Friday, July 29, 2011
A picture and nothing to say
Yesterday while making the side dishes to accompany our "mismatched ribeye" steaks from Flannery's I was struck by the cool colors in this simple vegetable saute. Broccoli, snow peas, red & yellow peppers with garlic, stir fry sauce from Wegmans and a touch of sesame oil. Pretty, right?
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The Latest Food-Related Scientific Discovery Will Blow Your Mind!
Apparently, in the "They Actually Did A Study On This?" pantheon of scientific studies, which includes other such studies that concluded "People Yawn When They're Tired," and "Broccoli is Good For You," science has made perhaps the least startling discovery in history: consuming fatty foods helps people deal with negative emotions. Apparently, there is truth to the idiom "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry." What a breakthrough! Yay science!
From the Huffington Post:
"A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation shows that consuming food with saturated fat may help fend off negative emotions. In the study, the participants were fed through an unmarked stomach tube of either a solution of saturated fatty acids or a simple saline solution. They then listened to sad music and looked at photos of sad faces. Those that had a stomach full of saturated fat were more upbeat than those who were "fed" the saline solution. MRI scans noticed a similar pattern; the fatty solution seemed to dampen activity in parts of the brain that are involved in sadness.
From the Huffington Post:
"A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation shows that consuming food with saturated fat may help fend off negative emotions. In the study, the participants were fed through an unmarked stomach tube of either a solution of saturated fatty acids or a simple saline solution. They then listened to sad music and looked at photos of sad faces. Those that had a stomach full of saturated fat were more upbeat than those who were "fed" the saline solution. MRI scans noticed a similar pattern; the fatty solution seemed to dampen activity in parts of the brain that are involved in sadness.
The study does have some limitations, however. There were only 12 participants and all were of normal weight. Further research is needed to see both if other diet components besides saturated fat could have an effect on the brain, and if brain reactions vary among weight levels.
But for the time being, the study does show evidence that eating healthy is quite challenging since that pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream you're craving isn't just psychological but also biological. Had a bad day? Go ahead, have another scoop of Chunky Monkey—it'll make you feel happier."
Graffiato!
This past Sunday, Sarah, Amelia, and I went out to dinner with our friends Diena, Wes, and their son Colin. It had been a while since we all hung out, so we thought it would be a nice treat to head downtown to Graffiato, the new restaurant by Mike Isabella. For the uninitiated, Mike Isabella worked most recently as the Executive Chef of Jose Andres’s Mediterranean-inspired tapas restaurant, Zaytinya. Mike also is a two-time contestant on Top Chef. He was originally on during Season 6 of Top Chef—arguably the show’s pinnacle in terms of quality of contestants and dishes—in which he came in 7th. Mike Isabella then came back into the Top Chef fold on Top Chef All-Stars (basically, a competition of the best contestants from prior seasons who didn’t win), in which he made it all the way to the finals against the contestant I was pulling for, Richard Blais. Though, initially, Mike Isabella came off as crass and chauvinistic in Top Chef 6, he returned to All-Stars with a more mature attitude—both personally and in terms of food. His near upset victory over Blais is proof of that. As was his daring creations in the final, including a dish of chicken thighs in a pepperoni sauce that left judge Gayle Simmons so impressed that she was nearly speechless, except for repeating the words “Pep-per-on-i SAUCE” (just like that) 1,000 times. But that was TV. That was then. The question still remained: Could Mike Isabella’s television food creations translate onto the plate in the real world? We decided to put our forks and stomachs on the line to find the answer.
As the name might suggest Graffiato serves Italian/Mediterranean-inspired dishes and pizzas. Keeping with the tradition of his tenure at Zaytinya, Isabella’s menu offers smaller, tapas-like dishes, which contrast wonderfully with the healthy-sized, wood oven roasted pizzas. Any of these dishes can be ordered a la carte (they recommend about three plates per person). Or, diners can order a tasting menu, in which Isabella picks dishes from the menu and serves them in a pleasing order. Either way you order, all the dishes are meant to be shared family-style. As we were starving (and had two starving kids who love bread), we ordered the bread basket a la carte, and then opted for the tasting menu.
Before I get to the food, a brief rant. We had two kids in our party of 6. We were eating at 5:30pm, out of respect for other diners. We show up and say we will need two high chairs, only to be informed that they only had two high chairs for the entire restaurant, and that one was being used by another party. The hostess actually said “honestly, we’ve never even thought that we’d have more than two kids come to our restaurant, so we never even ordered more than two high chairs.” Really? You’re right across from the Verizon Center, home of many athletic events that are attended by children every day. Plus, you’re near tons of hotels in downtown DC—which is a hub for tourists who bring their kids to visit! Two high chairs? That’s it? I get that some higher end restaurants might not have any (I doubt French Laundry has any), but this ain’t the Laundry here. The inside décor is industrial, it has a nice loud din, and the restaurant plays rock music over the speakers. Kids attending this place might not be such a crazy thought. Not a lot of foresight here by the folks at Graffiato. I’m sure you parents out there get my drift. OK. Rant over. On to the food. Here goes.
To start, we were brought the bread basket. I know what you’re thinking: “You’re going to discuss the bread basket?” Well, yes. The bread basket was interesting not for its bread (he served three types of bread: polenta, focaccia, and raisin nut breads), but for what accompanied the bread. As a condiments guy, I’m sensitive to these things. Instead of coming with butter, the breads came with a side of fresh ricotta cheese and another side of olive oil jam. I was excited about the ricotta cheese and dubious about the olive oil jam. I should have felt the other way around. The cheese was clearly fresh, with a creamy texture that you’d hope from ricotta. There was, however, something amok with the cheese. It tasted like cheese and something else. Finally, I pinpointed it—lime zest. The zest gave the cheese a brightness it didn’t need, while shattering the creaminess of the flavor in the process. I think everyone agreed with my assessment of the ricotta, as it stayed largely untouched. Even Amelia—a rising star in the cheese lover world—didn’t want to touch the stuff. The olive oil jam, on the other hand, was gastronomic cooking at its finest. It had the greenish hue of a Spanish olive picked off the tree, but the texture of a compound butter. In fact, calling it a butter is probably more accurate as the jam was not jam-like at all. Nevertheless, the flavor was pure, power-packed olive oil, with a hint of salt and savory tied in. I couldn’t get enough.
When I was done stuffing my face with focaccia and olive oil butter—er, jam—the servers brought the first set of dishes for the tasting menu. First out, came his twist on the Caprese salad: a plate of hand-stretched, fresh buffala mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes. Along with this dish came a red beet salad with citrus, and a plate of spiced pistachios. The winner of this grouping was the Caprese salad. The mozzarella, apparently hand-stretched that day, was unbelievably creamy. It had such a wonderful consistency, with a long velvety finish. The heirloom tomatoes also provided a nice brightness and acidity to the dish. The beet salad was nice, but I feel like I’ve had this salad before because, well, I have had it at other restaurants. It was tasty for sure, but it wasn’t anything super new. The pistachios were, in a word, interesting. They were spiced with something none of us could figure out. And our waiter was not the best at describing things to us—side note: he may have been stoned, or at least it seemed that way. The best approximation Wes and I could come up with for the spice on the pistachios was a homemade Old Bay seasoning. Meh.
After those dishes were taken away, the next series of dishes to arrive contained a plate of three separate cuts of shaved ham, a green salad with apply, radish and mint, and a Caesar salad with cream cheese croutons. OK. Let’s start with the cream cheese croutons because I know that’s what you want me to start with. This was one of the super winning things Chef Isabella did all night. I don’t know how to describe it, except to say that the crouton was not made of bread. Rather, it was a small quenelle of cream cheese that somehow had a crunchy exterior, but when bitten into, melted into a warm ooze of cream cheese. It was sheer genius. I would never have thought to mix the flavors of cream cheese into a Caesar salad (which also was fantastic in its own right, by the way), but I stand and applaud Chef Isabella’s vision. The green salad, by contrast, was nothing really to write home about. A salad. On a plate. With apples. And the vinaigrette tasted an awful lot like red onions to me, which I wasn’t a huge fan of. Finally, the ham plate. The chef has a number of options of ham on his menu. He picked for us a trio of Benton’s smoked country ham (from America, dammit!); traditional prosciutto di parma; culatello (the secret muscle inside the prosciutto muscle that is aged longer than prosciutto), which all came with a light drizzle of a sweet flavored olive oil. Each cut was very good, but I’d rank the culatello my favorite, followed by the prosciutto, then the Benton’s. It had the right amount of smokiness combined with sweetness and creaminess of the fat that almost made it melt in my mouth.
Next, the servers brought a duo of wood oven fired pizzas. First, came the countryman pizza, which is a pizza with black truffle paste and fontina cheese. For this pizza, the server took it piping hot out of the oven and brought it to the table. While the pizza was still scalding, our server took a duck egg and cracked it over the top of the pizza and spread it around the top, letting it cook on the hot pizza. The result was a truly decadent pizza. The woodsy flavor of the black truffle, combined with the tang of the fontina cheese and the delicate and soothing duck egg yolk was like a heart attach waiting to happen. As a fan of runny eggs, I was in heaven! Almost too much so, in fact—we all quickly realized that the countryman pizza was so rich in flavor that we felt like we couldn’t eat more than one piece in a sitting! Add to this fact that the server brought us another pizza while we were eating this, and we had to save the rest of the countryman pizza for later so we could focus on our next conquest: the Jersey shore pizza. This pizza was, quite simply, one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. And, unlike the countryman, I could have eaten about 30 of these pizzas without any problem. The Jersey shore comes with fried calamari, tomato, provolone, and cherry pepper aioli. The calamari, by itself, was some of the best fried calamari I’ve ever had. The breading was light, but very well seasoned with oregano. Drizzled over top of the entire pizza was the cherry pepper aioli, which was brilliant. It had the bright orange-pink color of the spicy tuna sauce you might have in a sushi restaurant—a color that says “beware, this is going to bite back.” And it did. The flavors in the sauce were as bright as its color. The spice of the cherry pepper popped and danced on the tip of the tongue, while a lingering sweetness of the mayo cooled you mid-bite, only to be hit again with another wonderful wave of the pepper at the end. I didn’t think a mayonnaise-based spicy sauce would work with the acidity of the tomato and the piquant provolone, but it did. The sauce—and the chef—blew me away with this one.
With the pizzas out of the way, the final set of savory dishes made their way to the table. It was a quintet of dishes: chicken thighs in pepperoni sauce and roasted peeled baby roma tomatoes; octopus with grilled chickpeas and flash fried artichokes; roasted potato gnocchi with braised pork and burrata cheese; sweet corn agnolotti with chanterelle mushrooms and pine nuts; and pork ribs with Sicilian oregano and coriander yogurt. These dishes were hit and miss, which was sad, particularly after hitting such highs with the pizzas. I was excited to see he picked the chicken thigh/pepperoni sauce dish because we had watched him make the same dish on Top Chef All-Stars and watched Gayle Simmons gush about it (in fact, this dish apparently nearly won him the entire thing). Maybe it was the hype of the show (damn you, Gayle Simmons), but the dish sadly didn’t live up to its billing. To be sure, the chicken thighs were cooked to perfection. The meat fell off the bone, there was a nice crust on the skin of the chicken, and the thighs were well seasoned. And, the pepperoni sauce was very interesting. It tasted exactly like what you would think—pepperoni—which was a cool, outside-the-box sauce to serve with braised chicken. Nevertheless, there was something muted about the dish. I wanted to be blown away by the pepperoni sauce. I wanted it to ooze pepperoni. The flavors just didn’t pop as much as I had hoped they would. All I got was snap and crackle. Similarly, the gnocchi dish and oregano pork rib dish, both of which sound great on the menu, were too one-note for me. The gnocchi was almost too soft which, when mixed with the braised pork and burrata cheese, created a dish that had a soft consistency. There was no crunch, nothing to break it up. Add to this the fact that the flavor of the braised pork was clearly watered down, and this was not a dish to write home about. As for the oregano pork ribs, they were cooked to perfection—the meat slid off the bone with ease. But the Sicilian oregano was muted as well. And the coriander yogurt was overpowered by the addition of too much lemon zest. On the upside, the remaining two dishes were fantastic. The sweet corn agnolotti dish was bursting with corn flavor. The roasted pine nuts provided a sweet crunch to round out the dish. The grilled octopus dish was equally winning. Normally, when I’ve had octopus, it has been cooked too long—making it chewy—or under-seasoned, or both. Here, Chef Isabella somehow managed to get a wonderful salty crust on the octopus, giving the octopus a wonderful sea-like flavor, while simultaneously making sure the octopus didn’t become a chewy mess on a plate. The flash-fried artichokes (a side dish that has been cropping up more and more lately) were a smoky, citrusy, and delicious accompaniment.
Finally, after all of that food, we were served dessert. Three courses: pistachio gelato; nutella cookies—homemade hazelnut cookies with nutella filling, topped with a like sprinkle of sea salt; and a chocolate tart with olive oil and sea salt gelato (Amelia’s favorite!). Usually, I am disappointed at the desserts I’ve had while dining out. After a lovely meal, I am rarely overwhelmed when it comes to dessert. Thankfully, Graffiato didn’t fall into that trend. The pistachio gelato was regarded by all of us as the best gelato we had ever eaten. It was light but decadent, and bursting with pistachio flavor. The nutella cookies, made by Chef Isabella’s wife, also were a masterstroke. The sea salt on top of the sweet hazelnut, with the creamy goodness of everyone’s favorite hazelnut spread in between, was to die for. Finally, the chocolate tart was, as Wes put it, “the best possible, upscale version of a Jell-o pudding pie ever.” He was right. The dark chocolate was rich and sweet, but thankfully not overly so. The olive oil added a wonderful sultry nuttiness to the dish, which was unexpected, but welcome. And the sea salt gelato was an unexpected crowd pleaser. Somehow, Chef Isabella managed to combine the refreshing and piquant notes of sea salt with a creamy gelato to create a simultaneously sweet and slightly savory dessert side dish. Married with the chocolate, it was perfect. Even alone, it was lovely. In fact, Amelia liked it so much she ate nearly all of the gelato herself! Definitely a fantastic way to end a night of dining with friends.
Some of you may be wondering what we had to drink while eating all that food. Apparently, Graffiato is one of only a handful of restaurants in the United States to offer prosecco on tap, so we each had two glasses of that. (Apparently, prosecco on tap is all the rage in Europe, but over here it’s still in its infancy). The prosecco was a nice selection for all of the food we had. Unlike other bottles of prosecco we have had, this prosecco was not too sweet. It was the prosecco equivalent of a blanc-de-blancs. It had good notes of citrus (meyer lemon, hints of grapefruit toward the finish), and a nice clean finish.
All in all, this was a meal with some significant highs, and some obvious misses (including the high chair episode). Nevertheless, I was very impressed with a vast majority of the dishes. And I would definitely go back to order those pizzas, the high note dishes, and try some of the other dishes I didn’t get to try.
My rating: 8.3 out of 10.
(Here are some photos of the pepperoni chicken thighs, the gnocchi, the on-tap prosecco, and Sarah, Diena, Colin, and Amelia with Chef Isabella. Enjoy!)
Monday, July 25, 2011
New Recipes for CSA Vegetables
Salsa Cruda:
1/2 pound heirloom tomates (assorted colors preferred), stemmed, seeded & cut into 1/4in. dice
1/4 small red onion, cut into 1/4in. dice
1/2 small zucchini, green part only, cut into 1/4in. dice
5 pitted Gaeta or kalamata olives, slivered
1 clove garlic, smashed & finely chopped
1 spring fresh oregano, picked & leaves chopped
3 basil leaves, chiffonade
1 1/2 tbs red wine vinegar
Pinch crushed red pepper
1 1/2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
Combine everything in a large bowl & reserve while making fish & swiss chard.
As I mentioned before, we doubled the recipe, although I think the 10 kalamata olives we used were slightly overpowering. I will probably stay with the 5 olives for the doubled portion when we make this again.
