Hot From The Kettle ®
So you missed the Farmers' Market again this Saturday, big deal - head out to Matarazzo Farms in N. Caldwell where they have started their 50% off all plants sale! 
David C. Felton stands at the helm of the kitchen and farm at Ninety Acres Culinary Center, the restaurant situated on ninety gorgeous acres in Somerset County, New Jersey. He attended Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island, and after graduating with a degree in the Culinary Arts headed across the country, picking up flavors and techniques as he went along.
Read Elizabeth's interview on the Chef's Table!
ON SALE NOW! EARLY PURCHASE SPECIAL!
Great news about the long-awaited Montclair Food & Wine Festival: the exciting two-day event is now confirmed for May 4th and 5th, 2013 June 1st and 2nd, 2013 at the historic Woman's Club of Upper Montclair. This landmark charitable festival will mark the inauguration of what is anticipated to be an annual event.
Ariane DuarteA non-profit organization powered by a volunteer core that believes in giving back to the community, the Montclair Food & Wine Festival (MFWF) will be establishing a scholarship fund for a local student who exhibits merit and financial need to further their culinary education. The MFWF will also be donating a portion of the proceeds from the event to the St. Joseph's Children's Hospital Center for Feeding and Swallowing and to the Partners in Health Foundation.
Ryan DePersioNotes MFWF creator Melody Kettle, "Montclair has long been considered the 'unofficial' food capital of New Jersey, so we're thrilled that lovers of food, wine and spirits from all over the state will be able to gather here for two days of exceptional food and wine tasting experiences."
Zod ArifaiOn the evening of May 4th, guests will gather for the Grand Tasting, where they will sample the culinary offerings of many of the state's finest restaurants. Gary's Wine & Marketplace (Bernardsville, Madison, Wayne) will be presenting wines from around the world and Halcyon's Seafood Brasserie will be offering outstanding spirits.
Francesco PalmieriOn day two -- May 5th, 2013 -- guests will experience a tour-de-force of collaborative culinary wizardry: Michael Carrino of the soon-to-open Pig & Prince in Lackawanna Plaza; Ariane Duarte of CulinAriane; Ryan DePersio of Fascino, Bar Cara and NICO Kitchen + Bar; Mitchell Altholz of Highlawn Pavilion; Francesco Palmieri of the Orange Squirrel; and Zod Arifai of Blu, Next Door, and daryl, will all join forces on an extraordinary dinner for attendees. Mont
Mitchell Altholzclair's Amanti Vino will be pairing/coordinating the wines and proprietor Sharon Sevrens will give explanations on the particular wines paired.
Mike Carrino
"I chose to be involved in the Montclair Food & Wine Festival to provide a chef and restaurant owner's perspective to the overall project," says Michael Carrino, formerly of Passionné, and currently developing his new restaurant concept, Pig & Prince. "I hope that my input will assist in making this festival one of New Jersey's premiere events highlighting what is already one of the elite dining scenes in the state. I am looking forward to working with all those involved to make this event a great success."
Tickets are available for purchase through EventBrite! Make sure to take advantage of the Grand Tasting Early Purchase VIP ticket special!
Follow Montclair Food & Wine Festival on Twitter and Like MFWF on Facebook.
It’s always fun to dine with fellow "food geeks." But it's especially fulfilling when those fellow gastronomes happen to be Rosie Saferstein and Jason Perlow, two pillars of the NJ food writing community, whose collective knowledge of cuisine is as broad as the globe itself.
We dined together at Gourmet Chopsticks in Fairfield, NJ. Really? Not Ninety Acres? Not Elements? Not daryl? No. Gourmet Chopsticks, formerly Hunan Cottage. The restaurant came highly recommended from Rosie, and if she says it good – I’m going to give it a go!
Gourmet Chopsticks serves Taiwanese and Shanghai style cuisine. What separates Shanghainese and Taiwanese cuisine? Approximately 425 miles. The same distance between NYC and Akron, OH, or NYC and North Carolina.
coffee at Le SalbuenCoffee and coolness have taken over Walnut Street. So is Walnut Street the Greenwich Village of Montclair? Maybe.
Read my love letter to "Walnut Village" on Montclair Restaurant News!
For a girl who does most of her grocery shopping at Whole Foods, the idea of buying the requisite can of Crisco to fry chicken was a little out of my comfort zone. But once I scooped the frosting-like white fluff out of the can and heated it in my big Le Creuset, it bubbled up and cooked the chicken to golden brown perfection.