Want to try the Jersey-est of ice cream flavors?
Happy Thursday, foodie friends, and welcome to another week of Jersey Shore Eats!
I hope you're staying cool. I know everyone loves summer at the Shore, but aside from in-season tomatoes, corn and blueberries, and all the extra daylight, I could happily skip from spring to fall. (Funny enough, I was born in mid-August. I have a feeling I'll be celebrating inside in the air-conditioning this year.)
Speaking of corn and blueberries, a Long Beach Island ice cream shop turned these Garden State ingredients into a new summer flavor. Megan Kilroy, owner of The WooHoo in Beach Haven, started by removing the kernels from ears of sweet corn, then soaking the cobs overnight in cream to create a corn-flavored ice cream base. She churned this in her ice cream machine, then folded in bits of caramelized pork roll (sweetened with cinnamon and sugar) and a sauce made from fresh Jersey blueberries.
Kilroy named her creation "The Jerz, and it's not the first out-of-the-box flavor she's come up with. For the island's popular Chowderfest in the fall, The WooHoo won an award for its clam chowder ice cream, and Kilroy has made lobster roll ice cream, too. In the works: pizza ice cream for a local pizzeria.
"We try to do out-there stuff but make it taste good," said Shaun Kilroy, Megan's husband and co-owner of the ice cream shop. "It's not just a novelty."
Restaurant news
Later today, I'm visiting Brielle River House, a waterfront restaurant and banquet space that is reopening after a years-long closure and renovation. I'll share details on the new space, food and drinks in a story and in the next edition of this newsletter.
In May, I wrote about Long Beach Island's The Chicken or the Egg's plans to expand by doubling the size of its dining room and adding a pizzeria. This week, Lorenzo's Pizza at the Chegg opened next door to the restaurant on North Bay Avenue in Beach Haven. "Featuring Chegg-infused pizzas and sauces along with signature pies ... you can grab a slice or a whole pie to go," the restaurant shared on social media. Lorenzo's will be open late nights and year-round, general manager Sergey Chegodayev said, and will serve pizzas that incorporate the Chegg's wing sauces, including its famously spicy "Ludicrous" sauce.
Batch., a coffee shop and cafe that opened three years ago on Main Street in Manasquan, is opening another location on North Ocean Avenue in Point Pleasant Beach. Keep an eye on their Instagram page for updates.
Santeria, a taco shop on the Seaside Heights boardwalk that closed several years ago, is back as a pop-up. Hosted by Sunset Keys Cafe on Bay Boulevard in Lavallette, reservations and walk-ins are available Friday and Saturday nights. The menu has patatas bravas, chorizo paella rice balls, street corn, seafood paella and more.
Add Mendoza's Colombian Cafe, which opened recently on Hooper Avenue in Brick, to our can't-want-to-try list We'll take some arepas, empanadas and bono bread, please!
Rising prices and your budget for dining out
We all know the cost of food is sky-high, and this inflation is making its way to restaurant menus. Restaurant owners will absorb the cost as much as they can, but when it becomes necessary, prices go up.
Some have even stopped serving certain items, like chicken wings and crab, because of the cost. As reported by my colleague Jeanne Muchnick in New York, the owner of a seafood restaurant there would have had to charge customers $120 for king crab legs. He refused, taking them off the menu instead.
That got me thinking: How much are people willing to pay to go out to eat? How long can they absorb the cost in the name of supporting local restaurants? I want to talk with you about it: How much more is your usual takeout? Have you stopped going out to eat as much because of the cost? I welcome your thoughts for an upcoming story. Please email me at sgriesemer@gannett.com.
That's it for this week! As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your story tips and restaurant suggestions, and 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: Want to try the Jersey-est of ice cream flavors?