For the Fish & Swiss Chard:
Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 clove garlic, smashed
Pinch crushed red pepper
1 slice bacon, cut into 1/2 in lengths (lardons)
4 large swiss chard leaves, stems removed & cut into 1/2 in lengths, leaves cut into 1 in. lengths
1/4 cup chicken stock, divided
Salt
1 6oz. halibut filet
1/2 cup Salsa Crudo
Directions:
Coat a saute pan with olive oil. Toss in the garlic clove, crushed red pepper, bacon, & a couple drops of olive oil. Bring the pan to a medium heat. When the garlic is golden & very aromatic, remove it and discard. When the bacon has become crispy, toss in the Swiss Chard stems, half of the chicken stock, & season with salt. When the chicken stock has reduced, toss in the rest of the chicken stock, Swiss Chard leaves & season with salt. Cook the leaves until they are just wilted, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Coat another saute pan with olive oil & bring to high heat. Pat the halibut fillet very dry with a paper towel & season with salt. When the oil in the pan is very hot but not yet smoking, place the fish flesh side down & cook for 3 to 4 minutes. As the fish cooks it will turn from translucent to opaque. Turn the fish over & cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. When the fish is done it should be golden & firm but still moist.
Place the Swiss Chard in the center of the serving plate. Lay the fish directly on top. Top the fish with the Salsa Cruda.
All in all, I think this was a successful dish & I would definitely make again. We were able to use Swiss Chard, Zucchini, Tomatoes, & Red Onion from our CSA and we tried a new recipe. My one gripe is that, at $25 a pound for halibut, I'm thinking we could use Tilapia or Cod at a much lower expense and still appreciate the flavors. I guess we'll just have to try!
A picture of our masterpiece:
If You Had $100...
...and you could buy one red wine from a wine store (not from a mailing list), what would it be? A co-worker of mine asked my opinion about a nice bottle of red wine to say thank you to a partner who is leaving. I thought I would throw it out to you all to see if anyone had any ideas. If specific wines are too difficult to select, I'd even settle for a year and varietal. Any thoughts? Please post them in the comments.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Arctic Char with Orange & Rosemarie Beurre Blanc
With Molly, Brian, Scilla & Adam coming over for the weekend and the following two dietary constraints...no pork and no gluten, Alan and I brainstormed our menu options. For dinner we decided to go with a London Broil, marinated in teriyaki and a fish. Trying to come up with something different, I suggested we see if our fish market could get us Arctic Char. It's a fish that Alan and I both like very much thanks for a great first impression at Nobu (with Susan Morris). I'll always remember that Arctic Char with crunchy baby spinach fondly.
With fresh Char that was literally filleted while he waited, we were excited to try out a new recipe. As usual, I took to Google to see who was doing what with Char. A lot of the recipes paired this semi-firm, flakey fish with mushrooms and other woodsy flavors that weren't appealing for a meal being served on a day with temperatures soaring into the triple digits. Then I found this one on FoodNetwork.com. It was easy to make and turned out wonderfully. The acid-brightness of the orange and the sweetness of the rosemary gave a nice compliment to the fish without detracting from its natural quiet brine taste. And it all paired together nicely with wild grain rice out of the box from Near East. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/the-best-of/pan-roasted-arctic-char-with-orange-and-rosemary-beurre-blanc-recipe/index.html
Fish:
In a skillet over medium heat add the olive oil. Season the fillets with salt and pepper, then add to the hot pan. Allow fish to cook until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Remove fish from pan and place on top of warmed wild rice. Add sauce around and over fish. Garnish with chopped rosemary and orange segments
With fresh Char that was literally filleted while he waited, we were excited to try out a new recipe. As usual, I took to Google to see who was doing what with Char. A lot of the recipes paired this semi-firm, flakey fish with mushrooms and other woodsy flavors that weren't appealing for a meal being served on a day with temperatures soaring into the triple digits. Then I found this one on FoodNetwork.com. It was easy to make and turned out wonderfully. The acid-brightness of the orange and the sweetness of the rosemary gave a nice compliment to the fish without detracting from its natural quiet brine taste. And it all paired together nicely with wild grain rice out of the box from Near East. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/the-best-of/pan-roasted-arctic-char-with-orange-and-rosemary-beurre-blanc-recipe/index.html
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary plus 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary, for garnishing
- 2 ounces heavy cream
- 2 ounces butter, cold and cubed
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 orange segments
Fish:
- 4 (6-ounce) pieces arctic char, skin removed
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2-ounce olive oil
- 2 cups cooked wild rice
Directions
In a saucepot over medium heat add orange juice, white wine, orange zest and rosemary. Reduce to 1/2 cup of liquid. Strain and return to saucepot. Over medium heat whisk in the cream and bring to a low boil. Turn heat to low and whisk in cold cubes of butter. Remove rosemary sprig and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Reserve warm.
Fish:
In a skillet over medium heat add the olive oil. Season the fillets with salt and pepper, then add to the hot pan. Allow fish to cook until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Remove fish from pan and place on top of warmed wild rice. Add sauce around and over fish. Garnish with chopped rosemary and orange segments
Location:
Marlboro, NJ, USA
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Wines of July 2011
I haven’t posted any wine notes in a while, despite having consumed quite a few wines. The primary reason for this was I didn’t really like my wine notes. Wine is so subjective, and recent conversations about some of the wines I’ve had with the people I’ve had them with prove that everyone gets something different out each taste, bottle, and experience. So, as I am no expert, I was unsure what relevance my tastes provide to others. Thus, how could I change my notes to be more relevant? My current line of thinking is to focus on what the wine was, what the overall impression from the group drinking it seemed to be (from my perspective and interpretation, of course), where it was bought, how much it cost, and whether I would buy it again given the opportunity. So, here goes…
The following wines were drank at my house with Jenn, Steve & Mary Bellai, and Jeff & Dana McIntire.
NV Marc Hebrart Brut Rose Champagne – I really like the Hebrart wines and this wine was well received. I bought this from Premier Cru for around $30. Well worth the value and I would definitely buy this again.
2004 August West Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir – This was the controversial wine of the day, but not because it wasn’t uniformly liked. It was because we couldn’t decide what the flavors were as everyone had their own opinion. Still a good wine and for around $40 originally from Wine Library, worth purchasing. Not likely to find this wine around now, however, and if you do, be careful of the storage conditions. Alternate retail purchases of this wine showed significant heat damage, and a shadow of the wine it should be.
NV Lallement Brut Rose Champagne – I originally bought a case of this wine from the Pluckemin Inn after having it at a trade tasting. Retail price is around $50 and I believe it’s worth it. Really good wine that has been well liked, except for one corked bottle that wasn’t brought to my attention until half was gone. Would definitely buy this wine again.
NV Larmandier-Bernier Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne – This is another wine that I bought after a trade tasting at the Pluckemin Inn. Retail price is around $45 and this wine has never been anything less than very good. Well liked, it would deserve a repurchase.
2004 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon – I have been on the Rivers-Marie mailing list since the beginning, although I dropped off at one point for no good reason. This cabernet is always terrific, and I always wish I had more of it. Price was $55, but I’ve never seen it at Retail. Beautiful wine that I wish there was more of, both available, and in my cellar.
2005 Schramsberg Querencia Brut Rose champagne – I bought this wine directly from the winery after having it at the harvest party in 2008. I had tried the Querencia bottlings before, and was never that impressed. This vintage was difference. A “spicy” rose, as opposed to overly fruity, I’ll look to re-buy this in the vintage I worked the harvest (2008). Price from the winery was around $41 prior to shipping.
The following couple of wines were shared with Susan and Rich Lahey at our house…
2005 Nicholas Rossignol Volnay – When the 2005 Burgundy vintage came out, it had such fan-fare that I thought I should try some out. I purchased this wine from Woodland Hills Wine Company for around $50. I don’t know if this was a great value purchase, but the wine was excellent, and well like by all of us. I like these elegant burgundies, so I’ll keep my eye out for more of this type.
2005 Roblet-Monnot Volnay Cuvee St. Francois – This was also purchased from Woodland Hills for around $60. Another good wine that we all liked and again, another wine, or type of wine, that I would look to buy more of. I do need to understand that value relationship better, but I got enough pleasure out of the wine to be happy for now.
1999 Pol Roger Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne – I really like Pol Roger’s wines. Over the last couple of years, it seems like they have gotten more expensive. This wine was bought at Premier Cru for $75, which was a good price at the time. The wine was a bit of a disappointment the first time around as it was already a bit oxidized. I’ll wait to try my other purchased bottles prior to buying more.
2008 Kutch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir – Kutch is another wine producer that I have been on the mailing list since the start. Always a small allocation, and a once a year order, so there aren’t many of these bottles to go around. I’ve seen Jamie’s wines in restaurants, especially the better NYC ones along with the Pluckemin Inn, but never at retail. This wine was $42 and worth every penny. I’ll be taking my full allocation again this year.
Sarah (Jenn’s Mom), Hank (Sarah’s husband), Caitlyn, and Keira (Jenn’s nieces) came to the house for a quick stop. With dinner we had a couple of wines…
1996 Bollinger Grande Annee Brut Champagne – Bollinger is one of my favorite producers, so I like to keep a look at for places that sell it. Imagine my surprise when our local Sam’s Club started selling this…exciting. It originally started at around $85 per bottle, and I bought a few. It must not have sold, however, as it went down to around $65, then to around $45, and then finished at a whopping $36. I bought around three cases overall. Unfortunately, not all the bottles have been up to snuff…the chance you take. This bottle was good, but not great. Still worth $36, and I’m sure some of the other bottles will be both bad, and terrific.
2008 Aldin Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – This is the second label from Karl Lawrence, and this is a great value wine. You can only get this direct from the winery, and it’s seemingly harder to get than the regular label. For $32, it’s an awesome wine and never disappoints.
The next couple of wines were just consumed with Jenn at home after long days of work…
2000 Pegau Cuvee Reservee Chateauneuf-du-Pape – I bought a six pack of this wine from a friend for $55 a bottle. The cork was totally shot, and just crumpled when I tried to pull it out. I expected the wine to be awful, but it was actually pretty good. Not as good as the last bottle that I had, which was awesome and drinking really well. Four more to go and I’m optimistic about the possibilities despite the lower performance of this bottle.
1999 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs – Taittinger’s top of the line Champagne can be sheer awesomeness in a bottle when you hit it right. I bought a 6 pack of this wine for $110 at Hi-Time wines. The first bottle I had could have been 4 years old instead of 12. This is drinking so young right now, but has a lot of potential. My guess is that I’ll be happy with this purchase later on, but the price right now is a bit high relative to the current pleasure.
2008 Rivers-Marie Theiriot Vineyard Chardonnay – I got on the Rivers-Marie mailing list to buy reds…Pinot and Cabs. However, when Thomas Rivers Brown started making chardonnay, I decided to give it a try. I don’t really like many still whites, as I guess I’m the stereotypical cab drinker. However, this wine was awesome. I basically drank the whole bottle myself, and enjoyed every drop. For $50 off the mailing list, I think I could serve this wine to anyone and everyone and it would impress them.
Brian & Molly Kennedy, along with Scilla and Adam Albanese, came over to the house for the weekend to hang by the pool and fight off some of the heat. The next couple of wines were shared with them including the sparkling wines being sabered by Scilla and Molly.
2000 Schramsberg Brut Reserve champagne – this wine showed extremely well and was well liked. For $60 direct from the winery, it’s a bargain. I think it’s a bit more expensive now from the winery and at retail, however, the Reserve is well worth a try. If you like Pinot Noir based sparkling wines, you have to give it a try.
NV Diebolt Vallois Brut Rose Champagne – This wine was good, but as about a third of the bottle was not finished, not a crowd pleaser. Jenn and I had this together on a previous occasion and really liked it. For around $40 from Premier Cru, I think it’s a reasonable value. Overall I like this producer, and plan on buying this and other bottlings from them in the future.
1998 Duval Leroy Brut Blanc de Chardonnay Champagne – We started the day with this wine, and I have yet to have a Duval Leroy Champagne that I don’t like. It seemed to provide pleasure to all, so I’ll continue to seek out these wines, especially for around $43. Other things of note, the 1996 version of this wine was absolutely terrific, and the 1998 vintage (same as this bottle) that Jenn and I shared at Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas a couple of years ago was memorable (along with the food!).
NV Jose Dhondt Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne – Jose Dhondt wines tend to be a bit pricey as this wine was around $55 from High Time Wines, with the vintage wines starting at around $75. The wines seem to benefit, in my opinion, with some bottle age. This was well liked, and I’ll continue to buy these wines, but I’ll keep a look out for retail discount sales.
2009 Kutch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir – this wine was $42 from the mailing list, and boy was it good. Afterwards Brian asked if I ever don’t take my full allocation, to please let him know as he would like to buy some. Sure thing…but don’t expect that to happen anytime soon. Sorry!
NV L. Aubry Brut Rose Champagne – the first time I had the Aubry wines was at Bar Boulud with Paul and Sarah Alvarez. It was good then, and while not a producer you see at a lot of retailers, the wines are good and worth buying. This wine was around $46 from Hi-Time wines, so not cheap. However, worth a try to see how it matches with your palate, as it was well liked by the group.
2004 Pax Kobler Family Vineyard Syrah – I bought a bunch of Pax syrahs direct from the winery over a couple of vintages (2002/3/4). Generally they are big wines, and they range from $45 to $75. This specific wine was about $60. Overall, I was disappointed with this wine. The bouquet was nice and flavorful, but the taste seemed thin and green. Not near as big or full as I expected. It was an end of the night wine, consumed with cigars. Others liked it more than me, but I dropped off the list years ago as I just don’t match with these wines.
Restaurant purchases…
2008 Domaine Chandon de Briailles Aloxe-Corton – this was bought at Elements with Steve and Mary Bellai. Sometimes I really dislike picking out wines at a restaurant. It can be hard to match food, along with other’s tastes and expectations. This wine was only about $85, which is a good restaurant price. I first encountered Chandon Briailles wines with Brian Hider at the Pluckemin. He told me that they are generally good values, and correct. This bottle, however, was a miss. Probably heat damaged, in retrospect, I should have brought over the Sommelier for a second opinion. I didn’t, so we all suffered through the bottle and then moved on to other wines by the glass.
2008 Maysara Winery Jamsheed Pinot Noir Oregon – This wine was bought at ABC Kitchen in NYC with Jenn, Patty Troung, and Gianne Doherty. I picked it because I wanted a pinot to go with the diverse set of entrees, it was below $100, and it was a good year for Oregon wines. This wine delivered. I would consider picking this up at retail, if I saw it. All in all, picking this blind (I had never heard of it prior), I was happy with the purchase.
NV Domaine Carneros Damask Brut Rose – This was also bought at ABC Kitchen with Jenn, Patty, and Gianne. For just under $70, it was well like by all of us and provided a nice match for the starters. Not sure of the retail price, or availability at retail, but if you found it at a sub-$30 price, give it a try.
The following wines were drank at my house with Jenn, Steve & Mary Bellai, and Jeff & Dana McIntire.
NV Marc Hebrart Brut Rose Champagne – I really like the Hebrart wines and this wine was well received. I bought this from Premier Cru for around $30. Well worth the value and I would definitely buy this again.
2004 August West Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir – This was the controversial wine of the day, but not because it wasn’t uniformly liked. It was because we couldn’t decide what the flavors were as everyone had their own opinion. Still a good wine and for around $40 originally from Wine Library, worth purchasing. Not likely to find this wine around now, however, and if you do, be careful of the storage conditions. Alternate retail purchases of this wine showed significant heat damage, and a shadow of the wine it should be.
NV Lallement Brut Rose Champagne – I originally bought a case of this wine from the Pluckemin Inn after having it at a trade tasting. Retail price is around $50 and I believe it’s worth it. Really good wine that has been well liked, except for one corked bottle that wasn’t brought to my attention until half was gone. Would definitely buy this wine again.
