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.
Pom Carrots
Pomegranate molasses teams up with carrots given a two-step roast and a boost of tart sweetness. It’s just what the season calls for.
Venga Pues
Colombian cuisine gets a bit of a high-style brush-up at a family-run spot on the main drag of this city by the bay. The menu’s deep and varied and there’s a helpful team on board, ready to guide.
Endless Summer Burger
At Hearthly, a burger almost tall enough to play center in the NBA isn’t banking its worth on height alone. No, it’s all about quality ingredients and custom-blended beef most carefully composed.
Wally’s
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served year-round at an eatery on LBI that’s too intimate to be a roadhouse, too original to be a diner and too happily quirky to be a chain. Make an off-season date to comb a nearby beach and menus that are familiar yet idiosyncratic.
The Whirl of Sandwiches
Anything goes when it comes to layering fundamentals and accents on breadstuffs and calling it a hearty meal. This time, it’s a mash-up of many inspirations from far-flung ports.
Amuzgo
After a couple of suppers at this new and polished Mexican where a veteran chef’s personal vision is re-making menus that have fallen on too-familiar times, you may relegate Taco Tuesday to Taco Twice a Year.
Besos Pan Dulce
At Primavera Bakery in Perth Amboy, Mexican pastries of all stripes reign. The one whose name translates as “kisses” and looks something like a giant yo-yo will seal the deal to be your new sweetheart.
The Inn at Sugar Hill/Dockside
Sitting pretty on a river in the county seat of Atlantic is this landmark full-service inn, restaurant and tavern where charm, warmth and setting are the draws.
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.
Broc-‘n’-Bread
Can a summertime salad be fused onto an autumnal green? Yes, it can. With a splendidly grown specimen, anything is possible.
Li Zhou, Nemo
The newest inductee into TPW’s chef-picks-chef society of top toques has a resume that spans the globe, and every stop our honoree has made, be it professional or personal, shows in what he serves today at his multifaceted Asian restaurant in the Bayshore borough of Keyport.