A Trip to the Belmar Seafood Festival

The gang and I spent this past Sunday afternoon at the 26th Annual Belmar Seafood Festival.  It was a great time dampened only a little bit by the heat and the huge crowds.  One of the perks of living at the Shore is to be able to jump in the car and drive to a festival like in just few minutes.  There is music, craft and other non-food fenders, and a giant wine and beer tent, but of course the real draw is seafood.

Some of my favorite Belmar area seafood restaurants were there including Mr. Shrimp (my current favorite) and Ollie Klein's (the fish I grew up on when the owner was the chef at Evelyn's which has sadly departed from the Belmar restaurant scene.)  There were some higher end representatives including Mumfords, 40 North Oyster Company and Anthony's of Little Italy.  However at an event like this, the key is to eat seafood you love in as close to it's natural state as possible.  The highlight of my eating adventures was a platter of 4 cherrystone clams and 4 nice plum oysters.  What made it taste even better is that this delectable plate of raw mollusks cost me only 5 bucks. It was pretty impressed with the shuckers.  The guy who was preparing my plate told me that he shucks about 2000 briny packets a day.

Nick joined me in his own feast of raw mollusks.  Bria chose a platter of seared tuna, coconut shrimp with a side of rice and arugla. Becca had a crab cake sandwich and a buffalo shrimp taco.  Christine enjoyed a New Jersey speciality, deep fried crunchy soft shell crab on a sandwich with lettuce and tarter sauce.

There were some great choices for deserts if you were interested.  Nick opted for a deep fried oreo which was shared among the group.  Becca had a crape folded over a ricotta and chocolate chip filling.  For me, being the frugal guy that I am, I was thrilled that 7 Eleven had a truck there giving out free, pretty generous samples of slushy.

If you plan to attend the Belmar Seafood Festival next year, I would give you two hints.  Try to go on Friday night.  The attendance is a little lighter and according to one of the worker, this years festival had the largest attendance in it's history, so on the last day, crowds were definitely bordering on intolerable. The second hint is to park in at the Marina or train station and use the free shuttles provided by the festival.  I am looking forward to enjoying some of the other great foodie and fun festivals this summer.  It's great to live at the Jersey Shore.  Enjoy!

Gourmet Boardwalk Food at the Jersey Shore

It may be the new found notoriety of Seaside, but I noticed on a recent trip to the boardwalk that the quality of some of the food stands has moved noticeably higher. Of course the great old favorites are still there such as Maruca's Tomatoe Pies, and Midway Steakhouse, but some pretty interesting eateries have sprung up to compliment the cra

zy boardwalk mix since my last visit.

The first place I visited was Buffie's Baby Burger. The name implies that these burgers are going to be tiny little things. They are small, (about 4 bites or so), but each yummy mouthful will leave you wanting more. The burgers are juicy. They are served on a soft potato roll, topped with sauteed onions and some crunchy bread and butter pickles. Definitely not your usual burger.

Next to Buffie's is a stand serving a treat I thought I would have to drive to New York to try after learning about this street food from

a Bobby Flay Throwdown episode. These are the authentic Liege Wafles (the other Belgium Waffles) served at the Wafles and

Dinges shop. These wafles are different from the Belgium waffles you will find at some of the ice cream stands at the boardwalk. They are made from a yeast batter sweetened with pearl sugar that bursts in your mouth when eaten. Rather than being poured

the waffles are hand pressed into the waffle iron. My wife had hers with the Nutella.

The final new comer to the boardwalk is Bubba's Dog house. What caught my eye for this stand was the advertising of Newark Style hot dogs. My favorite iteration of this kind of dog comes from Jimmy Buff's, so I was interested to see how Bubba's version stacked up. The dog I had was fried as it should be then stuffed into a quality roll with fried potatoes, peppers and onions. Quite a good version of a dog I used to have to travel up north to enjoy.

So there are still a few weeks left to summer and then the best month at the shore, in my opinion, September is still in front of us. Head over to the boardwalk to try some of these gourmet boardwalk treats.

Tomato Garden Party

One of the great joys of blogging is meeting people across the world or right in your own backyard who share your interests.

Foodbuzz, one of the blogging communities that I am part of hosted an event called 24 meals in 24 hours on 24 blogs. Deb of Jersey Bites and founder of the Jersey Biters blog community was one of the featured bloggers in the Foodbuzz event. She hosted a Tomato Garden Party that featured an all tomato menu. We were joined by neighborhood friends and fellow blogger John of John and Lisa Are Eating in South Jersey. By the way, please help promote Deb's post on the event by clicking the little "buzz" icon on the upper right hand corner of the page.

Enjoy!

Great Deals under $50 at Cooking.com!