NV Larmandier-Bernier Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne – This is another wine that I bought after a trade tasting at the Pluckemin Inn. Retail price is around $45 and this wine has never been anything less than very good. Well liked, it would deserve a repurchase.
2004 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon – I have been on the Rivers-Marie mailing list since the beginning, although I dropped off at one point for no good reason. This cabernet is always terrific, and I always wish I had more of it. Price was $55, but I’ve never seen it at Retail. Beautiful wine that I wish there was more of, both available, and in my cellar.
2005 Schramsberg Querencia Brut Rose champagne – I bought this wine directly from the winery after having it at the harvest party in 2008. I had tried the Querencia bottlings before, and was never that impressed. This vintage was difference. A “spicy” rose, as opposed to overly fruity, I’ll look to re-buy this in the vintage I worked the harvest (2008). Price from the winery was around $41 prior to shipping.
The following couple of wines were shared with Susan and Rich Lahey at our house…
2005 Nicholas Rossignol Volnay – When the 2005 Burgundy vintage came out, it had such fan-fare that I thought I should try some out. I purchased this wine from Woodland Hills Wine Company for around $50. I don’t know if this was a great value purchase, but the wine was excellent, and well like by all of us. I like these elegant burgundies, so I’ll keep my eye out for more of this type.
2005 Roblet-Monnot Volnay Cuvee St. Francois – This was also purchased from Woodland Hills for around $60. Another good wine that we all liked and again, another wine, or type of wine, that I would look to buy more of. I do need to understand that value relationship better, but I got enough pleasure out of the wine to be happy for now.
1999 Pol Roger Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne – I really like Pol Roger’s wines. Over the last couple of years, it seems like they have gotten more expensive. This wine was bought at Premier Cru for $75, which was a good price at the time. The wine was a bit of a disappointment the first time around as it was already a bit oxidized. I’ll wait to try my other purchased bottles prior to buying more.
2008 Kutch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir – Kutch is another wine producer that I have been on the mailing list since the start. Always a small allocation, and a once a year order, so there aren’t many of these bottles to go around. I’ve seen Jamie’s wines in restaurants, especially the better NYC ones along with the Pluckemin Inn, but never at retail. This wine was $42 and worth every penny. I’ll be taking my full allocation again this year.
Sarah (Jenn’s Mom), Hank (Sarah’s husband), Caitlyn, and Keira (Jenn’s nieces) came to the house for a quick stop. With dinner we had a couple of wines…
1996 Bollinger Grande Annee Brut Champagne – Bollinger is one of my favorite producers, so I like to keep a look at for places that sell it. Imagine my surprise when our local Sam’s Club started selling this…exciting. It originally started at around $85 per bottle, and I bought a few. It must not have sold, however, as it went down to around $65, then to around $45, and then finished at a whopping $36. I bought around three cases overall. Unfortunately, not all the bottles have been up to snuff…the chance you take. This bottle was good, but not great. Still worth $36, and I’m sure some of the other bottles will be both bad, and terrific.
2008 Aldin Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – This is the second label from Karl Lawrence, and this is a great value wine. You can only get this direct from the winery, and it’s seemingly harder to get than the regular label. For $32, it’s an awesome wine and never disappoints.
The next couple of wines were just consumed with Jenn at home after long days of work…
2000 Pegau Cuvee Reservee Chateauneuf-du-Pape – I bought a six pack of this wine from a friend for $55 a bottle. The cork was totally shot, and just crumpled when I tried to pull it out. I expected the wine to be awful, but it was actually pretty good. Not as good as the last bottle that I had, which was awesome and drinking really well. Four more to go and I’m optimistic about the possibilities despite the lower performance of this bottle.
1999 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs – Taittinger’s top of the line Champagne can be sheer awesomeness in a bottle when you hit it right. I bought a 6 pack of this wine for $110 at Hi-Time wines. The first bottle I had could have been 4 years old instead of 12. This is drinking so young right now, but has a lot of potential. My guess is that I’ll be happy with this purchase later on, but the price right now is a bit high relative to the current pleasure.
2008 Rivers-Marie Theiriot Vineyard Chardonnay – I got on the Rivers-Marie mailing list to buy reds…Pinot and Cabs. However, when Thomas Rivers Brown started making chardonnay, I decided to give it a try. I don’t really like many still whites, as I guess I’m the stereotypical cab drinker. However, this wine was awesome. I basically drank the whole bottle myself, and enjoyed every drop. For $50 off the mailing list, I think I could serve this wine to anyone and everyone and it would impress them.
Brian & Molly Kennedy, along with Scilla and Adam Albanese, came over to the house for the weekend to hang by the pool and fight off some of the heat. The next couple of wines were shared with them including the sparkling wines being sabered by Scilla and Molly.
2000 Schramsberg Brut Reserve champagne – this wine showed extremely well and was well liked. For $60 direct from the winery, it’s a bargain. I think it’s a bit more expensive now from the winery and at retail, however, the Reserve is well worth a try. If you like Pinot Noir based sparkling wines, you have to give it a try.
NV Diebolt Vallois Brut Rose Champagne – This wine was good, but as about a third of the bottle was not finished, not a crowd pleaser. Jenn and I had this together on a previous occasion and really liked it. For around $40 from Premier Cru, I think it’s a reasonable value. Overall I like this producer, and plan on buying this and other bottlings from them in the future.
1998 Duval Leroy Brut Blanc de Chardonnay Champagne – We started the day with this wine, and I have yet to have a Duval Leroy Champagne that I don’t like. It seemed to provide pleasure to all, so I’ll continue to seek out these wines, especially for around $43. Other things of note, the 1996 version of this wine was absolutely terrific, and the 1998 vintage (same as this bottle) that Jenn and I shared at Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas a couple of years ago was memorable (along with the food!).
NV Jose Dhondt Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne – Jose Dhondt wines tend to be a bit pricey as this wine was around $55 from High Time Wines, with the vintage wines starting at around $75. The wines seem to benefit, in my opinion, with some bottle age. This was well liked, and I’ll continue to buy these wines, but I’ll keep a look out for retail discount sales.
2009 Kutch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir – this wine was $42 from the mailing list, and boy was it good. Afterwards Brian asked if I ever don’t take my full allocation, to please let him know as he would like to buy some. Sure thing…but don’t expect that to happen anytime soon. Sorry!
NV L. Aubry Brut Rose Champagne – the first time I had the Aubry wines was at Bar Boulud with Paul and Sarah Alvarez. It was good then, and while not a producer you see at a lot of retailers, the wines are good and worth buying. This wine was around $46 from Hi-Time wines, so not cheap. However, worth a try to see how it matches with your palate, as it was well liked by the group.
2004 Pax Kobler Family Vineyard Syrah – I bought a bunch of Pax syrahs direct from the winery over a couple of vintages (2002/3/4). Generally they are big wines, and they range from $45 to $75. This specific wine was about $60. Overall, I was disappointed with this wine. The bouquet was nice and flavorful, but the taste seemed thin and green. Not near as big or full as I expected. It was an end of the night wine, consumed with cigars. Others liked it more than me, but I dropped off the list years ago as I just don’t match with these wines.
Restaurant purchases…
2008 Domaine Chandon de Briailles Aloxe-Corton – this was bought at Elements with Steve and Mary Bellai. Sometimes I really dislike picking out wines at a restaurant. It can be hard to match food, along with other’s tastes and expectations. This wine was only about $85, which is a good restaurant price. I first encountered Chandon Briailles wines with Brian Hider at the Pluckemin. He told me that they are generally good values, and correct. This bottle, however, was a miss. Probably heat damaged, in retrospect, I should have brought over the Sommelier for a second opinion. I didn’t, so we all suffered through the bottle and then moved on to other wines by the glass.
2008 Maysara Winery Jamsheed Pinot Noir Oregon – This wine was bought at ABC Kitchen in NYC with Jenn, Patty Troung, and Gianne Doherty. I picked it because I wanted a pinot to go with the diverse set of entrees, it was below $100, and it was a good year for Oregon wines. This wine delivered. I would consider picking this up at retail, if I saw it. All in all, picking this blind (I had never heard of it prior), I was happy with the purchase.
NV Domaine Carneros Damask Brut Rose – This was also bought at ABC Kitchen with Jenn, Patty, and Gianne. For just under $70, it was well like by all of us and provided a nice match for the starters. Not sure of the retail price, or availability at retail, but if you found it at a sub-$30 price, give it a try.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Rotini al Borracho
Back in 2002, when Sarah and I were still dating, we had come back to my New York City apartment after a night of drinking perhaps a bit too much. And, for some reason, we were wired. More importantly, we were hungry. Being the un-domesticated man I was at the time, I didn’t have much going on in terms of food in the apartment. We quickly decided that, out of my limited sundries, pasta was the best choice. There was a problem, though: I didn’t have any red sauce.
Though a fact like missing red sauce normally would have prevented us from making the dish, in my drunken confidence, I proclaimed that I’d try to make something even better than red sauce by making a sauce out of butter and spices. Whether it was prescience or hubris, or a bit of both, my bold prediction actually proved true. The butter-based sauce we had that night was transcendent. It was creamy, spicy, piquant, and (best of all) not too heavy. And it was super easy to make! We raved about it that night and swore that we’d use this recipe all the time instead of red sauces. It was a brilliant plan, except for the tiny detail that I was so drunk when I made it that I didn’t remember what ingredients I used, or how much of each ingredient went into the sauce. And, as with all great recipes, I didn’t write down a single thing.
In the weeks, months, and years following that night, I took many stabs at recreating that lovely dish, but like the unicorn, it proved elusive. Something always was missing. I began to think I would never taste such accidental goodness again. Until today.
Due to the extreme heat, I decided it was easier for me to work from home than schlep all the way to the office. Sarah and Amelia were out during lunch time, and I was left to fend for myself for lunch. Seeing as how I was “on the clock,” I decided to look for a quick and easy lunch option. My two major options were: (1) a bowl of cereal; or (2) figure out something to do with a Tupperware of cooked, but unsauced rotini sitting in the fridge. I chose option (2), and I am glad I did. I quickly heated up a sauté pan over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of butter and about 1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper chili dipping olive oil. Into the quickly heating pan, I added the following dry ingredients: approximately 2 teaspoons each of garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and black pepper; 1 teaspoon of salt and crushed red pepper; a few strands of lemon zest; and a half teaspoon (or maybe less) of nutmeg. I stirred around the butter, oil, and spice mixture until it had reached a nice, buttery potpourri appearance. Then, I dropped in the cold pasta from the Tupperware straight into the pan, stirring it in to ensure the pasta was coated with the sauce. As the pasta began to cook, I took about 1/3 cup of grana padano and stirred it into the pasta, which was now beginning to glisten with the buttery spice of the sauce. Then I covered the pasta up, turned down the heat to medium/medium-low, and let it sit for one-to-two minutes. When I couldn’t wait anymore, I plated the dish, finishing it off with a little bit more of the grana.
Now, I’m not the best at artistic plating skills, so I realize that the dish may not have been a lot to look at, but the smells in the room as I watched the pasta fall onto the plate evoked a blurry image in my mind’s eye that I couldn’t quite grasp. When I took my first bite, everything became clear. The creaminess of the butter mixed with the grana, the tang of the garlic powder, the gentle warmth of the red chili flakes and chili oil on the back of my throat, the zip of the lemon zest and oregano on the tip of my tongue, and the subtle sweetness of the nutmeg in my nostrils took me back to my Manhattan apartment on East 77th Street on that fateful night. Add to these flavors the unexpected, occasional gooey, chewy crust of fried grana that coated many of my rotini, and I was almost drunk with the memory, even though I sat there cold stone sober nearly ten years later. For me, the dish certainly was worthy of the name: “Rotini al Borracho” (Drunk Man’s Pasta).
To be fair, I have no idea if the sauce I made today was exactly the same—or even close—to the one I made nearly 10 years ago in a drunken stupor. But, given the fact that my mind was so vividly transported back to that night after one bite, I’d say this recipe certainly was close enough. Close or not, though this recipe sure made an easy, flavorful, and extraordinary dish out of ordinary leftover pasta! If you’re ever in a pinch, I highly recommend it. It’s fast, easy, and only involves one pan and three utensils (knife to cut the butter, spoon to stir the pasta, and a zester). What could be easier or better?
Though a fact like missing red sauce normally would have prevented us from making the dish, in my drunken confidence, I proclaimed that I’d try to make something even better than red sauce by making a sauce out of butter and spices. Whether it was prescience or hubris, or a bit of both, my bold prediction actually proved true. The butter-based sauce we had that night was transcendent. It was creamy, spicy, piquant, and (best of all) not too heavy. And it was super easy to make! We raved about it that night and swore that we’d use this recipe all the time instead of red sauces. It was a brilliant plan, except for the tiny detail that I was so drunk when I made it that I didn’t remember what ingredients I used, or how much of each ingredient went into the sauce. And, as with all great recipes, I didn’t write down a single thing.
In the weeks, months, and years following that night, I took many stabs at recreating that lovely dish, but like the unicorn, it proved elusive. Something always was missing. I began to think I would never taste such accidental goodness again. Until today.
Due to the extreme heat, I decided it was easier for me to work from home than schlep all the way to the office. Sarah and Amelia were out during lunch time, and I was left to fend for myself for lunch. Seeing as how I was “on the clock,” I decided to look for a quick and easy lunch option. My two major options were: (1) a bowl of cereal; or (2) figure out something to do with a Tupperware of cooked, but unsauced rotini sitting in the fridge. I chose option (2), and I am glad I did. I quickly heated up a sauté pan over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of butter and about 1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper chili dipping olive oil. Into the quickly heating pan, I added the following dry ingredients: approximately 2 teaspoons each of garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and black pepper; 1 teaspoon of salt and crushed red pepper; a few strands of lemon zest; and a half teaspoon (or maybe less) of nutmeg. I stirred around the butter, oil, and spice mixture until it had reached a nice, buttery potpourri appearance. Then, I dropped in the cold pasta from the Tupperware straight into the pan, stirring it in to ensure the pasta was coated with the sauce. As the pasta began to cook, I took about 1/3 cup of grana padano and stirred it into the pasta, which was now beginning to glisten with the buttery spice of the sauce. Then I covered the pasta up, turned down the heat to medium/medium-low, and let it sit for one-to-two minutes. When I couldn’t wait anymore, I plated the dish, finishing it off with a little bit more of the grana.
Now, I’m not the best at artistic plating skills, so I realize that the dish may not have been a lot to look at, but the smells in the room as I watched the pasta fall onto the plate evoked a blurry image in my mind’s eye that I couldn’t quite grasp. When I took my first bite, everything became clear. The creaminess of the butter mixed with the grana, the tang of the garlic powder, the gentle warmth of the red chili flakes and chili oil on the back of my throat, the zip of the lemon zest and oregano on the tip of my tongue, and the subtle sweetness of the nutmeg in my nostrils took me back to my Manhattan apartment on East 77th Street on that fateful night. Add to these flavors the unexpected, occasional gooey, chewy crust of fried grana that coated many of my rotini, and I was almost drunk with the memory, even though I sat there cold stone sober nearly ten years later. For me, the dish certainly was worthy of the name: “Rotini al Borracho” (Drunk Man’s Pasta).
To be fair, I have no idea if the sauce I made today was exactly the same—or even close—to the one I made nearly 10 years ago in a drunken stupor. But, given the fact that my mind was so vividly transported back to that night after one bite, I’d say this recipe certainly was close enough. Close or not, though this recipe sure made an easy, flavorful, and extraordinary dish out of ordinary leftover pasta! If you’re ever in a pinch, I highly recommend it. It’s fast, easy, and only involves one pan and three utensils (knife to cut the butter, spoon to stir the pasta, and a zester). What could be easier or better?
