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

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

It all began with bread. Pita, to be exact. When Mariette and Elias Bitar brought their family to South Philadelphia in the early 1970s — relocating from Northern Lebanon with three young sons in the uncertain years preceding the Lebanese Civil War — the bread that anchored their every meal was nowhere to be found. There was Stroehmann bread, sure, fluffy and factory-made. There were seeded loaves at the Italian Market, dotted with sesame. But fresh pita, painted dark in […]

Categories: food & drink

In November, befitting a contest dubbed “The Governor’s Cup,” the awards ceremony for New Jersey’s top wine competition was relocated to a prestigious address: Drumthwacket, a.k.a. the governor’s official residence in Princeton. The timing was right for an upgrade. During the ceremony, nine wineries were honored for reaching new heights during the annual competition hosted by the Garden State Wine Growers Association (GSWGA). Out of 150 wines entered, more than 40 earned 90+ scores in blind tastings. This follows on […]

Categories: food & drink

As sunset turned a snowy landscape electric blue on a January Sunday, Julie Donofrio preheated the oven in her bright South Philly kitchen. This particular day would tie the city’s record for cold at just 4°F, pipes bursting in protest across the city. Undeterred, Donofrio, an urban planner at Penn Praxis, prepared the batter for a batch of cinnamon sugar-puff muffins: pouring milk into a clean white bowl, measuring oil and gently breaking eggs. As the muffins baked, cinnamon perfumed […]

Categories: food & drink