New Jersey

A great bookstore visit usually starts with one innocent plan: pop in, grab one book, leave like a…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 20

The plate lands like it knows everyone is going to look. Three purple-tinted pancakes sit under a glossy…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 20

A proper Irish pub has a certain sound before it has a look: the low clink of pint…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 20

A gravel path, a stone barn, a sweep of meadow, and then suddenly there it is: the kind…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 20

There is a very specific kind of silence that only happens after the robe goes on. Your phone…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 20

One corner in Downtown Jersey City has a funny way of stopping people mid-errand. You might be headed…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 20

A skyline view can do a lot of heavy lifting on date night, but the best romantic restaurants…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 20

There’s a moment at Van Vleck House & Gardens when Montclair suddenly seems to lower its voice. One…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 19

There is a very specific New Jersey morning math that happens before 9 a.m.: one hand on the…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 19

Smoke hangs outside the building before you even get to the door, which is usually a pretty good…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 19

The first clue is usually the smell: cumin blooming in hot oil, ginger and garlic hitting the pan,…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 19

A fried chicken picnic basket, a beach towel, and the Atlantic City surf should have been simple summer…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 19

On a gray afternoon, a needlepoint shop can feel like someone turned the saturation all the way up.…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 19

A little robot named Bella, a table full of glowing order screens, and a steady parade of sushi…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 19

There is a very specific kind of guilt that kicks in when the suitcase comes out and the…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 19

There is something wonderfully unfashionable about walking into a steakhouse that still believes dinner should have a little…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 18

The modern New Jersey glow-up does not always look like a full day hidden behind cucumbers and whale…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 18

A stack of pancakes lands on the table at Gronsky’s Milk House looking less like breakfast and more…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 18

A proper Mediterranean dinner has a way of making the table look delightfully over-ordered before anyone admits they…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 18

The first clue that this is not your average Route 1 stop is the gear. Not bowling shoes.…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 18

A plastic cup sweating in your hand. A ferry horn somewhere in the distance. The sun doing that…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 18

The first clue that this is not your usual Cape May outing is the sound. Not gulls over…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 18

A misty bend in a trout stream, a reservoir so deep it feels a little mysterious, a saltwater…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 18

The first clue that Grub Hut is not playing by normal restaurant rules is right there in the…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 17

There is a very specific kind of New Jersey summer math that happens around 9 a.m. on a…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 17

The basket hits the table before anyone has fully committed to chicken parm, seafood fra diavolo, or the…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 17

The little plastic badge swinging from someone’s beach bag can feel like the unofficial price tag of a…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 17

The best seat at Source Brewing might not be at the bar at all. It might be outside,…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 17

The first thing you notice is the sound. Not birds, not traffic, not somebody’s phone speaker on a…

By Duncan Edwards · Jul 17