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Posts Tagged ‘The Asbury Connection’

Asbury’s Expanding Cultural Scene Gets a PR Boost

Posted in Blogfinger News, tagged , on January 13, 2013| 1 Comment »

The lobby of The Showroom on Cookman Ave. in Asbury. Photo by Mary Walton

The lobby of The Showroom in Asbury Park. Photo by Mary Walton

By Charles Layton

In case you didn’t see it, the New York Times had a splashy half-page spread on Sunday that dealt mainly with The Showroom but also the broader cultural scene in Asbury Park.

You can find this piece on The Times’ website or on page 9 of the metro section in the dead-tree version of the paper. Every Ocean Grover should read this, because we are just a few steps away from this burgeoning new scene that’s centered right on Cookman Avenue. It’s just a three-block walk from the Wesley Lake footbridge to The Showroom. Beats the heck out of driving to Red Bank.

The article points out that The Showroom is just about the only place outside of New York that presents such a steady stream of top-quality independent and art-house films. And that it also seasons the mix with special programs — beer and chocolate tastings, live comedy and theater, poetry readings, and discussion and lecture events.

Mary and I saw “Searching For Sugar Man” there recently and it was wonderful. First, the movie itself was good — it’s an Oscar nominee in the documentary feature category — and second, we got to watch it in the smallest of the theater’s three screening rooms, where one sits on cushiony, upholstered armchairs, complete with upholstered footstools. This is unlike any other movie experience I’ve ever had. One of the cool things about it is the intimacy. The customers interact and chat while waiting for the movie to start; it’s almost like being in someone’s home.

The Times also talks about some of the other cultural happenings in Asbury, such as the Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts and the Asbury Musical Heritage Foundation that’s right across the street from the Showroom.

The story fails to mention the fact that this same little neighborhood has, within such a small space, the nicest collection of restuarants I know of in all of New Jersey. We are very lucky to have all this.

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The Asbury Connection: Summer Harvest Peaks at the Saturday Farmers’ Market. Jersey Tomatoes Are the Stars of the Show.

Posted in Asbury Connection, Food and Restaurant, Music, tagged , on August 13, 2011| 5 Comments »

Kim Klein at the Fresh Pik Farm stand, Asbury Farmers' Market

By Eileen Goldfinger (food editor @Blogfinger) and Paul Goldfinger. See the slide show below.

Janice Cvoliga, the farmer’s wife from Fresh Pik Farms in East Windsor, was one of the first vendors to participate in the Saturday Asbury Park Farmers’ Market, which has been held for 12 years at Sunset and Main. She recalls that she was sometimes the only vendor present. But now, the market is having its busiest season ever. There are more farmers and more customers; it has become a happening event. The produce was fresh and beautiful, having been picked last night or this morning. The market goes on from July through October. At the Fresh Pik display, we found a wide variety of produce including corn, onions, peppers, melons and brightly colored flowers—zinnias and cockscomb.

Zinnias and cockscomb at the Fresh Pik Farm stand

We met Tony Pagano, the owner and chef at Uva Italian Restaurant (a top Blogfinger pick) in Bradley Beach. He came early and spent much of his time at the East Gate Farm display. Tony said that he loves to shop at the Asbury Farmers’ Market and that he wished he could keep it a secret. He was having a discussion with farmer Frank Damico of East Gate Farms in Robbinsville, New Jersey as to how to prepare the squash blossoms and the long zucchini.

Tony told us that the Jersey tomatoes this year are “perfect.” He purchased an entire case of them. Frank Damico said that the tomatoes were especially good this summer because of the heat and sunshine — essential ingredients for the production of sugar within the plant. East Gate Farms wins the Blogfinger award for the most unique merchandise, including lemongrass, long squash, Asian bitter melon, Japanese spinach and Purslane.

Miss Joan Martz of the Martz Farm in Matawan was all smiles as the customers kept lining up. Her brother’s farm has been in the family for four generations. Heirloom tomatoes are a specialty, including the miniature fuzzy yellow variety and yellow pear shaped tomatoes. She said heirlooms were sweeter and had thinner skins than regular tomatoes. Joan told us that Jersey beefsteaks are ready-to-eat when the red reaches the stem. Store them on the counter, not in the fridge, and don’t let them get too soft. The Martz display contained a big selection of wonderful goods, including a variety of eggplants. Joan also carried peach pies from Wemrock Farms in Freehold.

There were four young ladies working the Shangri-La Farm display from Howell Township. One of them, farmer Elaine Taylor, had designed a natural insect repellant spray that is effective against flies and mosquitoes (attn: Grovers). Mrs. Taylor is active in the Southard Grange. ( The Southard Grange website) Charlene, an intern from Reed College, was learning how to become a farmer. In addition, they have live bluegrass music at the grange every Tuesday night — open to the public. Besides produce, the ladies were selling Amish baked goods (e.g., carrot cake with rum-soaked fruit). They also had seedless watermelons that weighed a ton. We also noted the celebrity vegetable Okra Winfrey. (Paul’s joke.)

Other items available at the market included flowers, hats, Italian breads, blueberries, Jersey peaches, long red beans, onions and radishes.

The prices are not cheap, but the merchandise is special, and it is fun to go there; check out the customers, including dogs and kids; and, best of all, kibbitz with the farmers. Agriculture is alive and well in the Garden State.

MUSIC. Vegetable music from The Fantasticks.

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