Sausage Király
Hungarian sausage-maker Jozsef Hirs crafts noble versions of the classics right here in the Garden State. Catch him when and where you can at farmers’ markets, festivals and by ordering online.
Rabes to the Rescue
Bridging the traditional leanest-season produce gap are lesser-known but decidedly not less-flavorful greens: kale rabe, spring rabe and arugula rabe.
Cultivate
Dishes that cut to the chase of plant-based eating and reveal unassailable splendors is what this revelation in Union County is about. For many, it will be an unforgettable introduction to a chef who nails, and hails, vegan cookery.
The Spot
Times are a-changing at this day café with a casual, globe-trotting menu. But chances are you still will be able to find that dish that brings you back.
Hand-Held Salad, Vietnamese-style
Get wrapping, with a no-fork salad that makes splendid use of vegetable odd-and-ends already in your fridge – or what will be coming in, with spring’s new crop of Garden State produce. TPW’s resident food-upcycling wiz has a plan that is party-ready.
Color Your World
Pluck a veritable bouquet of spring rabe, a green that often rings in spring. Work it hard – it can take it – and let it brighten these weeks when the earth transforms from brown to blooming. First up in ’23: Rabe and Ramps Risotto.
Yamagata
We live in an age of the local sushi joint. So where does a stalwart with legions of loyal regulars and skilled chefs stand?
River Lea House Kimchee
Start with a tub of made-on-a-farm, small-batch fermented/pickled vegetables, then customize your very own bowl of nutritious deliciousness.
Hu Tieu Mien Tay
A pioneer in Atlantic County is this old-school Vietnamese that makes up in sincerity what it lacks in any sort of a scene. Unless, that is, your scene of choice is much about the serious, focused eating of classics.
Plenteous Parsley
In a quick blitz, it’s a dip, a spread, a sauce you can use to brighten these waning days of the leanest season. Consider the generous herb the green that gives birth to spring.
Uttam Rawat, Swadist
The newest inductee into TPW’s elite chef-picks-chef club of top Garden State toques came from India to head kitchens for the Moghul group of restaurants. In 2019, he struck out on his own with a modest storefront in Jersey City’s India Square in which he serves bold, personalized dishes and dazzling renditions of classics that mesmerize his selector, Rakesh Ramola of Indeblue.
European Homemade Provisions
When a throwback is as heartwarming as this circa-1955 deli is, classic mid-century fare doesn’t need a style shake-up. Just a slot in your own take-out routine.