Fat-free and cream-free pasta sauces, a $2 baguette and much more

You don't have to keep kosher to like these marinara sauces.

Editor's note: Today, I bring you further adventures in food shopping -- from kosher pasta sauces to imported whole-wheat pasta to a great $2 baguette.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

This week, I found two pasta sauces that prove less is more.

Both are from a company named Gefen and both are kosher for Passover, but that's not why I bought them.

One of the marinara sauces contains no olive oil and is fat free. The other is a "Marinara Style Vodka Sauce" with vodka, but no artery clogging cream.

The cream-less sauce helps Jews observe the ban on eating meat and dairy at the same time, but also is perfect for people like me who are lactose intolerant.

Each 26-ounce bottle was $2.39 at ShopRite in Paramus.

Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood has a terrific selection of imported pasta, and three or four different brands of whole-wheat pasta from Italy, such as the two above.

Jerry's is on South Dean Street, near Route 4 in Englewood.

Jerry's in Englewood

I stopped at Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood on Wednesday for olives, balsamic vinegar, whole-wheat pasta and coffee beans from Italy, and nibbled on free samples of smoked mozzarella and other cheeses.

Jerry's has more varieties of 100% whole-wheat pasta than any other store I know, but prices are higher than the $1.39 I pay for a 16-ounce package of Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti, Fusilli or Penne.

Jerry's sells three or four brands of whole-wheat pasta and shapes include spaghetti, fusilli, farfale and pappardelle or wide, mouth-filling ribbons.

I bought a pound of Colavita Fusilli or spirals for $1.49 and a pound of Garofalo Farfalle or bowties for $1.99. 

Whole coffee beans from Italy are being sold at a new, lower price at Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood. I save about $5 or more a bag compared to my usual source.

Whole coffee beans

I have been buying Lavazza whole coffee beans from Italy at Amazon.com, but Jerry's often beats Amazon's prices.

On Wednesday, I found new, even lower prices, only $16.99 for a 2.2-pound bag of Lavazza Crema e Aroma beans, which I use in my built-in coffee machine.

That's about $5 less per bag than at Amazon.

Assorted Italian olives with whole garlic cloves were, as usual, $3.99 a pound, a great price.

Ponti Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, a brand served in many restaurants in Milan and Venice, was $1.99 for a 16.9-ounce bottle. 

The bottles are lableled "Primus" and "It matures in precious oak casks," and the vinegar is free of artificial color.

The mirror that helps customers exit the small parking lot at Balthazar Bakery in Englewood. The retail store opened in late November 2002.

 $2 baguette 

Balthazar Bakery in Englewood has repaired the convex mirror that gives customers driving out of the parking lot a view of traffic racing along one-way South Dean Street in Englewood.

In the photo above, the red car is leaving the lot and the black vehicle parked at the curb is blocking the driver's view of oncoming traffic.

So, even with the mirror, the driver has to nose his vehicle into traffic before getting a clear view of what's bearing down on him.

It's hair raising. Imagine what it was like in the years before the mirror was installed.

I stopped at Balthazar for two baguettes -- the best $2 loaf of bread in the metropolitan area. 

You can see the bakers at work through plate-glass windows in the retail store.

The mound of butter waiting to go into croissants was about the size of a Fiat 500.

The circular from Fairway Market in Paramus calls this tilapia "pretty darn perfect."

  

Pass on Chinese fish

Does any other country have a worse food-safety record than China?
  
No. 

So, I was surprised to see that Manhattan-based Fairway Market in Paramus is selling farmed tilapia from China for $3.99 a pound.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch labels tilapia from the United States and Equador as "Best Choice."

Tilapia from China and Taiwan are called a "Good Alternative," but shouldn't Fairway be selling the best, not the second best? 

Fairway also mailed three coupons, each good for $10 off a purchase of $75 at the Paramus store.

That's a 13.3% discount, and I'm not sure it's worth a trip to Paramus, and having to endure all that New York attitude. 

More changes at Costco Wholesale

Costco's Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, Italy.