Wine, James Bond, and Allen Iverson: A Tragedy
“My dear girl, there are some things that are just not done, such as drinking Dom Perignon ‘53 above the temperature of 38° Fahrenheit.” --- James Bond in “Goldfinger”
“But we're talking about practice, man. What are we talking about? Practice? We’re talking about practice, man. . . . We ain’t talking about the game. We’re talking about practice, man.” --- Allen Iverson
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Sometimes, I wish I could be more like James Bond. Not in the killing people and getting the girls way (I’m not a gun guy, and I’ve already got the girl). I wish I could be more like 007 when it comes to his knowledge of wines and wine vintages. It seems like he always knew what wine to drink, when to drink it, and, as the quote above shows, how a drink is best served (see also “Vodka martini—shaken, not stirred.”). Apparently, like revenge, champagne is best served very cold.
But when it comes to guns and wine, especially picking out which vintage and varietal to drink, I am most certainly not James Bond 007. Instead, I’m much more like #3: Allen Iverson.
Why Iverson, you ask? Simple. In our respective games (basketball and wine), he and I both play bigger than we actually are. If a wine is put in front of me, more times than not, from time to time I’ll be able to pick out a number of different flavors (an occasional 25 point game, if you will). But, in the end, like Iverson, I just haven’t put in enough effort when it isn’t game time. I don’t practice.
Don’t get me wrong. I practice drinking wine all the time, as I’m sure everyone reading this does too! Where I get into trouble is that I don’t practice the wine details—differences in varietals, vintages, etc. I couldn’t tell you whether it’s better to drink a $50 bottle of 2006 Ribera del Duero, a $100 bottle of 2000 California Cabernet or a $45 bottle of 2009 Zinfandel. Though the answer to my three bottle hypothetical is undoubtedly “well, it depends,” I think we can all agree that there are certain rules of vintage, age, and location that exist. For example, it wouldn’t shock anyone’s senses to say that a 1998 Chateauneuf from one winery is undoubtedly better than a 1999 from the same winery, and so on. Similarly, we can all accept as truth that certain wines and grape varietals age more slowly (gracefully?) than others. Sadly, these are the facets of the wine game that elude me. In basketball parlance, I just don’t know the plays very well. And, without a wise sommelier (coach?) around to give me advice on what is drinking well these days, I’m basically a player with a good jumpshot who is not on the same page as his teammates—in this case, my teammates are the wines in my wine cellar.
Never was my lack of practices reps with wine selection on display more than a few weeks ago. Sarah asked me to pick out an everyday bottle of wine from our cellar. Being lazy, I went to our upstairs wine fridge and perused through our “everyday bottles.” I stumbled upon a 2008 Petite Syrah from Carlisle. Sarah and I love Carlisle wines. And we love Petite Syrah. I figured, given that combination, the 2008 would be a nice choice. And, I guess, it was . . . except it wasn’t. The wine didn’t taste like anything except, well, wine. There was no depth. No discernable fruits. Nothing we could hang our palates on except for “wine.” The wine wasn’t corked. When I relayed my story to someone with more knowledge about these hard and fast wine rules, I was told that this was to be expected because most Petite Syrahs take a bit more time to open and develop. My lack of knowledge of this rule turned what could have been a wonderful evening of wine into a disappointment.
Now, I apologize if some of you cringed at reading that last paragraph. You’re clearly better at selecting wines than I am. And you clearly know the rules of the game in a way that I just don’t.
But I assure you, my lack of knowledge of these hard and fast rules is not based out of a lack of desire to know more. I love wine. For me, wine is more than simply an alcoholic beverage or a means to relax after a long day—although it is those things, certainly. Wine is about what it represents on a larger scale. Wine is the drink, but it also is the company and gregarious conversation that accompanies it. It is the discussion about the flavors held inside. And wine is knowing that, whether you taste raspberry and someone else tastes black currant, you’re both right. I love delving into the thought of discovering and characterizing the flavors and scents located deep within its murky red—or, in the case of champagne, golden—hues. I love the discovering that the term “garrigue” means containing the aroma of lavender, sage, rosemary, wild thyme, and juniper—and not smelling of barnyard, as I was initially led to believe. And, I love trying to find the hidden undercurrent of candied lemon peel in a blanc-de-blanc, and the burnt honey toastiness of a rich blanc-de-noirs. These items—these gems of flavor, smell, and knowledge—are what keep me coming back to wine, despite my failings. They are the sweet feel of a jumpshot as it swishes through the net to win the game.
But I guess, as in basketball, success in wine is about more than having the oenophilistic equivalent to a decent jumpshot. I need to spend more time learning the Xs and Os and rules of the wine game, so I can actually put my tastebuds to better use. Otherwise, my win-loss record in selecting wines will continue to be abysmal. I won’t stop trying to play. I’ll just have to practice a bit more. Then maybe—just maybe—I’ll be a bit more Bond, and a bit less AI.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Marinated Crab Salad on Field Greens
I've made this Alton Brown recipe probably a dozen times in the last six years. I love it; it has become a standby. If you need an alternative to mayonnaise or cream cheese based recipe or if you're looking for a chilled or room temperature salad this is a great choice And, it's gluten free, so enjoy!
Food Network: Marinated Crab Salad: Marinated Crab Salad Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes / Inactive Prep Time: 4 hours
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
1 cup olive oil
1 cup red wine vinegar
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsley, leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 pound cooked lump or back fin crab meat
1/2 pound cooked special crab meat
6 cups mixed greens
4 to 6 lemon wedges
In a non-reactive bowl combine the oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, and tarragon. Add the crab and place in the refrigerator. Toss every hour for 4 hours. Serve on a bed of mixed greens and squeeze a lemon wedge over right before eating.
Food Network: Marinated Crab Salad: Marinated Crab Salad Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes / Inactive Prep Time: 4 hours
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
1 cup olive oil
1 cup red wine vinegar
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsley, leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 pound cooked lump or back fin crab meat
1/2 pound cooked special crab meat
6 cups mixed greens
4 to 6 lemon wedges
In a non-reactive bowl combine the oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, and tarragon. Add the crab and place in the refrigerator. Toss every hour for 4 hours. Serve on a bed of mixed greens and squeeze a lemon wedge over right before eating.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Elements, Princeton NJ
Last night Alan, Mary, Steve and I went to Elements in Princeton for a Farm to Fork dining experience. Steve made the reservation and booked us a chef's table back in the kitchen. There are three tables back there - two that accommodate four diners and one table for two. Very nice ambiance - a little more casual, a little more fun than the romantic vibe you get from the main dining room.
We all arrived at the same time and started with a drink at the tiny little bar under the staircase. By the way, I love this bar - it's cute and it reminds me of Harry Potter and the Cupboard Under the Stairs. The bartender was pleasant and attentive. We started off with a glass - Steve & I with an Italian Rose; Alan & Mary with a Spanish cava rose. Not bad. Not great, but not bad.
We retire to our table and peruse the menu - both the main dinner menu and the Farm to Fork Menu. Within minutes it becomes clear that the Farm to Fork menu isn't going to be the direction we take the evening. It was a pleasant three course offering but struck everyone as too light and too few choices so we pushed that to the side and went with a three+ course dinner. Everyone ordered a cold appetizer, a hot one and an entree. The plus, we also shared a fifth entree that was a close recreation of the dish the chef Scott Anderson recently won the Jersey Seafood Challenge held on July 1st at the Governor's Mansion. That dish consisted of fluke with garlic scapes, panko, arrowhead cabbage and a herbaceous vinaigrette.
To start, they brought us a delightful looking amuse bouche consisting of (from right to left) a cold grapefruit and citrus gelee with herbs; a radish with goat cheese; a warm broccoli soup. The grapefruit was overpowering for me even though the coolness of the bite was welcoming and bright. The radish was crunchy and again, overpowering...I could barely taste the goat cheese. The broccoli soup however was beautiful, warm and creamy. I swiped up remaining droplets with bread so as to not lose a morsel.
For our first course - the cold appetizer - Mary & I ordered the tuna tartar with scallion, ginger and white soy. Delightful! I loved the freshness and flavor of the raw tuna complimented with a hint of ginger and the snap of soy. The greens on top offered the tiniest amount of bitter that went well with the sweetness of the fish. The only thing that struck me as odd was the texture...usually tuna tartar is served with small chunks of fish intact giving that sushi type quality of the mouth. This tuna seemed to be almost creamy and lacking the defined shape of individual cubes. It was as though it had been overly blended and then formed. Not a big deal, the taste was great.
Alan & Steve both opted for the interesting sounding Composed Salad served on a piece of slate. It consisted of goat cheese, hazelnut, Mangalista ham, peaches and barley. There were also field greens and I think I spotted a zucchini blossom. This was a colorful dish with an array of textures and flavors going on. Trying each thing individually was just as exciting as a full forkful that allowed the ingredients to blend together in the mouth. I liked this dish a lot, even though it wasn't mine! Both Alan & Steve wiped their plates clean.
For our next course we all chose a hot appetizer. Mary & I borrowed a course from that evening's tasting menu - the poached egg with mushrooms and squash spaghetti. A small portion (thankfully) that was rich and wonderfully executed. This is something I haven't seen before on a menu so unique and exciting. The egg was perfectly cooked so when broken into, the runny yolk coated the pasta. Just lovely.
Alan ordered the salt crusted duck breast with peanuts and greens. My first impression was that the duck was cooked exactly the way you want it to be cooked - deep red in the middle with the fat layer rendered but intact. My bite at first took me by surprise - it was salty!! Duh. The salt crust, in my opinion didn't mask the duck - it just took a moment for it to come into focus. But it was Alan's dish - so he'll have to add any commentary to the contrary.
Steve ordered the other dish I had been contemplating...the gnocchi with miatake, celery, Parmesan and oxtail. Luckily Steve is willing to share!!! This might have been the dish of the evening, in my opinion. The mushrooms and oxtail brought that earthy warmth to the dish and since it wasn't overflowing with gnocchi, it still managed to have depth of flavor without being heavy and burdensome. Nice!
Then onto the entrees... when we ordered the special fluke dish we were hoping, and perhaps didn't clearly communicate it as such, that it would be it's own course. That didn't happen - it came out as a fifth entree along with our other dishes. It was placed in the center of the table (of course, where else would you put a fifth entree?) and my first bite was of the fluke alone. Nice and flaky but not overly flavorful. But then - I added a piece of the tempura vegetable (a zucchini blossom?) and the cauliflower puree and HEAVEN. What a combination! The crunch of the tempura along with the creamy, distinct flavor of the puree just enhanced the fluke to the point of joyful. Great dish!! I can see why it won.
Unfortunately, the happiness I was experiencing after the fluke did not translate into continued euphoria when I tried my own dish. I ordered the handmade tagliatelle with roasted fennel, squash, zucchini and Parmesan. I need to start learning from these experiences - these pasta dishes with the lighter flavors (not soaked in a heavy red sauce) and made moments before serving just aren't having enough time to really meld together and show themselves off. My dish felt like many different players on stage with no show being put on. The flavors didn't blend and I was left disappointed. I only ate a little and brought the leftovers home - I'm hoping that like the DBGB pasta, this one is much better the day after.
Mary did something completely unexpected - she ordered a vegetarian dish off the Farm to Fork menu for her main entree. Who knew?!? A combination of squash, zucchini, corn polenta, kale and trumpet mushrooms rounded this out. I didn't try it...at all. Now I feel a little bad since it's not my nature to pass up on a bite of anything (and it looks so pretty)...but with my whole pasta debacle going on, I wasn't in the mood. Mary, what did you think?
Alan ordered the Griggstown chicken with tarragon, pioppini (?), broccoli and rye bread. I had a small bite of this and it was good...not fabulous, but good. I noticed he didn't finish all of it which usually means he's full or it just wasn't good enough to power through.
And finally, Steve ordered the 48 Hour Short Rib with fennel, red onion, fingerling potato and chorizo. I tried a bite of this as well and here's where I come out...it was okay. But let me say that I may not be a good judge of short ribs. I'm finding that the vast majority of the time I'm completely underwhelmed except for (1) Daniel's Duo of Beef (which I do think is God's way of giving people a piece of heaven on earth) and (2) the short ribs at Cook in St. Helena, California. Cook's short ribs are, I truly believe, the greatest short ribs on the planet. Or at least in Jenn's world. But beyond those two, I keep expecting to try others in all manners of restaurants and they all come up sadly inadequate. I'd like to hear Steve's opinion on this one since he did order it and seem to enjoy this dish.
This evening was what is starting to be a theme - a blend of hit and miss dishes. But like the others, the company, service, ambiance and conversation more than make up for a lackluster dish. It's a wonderful restaurant that I still highly recommend!
Jenn's rating: 85
Zagat's rating: 26-25-25
We all arrived at the same time and started with a drink at the tiny little bar under the staircase. By the way, I love this bar - it's cute and it reminds me of Harry Potter and the Cupboard Under the Stairs. The bartender was pleasant and attentive. We started off with a glass - Steve & I with an Italian Rose; Alan & Mary with a Spanish cava rose. Not bad. Not great, but not bad.
We retire to our table and peruse the menu - both the main dinner menu and the Farm to Fork Menu. Within minutes it becomes clear that the Farm to Fork menu isn't going to be the direction we take the evening. It was a pleasant three course offering but struck everyone as too light and too few choices so we pushed that to the side and went with a three+ course dinner. Everyone ordered a cold appetizer, a hot one and an entree. The plus, we also shared a fifth entree that was a close recreation of the dish the chef Scott Anderson recently won the Jersey Seafood Challenge held on July 1st at the Governor's Mansion. That dish consisted of fluke with garlic scapes, panko, arrowhead cabbage and a herbaceous vinaigrette.
To start, they brought us a delightful looking amuse bouche consisting of (from right to left) a cold grapefruit and citrus gelee with herbs; a radish with goat cheese; a warm broccoli soup. The grapefruit was overpowering for me even though the coolness of the bite was welcoming and bright. The radish was crunchy and again, overpowering...I could barely taste the goat cheese. The broccoli soup however was beautiful, warm and creamy. I swiped up remaining droplets with bread so as to not lose a morsel.
For our first course - the cold appetizer - Mary & I ordered the tuna tartar with scallion, ginger and white soy. Delightful! I loved the freshness and flavor of the raw tuna complimented with a hint of ginger and the snap of soy. The greens on top offered the tiniest amount of bitter that went well with the sweetness of the fish. The only thing that struck me as odd was the texture...usually tuna tartar is served with small chunks of fish intact giving that sushi type quality of the mouth. This tuna seemed to be almost creamy and lacking the defined shape of individual cubes. It was as though it had been overly blended and then formed. Not a big deal, the taste was great.
Alan & Steve both opted for the interesting sounding Composed Salad served on a piece of slate. It consisted of goat cheese, hazelnut, Mangalista ham, peaches and barley. There were also field greens and I think I spotted a zucchini blossom. This was a colorful dish with an array of textures and flavors going on. Trying each thing individually was just as exciting as a full forkful that allowed the ingredients to blend together in the mouth. I liked this dish a lot, even though it wasn't mine! Both Alan & Steve wiped their plates clean.
For our next course we all chose a hot appetizer. Mary & I borrowed a course from that evening's tasting menu - the poached egg with mushrooms and squash spaghetti. A small portion (thankfully) that was rich and wonderfully executed. This is something I haven't seen before on a menu so unique and exciting. The egg was perfectly cooked so when broken into, the runny yolk coated the pasta. Just lovely.
Alan ordered the salt crusted duck breast with peanuts and greens. My first impression was that the duck was cooked exactly the way you want it to be cooked - deep red in the middle with the fat layer rendered but intact. My bite at first took me by surprise - it was salty!! Duh. The salt crust, in my opinion didn't mask the duck - it just took a moment for it to come into focus. But it was Alan's dish - so he'll have to add any commentary to the contrary.
Steve ordered the other dish I had been contemplating...the gnocchi with miatake, celery, Parmesan and oxtail. Luckily Steve is willing to share!!! This might have been the dish of the evening, in my opinion. The mushrooms and oxtail brought that earthy warmth to the dish and since it wasn't overflowing with gnocchi, it still managed to have depth of flavor without being heavy and burdensome. Nice!
