When food is life, life sure is delicious
Hello again, readers!
I hope this week's newsletter finds you happy, healthy and full of good food.
I don't know about you, but I have always spent an incredible amount of time thinking about food.
I wake up each morning excited to eat breakfast, which is usually avocado toast with a poached egg and hot sauce (an exceptionally Millennial breakfast, I'm aware), or yogurt with fruit and honey.
I enjoy planning dinners, dishes like homemade pizza, carnitas tacos and chicken tikka masala. My photo roll is full of screenshot recipes I can't wait to cook, and I keep a long-running list of restaurants I want to visit.
But when I take a trip, obsessing over food reaches a new level — and it's worth the work. My relentless searching through the years was rewarded this weekend during a quick trip to New York City, where our first meal took place within minutes of stepping off the train at Penn Station.
Bravo Pizza at 7th Avenue and West 30th Street makes my family's absolute favorite pizza, and we'd been craving the cheesy pie since our last city trip, pre-pandemic.
Next was a spot that's new to us, Schnipper's, at Lexington Avenue and East 51st Street. It's no fine dining, but the counter-service spot serving juicy burgers, crispy fries and creamy milkshakes was just what we needed after a day of walking.
Our last stop was another favorite, Ben's Kosher Delicatessen on 38th Street. Famous for melt-in-your-mouth pastrami and perfect matzoh ball soup, we also love the garlicky pickles delivered alongside creamy coleslaw. The vibe is old school New York City deli, all the way.
What about you? What are your favorite restaurants, both at home and away? I would love to hear about them.
Here are some stories of places closer to home that I think you'll enjoy.
Searching for king cake? These bakeries have it
We may be more than a thousand miles away from New Orleans, but that doesn't mean we can't get in on the fun of Mardi Gras.
Jersey Shore bakery owners say they are getting more orders for king cakes each year. The circular-shaped dessert is decorated in the Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and yellow and filled with cinnamon, cream cheese, coconut, praline, fruit or nuts.
There's a small baby figurine symbolizing the baby Jesus baked inside, and the lucky person who finds it in their slice is named king or queen for the day.
You can pre-order a king cake from Del Ponte's Bakery in Bradley Beach, 502 Baking Company in Brick, or Simona's Bakery in Sea Girt, or try king cake-inspired crème brulée at R Bar in Asbury Park.
New beginnings at Jack's Goal Line Stand in Fair Haven
After about two years of construction that started just before the pandemic hit, Jack's Goal Line Stand has opened a second location in Fair Haven at the site of Umberto's Pizzeria, a family restaurant that existed for more than 30 years.
"The town had such a love for [Umberto's]. Kids would line their bikes up out front," said Nick Petitt, who owns Jack's with Tim Canavan. "We're hoping to see that again, and we're hoping to do the same thing for the town. Different food, but the same family-friendly vibe."
The menu mirrors that of their original Jack's in Long Branch, including American, Mexican, Asian and other styles of cuisine. Diners can expect dishes like pizza topped with mashed potatoes, blackened steak bites, caramelized onions and bacon, or another with pierogis, bacon, caramelized onions, mozzarella and pecorino.
Along with Lusty Lobster in Highlands and Local 130 Seafood in Asbury Park, Petitti and Canavan source other ingredients locally, like meat from D'Ambrisi Wholesale Foods and fresh bread from Caputo Italian Pastry Shoppe, both in Long Branch.
Jacks' Goal Line Stand is at 583 River Road in Fair Haven; more information is at jacksgoallinestand.com.
The story of Asbury Park Brewery's Blonde lager
In the latest installment of beer writer Alex Biese's subscriber-exclusive series on flagship craft beers in Monmouth and Ocean counties, he features Asbury Park Brewery's Blonde lager.
Blonde was introduced in late 2017, and the company currently brews approximately 4,500 barrels of it a year.
Jeff Plate, Asbury Park Brewery founder, described Blonde as “a beer that might be familiar to people that aren't necessarily the most adventurous craft beer drinkers. So if you go to the Stone Pony Summer Stage or you go to the PNC Bank Arts Center and you want to have a local beer but you don’t ... want to get knocked on your (butt), that was the beer we wanted to create.
“For our flagship beer, we wanted to really distill it down to the essence of what a good summer cruising beer would be,” he said.
More on Asbury Park Brewery is at asburyparkbrewery.com.
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Sarah Griesemer is a food writer for app.com. Email her at sgriesemer@gannettnj.com. For more on where to eat and drink, please subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: When food is life, life sure is delicious
