byarvin

Guys: This is an error in my understanding of New Jersey geograpy. According the to Foodmart International webpage, that part of New Jersey is called Linden. My apologies. As I understand it, there are currently two open outposts of Foodmart, one in Linden, right off Route 1 and the other on Central Avenue in Spring Valley. The company website, http://www.foodmartinternational.com has not been changed to reflect the closing of their store in Jersey City. In any case, the Linden/Rahway area is a great destination for those interested Polish food and there is also an outpost of Seabras a few miles up, sort of at the corner of Rt 1 and Elmora Ave. in Elizabeth.

Tommy and Jason: If you'd like, I'll head over to the Foodmart International store in Rahway and check the prices today. Are there any items you're especially interested in?

I think these comments are really helping me phrase the sort of question I'm trying to ask. My question now seems to be morphing into "Why do we think affluence and quality food shopping go together?" Very few of New Jersey's better food stores are in affluent neighborhoods and Edison, just south of - and much poorer than Westfield, has an amazing variety of food possibilities. Indeed, the new Wegmans seems to be positioned to take advantage of this rather any sort of economic demographic. Are the wealthier Westfieldians just cooking at home less or is there something else at work here?

Mike: We are also in agreement about Corrado's. I make a trip there myself a couple of times a year to buy bulk items - they have great prices on things like huge cans of olive-oil-packed anchovies - but it's not the sort of shop I'm talking about. If you're going to travel that distance, I suggest you go the other way instead and visit Delicious Orchards in Colt's Neck. This is more along the urban upscale ideal of a fine foods variety store. In New Jersey, everything is really spread out and you won't find anything without deliberate exploration. I'm saving the local vs global for another thread. Even though it's discussed often, it's too good a topic to bury at the bottom of this one.

So that food shopping thread below left me with a burning question. Why is it that Westfield, one of the most beautiful and upscale towns in this part of New Jersey has no place to buy fine ingredients? There are certainly many fine dining restaurants, a nice cooking school, and a favorite gleato parlor, but no real upscale grocery options. It's true that Westfieledians (Westfieldinos?...Westfieldonians?) can drive to the ethnic superstores in Edison and Woodbridge but that doesn't really answer the question. From the fillets-only fish store the common-in-Westfield comment that they "don't need a fine foods store since they already have Trader Joe's," the place cries out for more and better. As always, I am puzzled...

Mike: As I said before, nobody is suggesting that anything here in New Jersey is concentrated in the urban sense. The question was about quality food shopping on the Route 27 Princeton/New Brunswick corridor. This stretch alone is twentyfive or thirty miles. If you feel that driving these distances is "insane," then New Jersey shopping isn't for you, but it doesn't reduce the remarkable quality and variety of ingredients that are available to those who enjoy the trip. My own attitude is quite different - if I want cheese, I would rather spend an extra half hour in the car so I could meet the cows. For me, farm visits are one of New Jersey's great pleasures. Your question about what I do when I entertain made me blush. The last time I had people over, I served them gelato from Westfield. I'm only about seven miles from there, but for something of that quality, I'd be willing to drive as far as I had to. My last dinner party featured smoked shrimp and grilled sardines, both purchased at Captain Fresh. (I should warn readers that I smoked them myself - the Captain doesn't sell them that way.) As far as getting everything at Fairway, you don't just pay a premium in price, you pay a much larger price for being that much more removed from the people who produce your food.

Mike C There is something a bit unfair about your reply. Comparing Manhattan's best to a few second rate shops here in NJ just doesn't seem right. I will cheerfully compare a cheese made by Boblink Dairy in Vernon to what you're getting in Manhattan (flown in from another country!), but not something from the cheese section of a wine shop. Han ah Rhum is better for fish than any of the places I mentioned. (I just revisited the place with new glasses) Remarkable quality and selection and an enviroment that would be impossible to recreate in the big city. If you're talking about that fish market in Westfield that plays jazz 88 and only sells fillets, this is a whole other league. Can we at least compare comprables? As for Westfield, it's a beautiful town, but the only food shop worth entering is La Crema Gelato.

Hi everyone. I just thought I'd chyme in with a few dim sum suggestions a bit farther south. Both the 1-9 Seafood Restaurant on Route 1-9 in Avenel and the Wonder Seafood Restaurant on Route 27 in Edison offer the "cart experience" on weekend mornings. Both offer modern Cantonese seafood cusine at other times. Not dim sum in the technical sense, King's Village, a bit farther south on Route 27 (but still in Edison) offers a Northern Chinese "Dim Sum" menu. Not the "cart experience," but delicious all the same.

