One thing in which New Jersey is not lacking is diners. I didn’t get a chance to eat at a diner this trip, not that there wasn’t opportunity - practically every town has a diner. The only thing more plentiful than diners, however, is Italian food. I can’t believe how much Italian food I ate in the week I was out there. All GREAT, of course - I was probably a walking garlic clove. This is one genre of food that the East coast definitely has the West coast beat at. I’ll give good Mexican food to the West, but really, East coast food in general can’t be beat. (Hopefully I don’t start some East coast-West coast, Tupac-Biggie battle here.)
So, I went into Long Valley (my humble hometown) to prove to you the abundance of Italian and pizza joints. I clocked the mileage from Long Valley Pizza (Italian restaurant #1) to Salerno’s (Italian restaurant #4 and home to AWESOME garlic bread knots)…1/10 of a mile. That’s right FOUR Italian/pizza restaurants in 1/10 of a mile. If I expanded the mileage to about 3/10 of a mile, it would have been five!
The funniest part is THIS is the view across the street. Okay, so there are more than just fields in Long Valley, but the 15,000 or so people who live in this town have kept these restaurants open for years. If you took away the Italian restaurants, the better part of NJ would starve. And my town isn’t the only one - we drove west through some VERY small NJ towns, and even THEN we passed Italian restaurant after Italian restaurant….out in the middle of NOWHERE.
There MAY be a reason for the overabundance of diners and Italian restaurants…but I don’t want Tony Soprano coming after me, so I’ll just stop here.
Hello! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and then count on you to share your own! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
Long Valley looks beautiful… Beautiful town and yummy Italian food…I need to visit!
Comment by The Bischoff Bunch — August 18, 2007 @ 9:48 pm
I just wanted to drop a line and say hello - I came here via Design Mom! I am currently a Graphic Design student living two towns over from Long Valley (I recognized the pictures from this post). I just love Long Valley and often times eat at The Long Valley Pub.
Comment by Stephanie — July 17, 2008 @ 2:06 pm
how fun! welcome! I”m so glad you found me….funny you recognized my home digs.
the pub is good!!
Comment by Jane Maynard — July 18, 2008 @ 1:45 am