Side Dish - what we're reading, eating and talking about . . .

If you have even a modest interest in the Garden State’s fresh, organic or local sourcing food scene, you should be reading edible Jersey. I devour every beautifully photographed and well written issue. Both the print and online magazine are filled with resources for farm to table shopping and special events. Even the advertisements are must reads, for an introduction to new places or a reminder to make a return visit to a few old favorites  . . . Kudus to our friends John and Lisa at the wonderful blog Eating in South Jersey, they received a mention in New Jersey Monthly's Best of NJ Issue . . . Yesterday I stopped by a new Greek restaurant, Mikonos in Ewing, NJ, basically on a whim. I found the owner beside himself. He was positioned for a slow, soft opening and he and his team were not ready for the sheer volume of diners that lined up for lunch and  streamed in for dinner. He was shocked at the traffic generated by simply hanging a "Grand Opening" sign out front. Not that he was complaining, he smiled as he admitted it was a nice problem to have. This got me to thinking, we often read about the 60% failure rate of new restaurants, but how many properly planned, financed, managed and marketed restaurants serving great food and offering excellent service succeed? Who keeps that stat?  . . .

Picked up these sweet little brussel 

sprouts Wednesday 

they made a lovely companion to an Angus T-bone. Onion, olive oil, butter, salt & pepper were the only other ingredients needed to create this . . .

It’s April 1st, which means goodbye to: snow (we hope), green beer and too-short days and hello to: daffadils and asparagus- evidence that the growing season has begun, the opening of seasonal Community Farmer’s Markets and the swapping of treadmills and stationary bikes for outdoor tracks and pavement.