Breakfast with Santa | 12/7 10am-12pm | Acres at Magnolia (Farmingdale) | info

Brunch with Santa | 12/7, 12/21 10am-4pm | The Proving Ground (Highlands) | info

Santa Brunch Cruise | 12/7, 12/13, 12/20, 12/21 10:30am-1:30pm | Seastreak (Highlands) | info

Lunch with Santa | 12/7 11am-3pm | McLoone's Pier House (Long Branch) | info

Breakfast with Santa | 12/13 9:30am-12pm | Amelia's by the Sea (Spring Lake) | info

Breakfast with Santa | 12/13 11am-2pm | Branches (W. Long Branch) | info

Breakfast with Santa | 12/14 9am-11:30am | Jumping Brook Country Club (Neptune) | info

Brunch with Santa | 12/14, 12/21 10am-3pm | McLoone's Pier House (Long Branch) | info

Brunch with Santa | 12/14, 12/21 10am-3pm | The Rum Runner (Sea Bright) | info

Brunch with the Grinch | 12/14 10am-4pm | The Proving Ground (Highlands) | info

Sunday Brunch with Santa | 12/14, 12/21 11am-3pm | MJ's at The Buttonwood Manor (Matawan) | info

Frosty, Grinch, Santa Brunch | 12/21 11am-2pm | The Bistro-iPlay America (Freehold) | info

Miracle Bar | 11/19-1/1 T-Th 4pm-10pm, F 4pm-11pm, S 10am-11pm, Su 10am-9pm | iPlay America (Freehold) | info

U-Pick Tulips: Winter Wonderland | 11/24-11/26 5pm-8pm | Holland Ridge Farms (Cream Ridge) | info

Magic of Lights | 11/24-11/27 5pm-10pm | PNC Arts Center (Holmdel) | info

The Village - Anne Ellen Christmas Tree Farm | 11/25, 11/26 5pm-9pm | Anne Ellen Christmas Tree Farm (Manalapan) | info

Free Community Thanksgiving Dinner | 11/25 5pm-8pm | Walter J. Conley Lodge (Freehold) | info

Thanksgiving Cheese & Charcuterie Board Making Class | 11/25 6:30pm-8:30pm | Taste & Technique (Fair Haven) | info

Thanksgiving | 11/27 12pm-8pm | Pier Village (Long Branch) | info

Miracle Pop-Up Bar at Avenue | 11/27-12/28 Th 3pm-9pm, F 12pm-9pm, S/Su 11am-9pm | Avenue-Pier Village (Long Branch) | info

Holiday-Storytime & Crafts | 11/25, 11/26 10am-4pm | Monmouth Museum (Lincroft) | info

Family Fun Day | 11/25 3:30pm-5pm | Keansburg Library (Keansburg) | info

Kids Night with Pilgrim Mickey | 11/25 5:30pm-8pm | Tre (Freehold) | info

We tried Wonder out for the first time last week and it got some enthusiastic thumbs up from us. With three locations already in Monmouth County (Middletown, Shrewsbury, Englishtown) Wonder has arrived in Monmouth County in a big way, fast! If this is the first you’re hearing of them, Wonder is an innovative, rapidly expanding "fast-fine" dining concept founded by entrepreneur Marc Lore. It operates a vertically integrated platform across New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, aiming to redefine the mealtime experience. They have brick and mortar locations—often referred to as food halls—that house up to 30 distinct restaurant concepts from acclaimed chef’s like Bobby Flay and Marcus Samuelsson, allowing customers to mix and match multiple cuisines in a single order with free delivery, pickup, or limited dine-in options.

The entire operation is built on proprietary technology and custom-engineered kitchen equipment to ensure that all meals are made-to-order, delivered hot and fresh by their own couriers within a tight radius, and adhere to a high-quality standard, enabling the company to scale rapidly with plans to reach 90 locations by the end of 2025.

