From Mexico to Hollywood: The strange career of Lupe Vélez
Comfort Food Festival among season’s biggest events
Lupe Vélez? Anybody?
If you know the name at all — and even some movie buffs don’t — it’s probably for all the wrong reasons. But without the trail she blazed, there might be no Rita Moreno, Salma Hayek, Jennifer Lopez or Penélope Cruz.
“I was annoyed that her story had never been told as an actress,” said Lyndhurst author Eve Golden, whose book about Hollywood’s pioneering Latina star, “Strictly Dynamite: The Sensational Life of Lupe Vélez,” drops on Tuesday, Sept. 19, from University Press of Kentucky.
“The Mexican Spitfire” she was called in the 1930s and ‘40s. It was her brand. It was also the name of a RKO comedy series
There’s nothing like spending a fall day at a festival, especially when food, wine and beer are involved. The next few months are packed with fests of all kinds, featuring everything from food trucks and fire pits to chowder and comfort food. Here are the details on some of the season’s big events, happening at parks, wineries, breweries and downtowns. starring Vélez: “Mexican Spitfire Out West,” “The Mexican Spitfire’s Baby,” “Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost.”
She was everything American moviegoers expected a Mexican spitfire to be: sexy, hot-blooded, tempestuous, and with an accent as thick as chili con carne: “Hu know what I tink of hu?”
That stereotype did not necessarily endear her to moviegoers south of the border. But there was a lot more to her, as a person and a performer, than the cliché hot tamale she was forced to play. And her rough journey helped smooth the way for other Latin stars that followed.
“Nobody seemed to realize how brilliant and versatile an actress she was,” Golden said. “There had been several books about her in English and Spanish, but they were all about her sex life and death.”
The big lie
Her death is what most people remember. Wrongly.
“As a matter of fact, I was thinking of calling my book, ‘Lupe Vélez : She didn’t Drown in the Toilet,’ “Golden said.
That was — and still is — the rumor. Known by a lot of people who never saw a Lupe Vélez movie, who haven’t heard the name in any other context. It was rehashed in the very first episode of “Frasier.”
Also in “The Simpsons”: While touring Springfield’s shopping district, Bart and Lisa are shown the store where Vélez bought her famous commode. Enough, Golden said.
“The whole drowning in the toilet thing is impossible,” she said. “Unless
Comfort Food Festival, Toms River
Stroll the streets of downtown Toms River and enjoy great food during the Comfort Food Festival, which will include a beer and wine garden, craft vendors, children’s activities and live entertainment.
Mobile food vendors include The German Butcher, El Gaucho BBQ, Spire Coffee House, Chapati Prince and Soulva King Gyros, among nearly a dozen others. Area restaurants and shops, including Capone’s Gourmet Pizza & Pasta, Crave, Tommy Boy’s Cafe, A Thyme for All Seasons and Garden State Distillery, will be open for business.
Go: noon to 6 p.m. Sept. 16 on Washington Street in Toms River; downtowntomsriver.com.
Asburyfest, Asbury Park
This three-day festival, formerly known as Asbury Park Oysterfest, will feature food, beer, music and crafts in the City by the Sea.
Food vendors include Del Toro Tapas, Boho Bites, Ike’s Famous Crab Cakes, Twisted Steaks, Wild At Hearth Roaming Cookery, Naya Sushi on Wheels and Have Bacon Will Travel, among more than two dozen others. Beer from Asbury Park Brewery will be available, and craft vendors include Irish Lass Jewelry, Jersey Plate Art, Jersey Mermaid Co., Shore Cuterie, Outer Limits Hot Sauce, River Fibers and The Fir Farm, among others.
Go: 5 to 10 p.m. Sept. 22, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sept. 23 and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 24 at Bradley Park, Ocean and Fifth avenues in Asbury Park; asburyparkchamber.com. Admission is $5 for those older than 6; there is no charge for children 6 and younger and veterans, first responders and active-duty military members. A portion of the entry fee will benefit Coastal Habitat For Humanity.
Greek Festival, Toms River
Get your Greek food fix at this popular festival, taking place at St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church.
Dishes like gyros, moussaka, souvlaki, pastitsio, spanakopita and Greek salad will be served at the festival’s food court, plus house-baked pastries like baklava. There will also be Greek music, dancing, games and a raffle.
