Casdeluna
In the ‘Burg of today, all eats Latin are hotter than asphalt in July. This Venezulean arepas specialist, which also makes a mean cachapa, is exactly where you ought to go, with the latest Stephanie Plum mystery in hand, to read and catch the food beat as orchestrated by restaurateur Mirna Castellanos.
Al-Hara Shawarma
Follow the scents of spit-roasting meats to this darling of a yearling in a restaurant-proud downtown filled with ethnic options. It’s where sincerity meets the most satisfying of authentic eats.
TSP: High Summer’s Triumvirate
Tomatoes, squash and peppers can be combined in many and myriad ways, most of them ineluctably lovable. All of us have favorite ways of bringing them together. Because it’s flexible and showcases the way to coax max flavor out of each, this one is ours.
Green Olive
The fundamentals of one of the prized cuisines in the Mediterranean vernacular are disgraced at a new Greek restaurant in a charming town that deserves much, much better.
LB’s Lunch Box
A seafood salad sandwich, a taco, an ice cream sandwich and even lemonade: Not exactly unfamiliar eats, but at this seasonal getaway run by chef Joselin Oudemans on Belhaven Lake in the heart of the Pine Barrens they are exalted rather than merely elevated. It’s that style of cooking that lifts LB’s into TPW’s canon of Favorites.
Keyport Fishery
A landmark in the Bayshore borough for 90 years in its present form, this steadfast seafood shack may best strut its famous fried fishes as part of a twosome with neighbor 3BR Distillery, a couple blocks away and welcoming those bearing takeout from Keyport eateries with not only a place to sit and eat, but 20 percent off cocktails. Now that’s synergy!
Suiting the Season
Peachy blueberries, watermelon, a veg-dressed noodles dish, calamari and the best-ever shellfish sandwich top the charts of this two-week span. Aren’t they all what you want to eat right now?
Spiced Watermelon
Is it a hand-held salad? A refreshing hors d’oeuvre for an outdoor party? A snack, a light lunch, a treat to bring to the beach or park picnic? A supplement to popcorn on movie night? It’s a favorite, gone jazzy.
Lucky Star Tasty Food
The foods of Fuzhou in China’s Fujian Province are the marquee dishes at this minuscule storefront that takes its comforting classics seriously.
Café at Patidar Bridgewater
Stifle the hunger pangs that can lead to less-than-optimal impulse buys by taking a break to eat Indian classics at a café conveniently cloistered within a new mega-market in Somerset County.
Motts Creek Inn
Perched within the delicate, yet resilient ecosystem that makes up the back bays of the Garden State is a well-worn tavern-with-eats where transporting experiences defy contemporary social commentary.
The Power of Blueberries and Time Travel
When Chef Andre de Waal’s Blueberry Buckle is in a nearby oven, no one has a right to sing the blues. Read on, be inspired and bake this lasagne of desserts to his specifications.