Will travel for pizza, and bring on the ice cream!

Sarah Griesemer, Asbury Park Press
·4 min read

Hello, everyone, and welcome back!

It's been two weeks since my last newsletter, and I'm here to report that while Lake George is a picture-perfect vacation destination, the food doesn't compare to what we have in New Jersey. We came home craving good pizza, so we detoured off the Parkway to two spots we've been wanting to try: The Pizza Terminal & Restaurant in Verona and Calabria's Pizzeria & Restaurant in Livingston.

(Our family pizza bucket list includes Squares & Fares, a "secret" pizzeria in Egg Harbor; Star Tavern in Orange, Santillo's Brick Oven Pizza in Elizabeth, DeLorenzo's Pizza in Trenton, Bakeria 1010 in Linwood, and several spots in New Haven, Connecticut. Have you tried any of these? Let me know what you thought.)

At Pizza Terminal, we tried the Bar Stool Pan Cheese Pizza and a slice each of white ricotta pie and the Nikk Norker, which has pepperoni and fresh mozzarella. At Calabria, we ordered the Calabria Crunchy Thin. All was good, but the white slice was the standout.

Back home and back to work, I kicked off the week with a visit to Pattie's Franks in Brick for a story on hot dogs. This was one of those times when you discover a place that has been around for years and wish you had visited earlier.

Owner Pattie DeMasi started her food truck after moving from Newark, "where there's hot dog truck on almost every corner."

"I moved down here and I couldn't find a hot dog truck anywhere, and I thought maybe I should open my own," she said. "In 2010, I started Pattie's Franks and I brought a taste of Newark to the Jersey Shore."

The truck sells Sabrett dirty water dogs (a terrible name for something so tasty) piled with homemade toppings: spicy onions, potatoes with spicy peppers and chili, among others. "A lot of people come to me and say 'this brings back memories," DeMasi said. "They all say that these are the best around here."

Taking on TikTok!

As promised, Jersey Shore Eats is now on TikTok (please be patient as this Gen X'er stumbles her way through the tech!). Expect pizza, tacos and coffee (my favorite food groups) and insight on dining at the Shore.

Now open

Mason's Bar & Grill in Beachwood.
Mason's Bar & Grill in Beachwood.

Several restaurants have opened in recent days in Monmouth and Ocean counties:

  • Heirloom at St. Laurent, Asbury Park: Earlier this week, the team behind acclaimed Old Bridge restaurant and cooking school Heirloom Kitchen began dinner service at their new restaurant inside the new St. Laurent Social Club in Asbury Park. At the helm is Chef David Viana, a James Beard Award nominee and "Top Chef" competitor. 408 7th Ave.; thestlaurent.com/eat.

  • Mason's Bar & Grill, Beachwood: Diners may recognize the owners of this new restaurant, Jesse Dedreux and Scarlett Dell, from previous ventures F-Cove Restaurant in Brick and The Quarter House in Point Pleasant Beach. But Mason's is unlike their former Southern-focused restaurants: "Our food is going to be traditional bar food, pub food: burgers, pizza and wings," Dedreux said. (He is making jambalaya, a tribute to Dell's Louisiana roots, though.) 400 Atlantic City Blvd.; 732-341-2337, masonsnj.com. 

  • Just Desserts: Rondell Donaldson and Renee Campbell, the couple behind popular food truck Caribbean Soul, put a second truck on the road in Asbury Park this month. Just Desserts sells funnel cakes in flavors like strawberry cheesecake, plus doughnuts. Follow along on Facebook.

National Ice Cream Day

Ice cream cookie sandwiches from The Baked Bear in Long Branch's Pier Village.
Ice cream cookie sandwiches from The Baked Bear in Long Branch's Pier Village.

Before I was a food writer, I was an ice cream scooper (if you visited Baskin-Robbins in the Ocean County Mall circa 1999, maybe we've met!). So National Ice Cream Day is a food holiday I can get behind.

It's this Sunday, July 17, and while checking in with local ice cream shops to hear about their plans, something tickled my taste buds: The WooHoo in Beach Haven is releasing a new flavor called "The Jerz" for the occasion.

"It's a sweet, Jersey corn-based ice cream with cinnamon-sugar pork roll and Jersey blueberry swirl," said owner and ice cream maker Megan Kilroy. The shop also will serve ice cream made with blueberries from West Creek all weekend.

Sounds like a very Jersey weekend!

That's it for this week! As always, thank you for reading. You can find more local food stories at: app.com | Facebook | Instagram

Sarah Griesemer is a food writer for app.com. Email her at sgriesemer@gannettnj.com. For more on where to eat and drink, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Will travel for pizza, and bring on the ice cream!