Illustration by Janice Belove
Foraging
Chefs are hiring professional foragers or are scouring Jersey woods and fields themselves for everything from mugwort to morels to garlic mustard. Taste the wild at Farm and Fisherman Tavern in Cherry Hill, Chakra in Paramus, Elements in Princeton and Escape in Montclair.
Asbury Festhalle and Biergarten. Photo by Felicia Peretti
Communal Tables
Long and not necessarily occupied by one group. Millennials love them; older folks, not so much. Find them at, among others, Agricola in Princeton, Buddakan in Atlantic City, Diving Horse in Avalon, Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque in Clifton, and Asbury Festhalle and Biergarten in Asbury Park.
Illustration by Janice Belove
French Macarons
The dainty meringue cookie is the new cupcake—only it’s lighter, more colorful, intensely flavorful, lower in calories, gluten free and, yes, higher in price. Stock up at, among others, Antoinette in Red Bank, the Artist Baker in Morristown, Asalt and Buttery in Caldwell, Brownie Points in Summit, Choc O Pain in Jersey City, Little Chef in Princeton and Miel in Cherry Hill.
Illustration by Janice Belove
Touchscreens
Your fingers do the walking, or actually the menu browsing, and even the ordering and paying. At Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen in Morristown, the food and beverage menus are on 70 iPad Minis that can be updated from the restaurant’s desktop. At fast-casual chain Honeygrow in Hoboken and Cherry Hill, you order by selecting options on a touchscreen. In the new food court at Newark Liberty Airport’s United Terminal C, you not only order and pay on a tablet, you can check your flight status while you’re at it.
Photo by Andy Foster
Logoed Matchbooks
They’re baaack, despite the smoking ban, and they’re beautiful, often with wooden matches in slide-out boxes. They’ll light your fire at, among others, Blue Pig Tavern in Cape May, Eno Terra in Kingston, Mogo in Asbury Park, Ninety Acres in Peapack-Gladstone, Red Cadillac in Union, and the Ryland Inn in Whitehouse Station.
Illustration by Janice Belove
Grass-Finished
All cattle eat pasture early in their lives, but most wind up confined in feedlots and fattened on corn, which their systems are not evolved to digest, stressing the animals. Not yet the new normal but increasingly in demand is beef from cattle that eat grass their entire lives and grow at a slower, more natural rate. Grass-finished is a delicious, leaner meat you can dig into at, among others, Eno Terra in Kingston, Latour at Crystal Springs in Hamburg, Lorena’s in Maplewood, Sapori in Collingswood and the Roots Steakhouses in Morristown, Summit and Ridgewood.
Illustration by Janice Belove
Craft Beer
Craft breweries are opening in New Jersey almost monthly. Highly regarded newcomers from the past 15 months include Spellbound, Forgotten Boardwalk, Magnify, Brix City and Third State. Poised to open are 25 more, according to newjerseycraftbeer.com. The boom is so heady it will be our March cover story.
Cavé paleo eatery in Avon serves up nothing but grassfed and finished beef. All meats there are pastured…including Iberico Pork from Spain and lots of wild game. It’s a small restaurant with a big impact that’s been doing this kind of stuff for 2 years plus!