Go: noon to 11 p.m. Sept. 22 and 23 and noon to 8 p.m. Sept. 24 at St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, 2200 Church Road in Toms River; 732-2555525, saintbarbaragreekfestival.com. Shuttle service is available from Ocean County College, 1 College Drive.
Rosstoberfest, Middletown
Ross Brewing Company will celebrate Oktoberfest with a three-day festival filled with German food and live music, craft and food vendors, and new beers in its tasting room. Homebrewers can compete in a homebrewer’s contest on Sept. 29, a backyard beer festival will take place Sept. 30, and the festivities conclude with Beer Olympics on Oct. 1.
Go: noon to 11 p.m. Sept. 29 and 30 and Oct. 1 at Ross Brewing Company, 909 Main St. in the Belford section of Middletown; rossbrewing.com. Admission costs between $15 and $55; search “Rosstoberfest” on evenbrite.com.
South Toms River Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival
Eat and drink along the Toms River at this fifth annual food and beer festival, featuring food trucks, craft beer and , live music.
Food vendors include Harry’s Smokin’ BBQ, CaraLindas Empanadas, Relish
the Dog and The Lunch Wagon, among others, plus more than two dozen beer, craft and other vendors.
Go: Noon to 9 p.m. Sept. 30 at Mathis Plaza Park, 134 Route 166 in South Toms River; facebook.com/foodtruckstrnj.
Chowderfest, Beach Haven
Chowder-tasting returns to the 34th annual Chowderfest, a decades-old celebration created to attract visitors to Long Beach Island after the busy summer season. Sampling was put on pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, but festivalgoers once again will be able to taste and vote for their favorite red and white chowders.
Competitors in the red chowder category include Bistro 14 in Beach Haven, Lefty’s Tavern in Barnegat, Wally’s in Surf City and Panzone’s Pizza in Beach Haven and Surf City, and Buckalew’s Restaurant & Tavern, Country Kettle Chowda and Delaware Avenue Oyster House & Bar, all in Beach Haven, and Stafford’s Mud City Crab House will compete for best white chowder.
Festivalgoers also can shop the wares of more than 60 vendors and listen to live music.
Go: Bayfront Festival and Vendor Village will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 30 at Taylor Avenue Waterfront in Beach Haven. The Chowder Cook-off Classic takes place from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There is no charge for the festival or Vendor Village; tickets to the Chowder Cook-off Classic cost $30 in advance and $35 at the gate; proceeds will benefit local food pantries. There is no charge for children 12 and younger; chowderfest.com.
JBJ Soul Kitchen Chili Cookoff, Toms River
JBJ Soul Kitchen, a nonprofit community restaurant and extension of the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, invites chili fans to taste and vote for their favorite chilis at this eighth annual event.
Chili will be prepared by local first responders, and the day’s events include live music, a pig roast, food stands and a raffle.
Go: 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 7 at JBJ Soul Kitchen, 1769 Hooper Ave. in Toms River. Admission costs $20 in advance or $30 the day of the event; search “JBJ Soul Kitchen” on eventbrite.com.
FallFest Food Truck Festival, Plumsted
Food truck fans, this is the event for you.
Two dozen trucks will fill the Laurita Winery grounds for this fall festival, including L’Acquario Seafood Italiano, Mexiboys, Shore Good Eats n Treats, Empanada Beast, Cousins Maine Lobster, Gimmi Hibachi, Tacoholics, Star of the Seafood, Latin Bites, Twisted Steaks and The Pasta Truck.
The festival also will feature live music, firepits, wine tasting and wagon tours of the vineyard, plus fireworks on Oct. 7.
Go: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Oct. 7 and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 8 at Laurita Winery, 85 Archertown Road in the New Egypt section of Plumsted; 609-752-0200, lauritawinery.com. Admission costs $13 per day in advance or $15 at the gate; there is no charge for attendees younger than 21.
Stafford Township Fall Harvest and Wine Festival
Kick off the fall season with some of New Jersey’s favorite wineries at this two-part event, which includes a wine festival on one side of the street and a fall fest on the other.
Sample and shop from Wagonhouse, Valenzano, Four Sisters and Tomasello, plus half a dozen others wineries, at