By Sharon Merkel Prudhomme ~
February/March begins the much-anticipated crawfish season in Louisiana. Crawfish, crawdads, mudbugs, ecrevisse…..or in Yankee terms, AKA 
crayfish are incredible tasty little creatures much like mini lobsters. After recently retiring from about 30 years operating a Cajun restaurant business there are a few things we miss. One being weekly shipments of live L.A. crawfish. So, when my editor mentioned hearing of crawfish available in Farmingdale, we were out the door and heading to Farmingdale for a lunch of fresh L.A. crawfish. AAYYEE!
Co-owners, and brothers, Dan and Anthony Vrgoc (pro; Vir-gosh) are cranking out this cool farm to table approach menu. Reminds us of our P.A. local farmers coming in our kitchen door with the freshest of veggies!
Loving the tasty little critters, my husband and I ordered two bowls of crawfish which are about a pound served in a spicy sauce which we readily sopped up with the fresh grilled crusty bread served with the bowls. Juicy and just the right spice-good heat but not over the top. While “pinching tail and sucking heads” we noticed a few others nearby also downing these incredible lil mini lobsters. We’ve never seen them served in a sauce, usually boiled and served as done with crabs-highly seasoned with red taters, corn and onion, but this was a different twist and we will be back for more!
Although our stomachs were registering near full, we couldn’t resist going for a beautiful Cioppino bowl of clams, mussels & shrimp sauce and a whole lotta’ YUM! Great salad selections, sandwiches and small plates are on the menu perfect for sharing at lunch or dinner. IF you’ve got room for dessert (we did not) you’ll not be disappointed!
HARVEST Local Seasonal Cuisine was a pleasant surprise all the way around! A cute, cozy little BYOB eatery which boasts the use of local seasonal products creating a changing menu. This American restaurant features healthy from scratch fare. I love the HUGE chart adorning a main wall which notes various foods from local farmers, bakers and purveyors. Eggs, duck, clams, fish & veggies to name a few are listed along with farm, fishery & location of origin. All meals are healthy and for those “gluten intolerant”, this IS your place to dine!
If interested in fresh crawfish, I’d suggest calling ahead to double-check on availability. When importing live “mudbugs” from Louisiana it can be touch and go with shipping. Often when temperatures soar in L.A. the crawfish can go deeper in the mud to escape the heat making harvests a tad light.
No time to sit and dine? Harvest2go is ready to take your order for pick up. Call in or place an online order-they’ve got you covered.
Hours of operation: Closed Monday Tuesday thru’ Sunday – 11am-last reservation at 9pm
Address: 83 Main Street Farmingdale, NJ 07727 Contact: (732)919-3276
https://mkt.com/harvest2go