Morristown bakes

This historic town is experiencing another renaissance. Morristown has some of the oldest and most treasured colonial era houses on broad streets adjacent to the downtown area. You can visit the Ford Mansion to see how George Washington and Alexander Hamilton lived together during the winter of 1779, the coldest winter on record in New Jersey. The first St Patrick’s day “parade” was held here in 1779. Morristown is the first National Historic Park, established in 1933. Jockey Hollow is a great park near town to wander among the Revolutionary Camps that housed Washington’s 10,000 man army through that terrible winter. The town has so much to offer to a history fan of this period of time.

There is also an energy here that was missing 15 years ago. Today you can find wealthy boomers, middle class Latino immigrants and 30-50 year olds all over the downtown area. Older houses have been renovated but the colonial architecture remains. There are some amazing front porches on some of these houses. Each block has a classic colonial style home. New home construction has remained true to colonial styles like Philadelphia red brick row houses. Morristown has added numerous four-six story contemporary style rental buildings in and around the downtown area. There continues to be a real shortage of rental apartments. The demand is extraordinary. This is the part of town you can find the Swiss Chalet Bakery along with dozens of other food establishments. This is a great walking town. People and their dogs are everywhere. Everyone is loving the music, the food and the multi-cultural vibe. Especially the food!!

I met my young friend Rob, who lives in Morristown, for a Wake and Bake Sunday morning. There are six years between us but our life experience is very similar. He grew up around the block from my parent’s house. He had an older sister. I have a younger sister. Both of us are completely different than our sisters. Both our sisters are classic liberals. We line up closer to the center. We were trippers. They were not. We both are still very close with our childhood and high school friends. Kids from the neighborhood stuck together. I knew the older brothers or sisters of his friends. Both our parents emphasized similar values. Education. We went to Hebrew School three days each week after public school. Oy Vey!! Resilience. Never let failure get the best of you. Respect. Think of others before you think of yourself. Enjoy all that life has to offer. Pretty basic stuff. There were a lot of us who grew up with these values.

Our first stop is the showcase bakery in town. Swiss Chalet Bakery has been around for over forty years. It has adapted to the times, changing from a walk in and take out classic bakery, to a modern bakery serving breakfast, lunch and cake all day for the new locals. The young and old come here to be seen now. This is the downtown bakery. You can get anything from formal cakes to danish. They serve breakfast and lunch like any diner and that removes some of the charm. There was a line for coffee and a line for the bakery. Not efficient but who cares if the baked goods are great. I have fattened myself on their gigantic custom birthday cakes at my grandson’s second birthday. Cake was good but not as good as Palermo’s of Ridgedale Park. We grabbed some coffee and a danish. We held off because we were headed to Verrilli’s.

Stoned or not, Verrilli's has quite possibly the most decadent treat in New Jersey. This bakery has been in the same family for over 100 years. Greek Immigrants, who settled in an old Italian neighborhood in Morristown, started a bakery. One family has been part of the community for a millenium. They have changed locations through the years and are now settled on Martin Luther King boulevard in a working class part of town. When Covid hit they pivoted from another Italian bakery to a takeout lunch and dinner place. Truth is the business was in trouble as the downtown people did not come over and the old folks had left the neighborhood.

So they pivoted to take out food . If you needed a great Philly steak sandwich or frozen chicken marsala you went to Verrilli’s. The bakery became an essential part of people’s lives again. The owner, Kristi Dimogerodakis, saw her business grow substantially. And then she saw the need in her neighborhood to help the working poor. The good works the bakery provided for the community is one of the good stories of the Covid crisis(see above story). The gregarious and proud employee gave us the whole history. We did not meet Kristi that day but I went back this week and she was there. What a personality! Jersey funny on the ourside, and sweet as her cannoli donuts on the inside. Here is a shot from inside as I am waiting for my philly steak. Check out the detail. That is old school! And there is 5000 square feet of bakery in the back.

It was also about this time Kristi started making potato donuts. She had no idea how this simple treat would become so popular during those dark months of spring 2020. The demand for those sweet fried morsels was unbelievable. The spudnuts can be filled with nutella or whatever you can think of. The ultimate comfort food. And then we discovered the fried cannoli spudnut. Holy Cannoli!! We had no idea how good this can be at 8:30 am. They are hand made. Each one comes out warm gleaming with cannoli bursting out of the sides. We took them to the truck and had an out of body experience. Pure laughter from delight. Each bite was better than the one before. Better than Palermo’s and that was pretty damn good. I will be traveling to Morristown just to get a box of spudnuts real soon. It passes the one hour drive test, meaning drive the hour to get there. It is worth it.

Rob and I were all pumped from the cannoli spudnuts. What can you do on a late winter morning on an “edible” sugar high. You go for a hike in the woods. Four miles south of downtown is Jockey Hollow park. This is where George Washington’s men spent the winter of 1779-1780. It is one of the best parks in the state for walking through history, biking on well paved roads free of vehicular traffic, hiking in old growth forest full of challenging hills, or simply walking on paved paths. This is a peaceful and beautiful place to escape from the density that characterizes our daily lived experience. When you imagine the challenges that Washington’s men faced at that time you marvel at their resilience and simplicity. There is silence all the time except for your own voice and those that nature provides. We hiked for well over an hour, probably about three or four miles, telling old stories and sharing life experience. After the last half mile hill we were ready for more spudnuts. Exercise has its rewards.

Well, there you have it this week. Thanks for joining me for Sunday’s wake and bake. This journey has been wonderful and I hope you recommend this substack to someone else. When you visit Morristown stop in the old school Verrilli’s bakery, the modern Swiss Chalet bakery, or the new immigrant Colombian bakeries like Rico Pan. You will not be disappointed.

Peace to Everyone…And I welcome your comments please. Thank you Phil for always contributing .. Makes it more fun and that is what we are here for….how about this topic? Favorite Cheesecake and what bakery ?