My logo for “Smile! You’re Visiting New Jersey!” created my very creative nephew, Artist Kyle McFarlane
I have found that the way we market the State of New Jersey boring. Most of the tourism books created by the state tourism board and the local county tourism boards just don’t capture all the wonderful things to do and see in the State of New Jersey. From our quirky beach communities to our unique small downtown based towns, each section of the state is so different.
When most tourists think of New Jersey, they think of the opening scene of “The Soprano’s”, with the glimpses of Newark Bay and the skyline of lower Manhattan or the more urban sections of the state that have their share of problems. What we miss about our great state is that every part of the state has so much to offer. We even run into the paradox of North and South Jersey, where part of our state roots for New York teams and the other for Philadelphia teams and never the two should meet (except over the summer when I was in Cape May when Philly played the Mets to a very mixed crowd of fans).
We range from big cities, university towns and commuter townships to historical small towns and Revolutionary War era villages that rival anything in Vermont or New Hampshire with their town squares and “Greens” to the 18th century architecture with signs that read “Washington Slept here”. Don’t write off communities such as Newark or Paterson, which have a host of great things to do and experience. We have so much to offer.
So from this point, I have created this site to mirror the work I am doing on blog “MywalkinManhattan.com, which is walking every inch of the Island of Manhattan and surrounding parts of New York City, to creating this site to do the same with every corner of the State of New Jersey.
I have recategorized all my New Jersey based blogs from museums and cultural sites to festivals and special events that I have experienced and walking tours that I have enjoyed that I want to share with readers. This also includes great restaurants, delis and bakeries that dot our great state. If you have not been to New Jersey then you are missing a lot.
So join me as we explore the great State of New Jersey and say “Smile! You’re Visiting New Jersey!”
I thought this was an interesting video to describe the state. I hope you enjoy it.
Every semester for my Business Marketing, Management and Communications classes, I create one big Team assignment for my students. In a Commuter College, it is a lot tougher for students to get to know one another between their studies and their jobs, so I create these projects to foster learning, creativity and especially Teamwork.
This was the first time I had ever taught International Marketing and it was a challenge I really wanted to tackle. With International Tourism in a state of flux due to the economy and politics, what type of creative programming and offerings do we have to attract a foreign customer?
Promoting Bergen County, NJ for tourism has been one of biggest challenges I have had and how we get all these places to enter the modern era with a fresh approach to getting people to visit their establishment. The ‘Bergen 250-the 250th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War in Bergen County’ has been our most ambitious project to date. We took the website and plans the County of Bergen had planned and expanded it in every direction.
We added in special events, fundraising ideas, scavenger hunts and walking tours along with a new direction in promoting these sites through Digital Marketing and outlets like Tik Tok, YouTube and using QR codes so that the younger generation can use their phones interactively.
In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations. I also challenge the students to top on another in their presentations and build on what they have seen others do in the past.
Professor Justin Watrel, CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.
Our Corporate site (created my one of my former President’s:
As my International Marketing class entered its second month and before I ran the Midterm, I introduced the Team Project, similar to the one I created in 2020 just as COVID hit “From Revolution to Renewal-Exploring Historic Bergen County, NJ”:
The project that we started right before COVID closed the college:
With that class, I had planned a series of field trips once we got back from Spring Break but we never went back to campus. That project was done with work that had to be done online and with what we had because we could not leave our houses at that time. This project was to do what that project could not accomplish.
So I approached Vivian Davis, of the Bergen County Historic Division, who I had worked with for years in my time at the Department of Disabilities Services for the County, and who I initially worked with on the first project and asked her to help me again. She is running the ‘Bergen 250-the 250th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War in Bergen County’ event. Would she let me help her coming up with a different angle on advertising the event and some new ideas for special events and a fresh perspective on looking at the event from the students viewpoint?
It would be one of the most ambitious projects that I had ever attempted for this company model. She agreed to let me help in my own way plus be available for being a listening ear for the students and assist us on the Team site visits and tours.
It was a great partnership as she got much needed research and ideas for advertising while the students learned something new about their communities that they did not know. Even I learned about historical sites that I never knew existed and I have lived here off and on for the last thirty years. Everyone got something positive out of it and it was a win-win partnership.
I put together the project and had Vivian look it over and with some adjustments, it was a go and I presented to my students two weeks before the Spring Break in March. We would work on this project for the next seven weeks along with a series of site trips to places in the ‘Bergen 250’ roster. It would be an eye opener project for everyone involved.
The initial project concept for the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Team Project “The Bergen 250”:
I chose my Executive Team from a series of what I call “Alumni Students”, who I had in other classes and I knew their work and how they had performed in other Team Projects that I had run. I chose the remainder Student Executives from a look series of papers I had them write for the class promoting Foreign Tourism and Advertising.
Paper Two: Promoting McDonalds Foreign Food items for the American Market:
These two papers are how I determined who would be on what Teams and how they might perform on that section of the project. For the most part I was right. I saw this at the end of the project.
I broke the class into the following Teams: Marketing, Talent, Historical and Food Service with each Team having their own responsibilities (Please read the project). They were led by the President and Senior Vice-President of Operations, who reported to me as their CEO. Both of these students had participated in previous projects that had been equally ambitious.
The two weeks before the Spring Break, the Student Consultants got their game-plans together, divided the responsibilities and started their research on the historical sites being promoted by the ‘Bergen 250’. There are a lot of historical sites in Bergen County that date back to the Revolutionary War and before To the time of Dutch settlements.
When we arrived back from the break, I arranged a series of Field Site visits that I took my student to so that they could experience and tour the sites up close. These were also location trips for of Food Service division who would be arranging a series of special meals at these sites.
The first place the Team visited was the Garretson Forge & Farm in Fair Lawn, NJ. This historic home and grounds were going to be one of the locations for a special event for the Food Service Division.