I may have made a bold statement, but New Jersey is a pretty big state. Our best stores easily equal the selection of the best in Manhattan and have far lower prices. Of course, that size is also a problem. There is no block in New Jersey that is the equivalent of the Fairway one. Wegman's is outstanding for a chain supermarket, but our specialty stores are just as outstanding. My own favorite cheese selection in NJ is at Artisanal Bread & Cheese in Chester, but if I were getting in the car to buy the stuff, I'd wind up at the farm of a serious cheesemaker, not a store. Fish is another story. I love Captian Fresh in Watchung and Mitsuwa in Edgewater, but I suspect there is much better that I haven't found yet. So, I will stand behind my statement in terms of quality, but back off on the location aspect. We Jersanians can't hop from one shop to another, city style. But when we head off to some far flung destination for something wonderful, we get it, and we get it for far lower prices than you big city folk pay.

Welcome to the club! I've tried every slant except: Dear Editor: Have you been wanting to publish more articles on how to fill your reader's homes with dense, gray smoke...? Forget the sensuality, the huge number of unsusal coffee varieties, the big savings in coffee costs and instead stress the gadgets you can buy. I should have known.

Not only is food cruising the best thing to do on a rainy weekend, it's also the best thing to do on a sunny weekend, or a snowy weekend too. And Route 27 is the best food crusing strip in central NJ. (although maybe it's tied with Oak Tree Road) BTW...while you're at it. Stop off for a delicious green tea drink at the Igloo Tea House, across from the Asian Food Center. Oh yeah...there's a nice Vietnamese grocery next to the Igloo...then head up to the Wonder Seafood Restaurant for Dim Sum...then...

Route 27 is loaded with great places to buy food! Wegman's doesn't even scratch the surface. (although it is certainly far better than any store you can find in Manhattan) For great cuts of meat go to the PA Dutch Market that's not far from where you say you are. There are stands there that sell outsanding meat and poultry. The rest is fun but nothing special. Do NOT under any circumstances get excited about their monthly pig roast. It's awful. Fresh produce and herbs? Try the Whole Earth Center in Princeton. They also have a great selection of bulk cereals and grains - I counted 27 granolas last week. Farm visits are another shopping possibility for you. Terhune Orchards has great stuff and a shop that's open all year 'round. Simply Grazin' Farm in Hopewell is one of the area's best producers of meat. (both have websites somewhere or other and are located within 20 minutes of Princeton) You might also consider driving NORTH on 27. Look for a cluster of Mexican markets in New Brunswick but keep on going! Highland Park has a large Glatt Kosher supermarket and the giant Asian Foods Center will be on your left as you enter Edison. At this point, you're in an area that strongly resembles Queens or Brooklyn in shopping possibilities. BTW...this drive will also pass several dozen great, inexpensive restaurants, but that's another post. Route 27 is food shopping heaven!

Hi, my first post gave the directions to the best of my ability. The market is open all year round on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Beiler's Fresh Meats in the Amish Farm Market on Route 27, just a bit north of Kingston and a bit south of New Brunswick will have what you're looking for. In fact, this is one of the best meat markets in New Jersey. I regularly drive there from Edison for sausages, cold cuts, and roasts. Other stands in the market have wonderful poultry, pickles, and preserves. Skip the greasy snack bar.

Liquid: Argyle is reviewed at http://www.roadfood.com take a look at the review.

My own experience is that when it comes to coffee, expensive equipment is highly overrated. Yes, a burr grinder is a big improvement over those small cylinder shaped ones, but I get great roasts with an old corn popper, an oven thermometer and a colander. It's the same with brewing...a simple stovetop espresso pot or coffee press can make a delicious pot in the hands of a skilled user. With machines, I spend too much time wondering if there's a problem with the unit, and not enough thinking about the product itself. Here's a photo I took of my standard shotmaking setup.

hey! Shanghai Park serves more than just soup dumplings!! They have a wonderful array of Shanghai style cold dishes and a whole blackboard filled with great specials. That whole stretch of Route 27 between New Brunswick and Edison is filled with great Asian restaurants. And if you just go a bit past Edison and into Linden, you'll find the Eastern European shops and restaurants that began this thread.

Hello out there! Like everybody else, I've been reading the Fat Guy's home coffee roasting posts, and it makes me wonder....who else besides him (and me!) are roasting out there? I've been doing it about a year and I roast around a pound a week using either a Hearthware roaster (in the garage) or a converted stovetop corn popper. Surely there must be more of you out there! Green beans and equipment are snatched right up on Ebay, and there are all sorts of websites for this. I can't be the only home roaster in New Jersey...or could I?