Ready to spice up your winter doldrums? Grab your hungry family and friends and head to Rahway to enjoy the hottest food experience to hit the streets: the Metro Rahway Food Truck Festival, part of the City of Rahway’s March Madness Fest on Saturday, March 21st from noon until 6:00 pm.
Some of New Jersey’s top food trucks will be rolling up with their taste-tempting treats to the New Jersey’s newest luxury rental community, Metro Rahway, located on Campbell Street. Savor El Lechon de Negron’s authentic Puerto Rican roasted pork and rice or their famous Disco Fries. Craving empanadas? Choose from beef, chicken, Mexican chorizo, apple, guava & cheese or lobster from the big red Empanada Guy truck. Surf and Turf Truck features three types of lobster rolls along with its critically acclaimed Rosemary Marinated Steak Sandwich and, for vegetarians, tofu rolls. Looking for barbecue? Try Oink and Moo BBQ’s brisket and pulled pork sliders, chipotle chicken tacos and low-and-slow smoked ribs. Find your favorite comfort foods at Mary Queen of Pork’s truck, featuring sausage, meatball or pork roll sandwiches, homemade soups and nachos. Pizza from a truck? Fired Up Flatbread has been called “the best pizza in the NJ area by far…from the delicious homemade dough to the melt-in-your-mouth fresh cheeses, this pizza rocks!” Top it all off with a delicious goodie from the Cupcake Carnivale. Vote for your favorite food truck and enter to win one of several exciting prizes offered by Metro Rahway.
The City’s March Madness activities continue from 2 pm until 6 pm directly across the street from Metro Rahway, featuring games and competitions, kids’ activities and bounce houses, face painting, a game viewing tent and bar, and more. Explore New Jersey’s leaders and legends at the New Jersey Hall of Fame Mobile featuring images, artifacts, film and a suite of interactive tools.
“The City of Rahway is home to a rich culture with a burgeoning arts community,” said AST Development Project Executive Shane Soranno. “We’re excited to show off Metro Rahway as part of the City’s March Madness festivities.”
“At this point, we’re 85% leased, so there are limited opportunities to jump into this exciting community,” added Gemma Luzzi, Community Manager. “We invite people to come explore our luxury apartments, amenities and location. Fill out an application on March 21st, and lunch is on Metro Rahway.”

Belmar, NJ – February 26, 2015: Shake off the winter doldrums and feed your soul. Belmar, one of the culinary capitals of Monmouth County, is hosting the seventh annual Belmar Restaurant Tour on Sunday, March 8th from 11:30 am ’til 4:30 pm. This year’s tour is dedicated to the life and legacy of Tracie Orsi, the beloved chef/owner of Ragin’ Cajun who passed away last month after battling cancer.
Taste your way through more than thirty restaurants, ranging from Jersey Shore standards The WindMill, Surf Taco and new-to-Belmar Federici’s on 10th to sublime gourmet offerings from Brandl. Find a wide variety of ethnic tastes from 10th Avenue Burrito, Cielito Lindo, Ma’s Italian Specialties, and La Dolce Vita. Enjoy right-off-the-dock fresh seafood from Mr. Shrimp or Klein’s Waterside Cafe and sample the famous roast suckling pig at Jersey Shore BBQ. Got a taste for something sweet? Turnstile Café, Chill Bubble Tea, Sweet! and Sweet Tease will satisfy with fresh-roasted coffee, cozy teas, scones and muffins, and delightful cupcakes and chocolates.
Belmar’s restaurateurs approach the tour as a way to launch the coming season. “We’ll be sampling entree items from our new menu,” said Barry Petersen of Stay Gold Café. Executive Chef Chris Brandl will be sampling dishes from all three Brandl eateries: a braised short rib sandwich with caramelized onions from the Brandl Boardwalk Cuisine food truck, a seasonal shake from Jake’s Downtown, scheduled to open in the new Beach Haus, and a gourmet specialty from the eponymous Brandl. “We look forward to this event every year because it gives all the eateries in town an opportunity to put their best food forward.”
Free shuttles will be circulating Belmar throughout the day, with stops centering from the Belmar Plaza parking lot, site of Belmar’s NJ TRANSIT station. Tickets are only $30 in advance and available at Brandl or 10th Avenue Burrito in Belmar Plaza or at Mr. Shrimp, located at 16th Ave. and Rt. 71, or purchase tickets online at www.visitbelmarnj.com. Tickets are $35 on day of the event and available at Brandl restaurant. The Belmar Restaurant Tour is presented by the Belmar Tourism Commission. For more information, call 732-681-3700

Grand Prize – Michael Miller (Cover Photo of “Visit Monmouth” 2015

2nd Place – Dan Scaggs

3rd Place – Daniel Stockdale

Grand Prize – Ray Yeager (Cover Photo of “Explore Ocean” 2015)