The Garretson Forge & Farm at 4-02 River Road in Fair Lawn, NJ
We had done a promotional project on the site a few semesters before with much success and now we would be arranging a ‘rustic’ Afternoon Tea on the grounds and promoting the gardens with a Flower sale.
The Student Consultants starting a tour of the Garretson Forge & Farm led by historian Vivian Davis.
The students touring the historical kitchen
The students touring the historical room at the Garretson Forge & Farm
Our class picture at the site
Our host and ‘Client’ Vivian Davis joining us in the group picture
The trip to the Garretson Forge & Farm was one of a series of trips that I thought would be important to the students to get a feel for these sites rather than just passing by. We also could incorporate layouts and use of historical items for our Scavenger Hunt that people could download to their phones that our Marketing Team was creating for their part of the project.
The next week we went out into the field again, this time to the Baylor Massacre site in Old Tappan, Nj and the Haring Farm Cemetery, a tiny family plot on what used to be the Haring Farm both in Old Tappan, NJ.
The Baylor Massacre site is where the Patriots had gotten ambushed by the British on a tip from a local resident and instead of following protocol of war, the British bayoneted the troops and through their bodies in a ditch. The bodies had been rediscovered only in the last fifty years when they wanted to develop the land.
With the Haring Farm Cemetery, this was the final resting place of Abraham Haring, a prominent farming family in the area, on what was once hundreds of acres of land of the Haring family. As Vivian explained to us, these families always assumed that the farm would be there and in the family hands.
The Baylor Massacre site at 486 Rivervale Road in River Vale, NJ
Walking around the site before the students arrived
The site of the graves
The location of the old mill where the bodies were thrown
Vivian’s counterpart in the Historic Division, Colin, joined us on this day for this tour and was better than me on explaining everything.
Before everyone got there, I had been to the sites the day before and while the Baylor Massacre site is well taken care of by the County, the Haring Farm Cemetery was a mess of fallen fences, fallen trees and branches all around the site, making it dangerous to walk around. I even touched a dead branch and it came crashing down.
The entrance to the Haring Farm Cemetery at Old Haring Farm Court in River Vale, NJ
The cemetery looked so much nicer when it was cleaned up
I always felt like the family was watching me as I had such a positive feel at the site
Even the family tombstones looked a lot better
Being married into the Haring family via my father’s older brother’s wife sister in law, I felt an obligation to clean this place up. So in a two piece suit the next day, I got to the graveyard early, removed all the branches, raked the whole site, fixed the fence and raked the entire site, cleaning the tombstones while I was doing all this.
There is a good feeling when you honor and respect the dead
After cleaning the site, I got myself together and went back to the Baylor Massacre site and started to meet the students. Some arrived early and started to walk around to get a feel for the site.
Colin and I talking to the students about the incident at the site during the Revolutionary War
The Baylor Massacre site was going to be used for a Jazz Concert to honor the soldiers and Patriots whom had passed with a food truck event to go with it along with historical walking tours that evening. The evening event was planned with luminaries lining the paths and the gravesite being lit for the evening to honor those who had passed.
First we walked the entire site to understand the logistics of the event
After the tour and discussion of the site we took a few group pictures of us at the site. In some cases, this was the first time almost all the students had visited the site. This shows how these sites need to be better publicized.
My class at the site with the Memorial in sight
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Team Picture at the Baylor Massacre site
After the tour of the Baylor Massacre site, we headed up to the Haring Farm Cemetery, which was up the road. When we all got there, Colin explained to us that rather than burying their loved ones in a church graveyard, some families wanted to have their loved ones buried close by and again these families thought these farms would always be in the family hands.
Vivian had explained to the students at the initial meeting that one of the past times people had during the Revolutionary War was picnics at cemeteries and graveyards. This is where we got the idea of graveyard tours with a box lunch. We would create an interactive map with QR codes that people could tour with their ‘to go’ lunch.
We arrived at a cleaned up cemetery
The renovation of the site was done by an Eagle Scout
We took some time to understand burial rights of farming families and get a feel for the family members
We toured the small site and Colin explained to the students that Bergen County was dotted with these types of sites because of the number of family farms that once made up Colonial Bergen County, NJ.
We took our group shot while respecting the resting place
After all my students left after the both tours, I went back for one more look and again, I felt such a positive presence as if the family were so happy that we visited.
The weather prevented the next field trip and we had to concentrate on the project so after lecture, the students worked with their groups. Throughout this part of the semester, I would alternate between lecture one day and being ‘out in the field’ the other. This the students had a better experience of being ‘in the industry’.
As the project progressed and started to come together, we took our last and most ambitious field trip to Park Ridge, NJ, to the sites of the ‘Farm to Table Dinner’. This site tour included the Wortendyke Barn, the Pascack Reformed Church, where the Candlelight Tour of the Wortendyke family graveyard would take place and then to the Pascack Valley Historical Society, where the Cocktail Party would take place to open the event.
Then after the site visit, I would be wrapping the afternoon with lunch at Pompilios Pizzeria in Downtown Westwood, NJ for a Team dinner. It was a long afternoon but the students got to experience so much and see a lot.
Our first stop was the Wortendyke Barn, one of the few surviving Dutch-American examples of early American barns.
The barn in the early Spring on one of the few nice days of the week
Vivian met us again for the first part of the tour and explained how the barn was designed, who the Wortendykes were as a family presence in Bergen County and the use of the barn since it became County parkland.
We then moved on to take the next tour at the Pascack Reformed Church, one of the oldest churches in the State of New Jersey. Our tour was hosted by Pastor Sharon Gross-Gill, who had joined the church and loved the idea of the project promoting the church and its historic values.
The Team touring the second level of the church
The team touring the bell tower of the church
Our Vice-President of Marketing ringing the church bell. Each Team member could ring the bell if they wanted to try it.
We were then joined by the church historian who gave us the tour of the Wortendyke family plot
Touring through the Wortendyke family plot
Our Team picture with Pastor Sharon Gross-Gill at the Pascack Reformed Church graveyard
We then moved on to a quick tour of the Pascack Historical Society, which has an interesting display of early Dutch artifacts and only Wampum making machine (Native American currency) in the United States Almost all my students had not seen these things before.
