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.
Espo’s
Nowhere does the flag saluting the red, white and green in the Garden State wave more deliciously that at this mainstay in a Somerset County borough long steeped in Italian-American traditions. Here, it’s always Sunday Gravy time.
Apple Stew-Stuffed Honeynuts
It’s a supper that’s a happy collision of early fall ingredients and is customizable for vegans, vegetarians and carnivores. It makes the most of two universally loved staples and requires no techniques that necessitate completion of a cooking school course. Ready, set, eat.
Jade’s
From a roost in a small borough in Sussex County, a couple who made a name for themselves at a chicken-centric spot in the county seat serve hearty self-styled Afro-Latin fare that does more than toe-dip into seafood and waffles.
Saja & Shawarma
Not just a shawarma standout, this newcomer to the best Main Street of Eastern Mediterranean eateries in the U.S. also sports beatific broasted chicken and savory crepes overstuffed with juicy meats. It’s the Triple Crown winner for cookery you’d otherwise need a passport and plane flights to experience.
Tico & Atypical
Call these a rather eccentric quintet of favorites: Three dishes that seem imported directly from Costa Rica, a curious specimen that’s North America’s largest native fruit yet not found in supermarkets, and a burger hardly fit for grill or griddle. These are the chart-topping five from the two weeks just past.
Charred Beans with Lemon Yogurt
Enter a border-free zone and make supper out of an in-season vegetable by taking what’s on hand, zapping it with spices you favor and bringing it all together on one plate.
Lokotas Argentine Empanadas
Hearty empanadas from a mother-daughter team have a home in a brick-and-mortar takeout locale in Southern Ocean County. You won’t need to ask “Where’s the beef?” – or the chicken, vegetables or sweet stuff – inside these homey, hand-held pockets. Their fat bellies betray all.
Lizano Salsa
A condiment with a smoky-tangy soul that’s indispensable in Costa Rica proves its worth as a spirited accent to a wide range of foods common on tables in the Garden State.
Nature’s Plate Vegan Café
A plant-based eatery in the Bayshore provides a global outlook to the dishes on its menu and keeps regulars who gather in the cozy comforts of its storefront dining space on point with a mutual mission.
Tomato Cobbler
Ease tomatoes into autumn with a twist on the sweetened fruit standard that’s flexible enough to accommodate a topper of ready-to-bake canned biscuits or your own scratch-made soft and flaky quick-breads. In the end, it might be the treatment given the fruit that matters most.
Minoru
Meiji Pattamasingcha’s new upper-floor Japanese restaurant thinks of itself as casual, yet acts out in ways utterly fascinating and cunningly sophisticated. Classics and innovative concepts share space on a menu that’s high-reaching and able to hit its marks, making this destination about ambitions attained.