Smart Shop
The Flying Pig Market
In downtown Asbury Park, a new food market stocks necessities and specialties that meet the needs of a neighborhood that both year-rounders and part-timers call home. It’s where you can find selections that speak to mindful sourcing and a love of highly flavorful eats.
Fortnightly 5
May These Forces Be with You
Emphatic flavors rocket the quintet of favorites that stand out from a crowd of good eats in the two weeks just past to the top. Go forth, diners, and power into mucver, mackerel crudo, jollof rice, hamachi kama and exceptional eggs, all handled expertly.
Sunday Kitchen
Lemon Chutney
Icy days call for meal-brightening measures. Here’s one for the chilliest season.
How We Taste
Chef Rob Santello’s treatise on taste boils down to a refutation of common-in-every-way cooking practices in kitchens that are “professional” in self-styled ways only. His belief in “building excellence one plate at a time” is credo for the craft practiced in both true pro and home kitchens, and stands as model for independent restaurants everywhere.
Cold Comfort
The fridge, the pantry and the kitchen counter don’t need to be stocked with fussy, fancy ingredients in order to make a meal that’s satisfying, soothing and able to combat the brrrrr of this exceedingly well-chilled week. Let it start with the ever-dependable egg.
Sunday Kitchen
The Pom Mol Difference
Add to a tapenade/muffaletta olive spread repertoire a zingy, lively combo united by pomegranate molasses and find yourself with a multi-purpose condiment as well as a dip in its own right.
From Lebanon, with Love
Angela Mualem Fout’s Sohha Savory line delivers home-cookery from the birthplace of civilization to your table. It comes courtesy of this teacher-turned-chef who is determined to pass on the culinary traditions of her homeland.
Food Find
Ideal Lasagne
At Porta Rossa in Maplewood, the layering of flat noodles, tomato sauce and cheeses reaches its apex thanks to a process that requires a couple of extra steps. It’s time that proves very well spent.
Fortnightly 5
Simple Only at First Glance
A quintet of dishes that seems to be composed of mild-mannered members – an omelet, a whole fish, a cake, a lasagne and a stir-fry – is distinguished either by expert cooking or thoughtful partnering accents. Or both.
Sunday Kitchen
Garlic Confit
An easy-to-make preserve is turned by a skilled and imaginative culinary pro into a hearty snack that can be the star of the playoffs-to-Super-Bowl season. Bet on it scoring big with your fellow game-watchers.
Smart Shop
Winter’s Wonder Lands
Now is the season for winter farmers’ markets, the prime places to go for stock-ups, meet-ups and a spirit of true Garden State community. Here’s an idea particularly suitable to a food-centric outing: Tack onto the gathering of comestibles at the stalls of our farmers, bakers and food artisans a post-shop stop at a nearby restaurant and make the day a fine food-intensive adventure.
Bakers Going Roadie
The downtown bakery is alive and well and sometimes even a hub for its community. But these days, those who work with flour, water, butter and sugar also might be setting up temporary shops at our farmers’ markets in order to reach crowds of folks who seek the stories behind those scones, fruit tarts, boules and puffs of brioche.
Sunday Kitchen
Karley’s Brussels Sprouts
Jeff’s Organic Produce, a farm in Upper Freehold Township, offers a fresh-harvest winter crop of lovely little cruciferous-vegetable globes that can work magic in dozens of dishes – including one that riffs off a cousin from the Far East and makes a fitting showcase for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.
Love Language Spoken Here
At the worldly and welcoming Meta Café in Lambertville, a community is forming around a couple who knows warmth assuredly comes from spicing but also that it’s a foundation of hospitality that will lead diners to shared adventures in eating.
Dick Zimmer, for the Farmers
An elected public official as well as an activist for his entire adult life, the former congressman and state legislator who died last week saw many of his most important missions come together in his advocacy for agriculture in the Garden State. He was the primary sponsor of New Jersey’s first farmland preservation law and a steadfast friend to our farmers.
Fortnightly 5
A Flair for Upgrading the Ordinary
Taking a chance on a switcheroo or doing something new to something old benefits the eats that are the favorites in this latest round of standouts. Time not just to say ahh, but ah-ha.
