Saltwater Social
Someone needs to be watching how plates are put together in the kitchen of this snappy-looking meet-up spot in a rejuvenated, culinary-centric downtown. The setting’s divine and classy, but the executions too often stand in contrast with what’s printed on the menu.
Homemade Tomato Sauce
The greatest gifts do come from the heart, but the best of the greatest gifts come as well from harvests at our Garden State farms and the backyard gardens of friends.
Lola’s Café
Next-door neighbor and offspring of White Horse Wines & Spirits, this city-style, swanky day café is the answer to wide-ranging needs for smart, contemporary eats. It’s the dream of a couple who know how to do it mindfully and right.
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.
Lose the Labor
Time’s always precious, but never more so than on holidays – especially one seen as the unofficial curtain call to summer. That’s why we’ve got extra-quick eats on today’s docket.
Fredy Umanzor, Chef Fredy’s Table
The newest inductee to TPW’s chef-picks-chef society of top toques has spent 40 years in Morris County pro kitchens. Today, as chef-mentor and devoted community member, he’s the proud co-owner of his own restaurant in the competitive county seat.
Peru Chikann
Helmed by a cookbook in human form, a classic Peruvian restaurant makes the case for diving into the cuisines of this South American country with the idea of expanding your own home menus.
Hot Off the Farm: Chilies
Tyler Olsson takes the chilies he grows on a small farm and makes a little bit of magic in eminently simple-to-use form.
Viecco Sabores Quilleros
Street eats from the Caribbean coast of Colombia are a joyful play of ingredients at a modest storefront that might seem unable to contain such heaping platters. Don’t worry; just dive in.
Watermelon Pals
A little accenting magic can turn a wedge of rosy melon into a treat of a different stripe.
Plain & Simpol
Home-style authentic Filipino is the order of the day at a family-run storefront where the blackboard menu is a primer and the open kitchen might as well be a classroom.
Taka Taka Street Greek
Zhuzhed-up Greek fare is the focus at a newcomer to City Center. It’s all casual, all the time, whether the call’s for dine-in or to-go back home or to the dorm. Bottom line: The eats are fresh-faced and swell.