Editor's note: Today, I look at some new and old items at Costco, and report on a light lunch at the newly renovated Suburban Diner in Paramus.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The world's best-tasting organic salad mix now comes in a new package -- and at a new lower price when you buy it at Costco Wholesale.

Earthbound Farm has tweaked the packaging of its Organic Half & Half -- Spring Mix and Baby Spinach -- and Costco knocked 40 cents off the usual price of $4.99 for a 1-pound container.

How long that price of $4.59 lasts is anyone's guess: 

Costco's price for Earthbound Farm's organic salads goes up and down, but it's always a dollar or two cheaper than other stores. 

The new package is an improvement over the old, though when you open it, you're still left holding tear-away plastic that is a recycling challenge.

In the old package, it was sometimes difficult to find the separation between the clear-plastic cover and tub.

Now, the cover has two tabs that make the package easier to open.

What's the big deal? When you eat a bowl of this salad every day, you appreciate the improvement.

Of course, the salad is still pre-washed, so it goes right from the container to the bowl, ready to be dressed.

Balsamic vinegar

At home, I dress my organic salad with 100% Spanish extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar from Italy, and this week I saw a new bottle of the latter at the Hackensack Costco.

I don't know if this is a new product or just a new bottle and label. I tried Costco's balsamic vinegar a few years ago and found it much too sweet.

Since then, I've been buying this aged vinegar at Jerry's Gourmet and More in Englewood, and since a trip to Italy in 2010, I always buy a brand called Ponti, which I was served in restaurants in Milan and Venice.

Neither Costco's or Ponti's Balasamic Vinegar of Modena contain artificial color, but the latter is a better buy at $1.99 for a half-liter bottle.

Costco's balsamic is sold under the label of the store brand, Kirkland Signature.

This week, I also saw Kirkland Signature Organic Diced Tomatoes, replacing the Del Monte product I bought at the warehouse store. 

Wyman's of Maine says wild blueberries are No. 1 in antioxidants.

In my freezer, I unearthed a package of fresh frozen wild blueberries from Costco that I bought I don't know how many weeks ago to replace Kirkland Signature Dried Blueberries, which contain a lot of added sugar.

I thawed some of the Wyman's of Maine Wild Blueberries, and used them in my cereal this morning.

It's no surprise they aren't as sweet as the dried blueberries. But they are sugar- and sodium-free -- just wild blueberries. 

At Costco on Tuesday, I picked up fresh wild-caught Pacific cod for dinner at $6.99 a pound, and served it with mashed sweet potatoes, skin and all, and an Earthbound Farm salad.

That night, I saw cod fillet for $21.99 a pound at a Food Emporium on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

A 2-pound package of those incomparable Sunset-brand Campari Tomatoes at Costco was $4.49, or $2.25 a pound, a lower price than at Fairway Market in Paramus.

Costco's Organic Brown Eggs with Manchego Cheese and Pesto, served with mashed sweet potatoes, skin and all. The sweet potatoes came from Trader Joe's.

Organic brown rice

This week, Della-brand Long Grain Organic Brown Rice reappeared at Costco.

In September, employees of the Hackensack Costco told me it had been discontinued, and I ordered another brand online at Amazon. com. 

The Suburban Diner in Paramus re-opened on Monday.

Route 17 diner reopens

The Suburban Diner in Paramus was crowded today with customers getting their first look at the newly renovated and expanded landmark on Route 17 north.

The diner, which re-opened Monday, has about 20 more seats and slightly higher prices. It now seats 230 people.

I ordered black coffee and split pea soup -- hold the croutons -- and got the biggest bowl of soup I've ever seen in a Greek diner. 

An unusually large bowl of soup was $3.10 at the Suburban Diner.

A cup of coffee with free refills was $1.80.

My friend had a Western Omelet Sandwich for $4.95, with coleslaw and a pickle, and a Diet Coke for $2.25.

Details

Suburban Diner, 172 Route 17 north, Paramus; 201-261-2605.