Foraging for Take-Out

Phil Manganaro doesn’t brave the markets for much of the produce on his menus these days. Ingredient shortages? Something’s always blooming. High prices? His precious haul is always free. Social distance shopping? You could say the chef has taken that to the extreme, with only a big lodge of beavers nearby currently in sight. The Merchantville chef and his 8 year old son, Dean, regularly spend hours after home schooling on foraging missions to fuel the unconventional menus at his Park Place Cafe - the intimate fine-dining BYOB-turned-drive-through - which is unlike any takeout you’ve sampled during this pandemic. His loyal customers have responded, phoning their orders into the hotline to claim one of the 72 time slots for pick up Thursday through Saturday shortly after he posts the menus on Instagram each Sunday night.