Jasper’s Whispers
All hail a Jersey guy who took a love for food born and bred here and transplanted it to another place, but kept his respect for inherent terroir intact.
Sea Change
Chef Eduardo Espinoza is looking to bring something different to the tables at El Pacifico, his Mexican restaurant in Bridgeton: an ever-expanding repertoire of seafood dishes that elevates classics and tests uncharted waters.
Angry Archie’s
Street food favorites in the seafood genre anchor the menu of this brick-and-mortar incarnation of a popular food truck, including some that toe the line with skill. But technical lapses in a couple of should-be stalwarts show the kitchen crew needs to run a tighter ship.
Bonanza of Bounty
The farmers and food artisans are ready – and so should you be, too: It’s high spring season at some of the biggest and busiest buy-direct markets in the Garden State. We check out three and find both longtime favorites and new loves.
Tio Santos
Basics thrive under the watchful eyes and experienced hands of the couple who tend this mom-and-pop Mexican. They are the angels of details, the guardians of traditions to be cherished.
The Freshest Takes
There’s nothing unfamiliar about our five favorites, but all take a spin on the usual to make for superior eating. Far superior.
Spiced Dried Squid
Don’t know much about the slices of cephalopods that are dried and served as snacks in Asia? Grab and go with a brew, and be delighted. Be just as delighted to make a sauce for them and turn nibble into dinner.
Saturday Breakfast Trout
Once or twice a year, on a Saturday morning, we’d head out to the back of our yard where the roar of the Musconetcong could be heard clearly, catch trout, then fry them up with wine and butter. Cereal was for another kind of day. Ed Sherry’s story hits spring’s perfect pitch.
A2B Indian Vegetarian Restaurant
The scope is vast, the selections myriad and many at this popularity contest winner that springs from a many-branched family tree in India. The reigning caliber of its dishes? Roundly good, but rarely great.
Ciao Poke & Mango Mango
Fast-casual gets a couple more entries, these both at the uber-busy Festival Plaza in Edison anchored by Hmart. One’s got its pluses; the other’s a lot of noise.
Tasty Moment
Decidedly superior soup dumplings and quite a bit more headline the menu at an expansive and chronically crowded Chinese spot in the eye of a storm of eateries in a plaza anchored by Hmart.
Peas Please in Pesto
Morphing spring’s first peas into pesto shows just how creamy this common vegetable can become after a whirl in a food processor with the right companions. Though its parts may be humble, the result is anything but.