The Pascack Valley Historical Society at 19 Ridge Avenue in Park Ridge, NJ
I have to thank the amazing support of the Pascack Valley Historical Society Board for coming out in full force to help support this project.
The Board touring with us at the museum
The Team with Board member, Peter Meany, as he explains how the Wampum machine worked.
Our Team group picture with the Board of the Pascack Historical Society
I wanted to thank Board Members Kristin Beuscher, Peter Meany, Ralph Donnell Jr., Christopher Kersting and Patrick Dolan for being our hosts, leading the tours and some of them showing up for our presentation of the final Presentation.
After the tours were all over, I took the entire Team to lunch in Downtown Westwood for a Team building pizza lunch/dinner. It had been a long day and the students had worked so hard the whole day, it was nice to break bread with the Team plus the pizza here is excellent. We had a really good time at lunch and everyone got to know each other a little better.
Pompilio’s Pizzeria & Restaurant at 233 Westwood Avenue in Westwood, NJ
Members of the Talent Team with the Marketing Team
Members of the Historical Team dining with the Executive Team
The pizza here is delicious and I love taking my Teams here for lunch
This was the last of the field trips before the presentation two weeks later. One of the pitfalls of the projects that I did that semester was the Spring Break in March and then the Easter Break in late April which had some of my students traveling for the break. I am happy to say that everyone showed up and did their work.
The presentation went by really well and was well attended for an afternoon event. Several parents as well as boyfriends and girlfriends showed up. Vivian and Colin both showed up with their boss from the Division, so the real life ‘clients’ were there for the presentation.
The formal Presentation on YouTube of Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. “Bergen 250-The 250th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War in Bergen County, NJ”:
Senior Vice-President of Operations Gabriela Chavasco welcomes everyone
The Executive Team leading the Presentation
Vice-President of Operations Brandon Robertson leads the presentation of Foodservice Special Events
Vice-President of Marketing Bart Potensky leads the Marketing Team in their presentation of the Advertising gameplay
Vice-President Kate Trinidad leads the Talent Team on the inside operations of keeping the company well supported from Corporate
After the successful Presentation was over, we took the official Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Corporate pictures.
It was a job well done for the entire Team. I also want to thank Vivian Davis and Colin Fitzpatrick from the Historic Division of the County of Bergen in New Jersey for all their support and guidance and feedback on this assignment. It really was a “Team Effort” from everyone involved.
One of the highlights of my industry and my favorite amongst the big shows geared towards the hospitality field is the New York Fancy Food Show held at the Javits Center every June.
The Specialty Food Association sponsors the show every year at the Javits Center
The Fancy Food Show is aisle after aisle of the latest products that will be stocking our grocery stores, specialty shops and gift stores. From the latest cheeses and pates to snack foods, flavorful drinks and waters to the latest heat and eat prepared foods to almost anything else to stock your pantry with, they are being showcased at this show. It takes me the full three days to get through the show just to walk down the aisles and see what new products there are to sample. That is not enough time plus you get over-whelmed with all the foods to taste and flavors to experience.
My first day I concentrated on the first floor of the show. The first several aisles were dedicated to vendor after vendor of cheeses. I have learned over the years to pace myself when I start the show, or you go into system overload. You have to take your time in the first three aisles of the show or else you will not be able to enjoy all the other samples you need to experience to form an opinion.
I was funny that I felt this way because when I said this to a cheese merchant, she repeated that comment back to me. She said, “You know, I keep asking everyone to try our cheese, but they keep saying they have to pace themselves. Why do they keep saying that?” I reminded her that we have aisles and aisles of food to see and a lot of first timers start to fill themselves up on the first three aisles and then can’t handle the rest of the show. She did not seem pleased with that answer and went back to work.
I continued to take my time walking the Food Show. Traveling aisle after aisle of cheeses, crackers, cookies and olive oils. The snack foods selection was extensive this year. I guess the pandemic got people creating food items that they liked, and they want to make a cottage business out of it. The problem is that there are only so many different ways to make caramel popcorn or chocolate chip cookies.
The biggest problem with food items at the show is when vendors are trying to be too specific who they want their customers to be or catering to a niche customer who is gluten intolerant or looking for all natural foods. I have had to keep a straight face when I had to sample all natural sodas with no sugar or cookies without eggs, wheat, sugar and are dairy free that tasted like saw dust. I know what the vendor is trying to achieve but when an item has no flavor no one will want to buy it. Some products can achieve this but somewhere in the recipe they will have to put a few ingredients back.
I found a lot of successful items at the show that did not agree with judges when it came time to give awards out. Some of their choices just had no flavor, taste or appeal to a lot of customers. I judged products by a couple of standards, how different was it in product, how it tasted and was the flavoring different from other items on the market and creativity in packaging. Some of the snack foods and sodas that won awards boggled me because they had no flavor and no enticing packaging.
I found that some of the best products in the French and Korean Food Pavilions. The Asian countries really had the pulse of appealing to a younger customer or an older customer who liked things from their childhood. The French always know packaging. They are famous for it. The color schemes and the pictures just appeal to a sophisticated customer. It is also the taste of their foods. The flavors are direct and intense. Their snacks had more unusual flavors and better cooking methods. There just seemed like they wanted to bring gourmet foods to the snack masses of the United States. I was impressed by a handful of items that I highly recommend to those who want to indulge in a treat.
The following were the best products I sampled on the first day of the 2024 Fancy Food Show and I want to share them with other foodies and culinarians. These products stood out the most for their taste and packaging:
In the French Pavilion, the first brand I highly recommend is the potato chip brand Simply Gourmand brand Brets, whose crispy flavorful snacks were the best potato chips at the show. in the Snack Food category, I thought they were the best I tasted. With their unique flavors, the best being the Camembert Cheese and the Miel Moutarde, the honey Dijon mustard flavors and colorful packaging, were outstanding. I had to beg the vendor for two bags to take home to sample. The crispy fried French potatoes were perfectly flavored and salted and they filled the bag with chips and not air like American companies.
