The Local Diner & Bakery In Wall Area Recalls A Simpler Time

WALL, NJ — If there has been one constant in Terry Duani's life, it's been baking and cooking and serving delicious food to customers - first for her father and now in her own diner on Route 33.

"It took me five kids and three marriages, but I finally got it," Duani laughed, as she spoke about the diner and bakery she just opened a month ago.

The name says it all - The Local Diner & Bakery, at 5015 Route 33 East, heading toward Route 34 in Wall. She is close to the Howell border and just north of the borough of Farmingdale.

And she is on a line east toward the beach, she said, adding that she's already serving visitors heading to the cool and comfort of the oceanfront in our latest heat wave.

Early birds heading to the beach often choose her breakfast goodies. And baking has a special place in Duani's repertoire of recipes.

Duani is the majority owner and partner James Franco is the minority owner of the restaurant.

She says she began working in her father's restaurant in New York state in Westchester County at age 12.

And as a young girl, she recalls reading magazines that had ads in the back for pamphlets on special topics to write away for. "I'm not sure they have those in magazines anymore," she observed.

So she chose to write away for a pamphlet on how to make wedding cakes.

"It was really just a lot of copies of loose paper," she recalls when she received the "pamphlet."

But it piqued her interest in baking and she makes tiered and decorated wedding cakes to this day, as you can see on the diner's website.

If a wedding cake is a bit too much, you can get lots of other baked goods and home cooking on the menu. Her Key Lime cake might just hit the spot for a summertime dessert.

But first, let's set the scene. Atmosphere is important here.

The diner looks like a vintage roadside inn from a Hollywood movie from the Fifties or earlier - no chrome and plastic here.

"We looked a long time," she said of the search for the right property. Duani lives in Monroe, so it isn't too far for her to get to for her early start every day.

"We just stumbled on this location," she said.

But while the restaurant has that old-time feel it has been totally renovated - the dining space, the bathrooms and the new kitchen equipment.

And it makes a customer feel right at home in this area where Wall and Howell and Farmingdale converge.

There are old maps of Farmingdale on the walls for decoration, for example. The wooden benches in the booths are high-backed and polished.

Then there is the main event - the meals.

Her menu is quite varied.

"It's diner food, but elevated - and from scratch," Duani says.

You want an egg salad sandwich? You have to wait just a little longer because she will make that to order from her hard-boiled eggs - salads don't sit already prepared.

Is turkey what you had in mind? She roasts them in the mornings and cuts turkey off the bone for your sandwich.

One of her customer favorites? The shaved ham with brie and pears on a crusty baguette with honey mustard - all for a reasonable $9.75, Duani notes.

She credits her philosophy of home cooking to her father. On Sundays, the chef became the family cook, making a huge breakfast for his many children.

"All the recipes are passed down from my dad. At the age of 12 he took me from school and had me work in his restaurant. This is where I learned to care about how food is prepared and served. Our Sunday breakfast is in honor of him," Duani said.