Home - Old (Before 2025-08-21) : The Peasant Wife

Garwood

Black Sheep Bar & Provisions: Fridays

It’s the most wonderful night of the week to many who frequent a place piloted by a chef with boundless creativity and a sense of pure fun too often missing in serious-food restaurants. Come to experience imagination gone edible and leave better educated. And smiling.

by Andy Clurfeld, August 2025

ABERDEEN

Lita

Glorious modern interpretations of Iberian classics come to tables in a setting chic, welcoming and spirited, and staffed by a team that’s truly all-hands on all-decks. There’s a glow about the entire place, as well, on the faces of Team Lita and on plates that hit their marks.

by Andy Clurfeld, August 2025

MAPLEWOOD

Chutzpah Kitchen

In the distinctive downtown district that is the Village sits this Middle Eastern mecca that’s emblematic of the neighborhood’s singular charms. It’s owned and operated by Sagi Ohayon, a chef who is something of a Pied Piper for dishes that have been around a mighty long spell. But he never lets them feel old and always makes certain they get respect and TLC.

by Andy Clurfeld, August 2025

SOUTH PLAINFIELD

Moksha Eats

The staples of India are on the menu of this fine-tuned storefront, but it’s the comprehensive listing of Nepalese fare that you must not ignore. Indeed, if you zero in on these flavors that are more subtle, with spices less prominent and dishes extra-carefully rendered, you’ll hit Himalayan heights.

by Andy Clurfeld, August 2025

WEST CAPE MAY

Good Earth Organic Eatery

The name may suggest an all-out hippie bill of fare. But while the food divined by a couple from Italy is much about vegan and vegetarian, fish gets its own listing and local roots and homey styles prevail. It’s the place to plant yourself on Cape Island when trendiness isn’t your groove. Er, jam.

by Andy Clurfeld, August 2025

STOCKTON

Finch

Disconnects to communities clip the wings of a restaurant designed to provide a high-toned dining experience at a remade landmark in the smallest of Hunterdon County’s River Towns. With too little respect afforded the region’s farmers and food artisans and lack of proper attention in the kitchen, flawed dishes dominate a menu designed by a chef with an impressive pedigree.

by Andy Clurfeld, August 2025

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP

Bombay Street Food Malvani Katta

Inside a humble food court on state Highway 27, the Garden State’s own Spice Route, is the equivalent of an immobile food truck in which a woman whips up what you might find in the home of a top-flight cook in Mumbai. Catch her if you can, adventurers, and heed her advice.

by Andy Clurfeld, July 2025

ROSELAND

3 Sons Thai Kitchen

A mother’s touch and well-practiced skills are supported by her best guys at a storefront charmingly attired even though it’s used by most for quick-stop takeout. Dine in at least once in a while to experience some of the finest Thai fare in the state and be guided by star chef-owner “Mama” Prap Khumthanom.

by Andy Clurfeld, July 2025

WESTFIELD

Maize

Admirable pedigrees are attached to a modern Mexican set in a meticulously reimagined train station, but experience isn’t showing up on plates that may look pretty yet lack deep-seated flavors. Better sourcing and care in the kitchen are a couple of the answers to problems ownership needs to address.

by Andy Clurfeld, July 2025

MIDDLE TOWNSHIP

Sandal Wood Indian Kitchen

At a locale in Rio Grande that’s been too many other restaurants, a chef determined to create a playlist of dishes that show respect as well as the ability to riff won’t rest with serving only what’s popular. It’s time to let mustard shrimp take on butter chicken.

by Andy Clurfeld, June 2025

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE

Matthews Seafood Market

Peak-season local fishes are on the docket at this seasonal spot in Cape May’s county seat. If you’ll be lickety-split about it, you might catch New Jersey’s own soft-shell crabs prepared by a veteran fisherman who knows how to get them to your table in perfect form.

by Andy Clurfeld, June 2025

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS

Zoe’s Emilio’s Kitchen

A new dinner menu that extends well beyond the trodden in the Mexican vernacular brings options in fine-dining that uncover the very glamorous possibilities of vegetables and fishes – and even how to glaze ribs more intriguingly than popular standard sauces allow.

by Andy Clurfeld, June 2025

WILLINGBORO

Shokra Soups

The sincere folks behind a plant-based café make a point of likening the dishes on their casual-fare menu to well-known standards. They shouldn’t need to sell a mushroom as “like” a meat nor a mélange of sea vegetables as “like” tuna to prove the worth of what they’re cooking up. It’s good stuff.

by Andy Clurfeld, June 2025

TOMS RIVER

Ishtabach

Signature dishes from the Kurdish-Syrian repertoire are in the spotlight at an anchor of an upscale shopping center called The Row. The lively, high-ceiling eatery is an import from Jerusalem and it’s one of the few places where the savory pastries called shamburak reign.

by Andy Clurfeld, May 2025

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