The Brets brand of potato chips by Simply Gourmand
The samples I took home were excellent. I loved the crunch and the perfect seasonings.
The other item from the French Pavilion were the cookie brands by Gozoki Deceures, both the Maison Jacquemart and the Noots. These buttery delights were a treat when I tried the different varieties.
The cookies from Maison Jacquemart were excellent
I sampled the various flavors of cookies from Maison Jacquemart and the cookies look as good as they taste. I was able to try their Les Petits Lunettes, a small type of Linder tart cookie filled with strawberry jelly and chocolate cream and their mini Almond cakes, that tasted like a Madeline. You could taste the sweet butter in the cookie dough and the fresh jelly in the cookie. The crunchiness of the cookie with the sweetness of the filling was a delectable combination.
It was the same with their tartlets as well. There was a thick layer of chocolate, strawberry and apricot jelly on the top of their cookies with a buttery cookie base that showed me that they did not skimp anywhere when producing their product.
Gozoki Douceurs products were my pick for best baked products at the show
The samples they gave me of the Strawberry Jelly and the Chocolate filled tarts were delicious
In the Canadian Pavilion, around lunch time on my first day of the show, I sampled the Chicken Nuggets by Al Safa Foods and these were impressive especially the spicy ones. They were juicy on the outside and crisp on the inside and the spicy flavor had a nice kick to it.
The Al Safa Chicken nuggets were one of the best chicken products I tasted at the show
What I like about Al Safa Chicken products is the quality and taste of the chicken. The product cooked up nicely and the taste would appeal to children and adults alike.
in the Italian Pavilion, there were many honey products being sampled at the show but the best flavored honey was from Casa Folino were stood out for flavor and packaging.
The Casa Folino flavored honey is a different alternative to jellies when topping toast or biscuits
The Casa Folino line of honeys had a zippy set of flavors and were unique to the show. Other vendors offered different flavored honeys due to the bees or the region they were produced but this company added the flavorings to the high quality honey making a unique accompaniment to biscuits an
The Asian Pavilion offered so many amazing products and these are the best of the best when I walked this part of the show:
I was very impressed with food items from both Korea and Thailand with a few vendors from Taiwan as well. What I liked about the Asian food products is the unique flavors and bright packaging of their products. They made their food products appealing to the eye and engaging to the senses and the packaging was fun. Once they reeled you in with the engaging packaging, the flavors were very intense with different tastes like Rose, Melon and Mango for sweets and peppers and cheeses for their savory products.
These Cheeseburger popcorn snack from HBAF were very impressive. The seasonings really did taste like a cheeseburger and you could taste the beef and tomato flavorings in the popcorn. Their other snacks had unusual flavors as well. I think these innovative snacks will work well in the American market. They also sampled a Cookie & Cream Malt balls and Honey Butter Almonds that were also delicious. All their products had a delicious taste and engaging packaging. The perfect stocking stuffer at the holidays.
Yummy LOL has the most interesting packaging
Yummy LOL candies had some of the most creative packaging in the candy category. The vibrant colors and the way that the company combines the use of candy as a toy makes this packaging all the more fun. The product was candy and a toy all in one package.
The quality of the candy is very good. The flavors of the candy have a high level of sweetness and I notice sometimes that the Asian made candies have a more intense flavor than their American counterparts. I think it is the use of different fruit flavors being used and the way these taste.
In the Thailand Pavilion, the Sappe products had the top beverage of the show. I have not tasted such refreshing sodas in a long time with such unique flavors. The use of unusual fruits and things like rose petal gave the sodas a bite and a flavor that I had never had before. I loved the Aloe Vera sodas, the Mogu Mogu beverages but the standout of their products was these floral Keaf sodas that were so refreshing and had such a bite to them that they were the perfect accompaniment with any spicy dish.
Keaf Sodas have an amazing and zesty taste to them
The Keaf sodas Relaxing Mood, Day Dreamer and Romantic Date Night flavors when well chilled have refreshing flavor due to all natural ingredients and just the way the tastes combine together. These sodas will not be on the market until next year but should be a huge hit in the specialty soda category. Their sodas were the best at the food show.
Of the American made products that I was most impressed with I have talked about in previous blogs on the food show such as Wein-Chuan Chinese Dim Sum products which are such high quality and taste homemade like they are made in the restaurant. Another was Goodie Girl cookies with their packaging and cookie flavors almost mimic Girl Scout cookies. I have found the high quality and consistency and packaging to be excellent.
Goodie Girl Cookies I have mentioned in past blogs as being a high quality brand of cookies and crackers. These delightful treats remind me of a version of Girl Scout cookies and even the Rep told me everyone gets confused by them. Even the packaging and flavors of the cookies are very similar to the latest versions of the scouts cookies.
The best part about Goodie Girl cookies is that you do not have to wait until once a year to buy them. Their Birthday Cake cookies have a creamy sweetness to them and the Fudge Stripped are a crisp sweet cookie and both can satisfy any sweet tooth.
I spent a lot of time visiting the Wei-Chuan booth at the show during meal times to sample all their products and I highly recommend the whole assortment.
The Wei-Chuan products of Dumplings and Spring rolls
Wei-Chuan is another American based company that makes high quality Chinese-American Dim Sum products. They were sampling two types of dumplings, the Chicken and the Pork along with their delightful crisp Spring rolls. I have always been impressed by the quality and taste of their appetizers. They are a product that are restaurant quality and you would have thought they were made in front of you.
A new standout product that I thought was fun and had a lot of promise was Sweetapolita, a specialty sprinkle set for kid’s parties.
Sweetapolita packaging of their specialty sprinkles for children’s birthday parties I think would be a huge hit with adults as well.
