First Licks
Wintertime, and the eating is varied and vibrant. The Top 5 favorites of the two weeks just past prove that without question.
The Fab 5 of ’24
Selecting the best eats every other week involves excruciating editing that too often leaves very-much-loved foods not making a most unkind cut. To follow that formula to come up with a Final 5 from a year’s worth of F5s can sting. (Though it’s made reasonably bearable by eliminating F5’s favorite restaurant dishes of 2024, which will get their own due this Friday, Dec. 27.) So without any further ado: The quintet of this year’s super winners!
When the Spices Are Right
A new round of favorites finds spicing in top form in classics ranging from a Vietnamese soup to a quintessential Middle Eastern spread, from South American ceviche to a South Asian masala sporting eggs. Even the kind of chicken that belongs in many pots gets into the act.
Wide World Dining
More and more evidence is emerging that proves our Garden State has the highest quality of ethnic and ethnically influenced dining venues in the country. This biweekly assessment stamps that case a win once again for diners.
Seasonal Warm-ups
It’s that extra something-very-special that ratchets up the end-games of each winner of this round of biweekly favorites: a spice mix, burger, seafood stew, fruited pastry and switched-up sandwich.
Big Differences
Such variety in this two-week span of eating! And no lack of major flavors, either, in these interpretations of foods familiar but given a bit of a spin.
All Rise: Plants in Session
The honorables of the past couple of weeks are fruits and vegetables, legumes and grains. They’re not all crunchy-hippie eats, either.
Smoke, without Mirrors
Three of five favorites this go-round use various notes of smoky flavors to their advantage. You’ll catch those notes more with taste than sniff, no games being played. Then there’s a fine fry and a statement in ice cream, no gaming, either.
Mostly Meaty
Beef, pork, a mix, even a hot dog: Dominating this round’s favorite foods are meats, in all their hearty, sauced, spiced and marinated glories.
Scrutiny of the Bounty
A good dozen eats made it to the shoe-in roster for this round of F5, the list of this-one’s-a-sure-bet for the top five. The hits in food just kept on coming. That means these winners are a level beyond extraordinary.
Balancing Act
The craft of bringing just the right touch of complement, contrast or even a bit of moxie to the mild-mannered is the tie that binds the favorites of the two weeks just past.
Mid-Summer’s Other Top Eats
Not to shortchange tomatoes, now officially in happy onslaught mode, but there are other very wonderful foods to consider at this moment in time – including these fabulous five.