Hot on the Trail
Off-Island Eating in Cape May County
Apart from the storied beach towns of the smaller peninsula located at the bottom of the larger peninsula that is our Garden State sits a variety of sources for all sorts of eats, from restaurants to farms to markets to summer-ready ice cream stands. Go inland, folks, go inland.
Dessert Raani
Elegant Indian pastries from Aashika Hemnani showcase an individual style of baking the Mumbai native has been practicing since she was a teen. Today, she’s making monthly appearances at the Metuchen Farmers’ Market and selling confections fit for royalty through her online shop.
Sunday Kitchen
Big Blues Salad
A score of a flat of organic blueberries from McCay’s early harvest at its Hammonton fields inspires a dinner-size toss of most amiable ingredients.
Anchoring Down a Sea Change
At Mayer’s Tavern in Cape May, owner Alex Laudeman and executive chef Rob Marzinsky have teamed up to secure the fine-dining future of a one-time fisherman’s dive bar. It’s driven by what’s locally sourced, piloted by the needs of a community of locals and visitors, and powered by dual visionaries.
Sugar Snap Peas
Leading late spring into high summer is the sweetest little pea-’n’-pod in Mother Nature’s vast repertoire. Eat raw, and be happy. Or consider other options if you snag a large quantity grown on a Garden State farm.
Fortnightly 5
Digging Around a Prime Peninsula
Cape May’s greats hit the heights of all eaten during the two weeks just past. Soft-shells, tilefish, mustardy shrimp, lesser-known berries and a force of nature from Chiapas in Mexico top our list.
Sunday Kitchen
The Scoop on Frozen Green Grapes
Blitz, turn into slush, spice and eat. It’s the season for making the absolute easiest of chilling treats.
35. And Change.
It’s been a long and winding road to the restaurant place we find ourselves in at this moment in Garden State culinary history. During the last 35 years of reviewing our dining scene, TPW’s founder has seen continual evolution - the best of which has been, and continues to be, inspired by what is grown, raised, fished and produced right here at the hands of those who respect, value and cherish their fellow culinarians.
Wild Roots Provisions
Across from the beach in Cape May sits the brick-and-mortar dream of a pair of hospitality industry vets who want to make Shore time a sure bet for snacks.
Mulberries, Vintage ’25
At Stone Circle Farm in Middle Township, Cape May County, a giant mulberry tree is shedding its fruits into waiting hands. It’s a treat for June and a harbinger of harvests to come during the weeks ahead in farther-north parts of our Garden State.
Sunday Kitchen
Captain Lybarger’s Tilefish Tagine
A mild, firm, yet flaky fish caught by one of New Jersey’s most skilled fishermen inspires a stew right for a crowd. Gather ’round, and let the talk – and ideas – flow.
Chris Mumford: Still Growing After All These Years
The Garden State’s OG chef-farmer right now is selling his organic plants at the back end of a tucked-away nursery. But he’s banking on the farm in Wall he and his wife purchased and moved onto this spring to keep his mission going strong. At age 64, he’s still the one we need to feed and nourish us.
Mairi’s Cookie Company
A home-baker in Medford Lakes offers a line of distinctive and delightful cookies that stand apart from those that Big Food Business sell at supermarkets and convenience stores. Care for an Earl Gray Shortbread with your tea?
Fortnightly 5
A Little Yin Amid the Yangs
Distinctive healthy eats highlight the dining docket of the two weeks just past, along with one guilty pleasure in the form of a many-layered wanna-be hand-held.
Sunday Kitchen
Savory Challah French Toast
The addition of allium empowers a brunch staple to take a walk on the savory side, while a fruit just coming into peak harvest season in the Garden State balances the favorite with a kick of sweet-tart. Matheson Westlake is your guide.
Chef Train
Susumu Shinagawa, Okinami
Where does the Garden State’s itamae legend Kunihiko “Ike” Aikasa go out to eat for sushi? To the counter of a revered colleague now practicing his craft at a small, modest and always-popping storefront in Norwood. “Chef Shina” is the master’s selection to TPW’s chefs-pick-chefs society of top toques, and his own story is reflective of the manner in which he approaches every turn of the knife: with utmost care and inspiration from ingredient.
