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(The amazing bottle tags were drawn by two regulars.) Now, at Daymark in Barnegat Light, they’re bringing their magic formula to the north side with barrel-aged Manhattans, pimiento mac and cheese and a killer raw bar. They ushered in the island’s gastropub wave at Ship Bottom’s The Arlington, where a deep craft-beer list meets bottled Negronis. “Or new friends who share the same beliefs.” Every spring when they reopen, the pair can’t wait to craft dishes using the first fresh seafood from the docks.īrothers Brian and Paul Sabarese draw similar inspiration. “These may be our neighbors whose families have run boats for decades,” Sanchez says. (Mod taqueria El Swell in Long Beach Township and Pearl Street Market in Beach Haven are up there on the list as well.) That explains why it’s the first place locals tell you to eat. Owners Christopher Sanchez and Ashley Pellagrino are committed to their relationships with local fisherman and farmers. Up the road in Harvey Cedars at Black Eyed Susans Cafe, everything revolves around the water and the season. It’s a locavore mindset that’s shaking things up in an amazing way. (Try her yogi bars for virtue or Pop Tarts for vice.) She relies on Sassafras Hill Farm just over the bridge. Hughes swears by Sweet Melissa’s baked goods. And befitting its name, regional sourcing is key. Indeed, the Local is LBI’s new living room. “There was definitely a need,” says Lisa. It changed the game for anyone in search of a small-but-smart food market, killer green-tomato BLTs and nitro cold brew on tap.
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In May 2016, Ray and Lisa Hughes opened The Local Market and Kitchen. “Don Brown, the owner, would laugh and sell me an onion,” Coen recalls. He’d knock on the kitchen door of the Greenhouse Cafe. It used to be that if you needed an onion in Surf City in February, you had a 13-mile round-trip drive ahead of you. “Then when Sandy hit, those people were already in place to start the recovery.” The result is a perfect mix of salty dives thriving alongside creative upstarts. It started with Jetty Foundation, which branded the LBI lifestyle through surf contests, events, and a beloved Jetty Hop Rock IPA, on tap at The Old Causeway on the mainland. Owner of Volatile Media Management, she’s helping local businesses mix things up with art, funky storytelling, and a new approach to community.Ĭorso and Coen both see new energy taking hold, especially in the wake of Sandy. “That’s when the island comes alive,” says Danielle Corso, who splits her time between LBI and Philly. Tourist season is just around the corner, but for a few golden weeks, it’s a local’s playground. There’s so much going on just beneath the surface of what people see.” May into early June, he’ll tell you, is an LBI sweet spot. “I’m out there surfing and fishing and diving,” Coen says.
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Porthole lbi series#
A lifelong surfer and writer, Jon Coen of Surf City is so inspired by LBI that he launched a documentary series called “Just Beneath the Surface.” A visual love letter, it reveals LBI’s hidden artisans, fishermen, and culinary minds. The same goes for the surfers, many of whom are known for their hustle, working to make ends meet so they can pursue their passion for the crashing blue. “If you wanted to see him, you got on the boat.” Like others who were raised on the water, he was hooked for life. Karter Larson, a fisherman based in historic Viking Village, captures it perfectly: “My dad was on the ocean all of the time,” Larson says. Finally, the vista opens onto a union of water, land and sky.Įven for locals, the landscape strikes a chord. There is the strange absence of the bayman’s shack that used to hold court in the reeds.
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There are the saltmarsh homes of Beach Haven West, some still bearing Sandy’s scars. As you cross the Route 72 Causeway, the view opens up in stages. The story of Long Beach Island, better known among NJ locals as LBI, is a story of the water.