The Collingswood Foodies

Restaurant Week at El Sitio

El Sitio offers a fine-dining feel at a mid-range price point with lots of romantic ambiance.

In our last article, we gave you the scoop on the various local restaurants participating in Collingswood Restaurant Week. We struggled to choose just one, but ultimately picked El Sitio. El Sitio is a restaurant we save for special occasions. It offers a fine-dining feel at a mid-range price and with lots of romantic ambiance. Restaurant Week was a great opportunity for us to enjoy a full, three-course meal. El Sitio is probably not the restaurant to choose if you’re in a hurry. The dishes are prepared fresh and to-order (we assume), and it can take some time for the first course to hit your table. Distract yourself with a nice bottle of wine and some good conversation. To start, appetizers: coconut shrimp for Jessica and Argentine …

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Haddon Fortnightly Hosts Regional Spelling Bee

The event featured kids from across South Jersey. Orchid was the winning word.

Submitted from the NJ State Federation of Women's Clubs: The Southern Region of the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs – Junior Membership is proud to announce the Top Six Finalists in the Southern Regional Spelling Bee.  After many eliminations and a very tough competition last weekend, “orchid” was the winning word.  The winners are listed as follows:            Place                        Student                                    Sponsor               1st Place            Zachary Varela                        West Deptford Junior Women’s Club             2nd Place            Roger Crane                           Merchantville Junior Women’s Club             3rd Place            Isabella Turner                         Medford…

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Blue Moon: Authenticity, Variety, Oil and Vinegar

The newest food/retail/experience-based business on Haddon Avenue celebrates its grand opening today with a tasting event and sale.

For the longest time, Bobby McVicker says, he was doing olive oil all wrong. But after an eye-opening journey into the industry that started six years ago, he can’t go back. “The things we grew up on, most of the time, they’re not olive oil,” he said. “You taste the things we have and you feel betrayed.” That’s why McVicker opened Blue Moon, the latest retail addition to food-crazy Haddon Avenue. Within, visitors will find a tasting-ready array of what he promises are the freshest available olive oils and balsamic vinegars. McVicker proudly sources his product from a California direct importer, Veronica Foods. As the Southern and Northern hemispheres, “counter-produce each other,” he said, Veronica adjusts its buying patterns to correspond…

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From Finicky Eater to Gourmand

With 14 Italian Restaurants in Collingswood, How Does Villa Barone Stack up?

In a crowded dining scene, Villa Barone, the anchor of the downtown Restaurant Row renaissance, is doing all the right things to maintain its venerable position.

Much has been made about the excess of Italian restaurants in Collingswood—a lot of it by me, probably (and I’m sorry for coming off, at times, as an incessant whiner on the subject). But when it comes to dining diversity in town, there are options, but not many choices. We have one South American restaurant (El Sitio), one Mexican restaurant (The Tortilla Press), and one Cuban restaurant (Casona). If you want new American, there's Blackbird/West Side Gravy.  Collingswood is home to two Indian restaurants, one Thai restaurant, one grilled cheese restaurant—you get the idea. How many Italian restaurants are there in town? I counted 14. From casual pizza shops Stella and Café Antonio’s II to the super-refined Zeppoli and Sapori, and …

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David Valiante

8:49 pm on Sunday, December 9, 2012

I've written about Little Louie's in the past, and glowingly: http://collingswood.patch.com/articles/lunch-at-little-louie-s-bb   more ›

Bowie Benefit Blends Bands, Brings Back Glam

The event is the brainchild of Collingswood residents Joe Bonaparte and Kevin Monko, and features a cast of thousands.

Joe Bonaparte got the idea last year at a Halloween party in Oaklyn. Musician Kevin Monko was providing the entertainment, leading a handful of different singers through the changes on some David Bowie tunes. Call it timing or atmospherics, but the performance was uncannily affecting, Bonaparte recalls. “A good friend of mine who’d schooled me in all things glam rock, coincidentally, was on his deathbed at the time,” Bonaparte said. “After that, I thought we should have a party all-things-Bowie where we do the entire Ziggy Stardust album.” Bonaparte, who runs the Collingswood Bike Share, is an avowed music lover who often christens his refurbished two-wheelers with rock n’ roll names. So it wasn’t much of a stretch to consider organizing a…

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Family Dog Perishes in Early Morning Fire Friday

Residents on Harrison Ave. were awakened in the middle of the night to find their neighbors' home ablaze. From all external appearances, the house suffered significant damage.

A family dog was the lone victim of an early morning, two-alarm fire on Harrison Avenue Friday that Collingswood firefighters agreed was the most intense to strike the borough in 2012. "The whole back of the house was on fire and there was fire coming out the first floor on the front" when firefighters arrived, said Lt. Geoffrey Joyce.  Joyce said the company was dispatched at 3:21 a.m., and arrived within four minutes to find a single-family home fully involved in the conflagration. It took roughly over an hour to get things under control. The fire started in the back of the home, and was fed quickly by the prevailing winds, which blew hot embers into the night sky, according to eyewitnesses.  One nearby dwelling suffered broken windows …

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From Finicky Eater to Gourmand

Indiya Offers a Bold New Option for Lunch

Indiya of Haddon Avenue is providing a refreshing change from the normal options.

Does Collingswood need another Indian restaurant? That may seem like a silly question. Haddon Avenue is, after all, not exactly the definition of diversity. While there does exist a plethora of options, Collingswood tends to lean on an Italian-heavy influence when it comes to cuisine. Therefore, the opinion of many folks I’ve spoken to is that anything new that’s not Italian is acceptable. I only ask that question because Collingswood is already home to one of the premier Indian restaurants in South Jersey. I’m sure you’re familiar; Indeblue has been established in the area for some time and has grown quite a reputation. When you’re talking about a style of food that’s generally considered as foreign and exotic as Indian cuisine is, it …

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From Finicky Eater to Gourmand

Gourmet Popcorn Creations: New Twists, Old Favorites

The unique shop on Haddon Avenue is changing the way you think about popcorn.

I found one of my favorite places in Collingswood almost completely by accident. My girlfriend and I were strolling down Haddon Ave one afternoon, enjoying the weather and talking about movies—specifically, what we felt like watching for our movie night. When autumn’s in the air, all I really want to watch are scary movies, something she has no interest in. While we walked, I was trying (and failing) to get her to change her mind. As it happened, right about the time I threw in the towel and agreed to watch something a little more her speed, we noticed we were standing outside of Gourmet Popcorn Creations. The timing was too perfect. My girlfriend is the kind of person who can’t go to the movies without making herself sick on a giant tub …

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St. Francis' Day Blessing of the Animals

Dogs of all shapes and sizes brought their owners to Holy Trinity Episcopal Church on Saturday for a blessing in honor of St. Francis of Assisi's love for all animals.

Dogs of all shapes and sizes brought their owners to Holy Trinity Episcopal Church on Saturday for a blessing in honor of St. Francis of Assisi's love for all animals.

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