Food Find
Ma & Pa’s Triple-Decker ‘Heaven’
It’s a bruiser, this wanna-be hand-held that’s a many-layered thing coming out of the Tex-Mex-meets-BBQ genre. And it’s a gentle giant that, if it doesn’t kill you first, will win you over with its doe-eyed charms.
Sunday Kitchen
Spring Chicken
The season of rebirth sees a new crop of chickens from a singularly focused farmer teaming up with current-harvest vegetables to make for a quintessential end-of-weekend supper. (Next “Bec Bird” gets spatchcocked on the grill.)
The Potato Homestead
Redefine what “homestead” means to far too many through the breadth and depth of what Alex and Rob McKeage grow and produce at their year-round operation in Cape May County. It’s meat-and-potatoes growing, making, preserving and baking and it’s all served forth sustainably and conscientiously. Lauren Vitagliano takes TPW readers on a tour.
Bok Choy, the Farmers’ Favorite
Garden State farmers are high on this spring’s harvest of the ancient Chinese cabbage that’s a member of the mustards family and known for its two-part harmony of crunchy, juicy stems and tender green leaves. Use it now to make a bowl that celebrates a prime vegetable and its many friends.
Fortnightly 5
Old-Gen/Next-Gen Homey
There’s something embraceable and warming about each of the favorites in this round, be it something reminiscent of the past or looking ahead to new ways of preparing a food that’s fundamentally old school.
Sunday Kitchen
Strawberry Strata
It’s seasonally appropriate and sensationally versatile at the table – a layering as suitable for breakfast as it is for dessert and starring the rosy jewel of a fruit that marks spring at its peak.
Windy Brow Farms Wood-fired Kitchen Opens for the Season
There’s lots new on the menu at this not-a-restaurant on very-much-a-farm in Fredon, a place put on the Garden State’s culinary map by farmer Jake Hunt. It’s strictly seasonal, and weekends only, so make a plan and stick to it.
A Chef and His ‘T’ings’
Chef Nick DeRosa rustles up little "t'ings" all the time at his Black Sheep Bar & Provisions in Garwood. As in, every day, something new. Often several "t'ings" new. That's because he finds inspiration literally everywhere. He's a chef who simply must create. Constantly.
Sunday Kitchen
Asian Pesto
Tap into spring’s verdant herbs to come up with a most adaptable condiment right for everything from noodles and stir-fries to grilled steaks and dumplings. In other words: Why wait for basil to make a sauce that’s endlessly useful?
Baker to Baker
Emma Wuillermin, Emma’s Farmhouse Confections
In the latest installment of TPW’s periodic pro-to-pro column featuring Joselin Oudemans talking shop with fellow practitioners of the pastry and baking arts, Joselin visits with Emma Wuillermin, owner of Emma’s Farmhouse Confections in Hammonton, which exists at the intersection of farm life and baked goods infused with more than a little ooh-la-la.
Food Find
Sepesi’s Cinnamon Swirl Sourdough
If you think warmer weather doesn’t merit the warm embrace of a spiced-right boule, meet Nicole Sepesi’s favorite baked good – and think again.
Fortnightly 5
Farms’ Freshest
Three members of spring’s brigade of top-flight produce and dainty eggs with extra-rich yolks lead the pack of favorite eats of the past two weeks. There’s also Turkish pide, which begs a side of something newly harvested and green.
Sunday Kitchen
Good Tidings from Spring Garlic
Mild, gentle and even somewhat sweet, this infant allium can be used in vibrant condiments such as chimichurri – or wherever you might find regular raw garlic too harsh to handle. Here’s a how-to.
Choosing Local
Farmers’ market high season has begun. Do you attend a true farmers-based market near you? If so, go. If Market Day isn’t yet a regular posting on your own calendar, check out one there’s good word about within a reasonable drive. Two worth an hour of your time are these biggies, now officially in session: Brick Farmers’ Market and Hunterdon Community Farmers’ Market.
Food Find
Collaborative Ginger Ale
Cream Ridge Winery and Ramblin’ Sol Farm are neighbors in Upper Freehold Township. With a new project to produce a farmstead soda, they’re becoming partners in an enterprise that promises innovation and great taste.