True Salvage Café
What Signe Heffernan cooks at this day café whose name aptly describes its décor isn’t anything new. It’s just that she gives favorites a little twist and makes them even more lovable.
Warmups: 8-15-22
Be it courtesy of the embrace of craft, the congeniality of place, the love inherent in preparation, or the teamwork of farmer and Mother Nature, the favorites of the two weeks just past are cosseted in warmth.
Pole Beans
Jolly giants of vines at Two Barn Farm in Pittstown yield deeply flavorful green, yellow and purple beans that can be turned, quickly, into a seasonal supper that celebrates produce at its height.
Summer Salt
With a hybrid fixed-price menu that showcases Jersey seafood and produce from local farms, this seasonal BYOB is a dunes buddy with breezy, inviting energy and a magical setting. The cooking, however, ebbs and flows.
Fork Is Over
We may not be seeing the death of the fork in our dining-out lives, but we certainly are witnessing a dearth of its use as hand-held foods surge on menus.
A Step with Pep
Not that we’d ever tire of prime-season Jersey tomatoes and their high-summer mates, but there’s a simple way to give our favorites an extra pop of flavor.
Stone Circle Farm Teas
Teas from this farm in Cape May Court House are made from plants grown and dried right on its acres. More than merely flavorful, they’re a complete sensory experience.
The Dock
South American influences, Cape May County ingredients and an owner who’s a natural at the hospitality game combine for a triple-decker sandwich made expressly for summer at the Shore.
Lomito
Geographical tweaks to familiar foods help fulfill the promise of something refreshingly different at a just-opened taqueria on Long Beach Island that focuses on Latin American street fare.
Big Guns: 8-1-22
Forget subtle. Forceful flavors from ingredients meant to dominate take charge in the couple weeks just past. Ready, aim – eat!
Team Tomato
Peak season and time to partner our beloved Jersey love apples with not only the usual suspects, but a basket of familiar fruits. Follow the lead of the titans of the seasonal toss at Razza and bliss out – right now.
Arben Gasi, Le French Dad Boulangerie
The perfect baguette – and many more very French baked goods – have made this true boulangerie in Montclair a mecca. Now its chef-owner is being inducted into our elite club of top toques, the chef-picks-chef society of highest quality in the Garden State.