4 of the Best Chefs in America, Right in Collingswood

What do the heads of El Sitio, Blackbird, Sapori and Nunzio's Ristorante Rustico think about being named to Best Chefs America?

Forget "Best Of" contests, magazine reviews, and anonymous online ratings: if you want to know who the best chefs around are, ask other chefs. That's the argument that Best Chefs America used to catalogue its ratings of the top chefs in the country. The "Who's Who" style of the book used to be reserved for social movers and shakers, high-achieving students and everyone else willing to pony up for a listing in a handsome, leatherbound book. But that's not the case here. The only way to be one of the 4,650 chefs profiled in BCA is to rack up peer recommendations in the 5,150 interviews of other chefs conducted by the publishers. The good news for locavores: 196 of the culinary masters on that list operate restaurants in New Jersey. Twelve …

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The Collingswood Foodies

West Side Gravy: Comfort Food with a Trendy Twist

Chef Alex Capasso might make the best coleslaw in town.

While waiting for our food during our most recent visit to West Side Gravy, we took a look at the restaurant’s rating on various opinion sites. Our predecessor has already addressed the merit of review sites, so we won’t reignite that debate. Instead, let’s focus on how opinions vary about West Side Gravy and how they match up with ours. Yelp users give West Side Gravy 3 stars out of 5, and Trip Advisor rates them 3.5. The general consensus on Yelp and Trip Advisor is that West Side Gravy is “just okay.” As fans of the restaurant, we want explore this briefly. We think its identity might be partly to blame for the less-than-stellar reviews. We've eaten at West Side Gravy even before its upscale sister restaurant, Blackbird, moved in to …

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Mel Sharples

3:58 pm on Monday, May 6, 2013

Went back the week after I wrote that post. About 6pm on a Wednesday evening. One table with customers. No hostess, no servers in sight. Waited. Waited. Waited. Left. Honestly, that played right into our concerns and the issues we'd had in the past. We were disappointed, we really wanted to go in and give it another try. Had a great meal at Keg-n-Kitchen instead. With Pour House and KnK...why …   more ›

Borough Beeswax

Borough Beeswax: Buzzing About Restaurant Week

It was a mixed bag for Collingswood eateries during Restaurant Week. Some will continue the special through the coming week.

At the conclusion of South Jersey Restaurant Week, Borough Beeswax checked in with Collingswood restaurateurs on the strength of their businesses during the promotion. Lizz Tooker, who waits tables at the Tortilla Press, said that her employer “had a lot of good fall choices” for restaurant week. “I think people choose Tortilla Press because we’re a little more upbeat, more colorful,” Tooker said. “We did a lot of harvest-y things,” including a center-cut porkloin stuffed with chorizo and apples and a pumpkin bread pudding, which was served with salmon ice cream. Unfathomably, she said, even with all the choices on the menu, entire parties will sometimes order identical meals. “The pork is great but all of you don’t have to get it,” she …

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Patch Picks: Top Chefs

South Jersey is home to some amazing chefs. Check out these local favorites.

1. Chef Alex Capasso: Blackbird and West Side Gravy, Collingswood This tattooed master of fusion cuisine is convivial, unconventional, and always spot-on when it comes to his food. Capasso's time is split blending the finest French and Italian culinary techniques at Blackbird, and frying up all-American juicy burgers at sister restaurant West Side Gravy. And since the restaurants sit side-by-side on Haddon Avenue, it makes a conveniently hectic—but happy—career for Capasso.  A "local boy made good," Capasso is a longtime Collingswood resident, who started out washing dishes in a cafe at age 15. He quickly fell in love with the restaurant culture. A celebrated chef since his early days at Misto in Cherry Hill and Max's in Cinnaminson, …

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'Tis the Season For Giving

Help the Custodian/Maintenance Food Drive of Collingswood by donating to families in need.

The holiday season is a time for giving. But the gift of giving doesn't have to stop with one's own family and friends. Help less fortunate families and individuals this holiday season, a time of year when assistantance is needed most. Fortunately for Collingswood residents, giving back is easy. The Custodian/Maintenance Food Drive of Collingswood is making it almost effortless to donate—do it on your walk to the coffee shop or the library. If you walk by Haddon Avenue restaurant West Side Gravy this month, chances are you'll encounter the man of the season, Santa Claus himself. Santa will be at the restaurant regularly through December to visit with children and take photos. St. Nick has one request—that his visitors bring along a canned …

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