If you say your sauce is better than your grandmother’s, you better be able to back it up. Montclair’s Brad Finkel can. His sauce, Hoboken Farms, went from something his farmers market customers requested and he made as a lark to a jarred sauce sensation that’s gotten raves from Wall Street Journal, where it scored top honors for its “brightness and balance of acidity and sweetness.”
Finkel learned to cook from his grandmother, but his sauce is his own creation. Glistening with pure olive oil — three times what you find in other sauces — Finkel says that’s what creates the luxurious mouth feel and balances out the acidity.
Finkel started Hoboken Farms in 1992, offering an expertly curated selection of locally baked artisan breads, fresh mozzarella cheese, pasta and meats, and has grown to operate at 30 weekly farmers markets across New Jersey and New York. Hoboken Farms traces back to his family roots in Hoboken since 1890; all the main ingredients for the market were sourced within the mile square radius of Hoboken, hence the name. Finkel also met his wife Jillian in a tavern on Church Square Park in Hoboken a week after graduating Ramapo College.
Hoboken Farms Big Red Marinara, the original sauce (there is also Big Boss Vodka and Big Basil) was a response to demand from Finkel’s farmers market customers, who wanted something to go with the crusty loaves of bread and creamy fresh mozzarella they bought faithfully from Hoboken Farms stand. Finkel used his farmers market connections to get great tomatoes (he bought up all the ugly ones) and then he created his first sauce, selling it in mason jars at the market. The sauce was an instant hit, and got noticed by the Rutgers Food Innovation Center, who encouraged Finkel to put it into production.
Now Hoboken Farms’ line of pasta sauces can be found at Whole Foods, Kings, Shoprite, Bed Bath & Beyond, Garry’s wine, and many boutique gourmet stores across the country. They also ship to customers via UPS.
Finkel is so passionate about his product, he does whatever he has to do to make sure his sauce gets to people who would enjoy it. Back in May, when a Montclair man shared on Facebook that he was trying to find Hoboken Farms for his pasta dinner but came away empty handed when both Kings and Whole Foods were sold out, Hoboken Farms promptly responded, asking for his address to hand–deliver a few jars to his door in time for dinner.
Finkel says he’s seen people buying other sauces at the supermarket and afterwards, he’ll purchase a jar of Hoboken Farms and hand it to them on their way out of the store, only saying “This is for you. I want you to try my favorite sauce.”
And while you might have gotten a mystery jar of sauce at the supermarket from Finkel, you won’t see him or Hoboken Farms stand at the Montclair Farmers Market. Finkel, who moved to Montclair in 2008, says he makes a point not to work markets where he lives, but you can find Hoboken Farms products close by at these area farmers markets.