On November 24th and 25th, Laurita Winery hosted the Holly Jolly Food Truck Festival. It was my first visit to the winery and I can’t even tell you what took me so long to get there. This winery is incredibly beautiful, with the heart being its indoor event center/wine bar/shop which was built from two refurbished barns. The food truck lineup was impressive, featuring a wide array of the best eats you can find in Jersey. The first truck that caught my eye was Five Sisters Food Co. because burgers are my ultimate weakness. I started off with the Brie sliders, 2 Angus burger sliders topped with ooey gooey Brie cheese and apricot onion-bacon jam. I love unique combinations of flavors, and these sliders certainly delivered. After devouring my sliders in .002 seconds, I made my way to the Tacoholics truck. Upon seeing that they had a General Tso’s taco, I was sold (I had a long-standing love affair with General Tso’s pizza during my studies at the University of Scranton, s/o to CK’s Pizza ilysm). The sauce was mouthwatering, to say the least. I couldn’t possibly leave the festival without a lobster roll, no matter how much food I had already eaten. Luckily Cousins Maine Lobster was supplying. I opted for the Connecticut roll,with fresh, warm Maine lobster covered in butter and lemon, served in a New England style roll. Real quote from my experience, “it was so good I could cry.” I could have easily gone for another but I’m not a baller and lobster is expensive (*DM us if you’re interested in sponsoring a financially struggling graduate student, i.e., me). What’s a lengthy, gluttonous food truck experience without some dessert you might ask? We rounded out the day with a strawberry shortcake Belgian waffle from Dan’s Waffles and a cupcake platter from local favorite House of Cupcakes. If wine and good eats still haven’t sold you, these reasons might:

1. An inn stands on the property that offers full-service massage and spa services.
2. If you’re interested in horseback riding lessons or trail rides, you can take part at the Laurita Equestrian center.
3. Laurita produces 14,000-16,000 cases of wine every year that are exclusive to the winery!
4. The structures on the winery were built from mostly recycled or reclaimed materials.
5. The winery uses solar power to produce clean energy for heat, hot water, steam, cooling, and refrigeration.
6. They offer free winery tours where you hop on a wagon and learn about the rich history and ecosystem.
7. During the winter they have an ice luge you can actually ride on! Sign me up.

Laurita has something for everyone whether you’re a nature lover, wino, foodie, or accordion enthusiast. So grab your pals, your significant other, or throw on a kid leash for your little one and we’ll see you there this winter!

–Jess @fatboitendencies