Jenn Hall

Edible Jersey: Writing the Clam’s Next Chapter (Best American Food Writing 2019 Notable)

September 12, 2018 by jennhallwrites

2019 Eddy Award, Best Feature “Mother Nature, she’s the boss.” Billy Mayer looks at the bay, his eyes taking on the deep blue hue of the waters where Obes Thorofare and Steelmans Bay meet. “You have to look at the moons. You have to look at the tides. All that knowledge? Nobody is going to teach you that. You can’t describe that. It’s just something that you pick up over time.” Mayer speaks to a primal truth with the poetry […]

Categories: food & drink, on the water, sustainable & just

New Jersey Monthly: In Maple Shade, a Pizzeria Deeply Rooted in Family and Tradition

October 19, 2019 by jennhallwrites

The first time I went to Tacconelli’s Pizzeria in Maple Shade, the woman seated behind us was celebrating her 95th birthday. Generations were gathered to honor her: the birthday girl, her daughter, her grandson. Crisp pizzas steamed on tray stands, and the soundtrack was one of familiar conversation and laughter in the black, red, and wood-toned dining room. At some point, the chatter spilled over to the next table. A pair of Italian aunties wished grandma happy birthday. Then, they […]

Categories: food & drink

Courier-Post: Chef Greg Vernick’s new restaurant is a love letter to the sea

October 9, 2019 by jennhallwrites

When Chef Greg Vernick turned 14, his summer vacation began with an announcement. That year, rather than attending camp or lazing on the beach, he would work. Each summer, the Vernicks ventured from their home in Cherry Hill to Margate, seeking salt breezes and a respite from inland heat. “My family and I decided that I could live down in Margate for the summer and get a job,” Vernick says. “So, we mocked up a fake resume and drove down […]

Categories: food & drink

New Jersey Monthly: Rai Rai Ramen Sets Up Shop in Mount Laurel

October 2, 2019 by jennhallwrites

When the Mount Laurel location of Rai Rai Ramen opened this summer, it had a decidedly big ladle to fill. Broths simmering, it set up shop in the former strip-mall home of Chulicious. There, Sheri Chu and her father/chef, Chun J. Chu, had developed a cult following with regional Taiwanese and Sichuan classics, before the restaurant was briefly sold and then closed. In the dining room, the healing scent of Chu’s chicken soup had perfumed the air: pure comfort. Fortunately, […]

Categories: food & drink

Edible Jersey: From Sea to Plate – Life on a New Jersey Fishing Boat

July 17, 2019 by jennhallwrites

The Atlantic is a study in gray, steel clouds meeting mineral-hued waters at the horizon. Guiding his fishing boat through the Manasquan Inlet, Jamie Dopkin veers right. Along the jetties that shape the channel, a fluorescent buoy pops like an exclamation mark, marking a scuba diver. At sea, buoys and their colors are a form of language. A cross between a Chesapeake Deadrise– and Down East–style boat—workhorses of the East Coast fishing trade—the FV Webo, circa 1981, is just roomy […]

Categories: food & drink, on the water

Edible Jersey: Enjoying Skate at Da Pesca

July 17, 2019 by jennhallwrites

For as prehistoric as a skate looks in the water, dotted wings billowing, the fish is plated with poetry and a wink at Chris Cannon’s daPesca, the seafood-focused concept at Morristown’s Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen. Curled into a scallop-shape medallion by executive chef Craig Polignano (there’s that wink), the dish is a riff on French beurre nair, which Cannon first savored as a nine-year-old in Europe. “I’ve remembered it forever,” he says of the memory. “l love the texture. […]

Categories: food & drink, on the water

Edible Jersey: New Jersey Seafood – A Partial Guide

July 17, 2019 by jennhallwrites

Do your part to build and sustain our local seafood industry. For New Jersey fishermen and women, chefs and restaurateurs, part of the challenge is encouraging consumers to be aware of, ask for and buy the expansive bounty of fish caught in New Jersey waters. When visiting your local fishmonger or favorite restaurant, go beyond the more traditional, popular options (imported tuna, salmon, shrimp) and try some of NJ’s delicious but lesser-known varieties. Read more… Published in the High Summer […]

Categories: food & drink, on the water, sustainable & just

Edible Jersey: Local 130 Seafood Writes Its Next Chapter

July 17, 2019 by jennhallwrites

Anyone who has shopped at Local 130 Seafood’s store in Asbury Park knows to expect a snapshot of what’s running in Jersey waters week by week. This summer, the business is taking a leap with the addition of a 6,000-square-foot, ocean-hued warehouse in Long Branch. Formerly home to D’Ambrisi Wholesale Foods— which has moved up the block—the space opens possibilities for a company that started with a single refrigerated truck and a vision. “We started the business to support New […]

Categories: food & drink, on the water, sustainable & just

Edible Philly: Fresh Food for All – Building a More Inclusive Philly Farmers’ Market

July 1, 2019 by jennhallwrites

PHILADELPHIA IS UNDOUBTEDLY A MARKET CITY. There are more than 80 seasonal and year-round farmers’ markets in the region—60 within the city limits alone. Echoing national trends including the celebration of local, organic produce and producers, new markets have opened at a steady pace over the last 20 years. According to the Farmers Market Coalition, the number of farmers’ markets in the U.S. has grown from 2,000 in 1994 to more than 8,600 today. With a rich history of community […]

Categories: food & drink, sustainable & just

NJCU Magazine: A Community that Cooks

July 1, 2019 by jennhallwrites

If you drive down Garfield Avenue in Kearny, the Jersey City and Manhattan skylines rising in the distance, then make a left onto Davis Avenue, the scent grabs you first—a rich, savory perfume that indicates you’re in proximity to an expert barbecue pitmaster. Here, inside Red White & Que Smokehouse, John Easterday ’14 spends his days—make that early mornings—cooking up some of the best smoked meats in New Jersey. A Marine Corps veteran, Easterday honed his craft alongside his boss, […]

Categories: food & drink

Edible Jersey: When We Gather – Preserving Family Time at Savoie Organic Farm

May 9, 2019 by jennhallwrites

Farm life evokes romantic visions: Tractor rides at dusk. Landscapes in the saturated tones of summer produce. A breeze always rustling the grasses. The reality? Well, that’s a bit different. Farming is sun-up, sun-down work. Everything is grit and grind, the kind that gets under the fingernails. Carving time for anything other than seeding, weeding, harvesting and marketing is a victory. Still, it makes one philosophical about the things that count: food, family, living a healthy life—and when you get […]

Categories: food & drink, when we gather

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