Restaurants open doors for guests to sample foods
By Amy Batista, Special Writer
This city has taste.
Downtown restaurants opened their doors and welcomed visitors with samples of their finest foods during the third annual Taste of Bordentown City this past Sunday.
The event, hosted by the Downtown Bordentown Association, helps promote local restaurants and businesses while giving guests from near and far a taste of the city. This year, the event featured two new restaurants — The Vault, a new pizza parlor, and the Corner Deli of Bordentown, which is under new management.
“Bordentown City has become known as restaurant row,” said April Sette, event coordinator. “Not many downtown districts have a strolling community with so many wonderful places to eat. We thought that this event would be a good way to bring people into town to sample the restaurants and visit the shops.”
So far, the association’s strategy has worked. This year, the event drew 200 people, 95 percent of whom were attending for the first time, according to Ms. Sette.
“Yesterday, we had people in from Philadelphia, Somerset, Cherry Hill, Newtown, Pennsylvania, and Yardley, Pennsylvania,” Ms. Sette said.
The event still drew a crowd despite both a last-minute scheduling change from Saturday to Sunday due to extreme heat conditions and rain.
“The event was great,” said George Veitengruber, of Bordentown City, who was sampling ice cream parfaits in Sweeties Ice Cream at 216 Farnsworth Ave. “Always have great food and personalities. I’m sorry that the rain scared some people away.”
Passport tickets for the event cost $10 per person in advance and $15 the day of the event. The passport allowed guests to sample a variety of dishes served by participating eateries, including The Vault, Corner Deli of Bordentown, Sweeties Ice Cream, Toscano Ristorante, Heart of Bordentown Tavern, Marcello’s Restaurant and Tomato Pie and The Farnsworth House.
Rebecca Moslowski, owner of Rebecca’s Vintage Boutique and Consignment at 224 Farnsworth Ave., allowed her shop to serve as a starting point and ending place for visitors. She handed out and collected the passports, which were stamped at participating restaurants to give guests a chance to win $50 worth of “Bordentown Bucks” to eat or shop in Bordentown.
“A lot of new faces,” Ms. Moslowski said. “It was a success as far as I’m concerned.”
Mark Mozgowiec, a Toms River resident who participated in the event for the first time, tried the chocolate mousse in The Farnsworth House at 135 Farnsworth Ave.
“I think it’s great,” Mr. Mozgowiec said. “Good value all in all for $10.”
Fatih Gungor, general manager of The Farnsworth House, said, the event is fun.
“It helps the town out, especially with all the advertising and financing future events in the town,” Mr. Gungor said. “It’s good. It gets us exposure. Even today, I saw a good amount of new faces I haven’t seen before. We were projected for 150 (people). I think we did over the projections.”
The participating restaurants donate the food in the event as proceeds are used to advertise the downtown for the holiday season, according to Ms. Sette.
Heart of Bordentown Tavern at 146 Second St. served black bean burgers.
“I always try and give out food that is on my menu at the HOB Tavern,” owner Mary Barns said. “We have a new menu with many new items for vegetarians.”
Toscano Ristorante at 136 Farnsworth Ave. served root beer glazed pork tenderloin.
Al Hollander, of Springfield, said, “All the food has been wonderful so far. Toscano’s is probably one of my favorite restaurants here, but everybody has done a great job today.”
“It was a nice chance to come out and try different places,” said Denise Vogel, of Levittown, Pennsylvania, who was enjoying a pizza with friends in Marcello’s Restaurant and Tomato Pie at 206 Farnsworth Ave. “The ice cream place was delicious. For anyone who hasn’t been to Bordentown City, I think this is a great way to see what the town is all about.”
Jack Regler, also of Levittown, called Bordentown City “a great town.”
“You can walk here and feel safe,” Mr. Regler said. “It’s a nice place to eat.”
Gian Belardo, co-owner of The Vault at 300 Farnsworth Ave., which opened July 15, said, “The Taste of Bordentown (City) was awesome.”
The new restaurant offered margarita pizza slices to sample during the event.
“We are very excited to showcase our product here,” Mr. Belardo said, adding it has received “great reviews.”
Joanne Pigott, owner of Sweeties Ice Cream, had a “fantastic time.”
“It was a great turnout, and people seemed like they were having a good time and commenting how nice it was,” Ms. Pigott said.
The shop has 24 flavors, including its signature Java Chunk.
The Downtown Bordentown Association could not put the event together without the support of local restaurants, according to Ms. Sette.
“It does bring new faces into town, and we just would like to thank the restaurants that participated because it’s volunteering their time, money and resources to make this event work,” Ms. Sette said.
The next Downtown Bordentown Association event is the Bordentown City Summer Sidewalk Sale on Aug. 16 and 17 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The association also is hosting its first annual Bordentown Beer and Wine Festival on Sept. 21 from 3 to 9 p.m.
For other downtown event information, visit www.DowntownBordentown.com.

