Focaccia and cannoli at a place you'll want to stay awhile

One of the best parts of writing about food is getting to know the people who make it.

Our restaurants, coffee shops, cafes and bakeries are run by chefs trained in culinary school, cooks who worked their way up through the ranks, owners who learned to cook in their grandma's kitchen, and people who left other careers simply because they love food.

I spend time with these folks when I'm on an assignment, and many have created places so inviting, I want to stay longer — like Anthony Bruno's Mambo Italiano in Colts Neck.

His cafe is part restaurant, part coffee shop, part bakery and part market, and his personality is as appealing as the food. A Brooklyn transplant now living in Ocean County, Bruno spent eight years in Sicily as a child and is bringing Sicilian specialties like pannelle (chickpea fritters, which are hard to find around here) and rice balls to Mambo Italiano.

The cafe also makes nearly a dozen sandwiches on house-baked focaccia, and they're named for famous Italians.

Stay tuned for a story and video — Bruno made us "The Stallone," pictured below — coming next week.

Comings and goings

Restaurant openings are getting hard to keep track of, which is a good thing! There are lots of exciting new places in the works, and some closings, too. Here's a quick recap:

• Big Dogs Cafe in Toms River announced this week that its burger and milkshake restaurant is closing and will become "a simpler concept" that is in the works. The reason? The cafe's popularity outgrew the space, owner Nik Panagos said. Details aren't available yet, but my guess is a focus on the cafe's coffee program. (Big Dogs Cafe in Berkeley Township remains unchanged.)
• Whipped, a Red Bank crepe shop that closed five years ago when its owners moved the business to nearby Cé La Vi, has reopened on Monmouth Street. The shop is making dessert crepes, gelato, milkshakes, gelato cakes and coffee.
• Bagel Pit has opened at Laurel Square shopping center in Brick. The bagel shop joins Livoti's Old World Market, which opened in the plaza last month.
• The Barn Grill, a southern Ocean County-based ghost kitchen, will sell its cheesesteaks, smash burgers, hot dogs and fries from a food trailer at Long Beach Township's Bayview Park this summer. Watch for a late May opening.
• Time Out Coffee Shop, selling coffee and Greek-inspired food and sweets, has opened on Route 35 in Eatontown.

Calling all adventurous eaters

I absolutely love discovering good food in unexpected places, like pizza at a gas station, ghost kitchen burgers at a fine-dining restaurant and empanadas at a butcher shop.

Now I'm turning my attention toward convenience stores because there are plenty selling more than just road trip snacks and scratch-off lottery tickets. But I need some help. Our food-writing team covers all of Monmouth and Ocean counties — that's 1,575 square miles — so we're bound to miss some great stuff. If you know of a convenience store cooking fresh and tasty food, email me at sgriesemer@gannettnj.com.

That is all for this week! As always, thank you for reading. For more food content, visit app.com and follow Jersey Shore Eats on Instagram and Facebook.

Sarah Griesemer is a food writer for The Asbury Park Press and app.com. For more on where to eat and drink, please consider a subscription.