Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

In the eight years I've been living in New Jersey, I've been hoping to find the sort of diner that so many people pine for, but when I'm there, I just don't get it.

In any case, when I went from Edison to Princeton for some shopping this morning, I passed three diners and eight or nine Indian vegetarian places.

The diners are rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

Castor:

To answer your question; I spent quite a bit of time deciding between the AFC and Great Wall and gave it to the Great Wall because of their larger fish department and seating in the prepared foods section. It is a very close call.

It won't be long until AFC opens a new store in Piscataway and that may or may not change the whole landscape.

And too those who are comparing Chinese supermarkets in Brooklyn and Queens, I think the criteria there are a bit different than in New Jersey because they are so often surrounded other Chinese shops and restaurants - especially in Flushing.

In New Jersey we expect - and we get - a real destination in itself. In the city, the neighborhood is the destination.

korovka:

The food landscape of New Jersey has been laid to waste by endless chain supermarkets, chain restaurants, and just plain chain stores. Whenever possible, I'm going to use the voice I have here to remind people that there's an alternative.

It's an important mission.

Betty:

It's a funny thing. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area is loaded with great food resources and the only thing that's ever reported on is Old Forge Pizza.

I'll try to make that right.

Eating:

I spotted that menu and went for the scrapple. Given my recent experiences with "local" crabmeat in the Garden State, I just skipped it. Add to that, my normal "not the fancy stuff!" reaction and you won't find me ordering that anytime soon.(In New Jersey anyway.)

I'll get to local crab and local seafood in general another time. It's a whole separate dispatch.

Thomas:

Thank you very much.

Funny you should say that because I'll be out of town for a couple of weeks, but I've already got the next couple of dispatches drafted.

Tarelki:

Sadly, the Hong Kong Supermarket at the corner of Oak Tree Road and Park Avenue (About 3 miles from Patel and around the corner from that beer store I wrote about a few months ago.) has closed for good. It is deeply missed both for its great ingredients and its truly memorable food court.

Stay tuned - reports on both Chinese and Latin American mega-stores are coming.

Joan:

I went with Four-meek-ah and they seemed pretty pleased.

Of course, whatever you say, don't pronounce it the same way as the countertop!

Castor:

This is by no means the only quality butcher in the area. I'm posting these reports as fast as I can write them but this is uncharted territory and there is (for the most part) just one of me out here.

Perky:

I would be shocked if the Trenton Market WASN'T there!

It's just timeless. Yes, there are heirloom tomatoes and Yukon Gold potatoes, and the ethnic stalls come and go as Trenton's population shifts, but the format, and the big sign are here to stay. If the original "Planet of the Apes" movie had been filmed in New Jersey, they'd have used the Trenton Farmer's Market sign instead of the Statue of Liberty for the closing scene.

Zern's seems interesting, but we have at least a few similar places here in New Jersey that I haven't written up yet...Come to think of it, I've barely scratched the surface of what's going on here...I mean...I haven't even discussed pizza!

Betsy:

When farmer's markets began to reappear in the Garden State, a big deal was made about how they were just that; farmer's markets.

Today, the success of farmer's markets is well-known. They often draw huge crowds of serious shoppers. The question I've been asking in both my talks and this post is "should farmer's markets be for something other than what's grown on farms?"

By far and away, the largest group of non-farm vendors at New Jersey markets are bakers. Would a crowd like the one I saw at Collingswood attend a "baker's market" without farmers?

Why not just name the markets honestly?

Couldn't your market be called the "Collingswood Food Market" instead?

I believe that the distinction is a serious and important one. We in New Jersey have no shortage of shops that offer baked goods of very high quality. However, I often find myself driving thirty minutes or more to find local, in-season, fruits and vegetables. This is why I want to see farmers at "farmer's markets." More than that, I want to see farmer's markets that are for farmer's, first and foremost.

Tam:

Sit tight, I've already covered the beer and will have more soon enough. The fact is, I'm overwhelmed by the incredible amount of food worth writing about.