The New Jersey Foodhound™

Have you ever tried a Mexican Torta? I'm ashamed to say that before my trip to Cafe Con Pan I had not, but doing so inspired me to try them everywhere I could. After sampling the offering's of many Mexican restaurants around Staten Island I can say confidently that the sandwiches at Cafe are head and shoulders above the rest. The Grub: Cafe Con Pan has a number of excellent Mexican classics on their menu, among which are the Tacos, pastries, breakfast, fresh made juices and smoothies. What makes a trip here worth it though are their huge tortas, or Mexican sandwiches for the uninitiated. They come with your choice of various meats: roasted pork (cecina), bistec (steak), al pastor (spicy pineapple pork), and are then piled high  fresh veggies and a heaping handful of amazing, stringy cheese or Mexican queso Qaxaca. All between their own home-made bread no less. Try one of their tortas especiales if you find a "regular torta" boring. Nothing quite fills you up l...

There's a lot of pizza in this world. So much in fact, we may be burdened by the sheer number of choices we are faced with. Per capita, a number of states have at least 3.0 pizza restaurants per 10,000 people , or more than 1,000 restaurants per state. Its a little bit of a leap, but logically speaking you are probably close to at least three pizza places right now - maybe more. So, let me do you a favor and make the decision a little easier for you. For a a truly unique pizza experience, I suggest Tuzzi's Baking Co. of Berwick, PA. Located in a quaint, post-industrial Pennsylvania town, its the perfect location for anyone interested in pizza tourism. The Grub: Tuzzi's is first and foremost a bakery, offering a variety of breads and pastries that are quite good. To be honest though, the real unique offering is their square-cut "sheet" sized pizza made with their own fresh home made dough. These come in regular cheese, white pie, or broccoli with a sma...

Like me, I'm sure you have at one point or another, attempted to look for a recipe online. Maybe it was something you tried in a restaurant and wanted to attempt yourself - perhaps you were looking for something new and exciting, or maybe it an oldie-but-goody. In any case, in your search you may have happened upon a conventional food site like Food Network , All Recipes , or Epicurious , sites that clearly and concisely list a recipe: its ingredients, its steps, cook times, portions and likely some photos for reference as well - all very helpful tools in creating a meal. You may though, have found another experience that is, in my opinion, more verbose and less user friendly: the recipe blog. Now, you might ask: You blog right?  What could possibly be your issue with a recipe blog? First, I do write for a blog, that is true. The second question takes a bit more discussion, so please allow me to explain. Commonly, when looking for a recipe I am interested in only two thi...

I love tacos. There, I said it. Not to an irrational degree, no obsession - just a healthy love for meat and diced veggies on a corn tortilla. The taco its worth noting, can take many forms - traditional street, California style, breakfast, Korean, Choco, all have their own time, place and merit. I however would like to focus your attention on the first variety - the traditional Mexican street taco. So simple, so satisfying, so easy and cheap - its the perfect lunch, dinner or while were at it, breakfast too! (No judgement here!) With that in mind, I'll clue you in on one of my favorite local spots: Los Compadres in Fort Lee, NJ. The Grub: Los Compadres has a lengthy menu of Mexican classics - tortas, burritos, bowls, nachos and soups and everything I've tried I have truly loved. That said, I highly suggest trying the tacos on your first stop as they reflect the very best they have to offer. You honestly can't go wrong with anything you choose, but I would definitel...