This was our first farmers market and only the second week for Englewood in general, so we were not expecting much. Not to mention the weather was so crummy. When we arrived, there were two large fruit and vegetable stands and Central Bakery selling loaves of bread. Dr. Pickle was a no-show. That was it as far as vendors go. So at that point, we really didn't expect much. But we actually benefited from those things and people were intrigued with our cart and the fact that they had hot meatballs to take home for dinner--saving themselves a night of cooking.

Folks filled up to-go containers by the dozen, and we sold lots of sandwiches too. We only brought one tray of meatballs but it was gone in a matter of a few hours...the few hours that there was actually sunshine. Five minutes after the last ball was sold, down came the rain. We grabbed our tent and set it up super fast, covering the cart and ourselves. Once the storm passed, we packed everything up and we were happy that that did not include any leftover balls. All in all, it was a definite success of a day and we are excited to announce that the Englewood Farmers Market is indeed a place that we will be set up at every Friday from now until the end of the season!


Saturday and Sunday we did not have any events. I relaxed with my family and we celebrated Father's Day weekend. But Monday morning--real early Monday morning--we had another huge event. This time, it was not a farmers market or any kind of feast at all, it was a visit to News 12 New Jersey headquarters in Edison.

Last November, I appeared on News 12 for a shopping segment with Alicia Vitarelli at Corrado's when I was preparing for my "Gravy War" throwdown at Chef Central. Even though Alicia went from News 12 to Action News in Philly, we remained in contact via facebook and she reached out to the producer at News 12 regarding featuring my cart on a segment.   
On Monday, I ended up doing five segments with the whole morning staff and an interactive behind-the-scenes two hour live feed on their website! It was an absolute blast, the only thing that was rough was waking up at 3am. The cameras started rolling at seven, so we had to get there extra early to set up everything.

This was not my first appearance on TV but it was the first for the cart--the world debut--and it couldn't have gone better. I think everyone at News 12 enjoyed it as well, everyone was so nice and seemed to love the meatballs. Our new Johnny Meatballs Skewers (mini meatballs with mozzarella and cherry tomatoes) also made their debut, as did our new Johnny Meatballs coffee mugs (featuring a picture of my mug).


I left hot meatballs for all the staff and also left with an open invitation to return--something I'd love to do again (for the evening telecast if possible!) I give those reporters a lot of credit for getting up with the birds and getting on live TV to bring the news to the public. On this day, my visit was also part of their news broadcast and I was very honored to be able to share my meatballs with all of the Garden State.


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On Sunday June 26th, we will once again be branching out into another venue, this time we will be at the Classic Car Show in Hackensack from 8-4. This will take place in the parking lot of the FDU campus. Come see classic cars & trucks, enjoy live entertainment by the Peter Scance Band and eat!! Besides yours truly, Coney Island Pizza will be on site with their custom-constructed pizza oven on wheels.