Then onto the entrees... when we ordered the special fluke dish we were hoping, and perhaps didn't clearly communicate it as such, that it would be it's own course. That didn't happen - it came out as a fifth entree along with our other dishes. It was placed in the center of the table (of course, where else would you put a fifth entree?) and my first bite was of the fluke alone. Nice and flaky but not overly flavorful. But then - I added a piece of the tempura vegetable (a zucchini blossom?) and the cauliflower puree and HEAVEN. What a combination! The crunch of the tempura along with the creamy, distinct flavor of the puree just enhanced the fluke to the point of joyful. Great dish!! I can see why it won.
Unfortunately, the happiness I was experiencing after the fluke did not translate into continued euphoria when I tried my own dish. I ordered the handmade tagliatelle with roasted fennel, squash, zucchini and Parmesan. I need to start learning from these experiences - these pasta dishes with the lighter flavors (not soaked in a heavy red sauce) and made moments before serving just aren't having enough time to really meld together and show themselves off. My dish felt like many different players on stage with no show being put on. The flavors didn't blend and I was left disappointed. I only ate a little and brought the leftovers home - I'm hoping that like the DBGB pasta, this one is much better the day after.
Mary did something completely unexpected - she ordered a vegetarian dish off the Farm to Fork menu for her main entree. Who knew?!? A combination of squash, zucchini, corn polenta, kale and trumpet mushrooms rounded this out. I didn't try it...at all. Now I feel a little bad since it's not my nature to pass up on a bite of anything (and it looks so pretty)...but with my whole pasta debacle going on, I wasn't in the mood. Mary, what did you think?
Alan ordered the Griggstown chicken with tarragon, pioppini (?), broccoli and rye bread. I had a small bite of this and it was good...not fabulous, but good. I noticed he didn't finish all of it which usually means he's full or it just wasn't good enough to power through.
And finally, Steve ordered the 48 Hour Short Rib with fennel, red onion, fingerling potato and chorizo. I tried a bite of this as well and here's where I come out...it was okay. But let me say that I may not be a good judge of short ribs. I'm finding that the vast majority of the time I'm completely underwhelmed except for (1) Daniel's Duo of Beef (which I do think is God's way of giving people a piece of heaven on earth) and (2) the short ribs at Cook in St. Helena, California. Cook's short ribs are, I truly believe, the greatest short ribs on the planet. Or at least in Jenn's world. But beyond those two, I keep expecting to try others in all manners of restaurants and they all come up sadly inadequate. I'd like to hear Steve's opinion on this one since he did order it and seem to enjoy this dish.
This evening was what is starting to be a theme - a blend of hit and miss dishes. But like the others, the company, service, ambiance and conversation more than make up for a lackluster dish. It's a wonderful restaurant that I still highly recommend!
Jenn's rating: 85
Zagat's rating: 26-25-25
Labels:
2011,
bistro,
New American,
NJ
Location:
Princeton, NJ, USA
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Top 25 Restaurants (New Jersey) 2011
This is a question that plagues us here on Witherspoon Way...mostly because we have no ability to remember the names of the restaurants we read about or pass and casually say, we should eat there. So to help all of us...especially those of us in New Jersey, here's the Top 25 New Jersey Restaurants, according to New Jersey Monthly. And I'm excited to say, a bunch of them are in Monmouth County! For those of you out by Bound Brook & Bedminster, you're going to be happy with the choices as well.
http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/05/in-n-out-vs-five-guys-vs-shake-shack-the-first-bi-coastal-side-by-side-taste-test.html?ref=obnetwork
http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/05/in-n-out-vs-five-guys-vs-shake-shack-the-first-bi-coastal-side-by-side-taste-test.html?ref=obnetwork
Top 25 Restaurants 2011
Long gone are the days when New Jersey, sandwiched between two imposing cities, could only look outward for its best food. Now the top restaurants in the state stand shoulder to shoulder with the finest in the region.
Posted July 11, 2011 by Eric Levin
AVENUELong Branch
There are few perches more pleasant than the outdoor tables overlooking the ocean at Avenue. And thanks to high ceilings, tall windows, French doors and a tiled floor the color of oyster shells, the restaurant’s interior is flooded with light and unbeatable atmosphere, even in winter. But you don’t go to Avenue to work on your tan. Executive chef Dominque Filoni, a native of San Tropez, offers a sparkling raw bar; brasserie classics like salade niçoise, trout almondine and steak frites; and enticing seafood dishes such as wild Alaskan halibut with roasted hearts of palm, carrot-ginger mousse and peashoot leaves, or king salmon with tomato-saffron emulsion and a salad of mixed endives. “It’s really refreshing for summer,” he says. Filoni’s Mediterranean menu, completely in synch with Avenue’s sybaritic outdoorsy vibe, delivers sunshine on a plate. 23 Ocean Ave, 732-759-2900, leclubavenue.com
BLU
Montclair
Zod Arifai, chef/owner of Blu, used to play bass in a heavy-metal band that toured the U.S. and Europe. Given a bassist’s role in a band, you might expect a bassist-turned-chef to turn out food that is balanced, well grounded, confident and subtly sexy. Arifai’s food is all that and affordable, too (top entrée price $26). Self-taught in both music and cooking, Arifai has a gift for compelling and unexpected flavor harmonies—mussels with black-bean purée and garlic-ginger-cilantro broth; octopus with chick-pea purée, apples and pomegranate juice; gravlax with unsweetened ice cream, wolfberries and dried vinegar. These dishes come from a recent tasting menu, which Arifai calls the “What’s On Zod’s Mind” menu. It changes not only daily, but sometimes within a given service. “If another table is eating a tasting menu next to you, they may get something completely different,” he says. “Because I’m cooking what I’m thinking and feeling at that moment. There are ideas floating all the time. Sometimes I wish I could shut it off and not think so much about food all the time, but I can’t.” That’s good news for customers, whether they try what’s on Zod’s mind or what’s on his à la carte menu. 554 Bloomfield Ave, 973-509-2202, restaurantblu.com
CAFE PANACHE
Ramsey
Between the salad vegetables he picks himself every morning at the Abmas Farm in Mahwah and the organic veggies he gets from Blooming Hill Farm in Monroe, New York, chef/owner Kevin Kohler is practically giddy with possibilities this time of year. Yet after 26 years in business, Kohler is becoming more of a purist. Italian, French and Asian have long been the wells he draws from, but this summer he is narrowing the mix. “I was one of the first to use Asian overtones on the menu,” he says. “Now everybody has jumped on that bandwagon, so I’m jumping off. I’m going to do more with my soul—I’m half Italian—more pastas, be truer to Italy, which works really well in the summer because everything is so fresh.” The menu will change two or three times a week, depending what’s at the farms and fish market. Proteins like roast chicken or Kobe beef will be more simply prepared to bring them to a quintessence. Regulars, fear not. Luscious mainstays, like the ravioli filled with red wine-braised filet mignon, cipollini onions and fontina in a butter-truffle oil and Parmigiano-Reggiano sauce are staying put. 130 E. Main St, 201-934-0030, cafepanachenj.com
CHEZ CATHERINEWestfield
“French cuisine,” says proprietor Didier Jouvenet, “people say is very expensive and nothing on the plate. We are not that.” Indeed, it is hard to top Chez Catherine for classic French cuisine impeccably executed (but easy on the butter and cream) at reasonable prices (three-course lunch menus start at $20; weekday dinner menus at $39) and in portions that leave you sated but not stuffed. Jouvenet grew up in Lyon, France, in a family of restaurateurs, but made his mark in New York, where for 20 years he was maître d’ at La Grenouille. At Chez Catherine, he and his wife, Edith, take you under their wings when you enter their small, lovely dining room, with its peach walls and warm Provençal decor (Edith’s touch). Chef C.J. Reycraft Jr., an American, makes you understand with every bite why dishes like sole meunière, steak au poivre, seafood crêpes and escargots with butter, garlic and parsley became classics in the first place. Not that Reycraft is a slave to tradition. Try his cheesecake, for example, made with cream cheese, sour cream and vanilla, with a walnut-and-ladyfinger crust, smothered in sabayon. French cuisine done the way Chez Catherine does it never gets old. 431 North Ave W, 908-654-4011, chezcatherine.com
CUCHARAMAMA
Hoboken
Down with Peruvian imperialism! Are we kidding? Only a little. The food of Peru has long been a backbone of the cavalcade of South American cooking (and art, implements and seductive cocktails) that is chef/co-owner Maricel Presilla’s enchanting flagship, Cucharamama (Mother Spoon). But enough is enough. “I love Peru and Peruvians, but it’s become almost an invasion in terms of its presence in restaurants,” she says. “It pains me because the continent has such wonderful food that is unknown—like Ecuador, a tiny country where the food is fantastic.” This summer the much-travelled Presilla is giving the menu an injection of Ecuadorian delights such as juicy-crispy cubes of fried grouper with a piquant camarillo sauce or a shrimp ceviche served as a soup, sprinkled with crumbled, flaky-crisp plantains and dabs of fresh-ground peanut butter. Not that she is fostering a new imperialism. You can still get her superb, baked-in-the-wood-burning-oven Argentinean empanadas (beef, spinach and cheese, or blue cheese and onion confit). Then there are the world’s best chicken fingers, greaselessly fried, crunchily crusted with quinoa, moist inside, served with a tangy, distinctive sauce. Oops, they’re Peruvian! Just shows, no hard feelings at Cucharamama. 233 Clinton St, 201-420-1700, cucharamama.com
CULINARIANEMontclair
If chicken is the Rodney Dangerfield of restaurant proteins—and usually the lowest priced entrée—you’ve got to love a chef who invests thought and creativity into showing how much more it can be than the meal you make at home. “I feel if I’m going to have chicken on the menu,” says chef Ariane Duarte, “it has to be wild, meaning out there, a little different.” Thus, the chicken breast “pot pie”—the menu’s quotation marks because there is no crust. Instead, you get a perfectly cooked breast with crispy skin nesting on tender pierogies filled with a purée of caramelized onions, potato and white cheddar, all garlanded by pearl onions, peas, carrots and cream of celery sauce. It’s hard to imagine a dish more absorbing and satisfying. But Duarte’s spring menu was studded with such creations, including another set of quotation marks for a sautéed halibut served with a “corn chowder” of cockles, applewood smoked bacon, potatoes, jalapeños and clam-corn broth. Then there is the $135 jaunt known as the chef’s table, a seven- to eight-course tasting menu for which the guests sit right in the heat of the kitchen (which is why it’s offered only in the cooler months). “If somebody gets angry, well, words fly,” says Duarte’s husband, Michael, the manager. “But at the end of the day everything gets done the way it should.” Partly that’s because the team is so solid, anchored by chef de cuisine Juan Pablo Gonzalez, who, Duarte says, “has been with me 10 years”—long before CulinAriane’s auspicious founding in 2006. CulinAriane’s location on a residential part of Walnut Street several blocks away from other restaurants and businesses was formerly considered snakebit. But the Duartes have shown that if you do something that excites people, they will find you. 33 Walnut St, 973-744-0533, culinariane.com
DAVID BURKE FROMAGERIERumson
Over the five years he has owned the Fromagerie, chef and multi-restaurant-owner David Burke has been easing it to a more casual vibe, adding a Sunday brunch, a $25 three-course Sunday dinner, a Tuesday-night $25 burger (with salad and glass of beer or wine) and a bar menu. He’s also added a 1,400-degree broiler and a beef-aging room, where steaks are dry aged a minimum of 30 days—a move that brings a more masculine, dressed-down clientele to the bar. Though the Fromagerie, he says, is no longer just “a special occasion, reservation-only, romantic kind of place,” it hasn’t slacked off in those areas. (And the luxury cars out front let you know the Rumson regulars haven’t forsaken it.) The food is still modern, American, seasonal, a tad whimsical (lobster dumplings with a mini claw jutting out to serve as a handle) and expertly prepared under executive chef Larry Baldwin and pastry chef Stuart Marx. It’s the kind of place you can trust to get the details right—from the excellent service to the dark, puffy cheese popovers that are fun to tear apart and slather with butter (which they don’t need) to the finger-licking spice on the famous Angry Lobster cocktail. 26 Ridge Rd, 732-842-8088, fromagerie-restaurant.com
DUE MARI
New Brunswick
The eminence overseeing the Italian menus of Due Mari and its sister restaurant in Bernardsville, Due Terre, is acclaimed New York chef Michael White (of Marea fame). But what puts Due Mari in the Top 25 is the team on the ground, led by co-owner Francois Rousseau and chef de cuisine Alex Stotler, a David Drake alum who has been with Due Mari since the beginning. The emphasis at Due Mari (Two Seas) is, as you would expect, seafood—all of it sparklingly fresh, simple yet sophisticated. (“We sell a lot of oysters because people trust us,” says Rousseau.) One of the best sellers is the tender, White-inspired, marinated grilled octopus with a chickpea, olive, sweet pepper and radicchio salad. Another is the grilled whole branzino with oven-roasted tomatoes, Caribbean white shrimp and black-olive vinaigrette. Due Mari also serves terrific brick-oven pizzas and ravishing pastas such as the garganelli with Parma prosciutto, mushrooms, fresh peas and killer white-truffle butter. The big, high-ceilinged dining room is an elegant space in which to enjoy it all, and this year there is also a new, awninged patio on the Albany Street side for al fresco dining. 78 Albany St, 732-296-1600, duemarinj.com
ELEMENTSPrinceton
Though 2½ years old and a modernist architectural and culinary landmark, Elements, executive chef Scott Anderson’s baby, “is still in its infant stages,” he says, adding, “I’m looking to do bigger and better things.” Not that he has a roving eye. “This,” he explains, referring to Elements, “is going to be my life’s work.” Right now he is adding between-course “snacks,” as he calls them, to his tasting menus and presenting things like ducks, squab and whole fish tableside before cooking to show “we stand behind the products we use. It’s more of an old-school French mentality.” New-school values like local sourcing and seasonality, which Elements practices, are actually old school if you go back far enough. But old school is not Elements’ only alma mater. Anderson says his goal is to be “super creative,” and he succeeds in a logical way without running amok. Riffing off the Mexican combination of lime and cumin, he substitutes tart rhubarb for the lime and serves them as a broth or as a sauce with fish. In the spring, he offered a heady white-asparagus soup with foie gras, sweetbreads, lavender and jelly-like green almonds, all three non-meat ingredients being seasonal. The menu may include an Israeli couscous or a house-made tagliatelle, both using summer fennel in different ways. Elements embraces surprise but never at the expense of pleasure. 163 Bayard Lane, 609-924-0078, elementsprinceton.com
ENO TERRA
Kingston
Chris Albrecht, executive chef of Eno Terra, is adapting the ethic of nose-to-tail eating (using every part of the animal) to vegetables. “When you have access to farm-fresh produce, literally just hours out of the ground”—and Eno Terra does, having doubled the size of its own farm this year from 1 to 2 acres, supplying the restaurant with more than 80 percent of its produce—“you can use parts of the plants you used to throw away, like garlic scapes or mustard leaves, which include the vein.” Albrecht uses scapes—the long green tendrils that have to be clipped to permit the garlic bulb to mature—to make a sun-dried tomato pesto for a mozzarella rollatini with grilled zucchini, and in a pan-roasted halibut with morel and scape broth. Eno Terra, which is certified by the Green Restaurant Association as ecofriendly, is nominally an Italian restaurant. Albrecht defines Italian this way: “For us, it’s really a sensibility about using what’s local and seasonal and incredibly flavorful. We also do a lot of preserving, like Southern Italians—we make our own strawberry preserves, pickled ramps, preserved vegetables. And we make a lot of handmade pastas, like half-moon ravioli filled with puréed beets and smoked ricotta.” Albrecht, who serves as his own pastry chef, also offers, unofficially, four-course dessert tastings that start with a fruit-based dessert, then escalate to cake-based, cream-based and finally the richest, a chocolate-based sweet. 4484 Route 27 (Academy St), 609-497-1777, enoterra.com
FASCINOMontclair