When I talked with the founder of the company, she said that when she used to have parties for her kids and said the best part of the party is when the kids had their own toppings. She said she created the product because she found that kids loved sprinkles and the creativity of decorating their own cakes. She found no product that fulfilled the need the way she wanted it so she imagined her own line and that was how she created her brand.
After the first day of the show, I had covered the whole first floor which is like walking four football fields of food. The SFA sponsored on the first night of the show the ‘Five Boro Block Party’ for all the attendees of the show. I was so stuffed from all the sampling that I had been doing at the show that I had no appetite whatsoever. There was a series of food trucks offering complimentary to all the vendors and attendees’ things like tacos, quesadillas, hot dogs and ice cream. Of all the times that something like this was free.
The Five Boro Block Party at the end of the first night of the show
They gave the attendees who wanted to have something to eat a generous sample of the different ethnic foods. Even though everything looked and smelled delicious, all I could manage after a day of sampling foods was a soft serve ice cream cone with a cherry dipped topping.
The variety of food trucks made for a nice light meal
This gave attendees a chance to socialize after the first long day of the show. They had a great DJ at the food truck festival and an actress walking around as the Statue of Liberty on stilts doing photo ops with all the guests. I thought that was fun evening and stayed for bit before I dragged myself back to Port Authority.
The Statue of Liberty who walked around the show greeting guests
I was so tired and stuffed with food that leaving early was no problem for me. So many of my friends imply that it must be so much fun to sample free food all day. It is a lot of work not to be tempted to try everything and to walk what is about four football fields of different types of food can really throw off your body. Too much of too many different things. I had to walk around the City for a bit before I went home that first day of the show.
I love walking around the City during the early evening
The second day of the food show I was raring to go and started the show on the bottom level of the Jarvis Center, where parts of the show was broken down by category and by country and state not just by product, so it gave me a chance to spend some more time in the country pavilions.
The dumplings or Momo’s were a Nepali dumping that were spicer than than their Chinese counterparts
The Momo’s had a spicer flavor to them due to the chilies in the dough and meats
The selection of Momos had a fiery flavor to them and reflected the colder climate where these types of dumplings originated. They are a different twist to typical Asian food. They used different spices and were hotter than most dumplings I tried at the show.
In the Chinese pavilion, one of the most popular vendors was ACC Foods LLC. The women who worked there were making everything fresh and right in front of us.
ACC Foods out of China had some of the best quality Dim Sum at the show
They had employees making fresh pork dumplings and soup dumplings as we watched and then cooking them fresh as we waited for them to come out of steamers and frying pans.
All the samples for ACC Foods were prepared right in front of us
Everything at this booth was made from scratch and then cooked and served under the heat lamps. Trust me, nothing lasted that long where food sat at this booth. The quality, consistency and taste were all excellent.
In the Taiwan Pavilion, Pocas Foods had some of the most amazing food products from the show
Pocas Foods had a fantastic display of items at the show in both the beverage and the candy categories. I was blown away by the quality of their beverages and flavors of their candies. I have not tasted products that have such a vivid taste and in such unique flavors like melon, pineapple and mango.
The Tik Tok beverages to me were some of the best in show at the Food Show. Not only were each of the flavors I tried delicious, but each had small pieces of gelatin inside the bottles to add another sweet treat to each beverage. These were made in Vietnam.
Their freeze-dried candy was so intensely sweet and crunchy. Such a delicious and unusual candy and with each bite it seems to get sweeter. I loved crunching on these and they are addictive.
Another excellent spread that I had tasted was by Trai foods. This brand of sauces were fiery and flavorful.
Their sauces had amazing taste. They gave me a sample of the Amarillo Pepper to take home and delicious hot sauce added a nice kick to chicken and hot dogs.
There were several small batch snack makers I met in the Innovation and New Products Pavilion on my last day of the show. The popcorn from Little Lad’s was delicious and had flavors that I did not see in the more commercial brands.
Little Lads is a high quality product
The representative from Little Lad’s was so impressed by my comments of his product that he sent me home with a big bag of his Sea Salt & Olive Oil Popcorn which was a delight. I loved the subtle flavor of the popcorn and their was a nice saltiness to it.
Another unique and delicious snack were the Caulipuffs snacks. These puffed snacks were made with dried cauliflower flour and then air puffed into a type of ‘doodle’ snack.
Caulipuffs were a big surprise to me at the Food Show and one of the most delicious snacks. Not only were they lighter than most of the snack foods I sampled but they were flavored so nicely. Both the honey barbecue and the white cheddar had a rich flavor and the had a nice crunch in every bite.
The Jaju Pierogi had delicious fillings and great flavor
I had tried a variety of pierogi at the show, but the brand Jaju stood out the most. These small batch dumplings had a variety of fillings, and the Sweet Potato with the Caramelized Onions had a sweet and savory flavor in every bite. They were also the perfect size for a side dish or a snack and cooked up well.
There were many frozen and fresh pizzas that I sampled at the Food Show but PiOOa Pizza stood out not just for the quality and taste but for the ethical stance they took in the company.
PiOOa pizza frozen pizzas stood out not just for their delicious flavor and consistency in the crust but the owner is deaf, and the company gives opportunities for those who are deaf employment in the company. The staff here works together to create these wonderful frozen pizzas.
One of the friendliest vendors I met were the Mother/Daughter team at Miss Hannah’s Gourmet Popcorn.
The mother/ daughter team behind Miss Hannah’s Gourmet Popcorn
One of the surprising popcorn snacks I sampled was in the New Products Pavilion were the deliciously sweet Miss Hannah’s Tutti Frutti and Caramel Popcorn. Made in small batches by hand it is right now only available online. This decadent popcorn tastes like each individual popped kernel was coated individually with a touch of sweetness in every bite. It’s delicious taste and simple but fun packaging will make a wonderful gift or host present.
