Jenn Hall
Jenn Hall

Jenn Hall

2019 Best American Food Writing Notable.

Main menu

Skip to content
  • essay
  • on the water
  • when we gather
  • food & drink
  • travel
  • fiction
  • academia
  • About & Contact

Author Archives: jennhallwrites

Show Grid Show List

Post navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

New Jersey Monthly: Eateries Offering Free Lunch for Local Kids During Statewide Shutdown

March 19, 2020 by jennhallwrites

Somewhere during the span days since Covid-19 upended—well, everything—the Twitter-verse noted a nuance in this popular Mr. Rogers quote: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” Rogers’ words are inspiring on their merits. Yet here’s the thing: He was talking to kids, which means it’s us, the adults, who are being called on to help. […]

Categories: food & drink

Edible Philly: Learning a New Language through Food at Philadelphia’s Free Library

March 16, 2020 by jennhallwrites

SINCE 2014, THE FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA’S Culinary Literacy Center has been a hotspot for innovative food education. Every month’s roster of classes is rooted in the center’s mission to advance literacy through food. In some cases, that’s literal. Since 2015, the Edible Alphabet program has welcomed English language learners, including immigrants and refugees, to the library’s kitchen classroom for free six- to eight-week courses that blend culinary and language lessons. People from around the world prepare a shared meal, led […]

Categories: food & drink

New Jersey Monthly: A True Taste of South Philly in South Jersey

March 4, 2020 by jennhallwrites

Marcello De Feo grew up in a South Philly Italian household. His mother, Santa Bianca, came to America from Abruzzo when she was a teenager. “I’m first-generation Italian,” De Feo says. “My Nonna lived with us from when I was born.” Looking back, she looms large in his food memories. Each day, Nonna Paola would pack his school lunches. “I didn’t realize how spoiled I was. I’d go to school and my lunch was this amazing roll with things like […]

Categories: food & drink

Edible Jersey: Waste Management’s New Facility In Elizabeth Turns Food Waste Into Energy

February 28, 2020 by jennhallwrites

IN THE U.S. ALONE, MORE THAN 52 MILLION TONS OF FOOD ENDS ITS JOURNEY IN A LANDFILL EACH YEAR. That’s more than a waste of food. Deprived of oxygen, a single head of romaine can take up to 25 years to decompose, producing climate-warming methane in the process. Yet, with recent innovations, that food may be put to productive use—even if it’s not on the plate. In the shadow of Newark airport, a new chapter in the state’s food-waste recycling […]

Categories: food & drink

Edible Jersey: Creating Compost from Coffee Capsules at Ag Choice

February 28, 2020 by jennhallwrites

Roughly once a month, employees from Nespresso’s North American headquarters in Manhattan board a bus and take the 60-mile journey to rural Sussex County. With the city in the rear-view, skyscrapers give rise to an open landscape defined by lakes, postage-stamp downtowns and hilly green vistas that stretch into the distance. It’s a far cry from their normal 9-to-5 digs. Yet this isn’t just a team-building exercise. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. On a farm and warehouse near Route […]

Categories: food & drink

Eater Philly: Where to Eat in Collingswood

February 24, 2020 by jennhallwrites

Given the state of the Philly restaurant scene, it’s not easy to convince folks to cross the bridge for food. Lately, though, there are plenty of delicious reasons to hop on the Speedline to Collingswood, New Jersey. It’s not just for Joey Baldino’s Zeppoli, a draw for nine years running. (Though let’s be real: That’s reason enough to visit). A new guard of restaurants delivers both style and range, making this South Jersey suburb a destination in its own right. Read […]

Categories: food & drink

New Jersey Monthly: Past Meets Present at the New Olga’s Diner

February 11, 2020 by jennhallwrites

Diners occupy a specific place in the Jersey imagination. One’s connection to a diner isn’t just about food, though that’s part of it. Sitting in a pleather booth, attachments are forged in sugar and salt. There are over-easy eggs and short-stack pancakes, served the same way every time. There are Greek omelets, cheese fries and French dips, savory just like you need them to be. Somewhere along the way, those dishes become part of who we are. More than that, […]

Categories: essay, food & drink

Jersey’s Best: Artist’s papercraft scenes evoke the wilderness of the imagination

January 9, 2020 by jennhallwrites

There is a quiet that descends in winter and brings nature into sharp focus. Wind-rustled branches throw shadows. Snow crunches as a trotting deer makes footfalls just beyond view. The world seems just a bit more ethereal. Gazing upon a papercut shadow box from Casey Lynch feels like that. Her images, gathered under the moniker Squirrel Tacos, are surreal yet grounded in a textured ecosystem where animals play out their own narratives. Consider “The Secret Meeting.” It is high winter, […]

Categories: artists

USA Today’s 10 Best: Beginner’s guide to navigating the oyster bar

January 9, 2020 by jennhallwrites

Every oyster lover begins as a neophyte – or a spat, as baby oysters are called. Perhaps you find yourself at an oyster-centric work party. Or maybe you have a friend with a thing for bivalves. More likely, you’re on a Tinder date. Yes, Tinder oyster dates are a thing. Take it from Gary McCready, shucker at Philadelphia’s Sansom Street Oyster House and shucker about town for Garces Catering. “Tinder dates galore. Hello! I’ve been so many people’s cupid,” he […]

Categories: food & drink, on the water

USA Today’s 10 Best: These oyster bars are 10 of the best in the Mid-Atlantic

January 9, 2020 by jennhallwrites

Salty or sweet, every oyster evokes the waters in which it was raised. That makes hitting the oyster trail a fascinating and delicious experience. Each region has its very own gems, and with new oysters coming to market on the regular, the selection is ever-changing. Here, we zero in on the Mid-Atlantic region, where oyster bars from D.C. to Jersey celebrate local waters. Read more… Published 1/7/20

Categories: food & drink, on the water

Post navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Archives

  • January 2022
  • August 2021
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • August 2016
Blog at WordPress.com.
Jenn Hall
Blog at WordPress.com.
  • Follow Following
    • Jenn Hall
    • Join 36 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Jenn Hall
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...