Restaurant

SJ Hot Chefs, an all-star lineup of the South Jersey Independent Restaurant Association, kicks off its annual Spring Restaurant Week on Sunday to showcase the region's abundant culinary talent. At events that continue through Friday, more than 35 restaurants in Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties will offer four-course menus for $25 and $35. This year, chefs also are pairing with culinary-arts students for two demonstrations Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. in Voorhees and Sewell.

A NONPROFIT GROUP in Washington thinks that we should know the players in the City Council fight to provide paid sick leave for more people employed here. We couldn't agree more. That's why we were curious about the reluctance of the nonprofit ROC Exposed to tell us more about itself. The group takes its name from its stated mission, exposing Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a pro-labor organization that pushes for paid sick days for restaurant workers. ROC Exposed, in an email to reporters just before a Council hearing Tuesday on paid sick leave, said that the issue was being pushed by a "labor union front group.

Two New Jersey-rooted restaurants have entered the South Jersey scene. Marltonians have a new restaurant in the Turning Point , which opened recently in Marlton Square (300 Route 73 South, Marlton, 856-988-1528). It's an offshoot of a breakfast/brunch/luncher with a base in Long Branch. Owners Pam and Kirk Ruoff are behind a pleasant, plant-dotted dining room. Like all Turning Points, this one closes at 3 p.m. because the Ruoffs believe in a work-life balance. New at the Towne Center at Garden State Park is Zinburger , a sleek and festive wine and burger bar (923 Haddonfield Rd., Cherry Hill, 856-488-7590)

Here is an excerpt from Craig LaBan's online chat from Feb. 26: Craig LaBan: Last weekend was the Jewish festival of Purim, and that means our oven was full of fresh hamentaschen, those tricornered cookies filled with apricot, cherry, and raspberry jams. (See recipe at http://is.gd/MDelZV .) The best front-page news I've read in a long time: the report on the heart benefits of a Mediterranean diet from New England Journal of Medicine. Of course we knew this, but as the most scientific study to date has weighed in: pour on the olive oil, fish, and beans!

AVON, N.J. - Many Jersey Shore towns pummeled by Hurricane Sandy have been racing to rebuild their beachfronts and boardwalks for the summer season. But things have not gone so smoothly in this Monmouth County town. Unlike its next-door neighbor, Belmar, which already has rebuilt nearly half its boardwalk, Avon is lagging, dogged by its on-again, off-again handling of a deal to rebuild a boardwalk restaurant, a court injunction over an eighth-of-an-inch difference in the size of boards between one company's bid and another's, and a protest by environmentalists over the town's plan to use rain-forest wood to rebuild the walkway.

A fire roared through the Valley Forge Beef & Ale restaurant in Lower Providence on Saturday, causing no injuries but destroying the venerable 19th-century building, Montgomery County emergency officials said. The fire started in the basement, one official said without elaborating. The cause wasn't known as of Saturday night. The fire was officially categorized as a one-alarm blaze, but once it got going, additional units were called, officials said. - Alfred Lubrano

Philadelphia's Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a developer's plans Wednesday to raze three buildings at the southeast corner of 15th and Walnut Streets and erect a glass, three-story building that will include the city's first Cheesecake Factory restaurant. Lawyer Carl Primavera said demolition should begin within 30 days. Construction could take 15 months, so the restaurant is expected to open by fall 2014. The restaurant is planned for the second floor, with an entrance on Walnut.

It's hog time at Harvest Seasonal Grill & Wine Bar (200 S. 40th St., 215-662-1100, harvestseasonalgrill.com). Chef Anthony DiPascale has created a pig-lovers menu around pasture-fed, antibiotic-free organic heritage hogs from Wind Chaser Farm in Paradise, Pa. Try Pork Belly Flat Bread with agave-glazed pork belly, grilled pineapple, queso fresco and micro cilantro, or Wood Grilled Pork Loin Chops with a Choucroute Alsacienne, roasted fingerling potatoes,...

IT'S no accident that Lady fell hard for the Tramp over a shared plate of linguine in the classic Disney movie. The very act of nibbling pour deux can be enough to get a body in the mood for romance. Although Valentine's Day is one reason to canoodle with your favorite dining partner, chefs around town are hip to the aphrodisiac power of shared deliciousness any time of year. "It's sexy to share," said Patrice Rames, chef/owner at Bistro St. Tropez in Center City. He offers a dessert duo meant for two, an airy Gran Marnier souffle and a chocolat chaud , or molten chocolate cake (see recipe)

"True Love. " "Let's Kiss. " "Hug Me. " It's February, and that's NECCO Sweethearts candy time. And time for an upscale do-over. Pastry Chef Thomas Heck of Davio's (111 S. 17th St., 215-563-4810, davios.com) has come up with a homemade Sweethearts recipe in lemon, orange, peppermint and cocoa. All he needs is witty talk with which to decorate the sweets. Tweet your ideas @daviosphilly with the hastag #candyheartsphilly. If yours is selected for Valentine's Day at Davio's, you'll win a $50 gift card to the restaurant.