The candy from UpTop Treats was very unique both in packaging, taste and in the logo. I thought this was a great product for children especially ones who were interested in the Space Age. The candies were freezes dried fruits that were sweet and crunchy and were the perfect snack for kids. Even this big kid (me), was impressed by the flavor and quality as well as the portion size of the product.
I loved the logo and the little space creature they created for the candy. I told the vendor that these would wonderful to sell in the Natural History and Children’s Museums. This is their get selling point. She had not even thought of that angle for the product. I also liked the little stuffed animal the had and said it was another good selling point.
On my last day of the show, the vendors were trying to get rid of their samples because no one wants to travel home with boxes of samples. The vendor from O Sole Mio was explaining his product to me that it was a refrigerated, fully prepared meal that just needed to be unwrapped, mixed in the enclosed container and then microwaved and served. He offered me two samples and I foolishly took only one. It was delicious and easy to prepare.
The packaging and the dinner I prepared at home
The product was delicious and so easy to to put together. Each part of the entree, the sauce, grilled chicken and the pasta were fully prepared and in their own individual bags. I just put them into the microwaveable container, mixed it up and cooked it for four minutes and dinner was done.
The quality of the entree was excellent and it had a nice creamy rich flavor
I thought the product was a nice alternative to these expensive food kits and if you are in a rush or tired after a long day at work, this is a very nice alternative to eating out.
The best for last was a vendor that I have featured a few times before in my blogs on the Food Show. Featured in the Korean Pavilion, Melona frozen desserts. These were excellent and some of the best frozen ice pops and novelties of the show. These fruit purée ice pops are the best at the Food Show but hard to find at the supermarkets.
They have about a dozen different flavors of ice pops and not your typical flavors. Melona frozen foods have some of the most original and creative flavors like honeydew melon, mango, watermelon, banana and green tea. Their ice cream products, some in the shape of fish which has symbolism in Korea, were filled with vanilla ice cream and fruit syrup wrapped in a sweet rice flower dough. Not just beautiful to look at but delicious in taste.
Melona’s version of an ice cream sandwich filled with Vanilla ice cream and sweet strawberry syrup
The selection of frozen treats by Melona products put other ice cream companies to shame with their unique flavors, beautiful packaging and delicious taste. I had to keep coming back to their booth just to try all the flavors all three days of the show. They could not have been more generous with their samples and their representatives encouraged you to try more.
The New York Fancy Food show had many other quality products to sample and purchase for stores but these were the products that really stood out to me in taste, flavor, packaging and originality in the product itself. If I owned a grocery store, these are the products that I would stock and recommend to customers. In the three days I attended the show, these were my set of winners. They were wonderful in every way.
I will be looking for them in grocery stores soon. I look forward again to the Fancy Food Show in 2025.
In my live classes, I open my consulting company, “Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.”, for business and the whole class bands together and we have one big project. In the era of post-COVID and online learning, I was lucky that I was able to teach one of the live classes on the Bergen Community College, Paramus Campus. It was such a pleasure welcoming students back to campus with live lectures and conversing with them.
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. corporate logo of the six trees
In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations. I also challenge the students to top on another in their presentations and build on what they have seen others do in the past.
Professor Justin Watrel, CEO & Co-Founder of Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.
I had recently been at a series of special events at the Bergen County Historical Society both for Christmas in 2022 and for more recent events as the Harvest Festival and a walking tour of the property in 2023. Although the events were interesting and the Christmas event with the period live music and the Pub set up in the Christie House, the attendance seemed rather low.
When I Googled the Historical Society, their social media and digital marketing were not as prominent as they should be either in describing their events or with a series of current pictures or videos. Their digital footprint needed some work. Also, their events never changed year after year. They had the exact same events with the same theme for each season.
This I could see was a problem as people want to have different experiences when they visit a place. These sites do not have to alter the events but do need to update and ‘freshen up’ their offerings with a different twist to keep people coming. Others wise, it it the same thing year after year. Also, they were not marketing the site for people outside of Bergen County let alone for foreign tourism. This is where the idea for “Tourism for the Bergen County Historical Society” project for Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. came into creation.
The Project “Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. presents “Tourism at the Bergen County Historical Society”:
As a member of the Bergen County Historical Society for about five years I had to say the Society does have a tendency to run the same events over and over again and the attendance, especially when it came time for the weather, could really damper the attendance since most events were held outdoors. Plus they attracted the same crowd of older patrons and needed a new clientele to attend to give a fresh perspective to these events.
This is where I wanted to challenge both the students to look at the site from the idea of what would bring them to the Bergen County Historical Society and how the Society could look at making updates to bring that younger, family friendly crowd who was interested in the history of Bergen County but still wanted to have a good time and be engaged by the event. That can be a delicate balancing act in the age of social media and cellphone distraction.
It took some convincing from both sides to get this project off the ground. The Society kept thinking we were a real consulting firm and were hesitant to do the project. The none of my students had ever been to the Bergen County Historical Society let alone want to go there. The schools in Bergen County no longer even studied American history the way we did when I was in junior high or high school nor did they take the field trips to Trenton or Washington DC that we did back in the 1970’s. This is when I knew this would be a learning experience for both parties.
The goal was to bring more tourists both domestic and international to the Bergen County Historical Society with a series of new events for both Halloween and Spring/Easter that were both inclusive and family friendly that had a contemporary but historical twist to them. I asked the students to look at the history of both holidays and what the meaning of the Fall festivals and Spring Festivals meant to people through the ages. The third event the students had to create was a fundraiser for the Society that would raise $25,000 to raise money for the new museum on the Society’s property. I saw some shocked looks on the students faces but I knew they could do it.
There were some major challenges logistics wise for the project as well. I had to arrange a visit to the site because the students would never go out on their own to see it, plus the site was not open on a Thursday night so that would take some coordination. Also, being the Fall semester we always worried about the problem with the weather and the night of the tour it threatened to rain (it didn’t Thank God). Lastly, I only had four weeks to put this project together and get it presented to the Historical Society before I had to give the final exam and post grades by the end of the semester. This on top of all the projects and papers I myself had to do for Graduate school gave me many stressful nights. Somehow, we pulled it all off to a huge success.