2nd Place – Jenifer Rutherford

3rd Place – Michele Kiely

Jersey Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau Annual Big Wave Awards to Honor Seven

October 13, 2014 – Red Bank, NJ: The Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau will honor seven individuals at organization’s annual Big Wave Awards presentation for their contributions to developing a positive quality of life at the Jersey Shore. Patti Baxter of Spark Market Solutions has been tapped to receive the organization’s Spirit of the Shore Award, presented to an “individual whose service and commitment to the Jersey Shore goes above and beyond the call of duty,” according to JSCVB Executive Director Robert Hilton. “The honorees selected by our Board of Directors to receive the Big Wave Awards have achieved a special status for their contributions and commitment to our Jersey Shore region.”

Patti Baxter founded Spark Market Solutions, LLC, a boutique destination marketing firm based in Red Bank, in 2005. Since then, Baxter has strengthened the firm’s reputation promoting tourism in Monmouth and Ocean County and the Jersey Shore. Patti’s efforts have resulted in some of the Shore’s iconic festivals, working with the Belmar Tourism Commission to build and promote events such as the New Jersey Seafood Festival, Belmar Restaurant Tour, Beer on the Pier, San Gennaro Festival and the Belmar Pro Surf Tournament. Spark’s signature food events for Monmouth Park in Oceanport have become popular standouts in the racetrack’s schedule. Each year, the Food Truck Showdowns, Shore Chef Crab Cake Cook-off, the BBQ & Craft Beer Fest and Trucktoberfest are among the track’s busiest weekends. Pete Genovese, noted food writer for NJ.com and The Star-Ledger, has credited Spark with “igniting the food truck craze in New Jersey,” as Spark has gone on to create successful food truck events at Laurita Winery, Brick Township and Manahawkin, among others. These events have garnered crowds from 8,000 to over 200,000 for the three day extravaganzas and over $1.5 million in sponsorship funds to support the host events and organizations.

Baxter’s efforts in promoting tourism on the Jersey Shore are not limited to producing events. In 2007, Spark worked with the Shore Region Tourism Council to garner $75,000 in matching sponsorship funds to secure the initial Destination Marketing Organization grant offered by the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism, resulting in the creation of the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau. In 2010, Spark was tapped by the Monmouth County Department of Tourism to create Visit Monmouth, the county’s official tourism guide. The iconic annual publication, published in print and online and distributed all year long by tourism partners throughout Monmouth County, was honored with the Governor’s Award for Tourism in its first year. Its success and popularity has spawned a partner publication for the Ocean County Department of Business Development & Tourism, Explore Ocean County, currently in production for 2015 publication.

“Our success is deeply imbedded with our partners: the Belmar Tourism Commission, Monmouth County and Ocean County Tourism departments, the marketing team at Monmouth Park, and so many others,” Baxter said recently. “Promoting the Jersey Shore and developing these events and publications are not a singular effort. We have been extremely fortunate to partner with dedicated individuals and organizations who realize the value in working together to achieve a greater good.”

Others being honored by the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau include Robert Provost, formerly of The Star-Ledger, being presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award, for his dedication and support of the JSCVB. The Jersey Shore Partnership, represented by executive director Margot Walsh, will accept the Anchor Award, honoring an organization that has been a force for positive change and an asset to the Jersey Shore community. Reggie Hyde, owner of Bar Anticipation in Lake Como, is the recipient of the Icon Award, honoring an individual or organization that embodies the essence of the Jersey Shore. Laurita Winery’s Ray Shea and Randy Johnson will accept the Rising Tide Award, honoring an organization that, although new to the Jersey Shore, has quickly made an exceptional impact on tourism. The Resilience Award, honoring an organization or individual that continues to grow and become stronger in the wake of continual challenges will be presented to the Borough of Seaside Park. The JSCVB’s first Lifetime Trustee Award will be presented to Gordon Reinauer, who has dedicated his life to tourism in New Jersey for over 30 years.

The JSCVB’s Big Wave awards will be presented on October 15, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. at Branches Catering, West Long Branch, NJ. Tickets are available online or by calling 732-244-9283. Jersey Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau, a destination marketing organization funded through memberships, sponsorships and the State of New Jersey, promotes a positive image of the environmental, cultural, and historic assets of the region through marketing programs that increases leisure and business tourism. The organization is organized and operated exclusively to promote tourism in the Jersey Shore regions of Monmouth and northern Ocean Counties, to stimulate commerce, strengthen the regional tax base and to support educational, cultural, and historic and tourism institutions. Go to www.visitthejerseyshore.com for more information or to purchase tickets to the Big Wave Awards.