Ninety Acres at NATIRAR, Peapack NJ

Last week I was taken out to dinner by a friend and co-worker. Given her choice of a few good restaurants near our Berkeley Heights office, she picked Ninety Acres at the Natirar estate in Peapack-Gladstone. A gorgeous location, the Ninety Acres culinary center sits atop a long, long, long and winding road through green, rolling hills. A little hard to navigate at night, the road is more narrow then makes one comfortable especially when trying to avoid both the bountiful wildlife and on-coming traffic. But the view is beautiful and well worth the adventure.

We arrived a bit early to have a drink at the large bar - starting off with glasses of Polyez-Jacquemart brut rose, non-vintage. Not an overly floral champagne, it was medium in color with a nice touch of complexity and medium finish. I liked it for sipping but realized it would have been even better with salty snacks. Too bad there weren't any offered on the bar (hint hint).

After drinks we were seated ten feet away from the bar at one of the tables in the space between what is obviously bar/lounge and what is equally obviously main dining room. We were kind of in the middle at a table for two up against a support beam. I mention the beam because it became a source of both amusement and distraction all evening as the wait staff felt it necessary to wedge themselves between me and the post to serve our table and the one next to us. A little odd - both tables were accessible from their opposite sides without having to suck it in and squeeze each time to pass through.

After the usual time of concentrating on the menu and me trying to get a feel for how many courses I'd be able to talk my dining partner into we settled on two and a half; appetizers, a shared middle course and then entrees.

We opted for a half bottle of red wine with dinner since both of us needed to drive home. The bottle of choice this time was a Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vielles Vignes 2008, Clos St. Jean. Nice bottle, easy to drink and it went well with our entire dinner.

To start we ordered the poached Egg with pancetta, yukon potatoes and brussels sprouts. We also ordered the organic risotto with guanciale, fennel, parmesan & ricotta.

The poached egg was killer. Both the pancetta and a nice strip of bacon cooked but still chewy added saltiness. The potatoes were presented as chips which was a nice surprise. Really great dish.

The risotto on the other hand was something else trying to disguise itself as risotto. Where was the rice? This dish was mostly cheese and vegetables with a creamy sauce that perhaps once used to be a grain. The flavor profile wasn't well developed and I found myself thinking how disappointing it is to be disappointed with a sub-standard risotto (since I super duper LOVE risotto, it really bums me out when it's not great, or even good).

For the next course we were swayed by the description of their special appetizer of the evening, a Jersey tomato dish with red onion and fresh ricotta cheese in an oil dressing.

I'm a sucker for ripe tomatoes and feel that it's just about the greatest thing New Jersey has going for itself. That and the corn on the cob in the height of summer. So when the tomatoes are at the peak of the season and showcased in a simple preparation, I'm usually pretty happy. This dish didn't let me down. Super fresh, nice tang from the red onion and a tart yet creaminess from the ricotta brought it all together. Good one!

For our main dish we both ordered steak. Right off the bat I should say that I knew this was risky. I really don't like ordering steak in a restaurant as I'm totally frustrated by how many places just get it wrong (and by how many times my husband and our grilling friends get it right making the comparison all that much more poignant). But my lovely, gracious and fun dinner companion does not eat fish. Since we'd been sharing dishes all night, I didn't think it appropriate to bring something to the mix that she wouldn't want to try. And besides, on paper - steak always sounds like a great, mouthwatering option.

She ordered the pan roasted, grass fed bone-in strip steak with fingerling potatoes & Natirar steak sauce. I ordered the Niman Ranch naturally raised ribeye with rosemary sea salt & peperonata. For side dishes we went homey and asked for the mashed potatoes and the macaroni & cheese.

We requested both steaks to be medium-rare - they came out closer to medium but not enough to get pissy about. Both steaks were simply prepared and were tender enough...I just wish I could understand why some steaks are literally dripping with juicy flavor and you can't help but make those little sounds of happiness with each bite while others are just so blah. These leaned towards forgettable.

A super big miss was the macaroni and cheese. Seriously? You shouldn't be allowed to mess up mac & cheese. You can pretty much make it from a box and satisfy 75% of the American population (myself included). This one was bland, runny and used a very small elbow shape that seemed tough. I sanity checked with both my dining partner and Alan who tried the leftovers the next day; just not good. The mashed potatoes on the other hand - awesome!!! I really could have eaten the entire serving.

And we topped off our evening with dessert. I know, I know - you know I am not a fan of dessert. It's all looks, no flavor in all but the fewest of instances. But our server, who was quite attentive I will add, did a pretty good job selling the special of the evening, a S'Mores pie.

Pretty, right? But you know what - no flavor. The marshmallow on top was near impossible to cut (sticky mess) and the chocolate-graham pie underneath was dry and flavorless. This dish would have benefitted enormously from having a Hershey bar nestled in between, partially melted. This was practically inedible.

In summary Ninety Acres still hasn't reached it's potential. Being that it's been open now for two years, I'm wondering if it ever will. On the plus side the service was light-years ahead of where it was last time we were there and the wine list remains diverse and friendly. When we ordered dishes that featured the locally harvested ingredients and things at the peak of their season we faired much better. I wouldn't say don't go - I would just suggest that you don't get your hopes up too high.

Jenn's Rating: 80
Zagat: 25-28-23