ghostrider

Agreed, there's nothing like the locally grown summertime tomatoes. I look for that Jersey Fresh logo at farmers' market stands that I patronize. I don't believe that the farm can display that if they didn't grow everything themselves. (Of course I don't know how strictly that's enforced, but it's something.)

Ghost--Have you (or anyone else) eaten here lately? The last few comments about the place were on the fence.. ← No I haven't. But on the strength of their appetizers & the sidewalk seating, I'd give them another try if I had the time & the wherewithal.

They could be hothouse tomatoes. There's a farmer at the NYC Union Sq Greenmarket who has off-season hothouse tomatoes, & signs to tell you that. I consider that perfectly legit, but if that's the deal in Montclair they ought to state it up front too. The list on the site above is incomplete, at the very least, they've left out Rutherford. I prefer the NJ state site below, which I believe is comprehensive, & gives more precise info on the open/close dates/times for each market: Jersey Fresh Markets

Rutherford - possibly the worst ShopRite in the state. It's a real time warp. Sometimes I think it has funky charm, others it just ticks me off. Decent meats but a borderline regrigeration system, you really gotta watch yourself. Generally nice folks who work there though, I give 'em points for customer relations.

Please be aware that the ShopRites are not a homogeneous operation. They are a Cooperative, with many different companies operating their own group of ShopRites. And there are huge differences among them. Up in Bergen, we have Glass Group and an Inserra Group. They are very very different stores. I prefer Glass. I've heard that the Singer stores in Hudson county are mediocre, but the best ShopRites are down in Monmouth area and the name of the group escapes me now. ← I ran across an obit for Ray Inserra earlier this week. (I think that was the first name. Anyway, 72, apparently the Patriarch of the Inserra Group.) I wonder if this bodes changes in the operation. Sorry, that was a bit off topic. To get back to the important stuff, my local SR is having a great 1/2-price sale on those Ferrero hazelnut chocolates. Not sure if this is just a one-off or chain wide. Anyway my chocolate closet is almost full now.

Also add Lalezar, Montclair -- This is the Turkish restaurant at 720 Bloomfield Ave., just down from the Art Museum, opposite the Whole Foods. As of today, they have 7 brand spanking new sidewalk tables.

Search eG for Wondee's. If you're already in Hackensack, no reason to go elsewhere. IMHO of course.

We drove over to Montclair yesterday afternoon for their alleged Sidewalk Sale, which they'd been promoting for weeks. It was pretty much a bust. Granted, there was a VERY brief shower just as we hit the corner of Grove & Chestnut; it was over less than 5 minutes later, by the time we'd parked, but at 4:00 it may have been enough for most of the merchants to pack up their wares & put them back indoors. Still, there wasn't much evidence of anything having been there before that bit of rain, beyond a few of the stores on Church St. that kept stuff out. Anyway, I want to give Taro all due credit for keeping their outdoor dim sum table up & running. (This was there especially for the Sidewalk Sale, it's not their regular MO.) From the Sale flyers, I'd expected dozens of outdoor food stands, but Taro was the only game in town, & I was famished at that point. Good veggie dumplings, excellent shrimp & leek dumplings. I was pleased & revitalised & am feeling well disposed towards Taro right now. Should the occasion arise, I'd try them for more dim sum or a full meal.

RIght down the street from me & I've never been. Mainly because I expected the food to be considerably more awful than it apparently is. Will have to give it a try now.

Trattoria Corrado, on Station Sq in Rutherford, has several sidewalk tables now.

I have no idea how old I was, but I'm pretty sure it was pre-10. My folks realized that I knew my way around the kitchen - I guess I just watched & learned - & on nights when they went out they would leave me a burger patty, a potato & an onion. I would chop up the latter two & make hash browns and then fry up the burger. (I guess I'd picked up some basic knife skills too.) We always had a can of bacon drippings for frying. Deadly but dang that was good! I always looked forward to those nights.

Precisely our approach.

I don't eat burgers much anymore, but when I did, ketchup (Hunts, to me it tasted more tomato-like than the Heinz sludge) & onions were essential. I guess that makes me a two-note guy. I never liked ketchup on fries. As someone said above, good fries don't need a condiment. I will never forget the guy I saw in New Orleans starting his breakfast with half a grapefruit which he slathered with ketchup. A variant of the Bloody Mary principle, perhaps, whatever that may be?

I'm quite certain that when Arthur Dent was talking about "a cup of tea" it had milk and perhaps sugar in it. -mjr ← Having just read Douglas Adams' little essay, Tea, in The Salmon of Doubt, I am now somewhat less inclined to agree that Arthur Dent used milk (& perhaps sugar). Of course it still depends on one's estimation of Dent 's tastes more than Adams'. This comment just caught my eye. I must respectfully disagree here too. Many people will tell you that, the more CTC leaves you have in a tea, the shorter you want to brew it, unless you like hyperacidic tea. (Which some folks do, I grant you.) I've also found some Darjeelings which come out better at 4-5 minutes. I think the only hard & fast rule is to use the various guidelines here as starting points & find what works best for one's own taste for each individual tea. Which is basically what afn is saying above, now that I look at it. Two additional factors here: Pouring the water over the leaves creates a swirling effect that allows them to expand rapidly and expose the maximum surface area to contact with the water while it's still at its hottest. This assures maximum flavor extraction. It's an essential part of the process. After the tea leaves steep, a slight residue remains inside whatever vessel you use. It accumulates over time, to the point where it becomes visible & affects flavor. If you were to brew in your teakettle, you'd have to clean the kettle more often than you would if you use it only for boiling water. Of course, you have to clean your teapot periodically anyway, but if you use the kettle to boil water for any other purpose (e.g., making coffee for guests, pre-boiling water for cooking), then you'd have to clean it as often as a teapot.