A Wonderful Oceanfront Anniversary Dinner at McLoone's Pier House, Long Branch, NJ

Christine and I finally got the chance to get away for the evening to celebrate our anniversary. Our anniversary is on July 11th, but we have been so busy that we couldn't find the time to spent a nice evening together until this week. We have been married twenty-seven years. I have a wonderful wife and the years have been very rich. We went to McLoone's Pier House in Long Branch. McCloone's is part of a family of restaurants that began with McLoone's Rum Runner and has continued to grow with McLoone's at Favorites (the OTB parlor in Fords, NJ), and the newly established McLoone's Saltwater Beach Cafe and Tim McLoone's Supper Club in what used to be the Howard Johnson's on the Boardwalk in Asbury Park.

McLoone's is known for putting a contemporary spin on fresh local ingredients with a focus on seafood. The Pier House is located in Pier Village, which is a beautifully redeveloped section of the boardwalk in Long Branch. The style of the Pier House is what I would call casual chic. There are two sections of the restaurant: the deck which caters to beach goers and the indoor restaurant which serves fancier lunches and dinners. One of the best things about the Pier House is its oceanfront location and the dining room, which while in itself is beautiful, is brought to an even higher level by the sweeping ocean views. (The beach picture was taken from our window). The Pier House is one of a handful of restaurants at the Jersey Shore that offers the ambiance of ocean views.
The menu at McCloone's is a creative version of a Jersey Shore seafood and land lubber's menu. While we were waiting for our meal to be served we munched on Italian bread served with a butter, garlic, and herb composition. Being the traditionalists that we are we started our meal with a bucket of steamers. We were served a heaping bucket of steamed soft shell clams, more than enough for two. Along with the bucket we received the expected bowl of clam broth for washing any sand off the clams and a dish of drawn butter. The clams, mostly on the medium to large size, were sweet and cooked perfectly. When steamers are on the menu, it is the dish I use to judge the quality of a seafood restaurant and so far McCloone's was batting 1000.

My wife ordered the Lobster and Shrimp Bisque as her starter. (We shared it). The menu at McLoone's says this is one of their signature dishes and I can see why. The presentation set this dish apart from an ordinary soup. The server brought a dish which is empty except for a pile of diced morsels of shrimp. Then a rich amalgamation of lobster and cream is poured over the shrimp. This dish, with some bread and a salad, would make a substantial and delicious lunch. The menu has some other interesting starters such as lobster wellington, drunken clams, and a spinach and artichoke dip which we observed several tables enjoying. There is a also a raw bar with oysters and cherrystone clams which I hope to enjoy on a future visit.

For her entree Christine ordered Jumbo Sea Scallops. She received four large scallops that were perfectly caramelized and cooked just to the done side of sushi. The scallops were beautifully presented on a plate with julienne vegetables and a pacific seaweed salad. The seaweed salad was quite interesting. It had an unusual but not unpleasant texture. It tasted of the ocean but was not fishy and it was dressed in a toasted sesame dressing which gave it a distinctively Asian flavor.

For my entree I ordered the Lobster Rappa. The dish contained generous chunks of lobster and fresh mozzarella with spinach and a sauce served over linguine then finished with Parmesan cheese. The sauce was made of olive oil, diced tomatoes, onions and garlic. I thoroughly enjoyed this dish, although it could have used a bit more salt and pepper. In addition to these entrees others that seemed interesting were the fisherman's dinner of scallops, shrimp and softshell crab fried in a graham cracker crumb crust. I was also very tempted to order the cowboy steak which was a 14 oz. rib eye steak grilled on the bone.


For desert Christine and I shared one of our favorites, a flourless chocolate cake. The Pier House's version was a rich, dark chocolate cake with a hint of raspberry. It reminded me of a rich, buttery truffle. Our meal at the Pier House was excellent. The only moderately disappointing part of the entire experience was the service. The service staff were mostly college age students. They were warm and friendly but seemed somewhat amateurish and less informed than I expected for a restaurant of the Pier House's caliber. That being said, if you are looking for an excellent ocean front meal at the Jersey Shore, I would not hesitate to recommend McCloone's Pier House.

Enjoy!

Great Deals under $50 at Cooking.com!

Bruce Springsteen's Famous Madame Marie Dies

She was immortalized in one of Bruce Springsteen's earliest recordings. It is both fitting and ironic that one week before this 4th of July weekend, Madame Marie, the boardwalk fortune teller immortalized in Bruce's song "4th of July in Asbury Park (Sandy)", died. In the song the singer asks, "Did you hear, the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do?".

Her little blue booth called the "temple of knowledge" was painted with the all seeing eye and advertised readings, tarot card, crystal ball. It survived the years of failed promises of the revival of Asbury Park. The booth stood through the declining years of the 70's, the failed promises of the 80's, the rock bottom Beirut at the Jersey Shore years of the 90's and now, the dawning promise of the new millennium and redevelopment. Madame Marie Castello was in her mid-90's. She told fortunes on the Asbury Park Boardwalk since the 1930's.

