How long will DePiero's be around?

The entrance to DePiero's Country Farm store on a hill in Montvale.

Stairs to the store's gift and housewares loft.

No visit to Montvale would be complete without stopping at the hilltop store of DePiero's Country Farm.

Unfortunately, all of the fresh, local produce and the relaxed food-shopping experience soon may be just a memory.

If town officials approve, half of the farm's 55 acres will be used to build a huge Wegmans Food Market, displacing the homey farm store.

The Wegmans would be the chain's first store in Bergen County.

The Wegmans in Woodbridge is an enormous 140,000 square feet -- bigger than any other supermarket in Bergen.

Photos of the Woodbridge Wegmans 

On Monday, I stopped at DePiero's for a large cup of soup and purchased sweet corn, romaine lettuce, basil and leeks, all grown on the farm.

Fragrant basil, above. Romaine lettuce and leeks, below.

In late afternoon, customers arrived in twos and threes, but the store never got crowded.

The thick, meatless lentil soup was delicious.

When I got home, I shucked and steamed the bi-color corn, which was sweet and need nothing (6 ears for $3.50). 

It was far superior to corn I picked up last week at the Ramsey Farmers' Market.

I chopped some of DePiero's fresh basil, along with oregano and mint from my garden, to use with fresh wild king salmon on Tuesday night.

I plan to use the rest of the basil to make pesto, which is wonderful with fish.

A plastic spoon stood up easily in the thick soup.

Halloween costumes are available now.

DePiero's greenhouse.

DePiero's Country Farm Store, 300 W. Grand Ave., Montvale; 201-391-4576. Open 7 days until 6 p.m.

Web site: An Old-Fashioned Farm

Food photos from Woodbridge to the West Side of Manhattan

Lactose Free Milk at Wegmans Food Market is 10 cents more than at ShopRite.

Wegmans has one of the lowest prices on bananas, but doesn't beat Costco Wholesale.

At nearly 140,000 square feet, Wegmans in Woodbridge seems to go on and on.

Wegmans offers enough prepared food to feed an army. 

Fresh, wild-caught fish fetch some of the highest prices around.

Wegmans Organic Chicken. Drumsticks are $2.99 a pound.

Canned vegetables are 49 cents each.

Premium blended orange juice is only $1.99 for a 64-ounce half-gallon.

Wegmans cheese, dried fruit and nuts would make a great dessert.

A Japanese family enjoying lunch at Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater.

One of the stands in the food court of the Japanese supermarket.

Dishes offered at the Whole Foods Market in Manhattan's Time Warner Center.

At a Gourmet Garage near Lincoln Center, Chilean Sea Bass is $28.99 a pound.

Despite the price, Golden Pineapples sold out, but the sign stayed behind.

Gourmet Garage charges $4.99 for 5 ounces of Earthbound Farm Spring Mix. At Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, customers get a 16-ounce package for the same price.

A new dish at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park is Vegetable Bibimbap served on a stone plate. Season to taste with Korean red-pepper paste or gochujang from a squeeze bottle.

Steam rising from the signature soft-tofu stew, which comes with a stone bowl of white rice. All entrees are served with four side dishes, including two kimchis.

At So Gong Dong, bibimbap also comes with ground beef or with squid, but other restaurants serve the dish topped with a raw or fried egg.

The Palisades Park ShopRite is the only supermarket I know with a big tropical-fish tank.