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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