The week after I presented the project to the students with a few groans, we were off the next Thursday night to a mandatory (and I mean mandatory!) field trip to the Bergen County Historical Society in River Edge, NJ to see all the buildings and learn about the history of the site and the importance of it during the Revolutionary War. The time change after Halloween meant we would be having the tour in the dark with not a lot of light to shine the way.
Parking at the site needed to worked on as well as their parking lot was hard to maneuver if you did not know the area and had some sharp turns to get to when parking your car. Still I got all the students there and basically on time (except one) and we got the tour underway with the former and current Presidents of the Society. I could not believe how well it worked out for everyone.
First I had to make sure that everyone was there the night of the tour which was difficult because people were coming from work and the traffic being what is was at 6:30pm at night but again everyone was ready to go. We started at the Campbell-Christie House, which was used as the pub for the Christmas event I had been at the year earlier. It had also been used as the gathering place for the tree lighting ceremony when COVID hit in Christmas 2020.
Starting our class tour of the Bergen County Historical Society at the Campbell-Christi House
Starting the tour at twilight. It was really dark on the Bergen County Historical Society site.
Entering the Campbell-Christie House for the tour.
The Campbell-Christie House during the day.
We toured the house and talked about its history and how it was moved to this location to save it from demolishment. Also the uses of the house in different programs.
We then moved onto the Demarest House which is the next house over. The home is much smaller but its significance in Bergen County history is the same as the Campbell-Christie. This type of Dutch style architecture is unique to this part the country where the Dutch had to adapt to weather conditions and building materials that could be found.
The Demarest House during the day.
Its ownership to one of the most prominent families gave it even more importance. We were able to see the loft space and how the family lived on a daily basis in the two rooms.
Our class touring the Steuben House toward the end of the tour.
Then it was on to the Steuben House which was the home of the Zabriskie family but given to General Steuben by the patriots for his assistance during the Revolutionary War. This is the main house that most activities take place in including lectures and musical performances. In each of the homes,.
Ex-President of the Society Deborah Powell lead the students on a very engaging tour of the Steuben House. It has an interesting and intriguing past.
The two Presidents of the Society who joined us told me later how impressed they were that the students were so engaged in the conversation and wanted to learn so much about the site. For all of my students this was the first time any of them had been to the Bergen County Historical Society, so it was a treat for them as well. I could see that they all learned so much from ‘being in the field’.
My student consultants from Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. with former President Deborah Powell in our group shot at the main room at the Steuben House. It was at the end of the tour.
The Steuben House during the day.
After the tour was over and the questions were answered, our group left for dinner. I can always tell the success of these projects when we all have dinner together. I chose a pizzeria around the corner from the Historical Society that I had never been to before but plan on returning to, Napolimania at 450 Hackensack Avenue in the Home Depot mall. It had the perfect amount of space for our group of 30 students, who were both hungry and cold. Both the pizza and the pizzeria were wonderful and we had such a good time.
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. student consultants enjoying dinner.
Dinner at Napolimania Pizzeria for dinner after the tour.
Napolimania at 450 Hackensack Avenue in Hackensack, NJ TripAdvisor review:
I think one of the most important aspects about this project is that the Team “breaks bread” with each other (have a business meal). It is one of the biggest parts of Team Building and a way for strangers to get to know one another. I have seen more friendships formed over these meals and a transition of how the students treat this project. Most of them start taking it more seriously and then the work begins. By the way, the pizza was excellent that night and I highly recommend the restaurant for the food and service.
The next week, I started to give more time in the classroom for the students to work on their project as it was crunch time and they only had three weeks to complete it and present it to me. This is when the stress levels of the Teams start because then you see the people who will really work and the ones that put in the minimum and trust me, they make their feelings known. I had my share of headaches before this presentation but for the other 95% of the class, I saw some major transformations in the students, their attitudes towards the project and a lot of creativity.
We had the presentation in the fifth floor conference room at the Lyndhurst campus of Bergen Community College and this is only the second time I have used this room but it is the best one to present the project in.
The Presentation welcome:
CEO Watrel’s welcome
President Beqo welcome:
President Sorak Beqo opening the program for “Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. presents “Tourism at the Bergen County Historical Society” on the night of December 7th, 2023.
The Executive welcome and headquarters plan.
Our honored guests that night were the President of the Bergen County Historical Society, the former President of the Society and one of the Board members. I would have hoped we would have had a better turn out from the Society but I understood that it was the holiday season and everyone had so many commitments plus it was later in the evening and down in Lyndhurst. Still, it was nice to have the ladies attend for feedback on the Presentation.
Each group gave their Presentation along with creating two commercials, one promoting their events on the Society grounds and then one promoting the Society for tourism.
Team One Presentation:
Team One presenting their ideas for events and fundraising at the Bergen County Historical Society.
Team One presenting their ideas to raise money for the new museum.
Team One’s Presentation on YouTube.
Team Two Presentation:
Team Two pitching their ideas for the Bergen County Historical Society.
The ideas for fundraising for the new Museum at the Bergen County Historical Society.
The extra credit project that Team Two created was one of the reasons they won the contest.
Team Two Presentation on YouTube.
Team Three Presentation:
Team Three making their pitch for new events at the Bergen County Historical Society. They gave one of the most professional presentations that I had seen in a long time.
Team Three making their pitch on their ideas for fundraising for the new Museum.
Team Three Presentation on YouTube
Closing Remarks on YouTube:
Being only given four weeks to pull this project off, the student consultants did an excellent job on this project. The projects were creative, inventive and showed that they had studied and visited the historical site more than once. They used all the buildings on the property for different events coming up with new ideas on old events and creating new ones.