I have a 4th of July ritual of listening to The Wild, the Innocent and E Street Shuffle, the album that made Madame Marie famous to rock and roll fans from New Jersey and around the world. The reason this album and so much of Bruce's music resonates with me is it is about my youth. 4th of July in Asbury Park captures what it was like to be a teenager in the 70's at the Jersey Shore. My family had a place in Ocean Grove during those years and I hung with a gang of kids that passed their days on the beach and their nights prowling the boardwalk in Asbury Park. I spent many nights posing as a pin ball wizard in the Casino, with my smoldering Marlboro hanging off the edge of the glass and a row of quarters lined up on the front so everyone would know the pinball machine would be occupied for the next hour or so.

When we finally got old enough to drive we would find who ever had a car and cruise the circuit in Asbury Park. We piled in the car after work, (we all worked at restaurants or as step guards or umbrella boys or at the concession stands) and headed to Ocean Ave. Cruising the circuit involved starting at the south end, drivng along the beach to the north end and then back again. We would do it over and over again to pass the night. We would blast the radio (WABC or WNEW fm), hang out the windows and try to be cooler than the kids in the other car. Sometimes we would turn the radio down to listen to the music coming out of the clubs on the circuit. The bands playing in those bars became the stuff of legend and created the sound of Asbury Park. Sometimes we would stop at The Wonder Bar or Mrs. Jay's and try to get served. We hoped we might catch the eye of a member of the opposite sex, but mostly we were just having fun being young and alive,wild and free.

Today Asbury is not the same town I grew up with. It went through three decades of the worst kind of economic depression and political corruption any town in the USA has seen. The beginning of this decade, the developers finally started building and it's future is a high priced ocean front for wealthy aging baby boomers. The great thing is that there are people there who still remember. The Palace Amusements that once sported Tillie's face smiling down on us kids has been demolished for townhouses, but a replica of Tillie's face now beams from The Wonder Bar. Madam Marie's is still there. Hopefully it will stay in the family and someone will still be there telling fortunes better than the cop's do.

I posted this video as a memorial to Madame Marie. It is Bruce Springsteen in his early days, singing 4th of July in Asbury Park.



Credits:
the Madam Marie booth is by Absinthe Green the Tillie face is by sister72. Both licensed by Creative Commons

Fantastic Friday Night Treats at Schneider's Restaurant

This past Friday night my wife, my daughter and I took part in one of my favorite summer activities: enjoying an ice cream concoction featuring Schneider's Restaurant homemade ice cream. The Jersey Shore is filled with home made ice cream places and i think I may do an end of the summer tour of some of my favorites. However, Schneider's has a special place in my heart, because my folks used to have a summer home in Avon by the Sea, NJ, where Schneider's is located. In addition to enjoying the beautiful beach on weekends and during our vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's house, regular visits to Schnediers was part of the schedule. Back then Schneider's had an ice cream stand next to their main restaurant where folks would line up for their delicious treats.

Today that stand is gone but their great ice cream is served inside their main restaurant. In addition to ice cream Schneider's is famous for home made German, Austrian and Hungarian food. If you want authentic food following the traditional recipes of this region Schneider's is one of the last remaining places at the shore you can find these items of the menu. I have had the Weinerschnitzel at Schneider's which is excellent--thin, light and crispy as it should be. I have also enjoyed Schneider's golden brown potato pancakes and their wurst sampler which is a platter of bratwurst, knockwurst, red cabbage and home made German potato salad. Other regional dishes on the menu include sauerbraten, pickled herring in sour cream, and Hungarian goulash. If you are in the mood for regional cuisine, you can find the usual menu items: burgers, sandwiches, fresh fish, etc.

We visited Schneider's on Friday not for the great food, but for their fantastic "fountain treats" as they call them. As I already mentioned, the ice cream at Schneider's is homemade. It is high in butter fat content and has a fantastic creaminess to it. Their are a couple of flavors that are Schneider's exclusives such as meatloaf, which is a base of chocolate ice cream loaded with maple walnuts, chocolate chips and other goodies. It is my wife's favorite. Cherry chocolate, peanut butter chunk and cherries jubilee are other Schneider's originals.

Schneider's makes fantastic concoctions built on their ice cream. My wife ordered a hot fudge sundae. Their sundaes are generous and topped off with freshly whipped heavy cream and homemade cookie. My daughter had a waffle with ladled ice cream. This is one of the signature items on Schneider's ice cream menu as far as I am concerned. It starts with a freshly baked waffle. Then the waffle is covered from edge to edge with two flavors of ice cream. It is big enough to share and so I ordered an ice cream soda and glommed a couple of bites of my daughter's waffle. I have recently discovered that there are people who do not know what an ice cream soda is. It starts with something that New Yorkers call an egg cream. This is seltzer water blended with chocolate syrup and a bit of milk. To transform an egg cream into an ice cream soda, Schneider's add a couple of scoops of ice cream (I chose chocolate) and then tops is off with more of that rich freshly whipped cream and a cherry.

