May 10

Capalbo’s Gift Baskets – Clifton New Jersey

Capalbo’s is mainly an online store that carries 100’s of specialty and Gourmet Food Baskets. Those that live in North Jersey are lucky enough to be able to visit their walk in shop located at 350 Allwood Road in Clifton. It carries their quality gift baskets and will also take orders for their many gift items. Exclusive to the store you can also find one of the largest candy bin and Jelly Belly jellybeans displays. Here you can make your own assorted bags and containers.

The store is attached to a 30,000 square foot factory. They have the ability to make one special basket or fill an order for 100’s of baskets. The baskets are filled with a wide variety of items such as Belgian chocolate, Hershey chocolate, Primo Dolce cookies, Columbia Crest wines, and Dom Perignon champagne. The fruit is only the freshest Grade A Extra Fancy and the baskets can be made for any occasion, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, sympathy, housewarming, corporate events, and kosher baskets, to name a few.

The Capalbo Family has been in business for over 104 years. Rose and Domenick Capalbo started the business in 1906 by hand selecting fresh fruits and vegetables at market and then delivering them to affluent families in Essex County.

The company evolved by adding gourmet food items, buying in bulk, and then opening a store front in Nutley, New Jersey. Today you can still find a Capalbo family members at work in their Clifton location.

It is nice to know that there is a place in North Jersey that has been able to sustain itself through hard work, great quality, and outstanding customer service. The added beauty is walking in and browsing the Clifton store or having the convenience of a speedy van delivery to local areas. Many gourmet gift baskets also qualify for free shipping.

Capalbo Gift Baskets has also expanded to Wine Gift Baskets and Adorable Baby Gift Baskets for Baby Boys and Girls

Capalbo’s Gift Baskets
350 Allwood Rd.
Clifton, New Jersey 07012

Store Hours:
Mon – Fri 9AM – 6PM
Saturday 9AM – 4PM
Phone: (973) 667-6262 or (800) 252-6262
Fax: (973) 450-1199

Mar 15

Celtic Themes – A Great Place for St. Patrick’s Day Food and Gifts

Celtic Themes in the heart of Pompton Lakes, New Jersey has everything a North Jersey Foodie needs to celebrate St. Patrick’s day. It is actually three stores in one that carries items from Ireland, Scotland, and Nova Scotia. The owner is Gerry Rooney, who was born and raised in Scotland. He has successfully run Celtic Themes for 15 years with 6 of those years being in his current location. He imports all of his Irish specialty food from Dublin weekly. In the large refrigerator next to the front door you will find Irish sausage, sausage rolls, Irish bacon, meat pies, black and white pudding, and bridies. There is also a large selection of Barry’s Tea, scones, marmalade, HP sauces, drinks, and snacks.

The second specialty store is filled with gifts, jewelry, and apparel from Ireland and Scotland. There is a huge selection packed into this store. They carry a wide variety of women’s, men’s, and children’s jewelry that includes brooches, engagement rings, claddagh rings, and celtic for children. There are hand knit scarves, hats, and even hand made wedding gowns. There are nameless crystal, lenox, and pewter wares.

The third section of this store are kilts, bag pipes and other musical needs. They both sell and rent worldwide. If you do not find what you are looking for in the store Gerry will surely search it out for you.

This store is amazing! There are literally thousands of treasures tucked away in this store for every occasion. It is definitely worth the trip.

Celtic Themes
128 Wanaque Ave
Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442
973-839-4761
www.celticthemesusa.com

Feb 01

NAGEL’S CANDY BARN

When you walk into Nagel’s Candy Barn in Wayne, New Jersey the overwhelming aroma makes you feel as if you have died and gone to chocolate heaven. Then you walk through the second set of doors and know you have.

