Food, Fun & Fitness: Pulse Café, Event Space & Fitness Center Open in Bergen County

Pulse Café, Pulse Event Space and Fitness Center are open in Westwood, NJ, centrally located on Broadway between Westwood and Hillsdale (701 Broadway in Westwood, New Jersey, 201-497-5900). Pulse Café is a neighborhood café open to the public daily, serving fresh, prepared breakfast and lunch items created by Chef Dana Cohen, an area chef who gained national recognition as a finalist on Season 10 of FOX’s “Hell’s Kitchen” with Chef Gordon Ramsay. Pulse Café also exclusively serves Julius Meinl coffee and espresso (a Viennese brand that dates back to 1862), premium specialty teas, juices, waters, sodas, protein bars and snacks, all at a great value. Guests can drop in to pick up the prepared food and beverage items to go, or enjoy the comfortable, contemporary café space that seats 20 inside and 4 outside, with free WiFi, a TV and music, making it a welcoming and convenient place for area residents to eat, socialize and relax. Local businesses or organizations can reserve the Café for meetings or events.

Inspired by the fitness results he achieved with his trainer, owner Allen Gross, a local businessman and resident, decided to open the fitness center, café and event space. Allen explains, “Our goal is to offer guests of Pulse Café unique product and experience, whether it’s our Julius Meinl coffee, not widely found in this area, the food created by Chef Dana, or our fun event space.” He emphasized, “Guests do not need a gym membership to visit the Café or book the private event space.”

The Pulse Event Space is a private event space available to book for groups of 12-20 people. The bright, modern event room with audio video capabilities is ideally suited for hosting kids’ parties, sporting event viewing parties, area business or group meetings and more. Available for rental within the space is the indoor soccer field and Pulse’s bouncy house for children’s events (ages 3-12). Event catering by Chef Dana is available and custom menus created with items such as salads, sandwich and wrap platters, appetizer platters (grilled chicken, fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil, shrimp skewers), pizza and more. Pulse Café and Event Space are adjacent to Pulse Fitness, a gym and private training facility that opened this past April.

In the Café, Consulting Chef Dana is passionate about using fresh, seasonal ingredients, and she and her staff prepare the breakfast and lunch items daily, including pastries, salads, sandwiches, wraps and house-made fresh fruit protein shakes. In addition, an assortment of premium protein bars, snacks and chocolate bars are available from $1.50 – $8.75.

Breakfast items range from $3-$5.99 and include warm croissants or breakfast wraps such as: Baja Wrap hard-boiled egg, black bean salsa, avocado, shredded cheddar & chipotle aioli in a whole wheat wrap; Quinoa Wrap Maple cinnamon quinoa, banana, strawberry, natural peanut butter, fig jam & shredded coconut in a whole wheat wrap.

For lunch, half and full-size salads range from $3.99 to $10.95, with mini salad and sandwich/wrap combos available to mix and match; any 2 for $6.00. Grilled chicken can be added to any salad. Salads include: Harvest: Granny Smith apple, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, crumbled goat cheese; Mediterranean: Chick peas, cucumber, tomato, red onion, banana peppers, crumbled feta; plus larger salads and weekly specials such as Shrimp Louie: shrimp tossed in a horseradish-lemon dressing with diced avocado, hard-boiled egg, tomato and roasted peppers. Chipotle-Honey Chicken Salad Chipotle honey-lime chicken, black bean salsa, fire roasted corn, shredded white cheddar, guacamole, cilantro-lime vinaigrette; Moroccan Sweet Potato & Quinoa roasted Moroccan spiced sweet potato, quinoa, dried cranberries, toasted pumpkin seeds, crumbled feta, tahini-maple vinaigrette.

Sandwich selections are Cranberry Turkey: Turkey breast, baby spinach, shaved red onion, cranberry aioli; Hummus & Veg: Hummus, romaine lettuce, cucumber, carrot, tomato, crumbled feta; Chicken Kale Caesar: grilled chicken, kale, shaved parmesan, Caesar dressing; BBQ Chicken: grilled chicken, fire roasted corn, tomato, shredded cheddar, romaine, BBQ sauce; with weekly specials such as: Spicy California Roll: Spicy crab, cucumber and avocado.

Specialty beverages include the featured Julius Meinl coffees; teas, Izze sparkling beverages, Runa and Argo iced teas, Juiceology juices, Boylan sodas and Icelandic water and more. House-made juices are planned for fall. Coffee and beverage items range from $1.50 -$5.25.

Pulse Café is open to the public Monday-Friday 6am – 8 pm and Saturday-Sunday 7am – 6 pm and is wheelchair accessible. Inquiries about booking Pulse Event Space can be made by calling 201-497-5900 and speaking with Jodi Murphy or Dana Cohen. Credit Cards are accepted. There is a parking lot as well as street parking.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pulsefitnj / Twitter: @PulseFitNJ / instagram: @pulsefitnj