When Ryan DePersio was cooking his way through Italy about 10 years ago, many of the best restaurants he worked in cooked in a style he calls “Italian without borders. They were always trying different things”—ingredients, and sometimes techniques, from beyond Italy—“and following what was fresh in the markets.” Eight years ago, when the DePersio family opened Fascino (meaning fascination; accent on the first syllable), DePersio, the executive chef, adopted “Italian without borders” as his own ideal. Another influence was the two-plus years he had spent working for Jean-Georges Vongerichten at Jean-Georges in New York, which brought in Asian influences. (An example of an American-Italian-Asian trifecta at Fascino is DePersio’s crab-stuffed zucchini flowers dipped in tempura batter and deep-fried.) “My style of cooking is very simple,” he says. “Bring out the freshness of the ingredients and don’t fuss with it too much.” Since the DePersios opened a second restaurant, Bar Cara, in nearby Bloomfield in 2010, DePersio and his brother, Anthony, the general manager, have had to divide their time between the two. But the refinement and appeal of Fascino has held firm, thanks to the on-site presence of the brothers’ parents—Cynthia, the pastry chef, and Anthony Sr.—and to the stability of the kitchen staff, headed by sous chef Ernesto Aguilar, who has been with Fascino since the beginning. 331 Bloomfield Ave, 973-233-0350, fascinorestaurant.com,
THE FROG AND THE PEACH
New Brunswick
Now in its 28th year, this pioneer of modern fine dining in New Jersey remains fresh and relevant thanks to the vigilant ownership of Betsy Alger and Jim Black and the exemplary kitchen of executive chef Bruce Lefebvre. This summer one of the seasonal treats is the six-course, $59 peach dinner with Jersey peaches in every course. The signature dish is the peach carpaccio with crispy duck confit, prosecco dressing and spiced almonds (inspired by Harry’s Bar in Venice, where carpaccio and the Bellini originated). Lefebvre’s cooking draws from the local bounty, including a Middle Eastern market in North Brunswick, the Phoenician, that fuels such dishes as grilled quail with Lebanese-style stuffed baby eggplant with lemon-sumac dressing. Then he gets all downhome with a duo of smoked pork spareribs and apricot-glazed pork tenderloin with a Tuscan kale slaw in avocado dressing. August 19 brings a five-course, $135 opera dinner, including Italian wine pairings, Italian food and a soprano singing Italian arias. The F&P’s sunny, year-round garden room is the perfect place to savor it all. 29 Dennis St, 732-846-3216, frogandpeach.com
FUJI
Haddonfield
Although in its current, handsomely modern location only four years, Matt Ito’s Fuji has been in business (previously in Cinnaminson) continuously since 1979. “I was trained in Japan, working in very high-class hotels, so there were many different types of things to make,” the chef says. “There is a lot of things I can still introduce the customer to.” And whether it is a cooked dish or a different preparation of a mainstay like tuna (his tartare with American sturgeon caviar), Ito relishes the challenge. “Every day is a brand-new day, with brand-new people, brand-new cooking. That’s what people come for, a little bit of change every day. I enjoy, so I think the customer enjoys.” Two fine ways to experience the range of Ito’s creativity are his tasting menus—omakase (five courses, $50) and kaiseki (eight or more courses, $80 and up). Of course, restaurants don’t last 32 years if they go nuts continually reinventing themselves. Fuji also shines in its sure hand with the classics, and its service is always gracious. 116 East King’s Highway, Rt 41, 856-354-8200 fujirestaurant.com
LORENA’S
Maplewood
With people figuratively knocking down doors to get into this romantic jewel of French-inspired cooking, the owners are literally knocking down walls to make more room. “We’re turning away hundreds of people a week,” says executive chef and co-owner Humberto Campos Jr., more chagrined at disappointing people than happy his 30-seat restaurant is in such demand. Campos and his wife, Lorena, who manages the front of the house, are taking over a vacant nail salon next door and using part of the space to build a 10- to 12-seat dining room where private parties can be held. Campos will also offer a chef’s tasting menu in the new room. An expansion of the kitchen is next on the drawing board. What won’t change is the romantic French country setting, the gracious service and the gratifying food. For an Asian touch on the spring menu, Campos introduced a crispy duck confit served with a spicy green cabbage-and-jicama salad with peanuts and lime. Tacking back to France, he came up with an escarole-and-bean stew with an offbeat accent, a bouillabaisse emulsion. There’s always something here worth knocking down doors for, but let’s hope now you won’t need to. 168 Maplewood Ave, 973-763-4460, restaurantlorena.com
LUKE PALLADINONorthfield
The years Luke Palladino spent living and cooking in Italy, and the research he’s done since on old Italian foodways, combine on the plate to create a cuisine that honors tradition but is confident enough to be creative and spontaneous. “Over the years, I’ve developed a culinary voice, a gut feeling that I want things to be delicious and simple but innovative,” he says. “When I was younger I put a lot of ingredients on the plate, but I’ve pulled back, and every time I pull back I realize it’s better.” This month, his intimate Atlantic County BYO will be serving fresh Jersey figs stuffed with Gorgonzola, wrapped in speck (smoked ham), roasted and served in a walnut vinaigrette with locally grown mustard greens. There will be saffron lasagnette noodles layered with marinated local vegetables and shaved ricotta salata cheese. About whether the big Italian restaurant he is opening at Harrah’s in Atlantic City will distract him from what he calls “our little gem,” he notes that the two restaurants are only seven miles apart, and his home is between them. “I didn’t take anyone from Northfield to Atlantic City, not even a server,” he adds, referring to his veteran team in the kitchen (take a bow, chef de cuisine Eddie Affinato and sous chef Brett Johanessen) and in the dining room (manager Rosanna Pang). In its first full year, the Northfield restaurant has achieved stellar results. Our bet is that Palladino’s pride and passion will keep it stellar. 1333 New Rd, 609-646-8189, lukepalladino.com
MARITIME PARCJersey City
From the second- and third-floor balconies of Maritime Parc, you can feast on the sweeping view of Jersey City, downtown Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, but since there are no tables up there, that’s a mere aperitif. Dining on the outdoor patio you clink glasses amid a forest of masts and clanking rigging in the Liberty Landing Marina. Those tables are lovely, but during the warm-weather months you may have to wait to get one. Meanwhile, in the dining room, the shipboard decor is done in a subtle and classy way, but the views are somewhat limited. The point is, nobody is schlepping out to Liberty State Park just for Maritime Parc’s visuals, special as they are. What’s drawing a crowd is the synergy between the location, the atmosphere, the friendly and capable service and executive chef Christopher Siversen’s engagingly modern food. His seafare is not just fish on a plate with two sides, but bold flavor combinations which, in his words, “are not very complicated but make the plate more alive.” Prime examples include his pan-seared black cod with lobster hash, his bacon-wrapped trout stuffed with mushrooms, sorrel and honey and his spirited twist on surf and turf: scallops and short ribs with a creamy-pickley-eggy gribiche sauce. Talented pastry chef John Sauchelli continues the theme with assertive desserts, including a don’t-miss chocolate layer cake with cola frosting and dried, crumbled orange peel forming a thin bright roof. 84 Audrey Zapp Drive (Liberty State Park), 201-413-0050, maritimeparc.com
NICHOLAS
Red Bank
It took a few minutes for Nicholas Harary to come to the phone. It turned out the executive chef and co-owner (with his wife, Melissa) of Restaurant Nicholas was filleting bass when we called. The Hararys may have a staff of 52 (and two young children at home), but they are everyday presences in their restaurant and roll up their sleeves on a regular basis. Harary recently polished the one-of-a-kind sculpted glass chandelier in the dining room. One thing that could hardly get brighter is the reputation of the 10-year-old restaurant—top rated anywhere you look. Restaurateurs have mixed feelings about being thought of as a special-occasion place (what about all the other days?), but the Hararys have reveled in it, polishing every aspect of presentation and hospitality, down to the complimentary take-home loaf of banana bread. Harary acknowledges “the pressure of so many customers coming in for special anniversaries and birthdays and wedding proposals. You have a certain responsibility to those people to make it magical and special.” Harary is not the only Nicholas on the premises. Chef de cuisine Nicholas Wilkins, 28, arrived about five years ago from England, worked his way up and has been subtly modernizing the restaurant’s French-influenced cuisine. The Hararys don’t worry about their big-night rep because they long ago worked up an appealing, seasonal, $29, prix-fixe menu for the casual bar room, which they recently christened Bar N. So there is a Nicholas for all reasons. 160 Route 35 South, 732-345-9977, restaurantnicholas.com
NINETY ACRESPeapack-Gladstone
High expectations are built right into the winding two-mile drive from the front gate of Natirar park, past the stream, through the brick gates, up the long, stately hill with the view of the vast 1912 mansion on the left, to the wooded hilltop, finally arriving at the mansion’s former carriage house, now expanded and converted into the Ninety Acres Culinary Center, the heart of which is the large, handsome Ninety Acres restaurant. Under the direction of executive chef David C. Felton, Ninety Acres meets expectations, though in a way more earthy than the ethereal suggested by the long ascent to the front door. Part of what anchors Ninety Acres is the farm that starts just outside the back door. As the two-year-old farm matures, its yield of things like rhubarb, asparagus and a variety of greens will expand. Chickens, sheep and pigs are being raised, destined for the table. Now fruit trees are being planted. “I want a fun, lively, exciting restaurant that maybe teaches people a little more about farm-to-table dining,” Felton says. The learning isn’t hard to swallow. That’s because it’s cloaked in variety, freshness and satisfying flavor combinations. Try one of the creative wood-fired pizzas (duck confit, shiitakes, Fontina, sweet-and-sour raisins, for example), hearty entrées (pan-roasted Chatham cod with royal trumpet mushrooms, runner beans, sunchokes, Meyer lemon and lobster sauce, from the spring menu) or the daily farmer’s plates (like Tuesday’s Natirar farm fried chicken, cheddar biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy). Or leave it all to Felton and his crew by saying “BMF,” short for Bring Me Food, the code name for the five- to six-course tasting menu ($75). You can crank it up to 10 courses if you like. BMF, says Felton, “is fun, challenging and keeps me on my toes.” A good place for a chef to be. 2 Main St, 908-901-9500, ninetyacres.com
THE PEACOCK INNPrinceton
Evenings are starry at Princeton’s year-old boutique hotel and specifically at its restaurant, a tipping-point addition to an area coming into its own as a dining destination (see Elements and Eno Terra). Not only does the Peacock shine in greater Princeton’s firmament, it sheds romantic starlight on its own happy patrons in the form of hundreds of pinlights twinkling in the deep mauve ceiling of the central dining room. The clarity and depth of this faux night sky is found in edible form on the plates emerging from executive chef Emanuel Perez’s kitchen. Formerly with Le Bernardin in Manhattan and Nicholas in Red Bank, Perez cooks with flair and confidence, highlighting assertive, complementary flavors like softshell crab fried in a frothy tempura batter and served with pickled radishes and red plums, shredded romaine and a sesame vinaigrette. Also exemplary is his seared duck breast with duck confit, fresh cherries stewed in vanilla and ginger, and an almond-milk pain perdu, or French toast. Service, like the ceiling, is heavenly. “One of the biggest compliments for us,” says Perez, “is we have a lot of regulars.” 20 Bayard Lane, 609-924-1707, peacockinn.com
PICNICFair Lawn
Before launching her catering business and then, a year ago, her delightful little BYO, Picnic, Christine Nunn was a food writer and restaurant critic at The Record. “With a good writer,” she says, “you hear their voice, you get a little taste of them in the story, and the same holds true in food. I personally keep my food very simple, but I try to have a little bit of something I love in there.” One thing she loves is the contrast of sweet and salty, leading to a halibut dish with a blueberry-thyme gastrique and salted walnuts. Another thing she loves is lobster, leading to an outrageously good dish called lobster fricassee. Love is not too strong a word for her seven-year relationship with her sous chef, Javier Ordonez. In fact, she says, “I like him so much I married him.” With Ordonez in the kitchen, Nunn, who designs the menu, can sometimes stroll through the dining room during service and get to know her patrons. “I want to make sure they’re happy,” she says. “Sometimes if they can’t decide what to order, I’ll say, ‘Let me bring you a sample.’” 14-25 Plaza Rd N (Plaza Bldg), 201-796-2700, picnictherestaurant.com
PLUCKEMIN INNBedminster
“Eat your vegetables!” we were all commanded as kids. Surely our parents weren’t talking about executive chef Juan Jose Cuevas’s vegetables, which seem to belong to another kingdom, one that has shed its dutifulness and emerged in stardom. He has nothing against proteins, but in his kitchen, vegetables are not relegated to the back of the bus. He gets many of them fresh from Three Meadows Farm, a six-minute drive from the inn. He loves them for their own infinitely varied sake and for their Clark Kent-into-Superman ability to transform into juices, infusions, emulsions and purées that make sauces leap tall buildings in a single bound. He serves roast Spanish mackerel with a sauce of sautéed mushrooms and the tasty green called lamb’s quarter (a weed, to some). The sauce is a warm vinaigrette made from carrot juice, spicy sausage, lobster broth and—as an exotic thickener—uni (sea urchin). “My food looks very simple,” he says. “I don’t want people to scratch their heads and wonder what they have in front of them. But every detail is important. The simpler you are, the more detail oriented you have to be, because you don’t have anything to cast a shadow, so to speak.” Backing up Cuevas is a gifted pastry chef, Joseph Gabriel, a passionate sommelier, Brian Hider, a polished dining room staff and, overseeing all, owner Gloria LaGrassa. 359 Route 206 S, 908-658-9292, pluckemininn.com
RESTAURANT LATOUR
Hardyston
New Jersey chefs are not just talking the farm-to-table talk, they’re practically pushing the plow. And the exquisite Restaurant Latour is strutting its stuff with the best of them. The Crystal Springs Resort, of which Latour is the premier dining establishment, raises its own chickens just down the road, has a lamb-producing ranch in Colorado, contracts with a farm just over the New York border to grow vegetables, and has its own extensive garden for greens and herbs right on the property. Resort executive chef Michael Weisshaupt and Latour chef John Benjamin transform the goodies into heady celebrations of freshness, flavor, color and texture. Exhibit A might be Benjamin’s roasted monkfish on a saffron-and-Parmesan-infused panisse of sautéed polenta surrounded by razor clams in a seafood broth. The setting itself is pretty special—widely spaced tables bathed in sunset glow from a broad, west-facing picture window. Add to this an extremely knowledgable staff, a world-class wine list and an atmosphere that is luxurious but never snooty, and you have one of the summits of New Jersey dining. 1 Wild Turkey Way, 973-827-0548, crystalgolfresort.com
VARKA
Ramsey
When Varka opened a little more than six years ago, the serving of whole fresh fish—priced by the pound—was rare at Greek restaurants in New Jersey. “People told us, ‘It won’t work, it’s too expensive, people don’t want to eat a whole fish, they don’t want to see it at the table with its head on,’” says Stavros Angelakos, general manager of Varka. But it turned out the public had no such qualms. Serving whole fish is no longer unusual at upscale Greek restaurants in the state. Still, nobody does it better than Varka. About 40 percent of its dinner business is in whole fish, Angelakos says. But more than fish swim the sea, and chef George Georgiades (there from day one) brings forth the bounty temptingly as stuffed calamari; lobster gyros; baked shrimp with white wine, tomato broth and feta; mussels ouzo and much more. The classic dips and starters like saganaki (pan-seared kefalograviera cheese), keftethes (spiced meatballs) and stuffed grape leaves are presented with equal pride and care. And at the hostess’s desk there is always the three-tiered complimentary offering of Greek cookies, each so good you’ll want to grab a handful. 30 N Spruce St, 201-995-9333, varkarestaurant.com
VERJUSMaplewood