What more could you as for on a warm night in early summer. Next time you head to the beach take a trip to Schnedier's. Make sure you leave room for ice cream

Enjoy!

The Best Pizza at the New Jersey Shore

I am a pizza lover. I love the thin, slightly charred crust pizza that New Jersey is famous for. In my town there must be fifteen or twenty pizzerias. Just about every pizzeria is great for a quick slice with a coke for lunch, but in our area there are a couple of places that are true standouts. Today I would like to write about my favorite pizzas at the New Jersey Shore.

When I am hungry for pizza at home, I get mine delivered from Pyro Pizza. It is located in the plaza at 515 Brick Boulevard, near the Top Tomato Italian Market. Pyro Pizza is famous for their gourmet pizza and the two that I like best are their Chicken Parmesan Pizza and their Italian Sausage with Browned Onions Pizza. It is great stuff.

When I am in the mood for something special, it is a toss up between my two favorite pizzerias in the world: Vic's in Bradley Beach, NJ and Pete and Eldas (AKA Carmine' Pizzeria) in Neptune City, NJ. I grew up eating Vic's Pizza as a kid spending my summers in Ocean Grove, NJ and then in high school I discovered the pleasures of the paper thin crust Pete and Eldas pie.

Vic's pizza is distinguished by a thin, crispy and slightly charred crust. Their sauce is homemade and very garlicky. The place has been run by the same family forever and it hasn't been redecorated since it opened. It is a hugely popular place and on a weekend night after 5:30 be prepared to wait, even during the off season. My favorite pie to eat at Vic's is their signature green pepper and sausage pie. The peppers are sliced thin and the sausage is lump sausage without the casing. My mouth water's just writing about it! Another treat to have at Vic's is their garlic bread. They serve little rounds of Italian bread loaded with olive oil, fresh minced garlic and toasted in the pizza oven.

Pete and Eldas Bar and Carmines Pizzaria is another Jersey Shore institution. It is always packed with college kids, families and weekenders. Everyone is lining up for their famous paper thin crust pizza. The crust on these pies is very unique. It is thin and flaky and crunches when you bite into it. I usually just go for the regular pie. One of the unique offers that this place has is a free t-shirt for anyone who eats an extra large pie by themselves. Trying for the t-shirt is a Jersey Shore right of passage. My kids have earned a few of them over the years. There is pretty cool gallery of t-shirts on the web you might want to check out.

When I get pizza at the Seaside Boardwalk, there are two pizzerias that compete for my affection. One is Maruca's Tomatoe Pies and the other is the pizza from the Sawmill.

Maruca's is one of the original pizza stands on the Seaside boardwalk and they are have recently begun selling franchises. There is now a Maruca's right in my home town of Brick. I haven't tried the Brick store yet, but it is on my list. I have to say, though, that for me Maruca's mean the boardwalk. Maruca's is a pretty unique pie in the way that it is constructed. The cheese is put down first and then the sauce i poured on in a signature spiral. You always know you are eating a Maruca's pie by the way it looks.

For shear volume pizza eating at the boards, Sawmill does the trick. At the Sawmill you can eat at a table outside or go inside. The Sawmill is a bar and music venue, but for me they are the destination for a fairly inexpensive tasty fill up. A Sawmill pie is huge. However, it is also a great tasting thin crust pie that pushes all the right pizza lover buttons. My family and my friend Matt's family usually take an annual jaunt to the Seaside Park end of Seaside's famous boardwalk to enjoy the Sawmill experience.

I have heard that because of the price of gas and the general economic slowdown we are experiencing that lots of folks are coming to the Jersey Shore this summer. The parkway traffic bears this weekend bears this out. So if a trip to the shore is in your plans, be sure to check out one of the great Jersey Shore pizza places. You'll be glad you did.

Enjoy!

A Scary Parental Project

I just got back from giving my 16 years old son a driving lesson. It was a bit frightening. We stopped off afterward at a favorite little joint, Surf Taco. It is definitely a Jersey Shore locals kind of a vibe. The closest one to us is the one in the Toms River, Silverton section, but the coolest are the original Point Pleasant Beach store and the http://www.seasideparknj.org/ store, in that order.

I had a chicken taco in a crispy tortilla and a grilled steak taco. Matt had the steak taco and the buffalo chicken taco. We ordered extra chips, which are perfectly fried, and got a few different salsas. The verde salsa is a spicy tomatillo based sauce. My favorite is the baja, which is made from some smokey chilles. The mild is also great, but the hot is way to hot for me.

It was a great end to a scary but exciting ride.