LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
AT THE TABLE: A SHARED LOVE
As we were preparing this issue for press, we received the exciting news that Edible Jersey had won a 2016 EDDY Award for Best Feature: Chef. “The First Ladies of Cape May,” written by Pat Tanner and photographed by Aleksey Moryakov for our Spring 2015 issue, tells the beautiful story of sisters Dorothy (“Dot”) Burton and Lucille Thompson, who cooked together in the kitchen at the Chalfonte Hotel for nearly their entire lives.
The annual EDDY Awards recognize the best content produced by the 90-plus Edible publications across the United States and Canada. It was no easy feat for Edible Jersey to win in both the Critics’ (Judges’) Choice and the Readers’ Choice competitions for this story, and we are honored by the recognition. Dot passed away at the age of 88 last year, not long after we published her story. The win especially touched our hearts, as it seemed like a fitting tribute to the life shared by the two sisters.
In announcing the award, one of the judges explained her reason for selecting “The First Ladies of Cape May” as her first choice. “When so much food media is driven by PR strategy and chef worship, it’s refreshing to read a story about family, tradition and a shared love of cooking,” said chef and television personality Vivian Howard. “I loved learning about these women, and I’m going to fry chicken in fat flavored by onions!” Her comment has stuck with me these past few days as we put the finishing touches on the magazine you now hold in your hands—our annual Restaurant Issue.
Edible Jersey tells the stories of food and the people who create it. We are not about the stars or the hype. We are about good food and the people, traditions and love that flavor it. In this issue, we serve up the story of an Israeli chef (page 30) and sit down with a New Jersey native who devotes his culinary expertise to farm-fresh ingredients (page 48). We meet with Corinne Bradley-Powers, who has been dishing up a bounty of food and goodwill at her restaurant in Camden for nearly three decades (page 72), and we look at how chefs and farmers are increasingly working together to create a more sustainable food system (page 55).
I am proud of these stories, and I’m proud of New Jersey’s talented chefs and culinary professionals, those featured in these pages as well as the countless others across the state who work in restaurant kitchens from high-end to ethnic, fast-casual to farm-to-table. Most of all, I am proud to have readers who understand that food is much more than what’s on our plate. Edible Jersey readers know that food is who we are: It connects us to each other, to our past as well as to our future.
Thank you for reading Edible Jersey and for sharing our love of food and what makes it good.
Nancy Brannigan Painter, Publisher