Disadvantaged by being on the outskirts of town rather than in the heart of the village, Verjus has nonethless reached its 10th anniversary in good health. How? Partly, it’s having things like its own parking lot and a liquor license (the wine list is a discerning bouquet of small producers and big value). More centrally, there are the owners—the genuine warmth and care of host Jane Witkin and her husband, Charles Tutino, the self-effacing perfectionist chef. When Tutino comes out of the kitchen, he almost seems to be blinking, as if emerging from a cave. But happiness jumps off the plates and onto the faces of the customers. All Tutino does with his French training (under the legendary Jean Jacques Rachou of Le Côte Basque) is make everything taste better than you think possible. His roast chicken with tarragon butter under the skin is a modest meal fit for a king, and his boeuf bourguignon, braised in red wine until pillow tender, is as concentrated in flavor as a haiku. Then there is brunch—light, delicious, relaxed, with faultless French omelettes and caramelized apple pancakes. At any time, Verjus is worth seeking out. 1790 Springfield Ave, 973-378-8990, verjusrestaurant.com
THE WASHINGTON INNCape May
Locally grown vegetables make farm to table alive and well here, but so is boat to table. To get a jump on what will be available, executive chef Mimi Wood and sous chef Doug Marandino contact fishing boats while they’re still heading for port in Cape May. The contemporary and the traditional marry well at the Washington Inn. The Craig family is always refining and upgrading their big 1840 farmhouse without sacrificing its charm—the latest change being a brightening of the clubby bar room, a tapas-like menu there and a major expansion of the wine-by-the-glass program. Wood has a penchant for the retro—her steak Diane, a cousin of steak au poivre, has been outselling the popular filet mignon with caramelized onions and crumbled gorgonzola, and for dessert there’s an updated bananas Foster. The dishes are so well executed you can’t but succumb to them. A wood-burning grill, meanwhile, lends an appealing smokiness to meats, chops and fish. 801 Washington St, 609-884-5697, washingtoninn.com
There are few perches more pleasant than the outdoor tables overlooking the ocean at Avenue. And thanks to high ceilings, tall windows, French doors and a tiled floor the color of oyster shells, the restaurant’s interior is flooded with light and unbeatable atmosphere, even in winter. But you don’t go to Avenue to work on your tan. Executive chef Dominque Filoni, a native of San Tropez, offers a sparkling raw bar; brasserie classics like salade niçoise, trout almondine and steak frites; and enticing seafood dishes such as wild Alaskan halibut with roasted hearts of palm, carrot-ginger mousse and peashoot leaves, or king salmon with tomato-saffron emulsion and a salad of mixed endives. “It’s really refreshing for summer,” he says. Filoni’s Mediterranean menu, completely in synch with Avenue’s sybaritic outdoorsy vibe, delivers sunshine on a plate. 23 Ocean Ave, 732-759-2900, leclubavenue.com
BLU
Montclair
Zod Arifai, chef/owner of Blu, used to play bass in a heavy-metal band that toured the U.S. and Europe. Given a bassist’s role in a band, you might expect a bassist-turned-chef to turn out food that is balanced, well grounded, confident and subtly sexy. Arifai’s food is all that and affordable, too (top entrée price $26). Self-taught in both music and cooking, Arifai has a gift for compelling and unexpected flavor harmonies—mussels with black-bean purée and garlic-ginger-cilantro broth; octopus with chick-pea purée, apples and pomegranate juice; gravlax with unsweetened ice cream, wolfberries and dried vinegar. These dishes come from a recent tasting menu, which Arifai calls the “What’s On Zod’s Mind” menu. It changes not only daily, but sometimes within a given service. “If another table is eating a tasting menu next to you, they may get something completely different,” he says. “Because I’m cooking what I’m thinking and feeling at that moment. There are ideas floating all the time. Sometimes I wish I could shut it off and not think so much about food all the time, but I can’t.” That’s good news for customers, whether they try what’s on Zod’s mind or what’s on his à la carte menu. 554 Bloomfield Ave, 973-509-2202, restaurantblu.com
CAFE PANACHE
Ramsey
Between the salad vegetables he picks himself every morning at the Abmas Farm in Mahwah and the organic veggies he gets from Blooming Hill Farm in Monroe, New York, chef/owner Kevin Kohler is practically giddy with possibilities this time of year. Yet after 26 years in business, Kohler is becoming more of a purist. Italian, French and Asian have long been the wells he draws from, but this summer he is narrowing the mix. “I was one of the first to use Asian overtones on the menu,” he says. “Now everybody has jumped on that bandwagon, so I’m jumping off. I’m going to do more with my soul—I’m half Italian—more pastas, be truer to Italy, which works really well in the summer because everything is so fresh.” The menu will change two or three times a week, depending what’s at the farms and fish market. Proteins like roast chicken or Kobe beef will be more simply prepared to bring them to a quintessence. Regulars, fear not. Luscious mainstays, like the ravioli filled with red wine-braised filet mignon, cipollini onions and fontina in a butter-truffle oil and Parmigiano-Reggiano sauce are staying put. 130 E. Main St, 201-934-0030, cafepanachenj.com
CHEZ CATHERINEWestfield
“French cuisine,” says proprietor Didier Jouvenet, “people say is very expensive and nothing on the plate. We are not that.” Indeed, it is hard to top Chez Catherine for classic French cuisine impeccably executed (but easy on the butter and cream) at reasonable prices (three-course lunch menus start at $20; weekday dinner menus at $39) and in portions that leave you sated but not stuffed. Jouvenet grew up in Lyon, France, in a family of restaurateurs, but made his mark in New York, where for 20 years he was maître d’ at La Grenouille. At Chez Catherine, he and his wife, Edith, take you under their wings when you enter their small, lovely dining room, with its peach walls and warm Provençal decor (Edith’s touch). Chef C.J. Reycraft Jr., an American, makes you understand with every bite why dishes like sole meunière, steak au poivre, seafood crêpes and escargots with butter, garlic and parsley became classics in the first place. Not that Reycraft is a slave to tradition. Try his cheesecake, for example, made with cream cheese, sour cream and vanilla, with a walnut-and-ladyfinger crust, smothered in sabayon. French cuisine done the way Chez Catherine does it never gets old. 431 North Ave W, 908-654-4011, chezcatherine.com
CUCHARAMAMA
Hoboken
Down with Peruvian imperialism! Are we kidding? Only a little. The food of Peru has long been a backbone of the cavalcade of South American cooking (and art, implements and seductive cocktails) that is chef/co-owner Maricel Presilla’s enchanting flagship, Cucharamama (Mother Spoon). But enough is enough. “I love Peru and Peruvians, but it’s become almost an invasion in terms of its presence in restaurants,” she says. “It pains me because the continent has such wonderful food that is unknown—like Ecuador, a tiny country where the food is fantastic.” This summer the much-travelled Presilla is giving the menu an injection of Ecuadorian delights such as juicy-crispy cubes of fried grouper with a piquant camarillo sauce or a shrimp ceviche served as a soup, sprinkled with crumbled, flaky-crisp plantains and dabs of fresh-ground peanut butter. Not that she is fostering a new imperialism. You can still get her superb, baked-in-the-wood-burning-oven Argentinean empanadas (beef, spinach and cheese, or blue cheese and onion confit). Then there are the world’s best chicken fingers, greaselessly fried, crunchily crusted with quinoa, moist inside, served with a tangy, distinctive sauce. Oops, they’re Peruvian! Just shows, no hard feelings at Cucharamama. 233 Clinton St, 201-420-1700, cucharamama.com
CULINARIANEMontclair
If chicken is the Rodney Dangerfield of restaurant proteins—and usually the lowest priced entrée—you’ve got to love a chef who invests thought and creativity into showing how much more it can be than the meal you make at home. “I feel if I’m going to have chicken on the menu,” says chef Ariane Duarte, “it has to be wild, meaning out there, a little different.” Thus, the chicken breast “pot pie”—the menu’s quotation marks because there is no crust. Instead, you get a perfectly cooked breast with crispy skin nesting on tender pierogies filled with a purée of caramelized onions, potato and white cheddar, all garlanded by pearl onions, peas, carrots and cream of celery sauce. It’s hard to imagine a dish more absorbing and satisfying. But Duarte’s spring menu was studded with such creations, including another set of quotation marks for a sautéed halibut served with a “corn chowder” of cockles, applewood smoked bacon, potatoes, jalapeños and clam-corn broth. Then there is the $135 jaunt known as the chef’s table, a seven- to eight-course tasting menu for which the guests sit right in the heat of the kitchen (which is why it’s offered only in the cooler months). “If somebody gets angry, well, words fly,” says Duarte’s husband, Michael, the manager. “But at the end of the day everything gets done the way it should.” Partly that’s because the team is so solid, anchored by chef de cuisine Juan Pablo Gonzalez, who, Duarte says, “has been with me 10 years”—long before CulinAriane’s auspicious founding in 2006. CulinAriane’s location on a residential part of Walnut Street several blocks away from other restaurants and businesses was formerly considered snakebit. But the Duartes have shown that if you do something that excites people, they will find you. 33 Walnut St, 973-744-0533, culinariane.com
DAVID BURKE FROMAGERIERumson
Over the five years he has owned the Fromagerie, chef and multi-restaurant-owner David Burke has been easing it to a more casual vibe, adding a Sunday brunch, a $25 three-course Sunday dinner, a Tuesday-night $25 burger (with salad and glass of beer or wine) and a bar menu. He’s also added a 1,400-degree broiler and a beef-aging room, where steaks are dry aged a minimum of 30 days—a move that brings a more masculine, dressed-down clientele to the bar. Though the Fromagerie, he says, is no longer just “a special occasion, reservation-only, romantic kind of place,” it hasn’t slacked off in those areas. (And the luxury cars out front let you know the Rumson regulars haven’t forsaken it.) The food is still modern, American, seasonal, a tad whimsical (lobster dumplings with a mini claw jutting out to serve as a handle) and expertly prepared under executive chef Larry Baldwin and pastry chef Stuart Marx. It’s the kind of place you can trust to get the details right—from the excellent service to the dark, puffy cheese popovers that are fun to tear apart and slather with butter (which they don’t need) to the finger-licking spice on the famous Angry Lobster cocktail. 26 Ridge Rd, 732-842-8088, fromagerie-restaurant.com
DUE MARI
New Brunswick
The eminence overseeing the Italian menus of Due Mari and its sister restaurant in Bernardsville, Due Terre, is acclaimed New York chef Michael White (of Marea fame). But what puts Due Mari in the Top 25 is the team on the ground, led by co-owner Francois Rousseau and chef de cuisine Alex Stotler, a David Drake alum who has been with Due Mari since the beginning. The emphasis at Due Mari (Two Seas) is, as you would expect, seafood—all of it sparklingly fresh, simple yet sophisticated. (“We sell a lot of oysters because people trust us,” says Rousseau.) One of the best sellers is the tender, White-inspired, marinated grilled octopus with a chickpea, olive, sweet pepper and radicchio salad. Another is the grilled whole branzino with oven-roasted tomatoes, Caribbean white shrimp and black-olive vinaigrette. Due Mari also serves terrific brick-oven pizzas and ravishing pastas such as the garganelli with Parma prosciutto, mushrooms, fresh peas and killer white-truffle butter. The big, high-ceilinged dining room is an elegant space in which to enjoy it all, and this year there is also a new, awninged patio on the Albany Street side for al fresco dining. 78 Albany St, 732-296-1600, duemarinj.com
ELEMENTSPrinceton
Though 2½ years old and a modernist architectural and culinary landmark, Elements, executive chef Scott Anderson’s baby, “is still in its infant stages,” he says, adding, “I’m looking to do bigger and better things.” Not that he has a roving eye. “This,” he explains, referring to Elements, “is going to be my life’s work.” Right now he is adding between-course “snacks,” as he calls them, to his tasting menus and presenting things like ducks, squab and whole fish tableside before cooking to show “we stand behind the products we use. It’s more of an old-school French mentality.” New-school values like local sourcing and seasonality, which Elements practices, are actually old school if you go back far enough. But old school is not Elements’ only alma mater. Anderson says his goal is to be “super creative,” and he succeeds in a logical way without running amok. Riffing off the Mexican combination of lime and cumin, he substitutes tart rhubarb for the lime and serves them as a broth or as a sauce with fish. In the spring, he offered a heady white-asparagus soup with foie gras, sweetbreads, lavender and jelly-like green almonds, all three non-meat ingredients being seasonal. The menu may include an Israeli couscous or a house-made tagliatelle, both using summer fennel in different ways. Elements embraces surprise but never at the expense of pleasure. 163 Bayard Lane, 609-924-0078, elementsprinceton.com
ENO TERRA
Kingston
Chris Albrecht, executive chef of Eno Terra, is adapting the ethic of nose-to-tail eating (using every part of the animal) to vegetables. “When you have access to farm-fresh produce, literally just hours out of the ground”—and Eno Terra does, having doubled the size of its own farm this year from 1 to 2 acres, supplying the restaurant with more than 80 percent of its produce—“you can use parts of the plants you used to throw away, like garlic scapes or mustard leaves, which include the vein.” Albrecht uses scapes—the long green tendrils that have to be clipped to permit the garlic bulb to mature—to make a sun-dried tomato pesto for a mozzarella rollatini with grilled zucchini, and in a pan-roasted halibut with morel and scape broth. Eno Terra, which is certified by the Green Restaurant Association as ecofriendly, is nominally an Italian restaurant. Albrecht defines Italian this way: “For us, it’s really a sensibility about using what’s local and seasonal and incredibly flavorful. We also do a lot of preserving, like Southern Italians—we make our own strawberry preserves, pickled ramps, preserved vegetables. And we make a lot of handmade pastas, like half-moon ravioli filled with puréed beets and smoked ricotta.” Albrecht, who serves as his own pastry chef, also offers, unofficially, four-course dessert tastings that start with a fruit-based dessert, then escalate to cake-based, cream-based and finally the richest, a chocolate-based sweet. 4484 Route 27 (Academy St), 609-497-1777, enoterra.com
FASCINOMontclair
When Ryan DePersio was cooking his way through Italy about 10 years ago, many of the best restaurants he worked in cooked in a style he calls “Italian without borders. They were always trying different things”—ingredients, and sometimes techniques, from beyond Italy—“and following what was fresh in the markets.” Eight years ago, when the DePersio family opened Fascino (meaning fascination; accent on the first syllable), DePersio, the executive chef, adopted “Italian without borders” as his own ideal. Another influence was the two-plus years he had spent working for Jean-Georges Vongerichten at Jean-Georges in New York, which brought in Asian influences. (An example of an American-Italian-Asian trifecta at Fascino is DePersio’s crab-stuffed zucchini flowers dipped in tempura batter and deep-fried.) “My style of cooking is very simple,” he says. “Bring out the freshness of the ingredients and don’t fuss with it too much.” Since the DePersios opened a second restaurant, Bar Cara, in nearby Bloomfield in 2010, DePersio and his brother, Anthony, the general manager, have had to divide their time between the two. But the refinement and appeal of Fascino has held firm, thanks to the on-site presence of the brothers’ parents—Cynthia, the pastry chef, and Anthony Sr.—and to the stability of the kitchen staff, headed by sous chef Ernesto Aguilar, who has been with Fascino since the beginning. 331 Bloomfield Ave, 973-233-0350, fascinorestaurant.com,
THE FROG AND THE PEACH
New Brunswick
Now in its 28th year, this pioneer of modern fine dining in New Jersey remains fresh and relevant thanks to the vigilant ownership of Betsy Alger and Jim Black and the exemplary kitchen of executive chef Bruce Lefebvre. This summer one of the seasonal treats is the six-course, $59 peach dinner with Jersey peaches in every course. The signature dish is the peach carpaccio with crispy duck confit, prosecco dressing and spiced almonds (inspired by Harry’s Bar in Venice, where carpaccio and the Bellini originated). Lefebvre’s cooking draws from the local bounty, including a Middle Eastern market in North Brunswick, the Phoenician, that fuels such dishes as grilled quail with Lebanese-style stuffed baby eggplant with lemon-sumac dressing. Then he gets all downhome with a duo of smoked pork spareribs and apricot-glazed pork tenderloin with a Tuscan kale slaw in avocado dressing. August 19 brings a five-course, $135 opera dinner, including Italian wine pairings, Italian food and a soprano singing Italian arias. The F&P’s sunny, year-round garden room is the perfect place to savor it all. 29 Dennis St, 732-846-3216, frogandpeach.com