I liked the ideas of the Easter Egg hunts and Bunny visits as well as how to approach Easter as a secular event taking its Pagan roots and putting a new twist on it. For Halloween, the students incorporated old ideas such as apple bobbing and hayrides around the property with utilizing the historic homes as haunted houses. The winning group even used a haunted maze and a petting zoo to the mix.
For the museum fundraiser, the student consultants had some creative ideas to raise money for the museum. One group used a food truck event, another used a full day event and for their extra credit event was a “Revolutionary Dance” that I thought was really interesting. It always amazes me the way that students give such a fresh perspective to a project. I could tell that the Board members of the Society were blown away by the ideas that the students came up with to bring more people to the site.
After the Q & A for the project, we took our Corporate shot for Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. headquarters. I was impressed with what a sharp group we made.
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Corporate shot-Lyndhurst “Tourism at Bergen County Historical Society” Team December 2023.
All three Teams were given the task by one of the founding members of Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. to create ideas for the Corporate Christmas Party. The students were tasked with creating a menu with one appetizer, a main dish and a dessert with a signature drink and then had to create a corporate message in both English and Spanish. It is always fun to see the results on this:
I passed Dim Sum Station many times on my way to work and I noticed it had finally opened. I was in the area on business and stopped for lunch. The food and the service were really nice.
The restaurant has the look of a fast-food restaurant and is served cafeteria style. You order your food at the counter, and you pick it up when the order is ready. All the items are pictured on the menu, so you have an idea of what you are ordering.
You order at the counter of the restaurant and pick up your food
I just picked up a couple of dishes of Dim Sum for a light lunch. I started with the Pork Soup Dumplings ($6.95). They were really…
I have been to Lucky Larry’s Luncheonette, which is one town over from me, for both breakfast and lunch and I have to say that the food, service and atmosphere are very homey and down to earth. It is a real neighborhood spot, one of those places that the locals hang out to meet one another and catch up on town gossip.
The Lucky Larry’s logo
Blog under the old Lucky Larry’s:
It is more of a deli than a restaurant so there is limited seating but that does not stop the crowd of diners from eating and relaxing there. They will even bring your order to the…
I still can’t believe that Christmas came so quickly this year. It was almost like the blink of an eye. With the start of the Christmas holidays, there are many cherished Christmas events in Hasbrouck Heights that have become tradition.
Downtown Hasbrouck Heights, NJ is always so beautifully decorated for the holidays (Heights Flower Shoppe)
Starting with the Christmas Parade the day after Thanksgiving, this annual event showcases our wonderful downtown in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ and dazzles us at the end of the parade with the Annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Caroling. It had been so cold that night that the crowds were more subdued than usual (remember COVID is still going on) but no less spirited.
The Neil Parrot Playhouse decorated for Christmas at the Hasbrouck Heights Circle
The Fire Department escorted Santa down the parade route to the Christmas tree and was greeted by the Hasbrouck Heights Community , who were ready for some Christmas cheer. When the switch turned on, we were dazzled by the lights of the trees and decorations that grace the Circle in Hasbrouck Heights.
The Christmas Tree at the Hasbrouck Heights Circle always dazzles at night
After the parade and carolling were over, it was back to the firehouse but not before the fire fighters got their own group shot at the Christmas tree.
The Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department at the Christmas Tree in 2021
By the end of the month, we were ready for our big community event, “Santa Around Town” where the fire department escorted Santa around the Hasbrouck Heights community to wish everyone Christmas cheer in a very difficult year.
We lucked out and the weather cooperated and it ended up being a sunny but cool day. Because of the COVID pandemic, we cut the number of stops and the crowds were a bit smaller but no less enthusiastic about seeing and talking to Santa.
Being socially distanced and wearing masks in some locations, residents of Hasbrouck Heights got to talk to Santa and give him their Christmas wishes. I have never seen so many families and especially children need a lot of Christmas cheer in these tough times and Santa really came through for families and even their pets, as many Christmas dogs greeted and licked Santa.
We toured all over town, greeting residents and every keeping as socially distanced and safe as we could as Santa greeted everyone who came and cheered up a community that really needed it.
Merry Christmas from the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department!
The Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department’s Annual “Santa Around Town” 2021
It has been one busy year for me at work with online classes and live work and very little time for volunteer work. I was lucky that we sold out of Christmas trees for the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association Christmas Tree sale in a record 11 days!
Welcome to Hasbrouck Heights during the Christmas holiday season!
Hasbrouck Heights Engine One in the Hasbrouck Heights Christmas Parade
My last shift we sold the final tree and I was able to attend the fire department’s room cleaning that night. Needless to say, I have not been that active as a fire fighter this year due to work.
Still, I managed to finish everything and was able to assist the Rescue Truck as we set up the sound system and lights for the Annual Hasbrouck Heights Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting on November 26th, 2021. The parade takes place on the Boulevard in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ the day after Thanksgiving and we draw a nice crowd for the Parade and then the Tree Lighting. It was really cold that evening and we had about 150 residents for the tree lighting.
The Christmas Tree at the Circle is always a welcome site at the holidays
Firemen’s Park in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ
Firemen’s Bell Memorial decorated for the holidays
We participated in the parade with all the equipment following Santa down the Boulevard, handled the sound system and the lights for the ceremony and kept the town safe that evening. It was a wonderful to usher in the holiday season.
The Brothers of the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department at the 2021 Christmas Tree Lighting
The decorations on the Boulevard
The Gazebo at Firemen’s Park in Hasbrouck Heights at Christmas time
I have been to Miss T’s Two several times when I needed a quick snack and was in the area. The deli is tucked in a residential neighborhood right near Hackensack High School so I know who their customer is when the school year is in session.
Miss T’s Two is primarily a deli/bodega selling some household items and snack foods to the locals who live in the area but they also have a small hot food area in the back of the store and this is where this unassuming place shines. Their hot food selection may be limited but everything I have tried is delicious and extremely reasonable and is always fresh.
The first two trips I made to the deli was by accident. I had passed the place…
mywalkinmanhattan 