Broc & Buns
The bun may not have come out of your own oven nor the broccoli from a backyard garden. But once you secure them – or their like – at a farmers’ market, you’ll be able to put down that phone, break yourself of the takeaway habit and eat supper without waiting for delivery or standing on line for pickup.
The Speckled Egg Café
Reborn and reimagined in a new-old space in the city’s eclectic and coruscating downtown is a noshery where chef Megan Loos’ pitch-perfect plates stimulate and soothe and never stop short of entertaining as they enlighten. The good tastes are rolling again.
Phillips Farms Multi-Fruit Ciders
At a farm in Holland Township that’s been run by the Phillips family since 1806, ciders ratchet up both the fruit content and the container size to make for sweet and extended quaffing.
Meta Café
A breakfast-lunch spot on the edge of the city’s core downtown has a new chef-owner who’s keeping what’s loved on the menu but taking steps to not only show off his own considerable skills, but expand the café’s scope beyond the mainstream. Call ahead to secure the best dabeli anywhere.
Pretty in Peppermint
Raita, a condiment indispensable in India, gets an extra dose of the loveliest of mints to make it even more versatile at the table. Whip it up today and use it all week long.
The Circle
A destination that started out as a curiosity on the trend-spotting trail is growing into a restaurant where folks now gather to catch the pulse of Garden State ingredients tended to with imagination and sometimes daring. Much, much works well; a couple of dishes don’t hit their marks. But the farmhouse is assuredly home to a pair of confident chefs who care.
The New Locals
Curd & Cleaver and Pennyrose Coffee Co., around-the-corner neighbors in Newton, are independently owned and proud to display local pride and heritage by serving up what locals and visitors want to eat.
Sebastian’s Schnitzel Haus
For more than 30 years, cheerful, hearty German-American food has been the calling card and draw at this roadhouse heavily populated by Hummels, dolls and beer steins. It’s old-fashioned in other ways, too – cash only, menus encased in plastic, checks written in long hand – and that’s A-OK by all who belly up to the brats.
Old Favorites, New Looks
Pasta, meatballs, rice, chicken and a mini version of a familiar fruit each get new life from culinary pros determined to lift them up from roles typical and perhaps a bit tired. Each of our five favorites from the two weeks just past brings zing to our tables.
In the Greens
The bounty of the new season is verdant and versatile – and it’s ready to be cooked. Not overcooked, mind you. But stir-fried into one of the quickest, most nutritious meals around.
Poy’s Kitchen
Sporting mostly Thai, with a side of Lao-style dishes, this storefront in the county seat of Sussex County is helmed by a chef with some serious chops. Take a flier on the less available cuisine and be rewarded with mindful cookery.
Kiwiberries
Uncommon and uncommonly refreshing in a zesty-sweet way, this vine-grown fruit is now being cultivated by a handful of Garden State farmers. One bite is all it takes to make a fan.