Livingston’s “Food Czar” Helps the Community Stay Connected

Heidi Blum of Livingston has been the unofficial “Food Czar” of Livingston for the past two years. She began her reign during Covid, on the Facebook page called Ltown Lowdown, where she has been known for her “Live-ish” videos introducing local restaurants with her signature microphone, which is some type of food related to the venue. Her humorous posts are so popular that she says she gets recognized no matter where she goes. Heidi started out posting on LTown to help restaurants that were suffering and let residents know who was open and what was on their menus. People now look forward to her weekly posts on Fridays. She says she does this all for fun and loves helping to promote the existing restaurants and letting people know about new ones opening up. “I do this from my heart, she says.” “Doing these videos throughout Covid helped me feel connected to the community and I look forward to continuing to make people laugh and to help the restaurants succeed.” You can follow her on Instagram @Heidi Blum.

Local Tween is an Entrepreneur

West Orange 7th grader, Chloe Mendoza-Altejos is quite an enterprising young lady! At 12 years old, she has a busy business on Etsy called @Chloesworldofdesigns, where she sells crocheted plushies that she hand-makes herself. She learned to crochet from her great-grandmother and loves what she does. She makes all sorts of stuffed animals, as well as jewelry and t-shirts that she sells on her site.

Chloe says she also likes to make her stuffed animals to give to friends and family, and that she donated one large one for the holidays on the West Orange Buy Nothing Group on Facebook. The tween started her business during the pandemic as a way to keep busy and says she likes being her own boss. Chloe says that she tries to either save the money she makes or spend it on materials.

Chloe balances her business along with her schoolwork, cheerleading and volleyball. Her mom, Christine, says she is proud of Chloe, who she says is “dedicated, responsible and very good at time management.”

Corrections from the 2022 Best of Essex Winner Announcement in the Winter edition.

BEST FLORIST: Rosaspina who won the Silver Medal name was misspelled.

BEST FULL SERVICE RESTAURANT: Faubourg who won the Gold Medal name was misspelled.

BEST HAIR SALON: Julio Angel Hair Studio who won the Silver Medal is located Verona, not Cedar Grove.

BEST LAWYER—ELDER CARE: Gold medal winner, Donald Dennison, III of Mandelbaum Barrett is located in Roseland and the website is www.mblawfirm.com.

BEST LAWYER—FAMILY LAW: Silver medal winner, Lynne Strober of Mandelbaum Barrett is located in Roseland and the website is www.mblawfirm.com

BEST PET SERVICES: Catnip Gypsy tied for the Bronze medal.

BEST PODIATRIST: Gold medal winner, Cedar Grove Foot & Ankle Specialist has moved to a new location: 882 Pompton Ave, Ste. B1, Cedar Grove.

BEST YOGA: Niyama Yoga Shala of Roseland tied for the Silver medal. February