West Windsor Farmers’ Market
A broad-scope market with much to choose from, this Mercer County stalwart is where those with a keen eye and adventurous palate do their food-buying. Ella weighs in with her vendor favorites.
Highland Park Farmers’ Market
As diverse as its vibrant community, the weekly marketplace in this Middlesex County hub hums with families, students and those who shop with the seasons.
Ventnor City Farmers’ Market
At this big, bustling and maybe a bit bawdy stock-up bazaar on the South Shore, food stalls compete with NFIs for buyers’ attention. It’s well worth any effort to zero in on the farmers and food artisans who offer top-quality edibles.
Blairstown Farmers’ Market
Here ye, here ye! Open for the season is a market in northwestern New Jersey where food-shopping for the week is a breeze.
Duke Farms Farmers’ Market
A seasonal market in Hillsborough with a diverse cast of quality vendors is where you need to go for the freshest ingredients that make meal-planning simple and optimally nutritious.
GreenGrocer
Chelsa Salesman owns and operates a pair of old-fashioned groceries with a modern-day twist: Her stores in High Bridge and Bloomfield offer from-Garden-State-farms produce, hand-made artisan fare, and all the conversation and guidance you can drink in.
Ed’s Market
It’s not every day you can eat in a restaurant and then segue next door to buy the same ingredients used to make the dishes you most love. You can do just that at a small strip mall in Teaneck.
Morris Winter Market
Farmers and food artisans unite outdoors to create a kind of head-to-tail shopping experience for those who care about what and how they eat. Consider it a public celebration of all that’s in season and fresh – right now.
Gert’s Snacks & Spices
Better than Zingerman’s? On the main drag of Highlands, next door to Sandy Hook, is a small shop that stocks a United Nations of ingredients designed for curious culinarians and adventurous home cooks. More, please? Its peripatetic proprietor also cooks for the takeaway crowd and educates drop-ins.
Mitsuwa
A thrilling and practical place to gather foodstuffs year-round, and especially at holiday time, this emporium for Japanese edibles in Edgewater is a prime inspiration for the Smart Shop column. Eat at its food court, shop in its vast marketplace and be merry.
Hung Vuong
An Asian uber-market in Cherry Hill offers a bounty of ingredients to cook things Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino and Chinese. It’s the bigger, brawnier younger sibling in a mini-chain born across the Delaware, and it’s well-stocked with condiments that add a world of flavor to everyday dishes.
Delicious Orchards
The family-run produce mecca in Colts Neck is one-stop shopping for holiday meals. Shop it right and you’ll have what you need for a spate of unfussy cooking.