Collingswood Restaurant Week Will Be Red, White And Blue

COLLINGSWOOD, NJ — For Chef Nunzio Patruno of Nunzio Ristorante Rustico, Collingswood’s Farm to Fork Restaurant Week is colored red. Patruno will squeeze and evaluate the best tomatoes at the Collingswood Farmers’ Market and bring them to his guest tables during the peak of the season.

For Chef Mark Smith of The Tortilla Press, the color is white — like the fresh Jersey white corn from Springdale Farms, grilled and cooked with a squirt of lime.

And for Chef Jim Marino of Bistro Di Marino, blue is the final sweet touch of fresh Jersey blueberries in mouthwatering desserts and salads.

This year, Collingswood restaurants are celebrating a “red, white and blue” theme for the borough’s Farm to Fork Restaurant Week. The theme spotlights fresh produce that is available at Collingswood’s weekly farmers’ market, officials said. Restaurant Week runs from July 22-27.

“My kitchen can barely keep up with it,” said Smith, whose grilled corn dish in season “literally flies out of the kitchen, ear after ear.”

And across the street at Nunzio Ristorante Rustico, Patruno is busy extolling ‘the sweetness of the Jersey tomato in season, which comes through in all of these dishes.’ Collingswood was recently named “Best Small Town Food Scene in America” in a USA Today contest.

Participating restaurants will offer specials highlighting Jersey fruits and veggies as well as other Jersey grown products. Individual eateries determine prices and number of courses for prix fixe menus.
The full list of participating restaurants will be posted on collingswood.com.

The attached image was provided: Grilled Jersey corn from The Tortilla Press