30 Mushrooms $1.50. Prep Time 5 minutes.
Spelling your logo in mushrooms: Priceless.

Fresh Family Night at the YMCA

(3ft of ciabatta, 4 Lucky's Tomatoes,
1.5 lb mozzarella, 3 table
spoons of sea salt = love & goodness)

WHO ROCKS FAMILY NIGHT?!?!
We know people love a good climbing wall. And if there's anything
people love more than a climbing wall, hands down it's gotta be Snow Dogs.
Still...it was the Biggest crowd EVER
for Family Night!!!

Definitely good fun for all.
Much thanks to all the
Freshniks that represented.

Watch out for Family Night Part II
Coming this Spring!

Also keep your eyes peeled for
Family Day in Pleasant Valley Park.
Coming this Spring....

First Day of Spring is March 20th.
Meantime, here's a handy chart from
NJ's Department of Agriculture
Showing What's In Season & When.

Ever dream of topping a cheeseburger
with chocolate-covered bacon?
Made a 60lb rice crispy treat?
Check out our new favorite site, an epicurean Island of Dr. Moreau
where everything is better wrapped in bacon then deep fried.
And we do mean EVERYTHING.

Locally Grown Sprout

Check out locally grown Amanda's blog Sprout's Go Green
exploring preteen views on going green and environmental impact on our planet.

Go Amanda!

We're working with Amanda, her Mom and some other interested folks
to help bring a Farmer's Market here to Basking Ridge.

Fresh. Write Up in the Bernardsville News

Bernardsville News

Your Table is Ready

A Breath of Fresh Air

-Kristin Leo

Fresh. The name says it all! The owners aren't pull­ing any punches here; you'll get what you are prom­ised: organic, healthy food made from scratch. Even the interior of this local venue lives up to the name. The decor is bright, airy and uplifting. And if that's not enough to lift your spirits for the day, the extremely friendly and accommodating service will do the trick. Fresh is family owned with a team that includes brothers Erik Wolfe and Brandon Glasser and Erik's wife Avianna Ponzi. They'll do what they can to make you feel like you're part of the family when you visit.

Sandwiches, salads, and soups are the top menu choices here, and while that might sound like a simple selection, with a quick glimpse at the menu, you'll quickly realize there is a lot more than meets the eye!

In fact, under the sandwich menu, you may think you are considering a choice among some of the clas­sic lunch options until you take a closer look at the ingredients and realize your taste buds are in for a tantalizing and unique combination of flavors. Consider the Mediterranean Tuna with pole caught tuna, capers, red onion, arugula, lemon and olive oil served on a baguette. The Chicken Salad has some pizzazz with its satisfying combination of organic chicken, walnuts, red onion, cranberries, and home­made mayonnaise on a brioche bun.

If you are looking for something on the warm side, perhaps the Chicken Breast sandwich will do the trick with its organic chicken, fresh mozzarella, roasted plum tomato, arugula, and herb mayo on ciabatta. The Turkey Reuben with its organic turkey, Swiss, sauerkraut, and homemade Russian dressing on rye bread is another delicious delight!

Of course, if a salad is more your speed, you won't have trouble finding something to satisfy when choosing among the 11 selections. The Vietnamese Chicken with its cabbage, carrot, red pep­per, scallions, and organic chicken in a spicy ginger lime dressing and the Goat Cheese Salad with Coach Farm's goat cheese, granny smith apple, arugula, and candied walnuts served with aged balsamic are just two of the many interesting options!

Every day, Fresh features four homemade soups that are the perfect answer to these cold, dreary winter days! Last week alone, patrons were enticed by soups such as Butternut Squash & Apple, Chicken Vegetable, Vegetarian Bean & Barley, Black Bean and Chorizo, and Broccoli & Cheddar!

Take a second to visit their website www.iwan­tfreshfood.com for detailed menus, daily specials, and a mission statement Also, consider signing up for their daily email with daily specials and inspira­tional quotes!

Fresh is located at 562 Allen Road in Basking Ridge and can be reached at 908-719-9100. They are open from 11:30-7:30 Monday through Saturday.

Cupcakes

Shameless use of adorable children? Guilty.

Chloe competes with brother Andy (offscreen) for the title of #1 Fresh Fan.

Working with a Greener Coca Cola

When we opened we were able to partner with Coca Cola on getting a "recycled" machine - a shell from the 80's with new guts, retro-fit with an unused light from the Carter Administration.

Also sent us a really nice letter which we've posted below. Can't lie - as a very young brand, pretty exciting to be recognized by coke.

click on the image below to read.

Sign Up for Fresh's Daily Email

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by signing up for our daily newsletter.

Click Here

Green Restaurant Association

Fresh & the Green Restaurant Association

Fresh is currently working with the Green Restaurant Association to become a certified green restaurant, the first in Basking Ridge and Somerset County.

The Green Restaurant Association's Mission:
To create an ecologically sustainable restaurant industry.