FUJI
Haddonfield
Although in its current, handsomely modern location only four years, Matt Ito’s Fuji has been in business (previously in Cinnaminson) continuously since 1979. “I was trained in Japan, working in very high-class hotels, so there were many different types of things to make,” the chef says. “There is a lot of things I can still introduce the customer to.” And whether it is a cooked dish or a different preparation of a mainstay like tuna (his tartare with American sturgeon caviar), Ito relishes the challenge. “Every day is a brand-new day, with brand-new people, brand-new cooking. That’s what people come for, a little bit of change every day. I enjoy, so I think the customer enjoys.” Two fine ways to experience the range of Ito’s creativity are his tasting menus—omakase (five courses, $50) and kaiseki (eight or more courses, $80 and up). Of course, restaurants don’t last 32 years if they go nuts continually reinventing themselves. Fuji also shines in its sure hand with the classics, and its service is always gracious. 116 East King’s Highway, Rt 41, 856-354-8200 fujirestaurant.com
LORENA’S
Maplewood
With people figuratively knocking down doors to get into this romantic jewel of French-inspired cooking, the owners are literally knocking down walls to make more room. “We’re turning away hundreds of people a week,” says executive chef and co-owner Humberto Campos Jr., more chagrined at disappointing people than happy his 30-seat restaurant is in such demand. Campos and his wife, Lorena, who manages the front of the house, are taking over a vacant nail salon next door and using part of the space to build a 10- to 12-seat dining room where private parties can be held. Campos will also offer a chef’s tasting menu in the new room. An expansion of the kitchen is next on the drawing board. What won’t change is the romantic French country setting, the gracious service and the gratifying food. For an Asian touch on the spring menu, Campos introduced a crispy duck confit served with a spicy green cabbage-and-jicama salad with peanuts and lime. Tacking back to France, he came up with an escarole-and-bean stew with an offbeat accent, a bouillabaisse emulsion. There’s always something here worth knocking down doors for, but let’s hope now you won’t need to. 168 Maplewood Ave, 973-763-4460, restaurantlorena.com
LUKE PALLADINONorthfield
The years Luke Palladino spent living and cooking in Italy, and the research he’s done since on old Italian foodways, combine on the plate to create a cuisine that honors tradition but is confident enough to be creative and spontaneous. “Over the years, I’ve developed a culinary voice, a gut feeling that I want things to be delicious and simple but innovative,” he says. “When I was younger I put a lot of ingredients on the plate, but I’ve pulled back, and every time I pull back I realize it’s better.” This month, his intimate Atlantic County BYO will be serving fresh Jersey figs stuffed with Gorgonzola, wrapped in speck (smoked ham), roasted and served in a walnut vinaigrette with locally grown mustard greens. There will be saffron lasagnette noodles layered with marinated local vegetables and shaved ricotta salata cheese. About whether the big Italian restaurant he is opening at Harrah’s in Atlantic City will distract him from what he calls “our little gem,” he notes that the two restaurants are only seven miles apart, and his home is between them. “I didn’t take anyone from Northfield to Atlantic City, not even a server,” he adds, referring to his veteran team in the kitchen (take a bow, chef de cuisine Eddie Affinato and sous chef Brett Johanessen) and in the dining room (manager Rosanna Pang). In its first full year, the Northfield restaurant has achieved stellar results. Our bet is that Palladino’s pride and passion will keep it stellar. 1333 New Rd, 609-646-8189, lukepalladino.com
MARITIME PARCJersey City
From the second- and third-floor balconies of Maritime Parc, you can feast on the sweeping view of Jersey City, downtown Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, but since there are no tables up there, that’s a mere aperitif. Dining on the outdoor patio you clink glasses amid a forest of masts and clanking rigging in the Liberty Landing Marina. Those tables are lovely, but during the warm-weather months you may have to wait to get one. Meanwhile, in the dining room, the shipboard decor is done in a subtle and classy way, but the views are somewhat limited. The point is, nobody is schlepping out to Liberty State Park just for Maritime Parc’s visuals, special as they are. What’s drawing a crowd is the synergy between the location, the atmosphere, the friendly and capable service and executive chef Christopher Siversen’s engagingly modern food. His seafare is not just fish on a plate with two sides, but bold flavor combinations which, in his words, “are not very complicated but make the plate more alive.” Prime examples include his pan-seared black cod with lobster hash, his bacon-wrapped trout stuffed with mushrooms, sorrel and honey and his spirited twist on surf and turf: scallops and short ribs with a creamy-pickley-eggy gribiche sauce. Talented pastry chef John Sauchelli continues the theme with assertive desserts, including a don’t-miss chocolate layer cake with cola frosting and dried, crumbled orange peel forming a thin bright roof. 84 Audrey Zapp Drive (Liberty State Park), 201-413-0050, maritimeparc.com
NICHOLAS
Red Bank
It took a few minutes for Nicholas Harary to come to the phone. It turned out the executive chef and co-owner (with his wife, Melissa) of Restaurant Nicholas was filleting bass when we called. The Hararys may have a staff of 52 (and two young children at home), but they are everyday presences in their restaurant and roll up their sleeves on a regular basis. Harary recently polished the one-of-a-kind sculpted glass chandelier in the dining room. One thing that could hardly get brighter is the reputation of the 10-year-old restaurant—top rated anywhere you look. Restaurateurs have mixed feelings about being thought of as a special-occasion place (what about all the other days?), but the Hararys have reveled in it, polishing every aspect of presentation and hospitality, down to the complimentary take-home loaf of banana bread. Harary acknowledges “the pressure of so many customers coming in for special anniversaries and birthdays and wedding proposals. You have a certain responsibility to those people to make it magical and special.” Harary is not the only Nicholas on the premises. Chef de cuisine Nicholas Wilkins, 28, arrived about five years ago from England, worked his way up and has been subtly modernizing the restaurant’s French-influenced cuisine. The Hararys don’t worry about their big-night rep because they long ago worked up an appealing, seasonal, $29, prix-fixe menu for the casual bar room, which they recently christened Bar N. So there is a Nicholas for all reasons. 160 Route 35 South, 732-345-9977, restaurantnicholas.com
NINETY ACRESPeapack-Gladstone
High expectations are built right into the winding two-mile drive from the front gate of Natirar park, past the stream, through the brick gates, up the long, stately hill with the view of the vast 1912 mansion on the left, to the wooded hilltop, finally arriving at the mansion’s former carriage house, now expanded and converted into the Ninety Acres Culinary Center, the heart of which is the large, handsome Ninety Acres restaurant. Under the direction of executive chef David C. Felton, Ninety Acres meets expectations, though in a way more earthy than the ethereal suggested by the long ascent to the front door. Part of what anchors Ninety Acres is the farm that starts just outside the back door. As the two-year-old farm matures, its yield of things like rhubarb, asparagus and a variety of greens will expand. Chickens, sheep and pigs are being raised, destined for the table. Now fruit trees are being planted. “I want a fun, lively, exciting restaurant that maybe teaches people a little more about farm-to-table dining,” Felton says. The learning isn’t hard to swallow. That’s because it’s cloaked in variety, freshness and satisfying flavor combinations. Try one of the creative wood-fired pizzas (duck confit, shiitakes, Fontina, sweet-and-sour raisins, for example), hearty entrées (pan-roasted Chatham cod with royal trumpet mushrooms, runner beans, sunchokes, Meyer lemon and lobster sauce, from the spring menu) or the daily farmer’s plates (like Tuesday’s Natirar farm fried chicken, cheddar biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy). Or leave it all to Felton and his crew by saying “BMF,” short for Bring Me Food, the code name for the five- to six-course tasting menu ($75). You can crank it up to 10 courses if you like. BMF, says Felton, “is fun, challenging and keeps me on my toes.” A good place for a chef to be. 2 Main St, 908-901-9500, ninetyacres.com
THE PEACOCK INNPrinceton
Evenings are starry at Princeton’s year-old boutique hotel and specifically at its restaurant, a tipping-point addition to an area coming into its own as a dining destination (see Elements and Eno Terra). Not only does the Peacock shine in greater Princeton’s firmament, it sheds romantic starlight on its own happy patrons in the form of hundreds of pinlights twinkling in the deep mauve ceiling of the central dining room. The clarity and depth of this faux night sky is found in edible form on the plates emerging from executive chef Emanuel Perez’s kitchen. Formerly with Le Bernardin in Manhattan and Nicholas in Red Bank, Perez cooks with flair and confidence, highlighting assertive, complementary flavors like softshell crab fried in a frothy tempura batter and served with pickled radishes and red plums, shredded romaine and a sesame vinaigrette. Also exemplary is his seared duck breast with duck confit, fresh cherries stewed in vanilla and ginger, and an almond-milk pain perdu, or French toast. Service, like the ceiling, is heavenly. “One of the biggest compliments for us,” says Perez, “is we have a lot of regulars.” 20 Bayard Lane, 609-924-1707, peacockinn.com
PICNICFair Lawn
Before launching her catering business and then, a year ago, her delightful little BYO, Picnic, Christine Nunn was a food writer and restaurant critic at The Record. “With a good writer,” she says, “you hear their voice, you get a little taste of them in the story, and the same holds true in food. I personally keep my food very simple, but I try to have a little bit of something I love in there.” One thing she loves is the contrast of sweet and salty, leading to a halibut dish with a blueberry-thyme gastrique and salted walnuts. Another thing she loves is lobster, leading to an outrageously good dish called lobster fricassee. Love is not too strong a word for her seven-year relationship with her sous chef, Javier Ordonez. In fact, she says, “I like him so much I married him.” With Ordonez in the kitchen, Nunn, who designs the menu, can sometimes stroll through the dining room during service and get to know her patrons. “I want to make sure they’re happy,” she says. “Sometimes if they can’t decide what to order, I’ll say, ‘Let me bring you a sample.’” 14-25 Plaza Rd N (Plaza Bldg), 201-796-2700, picnictherestaurant.com
PLUCKEMIN INNBedminster
“Eat your vegetables!” we were all commanded as kids. Surely our parents weren’t talking about executive chef Juan Jose Cuevas’s vegetables, which seem to belong to another kingdom, one that has shed its dutifulness and emerged in stardom. He has nothing against proteins, but in his kitchen, vegetables are not relegated to the back of the bus. He gets many of them fresh from Three Meadows Farm, a six-minute drive from the inn. He loves them for their own infinitely varied sake and for their Clark Kent-into-Superman ability to transform into juices, infusions, emulsions and purées that make sauces leap tall buildings in a single bound. He serves roast Spanish mackerel with a sauce of sautéed mushrooms and the tasty green called lamb’s quarter (a weed, to some). The sauce is a warm vinaigrette made from carrot juice, spicy sausage, lobster broth and—as an exotic thickener—uni (sea urchin). “My food looks very simple,” he says. “I don’t want people to scratch their heads and wonder what they have in front of them. But every detail is important. The simpler you are, the more detail oriented you have to be, because you don’t have anything to cast a shadow, so to speak.” Backing up Cuevas is a gifted pastry chef, Joseph Gabriel, a passionate sommelier, Brian Hider, a polished dining room staff and, overseeing all, owner Gloria LaGrassa. 359 Route 206 S, 908-658-9292, pluckemininn.com
RESTAURANT LATOUR
Hardyston
New Jersey chefs are not just talking the farm-to-table talk, they’re practically pushing the plow. And the exquisite Restaurant Latour is strutting its stuff with the best of them. The Crystal Springs Resort, of which Latour is the premier dining establishment, raises its own chickens just down the road, has a lamb-producing ranch in Colorado, contracts with a farm just over the New York border to grow vegetables, and has its own extensive garden for greens and herbs right on the property. Resort executive chef Michael Weisshaupt and Latour chef John Benjamin transform the goodies into heady celebrations of freshness, flavor, color and texture. Exhibit A might be Benjamin’s roasted monkfish on a saffron-and-Parmesan-infused panisse of sautéed polenta surrounded by razor clams in a seafood broth. The setting itself is pretty special—widely spaced tables bathed in sunset glow from a broad, west-facing picture window. Add to this an extremely knowledgable staff, a world-class wine list and an atmosphere that is luxurious but never snooty, and you have one of the summits of New Jersey dining. 1 Wild Turkey Way, 973-827-0548, crystalgolfresort.com
VARKA
Ramsey
When Varka opened a little more than six years ago, the serving of whole fresh fish—priced by the pound—was rare at Greek restaurants in New Jersey. “People told us, ‘It won’t work, it’s too expensive, people don’t want to eat a whole fish, they don’t want to see it at the table with its head on,’” says Stavros Angelakos, general manager of Varka. But it turned out the public had no such qualms. Serving whole fish is no longer unusual at upscale Greek restaurants in the state. Still, nobody does it better than Varka. About 40 percent of its dinner business is in whole fish, Angelakos says. But more than fish swim the sea, and chef George Georgiades (there from day one) brings forth the bounty temptingly as stuffed calamari; lobster gyros; baked shrimp with white wine, tomato broth and feta; mussels ouzo and much more. The classic dips and starters like saganaki (pan-seared kefalograviera cheese), keftethes (spiced meatballs) and stuffed grape leaves are presented with equal pride and care. And at the hostess’s desk there is always the three-tiered complimentary offering of Greek cookies, each so good you’ll want to grab a handful. 30 N Spruce St, 201-995-9333, varkarestaurant.com
VERJUSMaplewood
Disadvantaged by being on the outskirts of town rather than in the heart of the village, Verjus has nonethless reached its 10th anniversary in good health. How? Partly, it’s having things like its own parking lot and a liquor license (the wine list is a discerning bouquet of small producers and big value). More centrally, there are the owners—the genuine warmth and care of host Jane Witkin and her husband, Charles Tutino, the self-effacing perfectionist chef. When Tutino comes out of the kitchen, he almost seems to be blinking, as if emerging from a cave. But happiness jumps off the plates and onto the faces of the customers. All Tutino does with his French training (under the legendary Jean Jacques Rachou of Le Côte Basque) is make everything taste better than you think possible. His roast chicken with tarragon butter under the skin is a modest meal fit for a king, and his boeuf bourguignon, braised in red wine until pillow tender, is as concentrated in flavor as a haiku. Then there is brunch—light, delicious, relaxed, with faultless French omelettes and caramelized apple pancakes. At any time, Verjus is worth seeking out. 1790 Springfield Ave, 973-378-8990, verjusrestaurant.com
THE WASHINGTON INNCape May
Locally grown vegetables make farm to table alive and well here, but so is boat to table. To get a jump on what will be available, executive chef Mimi Wood and sous chef Doug Marandino contact fishing boats while they’re still heading for port in Cape May. The contemporary and the traditional marry well at the Washington Inn. The Craig family is always refining and upgrading their big 1840 farmhouse without sacrificing its charm—the latest change being a brightening of the clubby bar room, a tapas-like menu there and a major expansion of the wine-by-the-glass program. Wood has a penchant for the retro—her steak Diane, a cousin of steak au poivre, has been outselling the popular filet mignon with caramelized onions and crumbled gorgonzola, and for dessert there’s an updated bananas Foster. The dishes are so well executed you can’t but succumb to them. A wood-burning grill, meanwhile, lends an appealing smokiness to meats, chops and fish. 801 Washington St, 609-884-5697, washingtoninn.com
Location:
New Jersey, USA
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