Venti Food Truck Now Serving

New food truck Venti Italian Specialties has come to town!

Sub Culture Now Open & Celebrating their Ribbon-Cutting

Sub Culture, a new sandwich shop at 260 Newark Ave in the Village, is now open!

Mordi's Expands with New Storefront

Photo courtesy of Mordi's Scnitzel

One of my favorite food trucks in the area, Mordi's Schnitzel, is expanding to a brick and mortar storefront.

MeltDown Offering Grilled Cheese

New shop MeltDown opened at 150 Bay a few weeks ago, in part of what used to be Transmission/Beat Street, offering a selection of grilled cheeses and soups.

Meet Bebop Roast

New culinary project Bebop Roast is launching at the Van Vorst Farmer's Market this weekend.

Pecoraro Bakery Now Antique Bakery

As recently reported, Hoboken's Antique Bakery closed up their Hoboken location and moved all of their operations to Pecoraro Bakery in Jersey City.

Although Antique Bakery bought Pecoraro Bakery a couple of years ago, they didn't make many changes, keeping the overall menu, the staff, and the name and they continued to sell under their own name at the Hoboken location. Now that they have formally moved and are operating full-time out of Pecoraro Bakery, they are starting to update and modify some aspects of the existing bakery.

Nine Bar Cafe

After several months undergoing renovations and setting up, Nine Bar Cafe opened up quietly at 18 Erie Street, not long before their neighbor Carrino Provisions, and quickly became one of the more popular coffee destinations in town.

The proprietor, Stefania Cocozza, hails from Rome and her passion for quality Italian coffee is well-translated here. It's quickly become part of my weekend routine over the past few months and I highly recommend you make it part of yours.

The espresso based drinks are really what you're after here. The regular coffee is good, but the espresso is the star of the show, ideally to be drunk in-store. However, as it's almost always crowded, taking it to go is fairly unavoidable. Preferably with a pastry or two.

Dixon Deli Stands Out From the Crowd

Jersey City has countless corner stores, bodegas, etc. but most of them blend together into nameless spaces that merely fill a need. Few stand above the rest, but one of those few is Dixon Deli.

Dixon Deli, named for its location right by Dixon Mills on the corner of Varick and Columbus, is more focused on the deli side of their store than the convenience side of it (although they do have a good and well-priced selection) and it shows. The deli counter is the first thing you really see when you walk in and once you start to look around, it's hard to miss the large chalkboards up on the wall listing all the available Boars Head meats, cheeses and other sandwich toppings they offer. The bread selection is pretty standard - rolls, heros, sliced bread but every time I've been there, they've been fresh which is already a pretty important step in the right direction.

The Mozz Boss

A few weeks ago, when Uber was running their NJ free ride promotion, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to visit an area of Jersey City I don't otherwise often go to, Greenville, and check out The Mozz Boss. That's right - I'm so dedicated, I used my free rides to get sandwiches to benefit all of you (actually, the logisitics just ended up working out well, but still).

I first saw The Mozz Boss at La Festa Italiana last summer where they had a booth, but I never ended up trying anything although I did see people walking away with delicious looking bowls of food and stuffed-to-the-brim sandwiches. A couple of months later, when I heard they'd opened up a storefront in Jersey City, I put it on my to-try list but took a while to get to it - my mistake.

Walking in, I was amazed at how much space there is. There are plenty of seats - a rare commodity for most downtown delis. It seemed like most of the cold cuts were Boar's Head brand (despite the stickers) and there were some salads and antipastis to choose from as well. I went in on a Sunday when they close early and felt like they had less available than they might otherwise.

Favorite Delivery Spots Part II

Jersey City is packed full of pizza places and casual Italian dining spots, so when I started categorizing some of my personal favorite delivery options, I found that I really needed a whole separate list just to cover them. Especially because I, with my very particular tastes, tend to only order certain things from certain places - no one size fits all here.

So - here you have it, Delivery Spots Part II: All About the Italian.

Morsella & Cupo: Great Sandwiches in Journal Square

It's no secret that Jersey City has some awesome delis around. Proof is here and here and now, here.

UPDATE: Less than a month after this posting, I received a comment (see below) that Morsello and Cupo was being reported as closed. I've tried contacting the previous owners several times but haven't been successful in reaching them. I can confirm it is closed but I'm hoping they'll reopen in time somewhere else . If anyone has any further information, please let me know.

Morsella & Cupo near Journal Square is relatively small, more of a take-out counter than anything else, but they have more than enough delicious food to make sure you leave happy. The focus is on sandwiches but they do offer hot entrees with a schedule of specials every day, including this chicken bruschetta ($8) every Tuesday and Thursday.

Two Aprons: A not-quite-hidden gem

Two Aprons is a small cafe with a Mediterranean-inspired menu that serves everything from croissants to a turkish cheese sandwich to hormone and antibiotic free rotisserie chickens you can take home.

The store is on Warren Street, a tiny space with a table inside, sometimes one or two outside and a tempting display case of the day's pastries. They have their menu written on the walls for those who need to ponder and with so many delicious sounding options, I definitely needed some time. For breakfast, there are the afore-mentioned pastries, yogurt parfaits, and bagels while the rest of the extensive menu is made up of a wide variety of sandwiches including wraps and paninis, salads, and sides; many of which I was happy to see were vegetarian. While reading the menu, I was intrigued by the fact that the Mediterranean influence is seen in just about every item I saw - even if it was just in the form of an ingredient or the way the ingredients were put together, creating a slight twist on some of the more "classic" menu options.

Grove Square Bistro

Last week, I met up with a couple friends to try the much talked about Grove Square Bistro. I’d been watching this place be built out for months and was genuinely curious and excited to see what it would turn into. Even when I started seeing some mixed reactions online, I held out hope that the Bistro would be a wonderful addition to the neighborhood. The first week it was open, it seemed packed even with the limited menu and what I’m sure was slightly disorganized service as the restaurant got its bearings. I'd hoped by waiting a bit until the opening kinks were worked out and the full menu was being served, I’d have a better chance of getting a feel for the place.

My friends arrived before me and when I joined them, I ended up waiting at least 10 minutes before someone came by to take my drink order which is a pretty long time considering the restaurant was fairly empty. I know it’s still early days and I understand it can take a while for a staff to find its rhythm so while it wasn’t that big a deal, I was also frustrated by the fact that the glass of water the server told me he’d bring without me even asking didn’t show up until the end of our meal. Other than the timing being off, the server we had was very nice, checked in with us a few times, and did seem anxious to make sure we had everything we needed.

Drinks wise, we all had something different off their cocktails menu. There was red sangria, a margarita, and I chose a mojito. None of these were terribly successful although the red sangria was decent. I wouldn’t go out of my way for it but nor would I turn it down. My mojito tasted like…well, like nothing. I got a bit of sugar and occasional taste of mint…but that was it. The margarita was weird.  All of us agreed that was the best description as we weren't able to put our finger on exactly what was off, just that something was. I will say it didn’t taste like it was made from a mix, so that’s a plus. I couldn’t discern much alcohol in either one which is a disappointment at $8-$10 a cocktail.