Hello Folks, I’ll be attending a family potluck on Sunday evening and we will be hosting a family from NJ… I was wondering what kinds of food folks from NJ don’t have easy access to, or any cuisines that are not represented well. My extended family are all located in the San Francisco Bay Area… some ideas I got from polling friends included some Asian cuisines, produce, etc. but I decided to ask here for specific ideas. Thanks!
Believe it or not, NJ has pretty good options for most cuisine these days, so I don’t know if that would be my first criteria for food. One thing’s for sure, you can rule out Italian and Hot Dogs.
On our last visit to San Fran, we ate at Brenda’s and had mission style burritos and ice cream made from buffalo milk among other things. We always enjoy our visits to the Ferry Building and we like that we can each eat different things there.
Having had family live in the SF area, I can tell you that there was little I could get there that I couldn’t get here. But I went to Berkeley Bowl and the huge farmer’s market on Lake Merritt (Grand Ave, maybe?) every time I visited! There’s something about the insanity of your produce–even coming from the Garden State!
Without thinking too much, your local produce and Dungeness crabs. While we can get Dungeness here, they are shipped in, so I’d imagine if you had a good fishmonger yours would be much fresher.
Oh, and that bread bowl chowder thing on Fishermans Wharf 
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Also, the seals/sea lions. 
Can’t get decent tri-tip here in NJ, especially Santa Maria style barbecue.
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Armenian food is represented far wider in all of CA over NJ if your guests enjoy the cuisine.
I resemble that…
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To eat or observe? Or both.
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Basque!
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You can get Basque food in the Ironbound…
I tried!
I guess it really is a small world
after all.
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Thanks for all the ideas! I considered bringing a party tray of tea leaf salad but out of consideration for folks who might have dietary restrictions (nuts, shellfish, citrus, etc) I felt it was ultimately too cumbersome to pack each ingredient separately. So I went with fruit: cherries & strawberries from my local farmers market. I was looking for fresh figs too because its one of my favorites but I think they are not in season till August.
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