What a great vicarious road trip to some of my fave spots! Thanks!

That was a good article, thanks! And that's what it's all about. We found some at the stand at the Hoboken train station that I rank as the second best of the year. Must try to find more on the weekend. The season is going all too fast....

Stumbled onto a neat little Farmers' Mkt in Clayton (suburban StL) MO last weekend. Too early in season for much beyond flowers & some FABLULOUS looking lettuce. But the venue looked promising. Kinda wish I still lived there, was just passin' through....

Also curious to know what you found, seeing as I'll be in the neighborhood shortly. This comes way too late, but it looks like you should have gone here: Lampert's Plush Pig

You HAVE to call them on it. Well, if it's late in the day, I understand. But the more you shop there, the more you'll discover that more things need "calling-on" than not... unfortunately. I've been shopping there since 1980, when their main focus was at another location and current store was nothing like it is today. They have much good stuff and great prices, but the amount of 'stuff' that they try to "get away" with is disgraceful - I don't know if calling them on it counts for anything that will make them stop, but it can't hurt to let them know that they're not fooling everybody. Apparently they think they are, which is offensive. ← Totally agree with you. Unfortunately I was in a state of near-exhaustion due to an afternoon at the English Country Faire in Montclair & an inadequate lunch. I really didn't have the strength to get into a confrontation, I needed to get my fish & get out of the place. Anyway the sole proved to be quite good. The corn was sweet but had a peculiar rotting-vegetation overtone.

Here's a curiosity: I just got back from Corrado's, a local emporium of some repute. (You can read more about it in the Jersey forum, or not, as you please.) At the seafood counter, they had a tub of "Fresh Maine Shrimp." They cetainly looked like the Maine shrimp, but unless someone declared a second season, they had to have been previously frozen (or caught elsewhere, now that I think about it.) Truth in labeling? I thought of calling them on it, but didn't have the strength at that point in the day.

Just got back from my first-ever trip to Corrado's. WOW. Total sensory overload. Given the size of the Sat afternoon crowd, I was amazed at the level of courtesy between the cart-wielding shoppers. Reminded me of driving in Rome; if you tune into the pace & the customs, it's actually pretty functional. Bought corn & peaches from produce, basically because they were there. Not spectacular quality but great prices. Fish counter: uneven. Again, great prices. Flounder & halibut were clearly old. OTOH sole, grouper & tilapia looked very fresh. Got the sole, we'll see how it cooks up. Also, curiously, there was a tub of "Fresh Maine Shrimp." They cetainly looked like the Maine shrimp, but since the season ended in March unless there was an extension I don't know about, they had to have been previously frozen. Truth in labeling? I thought of calling them on it, but didn't have the strength at that point in the day. An interesting place. Lots of bargains to be had - pastas, cheeses, on & on. With the 8-mile detour from my job, though, I doubt that I'll get there too often.

Corrado's has WA asparagus for 59 cents the lb. Can't beat the price, but I'm still holding out for the FRESH local stuff.

Whole Foods (in Montclair, still open!) now has "Native NJ Asparagus" for $3.99 a lb. You have to look closely at the labels on individual bunches, since they still have a lot of CA stalks intermingled with the local stuff. And when you do look closely at the label, you find that it says "Packed & sold by Eastern Fresh Growers, Cedarville NJ. Produce of USA." Conspicuously absent is the Jersey Fresh logo. No way to know just where this stuff was grown. Furthermore, given the rubberiness of the stalks, I could find no palpable difference between the Eastern Fresh stuff & the CA, though the right-coast stalks were a slightly richer shade of green. Unlike the similarly priced NYC Greenmarket stalks, which were intensely fresh & crisp, this lot does strike me as a bit of a ripoff. Still, with no time yet to drive up to any of the farms I've found, I allowed myself to be ripped off & bought a small bunch. The search will continue!

Actually, Lou, I think it was directed at me. ← With 3 posts in 9 months, it'll be the dog days of August before we get an explanation. I am trying to be charitable & hoping that the comment was an attempt at a joke that misfired, because otherwise it's pretty darned rude.

I spotted it the other day across the street, but didn't have time to stop in. Glad to have your recommendation! Also discovered a British imports store further down Bloomfield that has a nice & very eclectic tea selection. (I've already forgotten to the name & address but I can find it again. I think.) Montclair is happening! And WF & Starbucks will remain! O happy day. (Of course all of my prior experience in the corporate world tells me that that sign at WF guarantees they'll be shut down inside of 6 months.)