We walked into Wonder with more than a healthy dose of skepticism. You’re expecting it’s this new corporate chain concept trying to be all things at the same time, so inevitably it’s going to be varying shades of underwhelming. How could they possibly have so many options and do any of them even remotely well? But they actually do. We tried a Thai Panang curry and a Mediterranean salad and were seriously impressed. The ingredients were high quality and fresh and the overall dishes were really tasty. With their emphasis on delivery and the ability to get an incredible variety of quality dishes in one order from the same place, Wonder is a home run for us in terms of overall quality and convenience. The downside is we see this being pretty disruptive to the industry. Gone will be the days where you have to ask “what do we want tonight? Chinese, pizza, etc?” Wonder’s answer is you can have it all and it can all be good. Don’t hate the player. Hate the game.

Friendsgiving | 11/25 6pm-9pm | Robinson Ale House-Pier Village (Long Branch) | info

Le Petit Cocktail Club: Margaritas | 11/25 7pm-9pm | Pascal & Sabine (Asbury Park) | info

Haunted Pub Tour | 11/26 7:30 pm | Paranormal Museum (Asbury Park) | info

Bell Works Fresh Farmers and Makers Market | 11/26 11am-4pm | Bell Works (Holmdel) | info

Midweek Cellar Sessions | 11/26 7:00 PM | Pascal & Sabine (Asbury Park) | info

Thanksgiving Feast & Fun | 11/27 2pm-7pm | The Bistro-iPlay America (Freehold) | info

Born to Run 50: Photographs by Eric Meola | 9/5-12/18 M-F 10am-5pm | DiMattio Gallery (W. Long Branch) | info

Shifting Spaces Art Exhibit | 10/7-12/18 T/Th 12pm-4pm | ArtSpace (Red Bank) | info

Dennis McNett & Ben Venom: Double Trouble Exhibit | 10/10-12/18 M-F 10am-5pm | Rotary Ice House Gallery (W. Long Branch) | info

Magic Hour Art Exhibit | 10/18-12/8 Varies | Parlor Gallery (Asbury Park) | info

Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend | 10/26-1/11 T-Su 10am-4pm | Monmouth Museum (Lincroft) | info

Members Showcase: Celebrating Creativity Exhibit | 10/26-1/11 T-Su 10am-4pm | Monmouth Museum (Lincroft) | info

Manasquan River Group of Artists Art Exhibit | 11/1-11/29 9am-5pm | Wall Library (Wall) | info

Seen & Unseen: Charles Sills' Memorial Art Exhibit | 11/1-12/10 M-F 9am-7pm, S/Su 10am-4pm | Pollak Gallery (W. Long Branch) | info

Praise & Paint | 11/25 2pm | Sun Moon Studio (Keyport) | info

The Last Waltz (Cinema) | 11/25 7:30pm | The Showroom (Asbury Park) | info

Boz Scaggs | 11/26 7:30 PM | Count Basie-HMH Theater (Red Bank) | info

Thanksgiving Eve - Country Music - Samantha Spano & Line Dancing | 11/26 8:00 PM | Asbury Lanes (Asbury Park) | info

Brian Kirk & The Jirks | 11/26 8pm-10pm | The Stone Pony (Asbury Park) | info

Flow on the Fields (Yoga) | 11/24 6pm-7pm | Tall Oaks Farm & Brewery (Farmingdale) | info

Yoga for Beginners | 11/24 6:30pm-8pm | Manalapan Library (Manalapan) | info

Chair Yoga | 11/25 10am-11am | Manalapan Library (Manalapan) | info

Bradley Beach Turkey Trot 2 Mile Run/Walk | 11/27 8:30am | 101 5th Ave (Bradley Beach) | info

Run Your Giblets Off Turkey Trot | 11/27 9am-12:30pm | Bell Works (Holmdel) | info

Mon 11/24: Low 2:58 am | High 9:17 am | Low 3:49 pm | High 9:56 pm | Sunrise 6:53 am | Sunset 4:34 pm

Tue 11/25: Low 3:34 am | High 10:02 am | Low 4:29 pm | High 10:46 pm | Sunrise 6:54 am | Sunset 4:34 pm

Wed 11/26: Low 4:16 am | High 10:52 am | Low 5:16 pm | High 11:38 pm | Sunrise 6:55 am | Sunset 4:34 pm

Thu 11/27: Low 5:12 am | High 11:46 am | Low 6:12 pm | Sunrise 6:55 am | Sunset 4:32 pm