Section
The Local
Central Jersey — what to do, where to go, who to know
Chop Shop Just Opened in Old Bridge and the Vibes Are Immaculate
Thick-cut slab of bacon, a short rib app sitting on Italian-inspired fried rice, and a salmon steak with a char that had no business being that good. Jennifer Nangano of @foodaholicnj files her first report for Second Act 360. Let me save you the scrolling: Chop Shop in Old Bridge is the real thing, and you should put it on the list…
Central Jersey Boardwalks Without the Chaos
The boardwalk is better in October than it is in July and everybody over 55 already knows it. Where to walk, when to go, and what is still open when the arcades are shuttered. Here is a thing nobody puts on a tourism brochure: the Jersey Shore is at its absolute best when the funnel cake stand is closed. July is a parking problem with…
History Without the Crowds: Six Central Jersey Places That Are Never Busy
Everybody drives to Philadelphia for history and ignores the fort, the lighthouse and the mill sitting twenty minutes from the house. Six places worth a Tuesday, none of them crowded. We will happily sit in two hours of traffic to see somebody else's history and then drive past our own on the way to the supermarket. Central Jersey is…
Nobody Under 40 Knows How to Order at a Central Jersey Deli
A pork roll is not a "breakfast sandwich," a hard roll is not a bun, and if you are reading the menu out loud you have already lost. A field guide from someone who has been in the line since 1974. There is a rhythm to a Central Jersey deli at 8:15 on a Saturday morning, and you either have it or you are the reason twelve people are…
The Central Jersey Weeknight Playbook: 10 Nights Out That End by 9 PM
We are not waiting 45 minutes for a table at 8:30 on a Tuesday and neither are you. Ten ways to actually leave the house on a weeknight, all of them home before the news. Somewhere along the way, "going out" got redefined as a 9 p.m. reservation, valet parking and a check that could cover a car payment. That is not a night out. That is…
The 5 Most Overrated Things on a Central Jersey Diner Menu
A Central Jersey diner menu is nine pages long and about four of them are a trap. Here is what to stop ordering, what the regulars order instead, and the unwritten rules nobody prints on the laminated page. Let me say the thing out loud: the diner is the last honest institution in Central Jersey. No reservations, no tasting menu, no…
The Central Jersey fall guide: 12 things to actually do this season.
Not the tourist list. The list your neighbor would give you. Autumn in Monmouth is criminally underrated. Here's what to do — locals only edition. Delicious Orchards, Colts Neck. Cider donuts. That's the entire pitch. Get there before 10 a.m. on a weekend or don't bother. Allaire State Park. The trails behind the historic village are…