This is one of the largest home made chocolate shops in New Jersey, both by volume of specialty chocolate and square footage. There is not one inch of the store that has wasted space with the 1,000’s of assorted chocolates. At any time you can find a huge selection of truffles, peanut butter bark, caramel stick covered chocolate, and chocolate covered pretzels and all home made in the back kitchen. I highly recommend the chocolate covered peanut butter cups. They are worth every penny with the smoothest chocolate you can find covering an even smoother creamy peanut butter. You want to eat it as slowly as you can to savor the taste.

Holidays are a special place at Nagel’s whether it is Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, or Christmas. You can see all of the work that goes into lovingly making these specialty chocolates and their displays.

My most recent visit was for Valentine’s Day. There is a range of enormous to small heart containers that you can fill yourself. The seasonal chocolates include solid hearts, flowers, love notes, and chocolate covered strawberries. The store is decorated with such care with ribbons, hearts, and bows for Valentine’s Day. One can see all the hours of labor and love put into Nagel’s.

Nagel’s is truly a landmark of North Jersey. They have been doing business for over 40 decades. Those that have moved out of state and come back often make a special trip to Nagel’s. In their 70’s, Mrs. Nagel runs the Wayne location and Mr. Nagel runs the Randolph location. They have no website, take cash only, and are closed July and most of August. If you love chocolate and home made foods this is a place to visit.

Locations: 1512 Rt 23, Wayne NJ 07470, 973-694-4657
358 Rt 10, Randolph, NJ 07869, 973-361-1688

Jan 25

Jersey Devil Chocolates

The Jersey Devil Chocolate is a dark chocolate bar with chipotle spice and cranberries.  It was named after the Jersey Devil who has been part of New Jersey folklore for over 250 years and some say still lurks in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

When coming up with the idea of Jersey Devil Chocolates the Waksman Family could not have done a better job, dark chocolates, super fruits, and spice. This specialty chocolate bar combines them all nicely.  New Jersey is the third largest producer of cranberries and combing that with the spicy devil is a great tribute to the state.

When you open the wrapper you see a beautiful dark chocolate bar.  When you break off a piece you can see pink and red cranberries popping out at you. Don’t let the devil and flames on the packaging fool you.  The spice is not overpowering or burning.  When you first taste the chocolate it is the sweetness of the cranberries that sits on your tongue.  A moment later you say “OH!  There’s the devil spice!”  The combination with the smooth dark chocolate is very unique.

This specialty chocolate bar is a find for North Jersey Foodies.  Another thing we love is that it is a truly a North Jersey family business.  The Waksman family came up with the idea together over dinner, blended and sampled together, and their fourteen year old son drew the picture of the devil for the packaging.

 

You can check out more on their website www.JerseyDevilChocolates.com, Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/JerseyDevilChocolates, Amazon Jersey Devil Chocolates – Dark Chocolate, Chili and Cranberries – Chocolate Bar Chocolate.com, Find the Perfect Valentine’s Day Gift at Chocolate.com

If you have any other great North Jersey Foodie finds please post a reply for all of us to discover!

Visit Jersey Devil Website

Jan 09

Chocolate Etc. Wycoff NJ

Chocolate Etc is a just what you would think by its name. A Chocolate shop in the heart of Wycoff. They specialize in gift baskets for all occasions. When I visited the store in early January they were transitioning from Christmas and Hanukah to Valentines Day. The store did have a full display case of chocolate candies. Most of these bite size chocolate morsels were home made. However, they do not make any of the truffles or the sugar free candies. The chocolate candy I purchased was fresh. I tested the white chocolate coconut, my favorite, which was very moist and had great coconut flavor. The chocolate chunks were topped with M&Ms and very thick bite of chocolate. The caramel covered chocolate was average. I personally like a more chewy gooey caramel. The store does have a great selection of molds, decorations, and an M&M bar. You can order candy bars with wrappers for any occasion along with any gift basket you can imagine. They also offer birthday parties in their kitchen with several different themes for your tiny chocolatier.  If you are in the area or need a chocolate basket they are worth a stop. www.chocolateetc.com