From their site:
"The Green Restaurant Association℠ (GRA), a national non-profit organization, provides services in research, consulting, education, marketing and community organizing. The GRA utilizes a collaborative strategy that involves restaurants, manufacturers, vendors, grassroots organizations, government, media, and restaurant customers. The GRA's model provides a convenient way for all sectors of the restaurant industry, which represents 10% of the U.S. economy, to become more environmentally sustainable."

To learn more about the GRA and the good work they do
visit them at www.dinegreen.com

Top Ten in Basking Ridge

Urban Spoon* just ranked Fresh Top Ten
best restaurants in Basking Ridge.

Check out the list here:
http://www.urbanspoon.com/n/53/5301/North-Jersey/Basking-Ridge-restaurants

Having only been open 2.5 months, we're super flattered. But #8?

Give us time fellow Freshniks. Watch your back Bernards Inn...

Check out Fresh on UrbanSpoon:

Fresh Family Night

Fresh to host Somerset County
YMCA's Family Night at the Y.

When: February 20th, 2009
Dinner Starts @6pm with $5 suggested donation.

All proceeds go toward their Strong Kids Campaign
allowing even more kids to enjoy all the YMCA has to offer!

Check out the Y here:
http://www.ymcasomersetvalley.org/

January 13, 2009

Basking Ridge eatery goes organic with fast food

By LOIS HEYMAN
Staff Writer

Fresh, a new casual restaurant in the Basking Ridge section of Bernards, takes the environment very seriously — but you wouldn't necessarily know by walking in the door or biting into one of its sandwiches or salads.

What you notice is a bright, modern room with sunny paint, light-wood flooring, sturdy counters and rustic farmhouse touches in the decor. What you taste is an assortment of made-to-order deli favorites such as chicken salad, grilled cheese, hot dogs, pulled pork and BLTs.

But as a talk with the young couple who own and run Fresh makes clear, the restaurant is as much about a philosophy of sustainable, healthy living as it is a place to eat.

"We offer artisanal, made-from-scratch foods supported by local organic farmers, bakers and coffee roasters," says Erik Wolfe, who with his wife, Avianna Ponzi, opened Fresh in mid-November in a former Dairy Queen and set about completely remodeling the space according to green standards.

RECYCLED MATERIAL

The flooring is strand-woven bamboo, a sustainably harvested wood almost as durable as mahogany. The walls are brightened by formaldehyde-free paint, the countertops are recycled quartz, the ceiling tiles were salvaged and even the farmhouse-style shutters were reclaimed from the historic Mohonk Mountain House in the Catskills, purchased from Build It Green, a New York company that does teardowns.

A Brooklyn native who worked in New York restaurants for more than 15 years, Ponzi says she and Wolfe recently moved to Basking Ridge, which "needed a grab-and-go place with great food, especially in The Hills," and they are joined by a family team that includes Wolfe's parents and siblings, who support them behind the counter, on the serving floor, in the kitchen and in the office.

"If we just put up a sign that said "health food,' people might not come in, but we wanted to go back to simple, classic American food and give it our own spin — turn it on its ear a bit," Wolfe says. "We have moms coming in with their kids, and because it's as tasty as any traditional deli or fast food — but it's all natural, with no preservatives or antibiotics — it can appeal to both young and old."

HEALTHY AND TASTY

All meats and poultry — such as the hot dogs, turkey in the Reuben and the Cobb salad, and chicken in the sandwiches and Vietnamese chicken salad — are organic, as is the applewood-smoked bacon, arugula and roasted plum tomatoes that form the BLT.

The potato fries and onion strings are crisper and sweeter than any diner's, with all Fresh's fruits and vegetables coming from certified organic providers such as Terhune Orchards in Princeton and Cherry Grove Farms in Lawrenceville.

Beverages include local organic milk and house-brewed iced teas, and since "we're trying to be environmentally responsible while still meeting customers' demands," Wolfe says, Fresh became the first business to receive a refurbished Coke machine from Coca-Cola, along with the company's letter of commendation for recycling.

Although Fresh sells bottled water, it comes from Keeper Springs, developed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a project with all proceeds funding the Waterkeeper Alliance, which restored and protects the Hudson River and other waterways.

Ponzi says "our lunch business is strong; local companies are starting to notice we're here, and we also offer catering." Wolfe adds that as members of the community the couple plans to take an active role "giving back" by sponsoring a Little League team during the summer and working with the township on composting plans.

But Fresh doesn't have all that much food waste to compost, they've found.

"The kitchen works in small batches," Wolfe says, "not only for freshness, but because we'd rather run out of something than have food sitting there and ultimately going to waste."

FRESH

WHERE: 562 Allen Road, Basking Ridge section of Bernards

PHONE: 908-719-9100

WEB: www.iwantfreshfood.com

Lois Heyman: 908-512-2731; lheyman@MyCentralJersey.com. Visit The Food Chain blog at http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/foodchain.

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