AT THE TABLE

High Summer 2018 Issue

By Teresa Politano / Photography By | Last Updated July 13, 2018
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ALL THE GOOD THINGS
 

In May, at the Saturday farmers’ market in Montpelier, VT, I bought a jar of elderberry jam. My mother turned 80 in May. Long ago, she made elderberry jam, when I was a girl.

I remember those Mason jars, those clusters of tiny berries. A memento from Vermont, some hand-crafted elderberry jam from a local artisan, seemed a perfect little something to give her.

Montpelier seems cast from a different era. In the town are two bookstores, a yarn shop, a French pastry shop, a record store, the Vermont Historical Society Museum, a pancake house and a taproom. Yet Montpelier is not a relic. One of the newer restaurants, Wilaiwan’s Kitchen on State Street, serves Thai food. It is open for lunch only and offers just three dishes each day. Wilaiwan’s Kitchen was recommended by Selina Ferrandino, the studio manager at Grateful Yoga. She advised arriving early, otherwise the food would run out.

It was good advice. I was there by 11am, but folks already were lining up, the sidewalk was clogged. More than 25 people snaked down the block—construction workers and librarians, hippies and hipsters, yoga moms and college students. They were far more patient than any Jersey crowd. My noodle bowl was, as Anthony Bourdain might have said, insanely delicious.

I felt smug, in that moment, having found a jar of homemade elderberry jam and a perfect noodle bowl in Montpelier. This is our world now. This is America now. Noodle bowls and elderberry jam, could we be more lucky?

Bourdain made us feel lucky. He led us everywhere, to the basement of a train station in Japan, to the street food of Singapore. Like Ruth Reichl, he equalized the food story, and found nobility in the talents of humble, hard-working cooks everywhere. The swirl of discussion following his death is far more than prurient. We, his audience, realize our loss (Last Bite, page 88). We crave authenticity, truth in experience, truth in food. Bourdain fed that need.

In this issue, our restaurant issue, renowned chef Josh DeChellis takes us on a Jersey adventure, to Hunterdon County, his childhood home, sharing his newfound discoveries (see page 40). We share the story of Oasis farm, a unique job-training facility for adults with autism (page 33). Danny Childs (Slow Drinks, page 30) proves that the Pine Barrens are teeming with life. Is it possible to rebuild a hub for local grains? Our reporter Fran McManus details the struggle (see page 72). In Edible Health (page 21), we feature elderberries. Fishing for salmon can be brutal; Jesse McDermott-Hughes tells the tale of his summer job (page 25). Such are the authentic stories of New Jersey, could we be more lucky?

At the airport in Vermont, my elderberry jam was confiscated. It was more than 3 ounces, and was considered a liquid. On the airplane, my seatmate shared a similar lament. His snow globes had also been confiscated. It was a small moment, but it felt particularly bleak.

“All the good things,” he said.

High Summer 2018 Features
 

No Place Like Home

Chef Josh DeChellis of Juniper Hill
Chef Josh DeChellis of Juniper Hill shares the treasures of Hunterdon County

Living and Learning in Hunterdon County

asparagus, rhubarb and greens
Chef Josh DeChellis returns to his childhood home to discover a network of farmers and artisans. Here are a few of his favorites.

Oasis Farm

Tea Service
A Unique Learning Environment for Adults with Autism

A Passion For Salumi

Salumi - hand crafted, cured meats
A Modern Chef, Old World Techniques

Amber Waves

field of wheat
The Struggle to Rebuild a Hub for Local Grains

Juliette’s Moussaka

Chef Meny Vaknin
My mother is always the inspiration. I take it wherever I want to take it, but it starts with her.

The Pinelands Old Fashioned

Pinelands Old Fashioned Cocktail
As with any Old Fashioned, the nuances of the drink begin to shine through as the ice melts.

Salmon Run

salmon fish
A Teenager, a Life Lesson and 16,000 Pounds of Alaskan Fish

Wild Fruit

wild elderberries
Elderberries: A Native Berry with Benefits

A Fresh New Look

Jersey Fresh - new website at FindJerseyFresh.com
In 1984, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture decided state residents should have clear access to locally grown New Jersey produce.

This Doughnut is a Peach

Doughnut Peach
If you’ve been on social media of late, you know that doughnuts are having a spotlight moment. Come July, however, one’s attention is best rewarded by a sweet treat of another stripe: a Jersey-...

Sweet and Salty Summer

Two scoops of Taylor ham ice cream in a cone.
Taylor ham ice cream. At Windy Brow Farms, it’s become reality.

Sweet Long Peppers

Illustration of fire roasted peppers
Tips courtesy of Jon Smith, Two Barn Farm in Pittstown. Illustration: Jamie Bartolacci.

HOW TO MAKE SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD CHOICES

salmon fishing
Is this fish sustainable?

Sharing Food with Others

Kids games and puzzles centering around sharing food with others
What do you want to be when you grow up?

Bourdain's Field Notes: New Jersey

Anthony Bourdain
MAY 2016—I woke up this morning in Borneo and went for breakfast in a crowded kopitiam (coffee shop), where I greedily devoured a...

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