Last Saturday Stanley and I took the train to Belmar to visit our friends Janice and Eric, and we had dinner at Skratch. The menu combines Italian with Cajun. It was generally excellent, with only one misstep. Stanley had a fig appetizer which he liked a lot. I had artichoke hearts coated with goat cheese and lemon, wrapped in prosciutto and grilled. That was the only disappointment, as the goat cheese was overpowering and the prosciutto too salty.

For mains, I had shrimp and grits and he had a pork loin special. Both very good, and we took half home for another dinner.

Janice and Eric shared fried calamari (a massive plate) and both had a scallop special. They enjoyed all of it. We took a couple bites of their pistachio tiramisu, which was impressive.

Skratch is a bring your own restaurant, so you can save some money by bringing a nice wine.

https://www.skratchkitch.com/