Sunday Kitchen
Asianese Sauce
How a star supper dish was born – or, the story of the vegetable-strong sauce that bests beloved Bolognese. It’s your ticket to supper for a crowd that includes lots of kids.
The State of the Garden State’s Foodways
What’s most positive about the Garden State’s foodways springs from its spirit of independence; what’s negative stems from a lack of individualism, courage and a reluctance to stand up against entrenched pack mentality. Let’s work to emphasize the positives and eliminate the negatives in 2026.
Plates from Place, People and Process
When the eating’s been so good, sometimes additional attention must be paid. Herewith, a round of Tributes to the Garden State in 11 Foods that deserve a hearty and heartfelt round of applause.
Sunday Kitchen
Dehydrated Citrus
Fragrant and endlessly useful, dried rings of orange, lemon, lime and grapefruit are the darlings of mixologists who use them as much more than garnishes. They also can inspire spirited drinks that are alcohol-free.
Our Pros Select Favorite Dishes of ’25
’Tis the time of year when food critics worldwide assess all the meals they’ve eaten during the course of the 12 previous months and assemble lists that are, invariably, translated into Best Dish lists. But they are far from the only ones dining out with a critical eye. That’s why we’ve asked our culinary pros to choose their favorite restaurant dishes of the year.
Baked Goodies
What should be your final last-minute grab for the twosome of the Eve and the Day of Christmas? Sweet and savory bakes from your local independent bakeshop, that place that has evolved in professionalism, presence in community and quality of product in the last decade and stands today as a point of pride throughout New Jersey. So: Bypass the chains and scorn the mass-produced! Stop today at your neighborhood bakeshop and share the love tonight and tomorrow.
Fortnightly 5
The Fab 5 of ’25
Selecting the best eats every other week involves excruciating editing that too often leaves very-much-loved foods not making the final cut in what seems to be a most unkind way. It’s only made bearable by the fact that eliminated from contention are the restaurant dishes selected for F5, since those dishes will get their own due this Friday, Dec. 26. So without any further ado: The quintet of this year’s super winners!
Sunday Kitchen
Tinned Fishes to the Rescue
If you’re short a fish or two or three for a Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner on Christmas Eve, don’t panic. Snap up a few tins of fishes, whip some chilies right into a good butter and use both to top crackers, breads and sliced vegetables. Garnishes optional. No cooking necessary.
Origin Story
Jun Xu is an accomplished biochemist and research scientist for whom cooking is a never-ending experiment. She also is the mother and muse of Sean Yan, chef-owner of Ram & Rooster in Metuchen, where his own Chinese-inspired dishes riff on Mom’s home cooking.
The Gifting Conundrum, Solved
The days are dwindling down to a precious few for shopping for that just-right present for those food-centric souls in your life. We’ve edited the options to sure-bet selections. Read on, be inspired and then relax.
Sunday Kitchen
Whipping Feta into Seasonal Shape
For Hanukkah, put together a spread that can segue into a topping for latkes, one made from the salty cheese and a late-autumn partner. Together, they’re jaunty and very Jersey.
Bocadillo’s Market
Within a new restaurant in Moonachie is a section of shelves holding some of Spain’s most desirable ingredients. It’s supplemented with jamon, cheeses and other perishables at a frontside ordering counter and curated by a couple who well know their Iberian specialties. It's a collection designed to help you host an easy and authentic tapas party at home.
Pine Barrens Native Fruits
Cranberries come naturally to the one-of-a-kind preserve that’s been home to a cherished crop for centuries and maintains its status as the place where the world’s best are grown and harvested. Their deepest roots are tended to and shepherded by caretakers of a heritage with no equal: Whitesbog farmers Brenda Conner and Joe Darlington.
Fortnightly 5
Support Systems
Sometimes a standout isn’t a spotlight entrée on a menu, but a riveting side show or starter or something refreshing to sip. Or even, not surprisingly at this time of year, a stuffing.
Sunday Kitchen
The Pink Pineapple
It’s a gimmick of a fruit that, since it hit the marketplace five years ago, has found its way into the host-gifting arena. What can you do with it?