“You should open a shop in Asbury Park, ” was what I told Shane Bruno the first time I got my hair cut by him at his former spot up in Red Bank. “I want to but I don’t think Asbury is quite ready, ” was along the lines of what I remember Bruno saying.

Eight years or so later and Swagger and Blade calls Asbury Park home. It was an inevitability as Bruno is a perfect fit for this city.

And the funny thing is Bruno was dead on by not opening up here back then. He’s since built up a huge and loyal following and Asbury is in another world compared to where is was back around 2008 when we had that first conversation. Read More

How do you say goodbye to a friend that’s dying? I wasn’t able to bid adieu in person to the great Tracie Orsi Godier, so from one writer to another, I’ll let my written words do the talking.

The world lost one of the greats during the early morning hours of February 1st, 2015. The great ones always seem to go before their time. Tracie Orsi, 52, was the owner of Ragin Cajun’ in Belmar. She was a chef, a writer, a pioneer, a wife and a fierce woman who took shit from absolutely no one! Tracie also played guest columnist on a few occasions for the Anchor affiliated triCityNews and was featured in the paper many times over the years.

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Downtown Asbury Park, New Jersey welcomed another quality addition to its retail mix a few weeks ago. Interwoven is a store offering a curated selection of men’s and women’s apparel and accessories. It’s owned by Bianca Freda (above), an Asbury Park resident who moved down here from Somerset (her husband is originally from Neptune) because, simply put, she was miserable up there.

So she did what so many young, creative entrepreneurs have been doing lately and moved to Asbury Park. Read More