country’s 100 best restaurants several
times?
My dining companion and I were
smitten from the get-go. The inti-
mate, candle-lit dining room adorned
with abstract art had a lovely zen-like
quality, even though every seat was
occupied (reservations are highly
recommended). We were dazzled
with the amuse bouche, an
AT A GLANCE
intense earthy mushroom bisque
• CLOSED MONDAY
CHOCOLATE CAKE
served in a shot glass that had our
• OPEN 11:30 AM TO
2 PM AND 5 PM
palates do a little dance. How can
TO 9 P.M., EXCEPT
SUNDAY WHEN IT
so much flavor be packed into
CLOSES AT 8 PM
such a small amount of liquid?
• BYOB
Delicious, too, was a beautiful-
ly plated salmon tartare ($21), a
light and refreshing appetizer accom-
panied by fried yet grease-free won-
tons. The uber-fresh chopped raw
salmon was topped with a thick disc
of creme fraiche heavily sprinkled
with wasabi fish roe and dressed with
thin slices of crunchy radish. You can
use the wontons to smear some of
the tartare, or do as my companion
and I did: Take huge forkfuls straight
into your mouth. We ate every last
bit on our plate.
We did likewise with another win-
DIVER SCALLOPS
ning appetizer: a crêpe filled with bits
of lovely crabmeat and thick slices
of locally harvested wild mushrooms
bathed in that classic butter-based
wine and cream sauce, beurre blanc,
here gilded with a dash of truffle oil
($21). Butter + cream = heavy, right?
Yes, usually. But somehow, Campos’
beurre blanc tasted rich, but not any-
where near treacly. The dish was so
SALMON TARTARE
CHEF HUMBERTO CAMPO
CREPE WITH CRABMEAT
light it could have passed as low-cal.
Campos told me a few days after
bed of creamed spaetzle topped by
ternut purée and long thick strands
I visited Lorena’s that both appetiz-
stunning magenta-colored cabbage
of zucchini “pasta.”
ers have been on the menu since day
that Campos had cured overnight and
Desserts, too, were terrific, espe-
one; they are his signature dishes, he
braised slowly for hours in the morn-
cially the molten chocolate cake
says. Some summers ago, he made
ing. The meat is splashed with a bit
served with homemade Tahitian
the mistake of taking them off the
of cherry sauce.
vanilla ice cream and a delightful
menu. “I had a near riot,” he says.
Campos put it on the menu pre-
raspberry sauce ($12).
“People were cancelling reservations.
cisely because “you don’t see it in a
As for the bread? I got both
My wife asked me if I was crazy.”
lot of restaurants,” he says. “It’s a fun
options offered: a slice of intense
He won’t make that mistake again,
dish.” Fun — and sublime.
sourdough and a slice of crunchy
he promises.
The sautéed Maine Diver scallops
cranberry and pecan. You can bet I
I hope he never removes the veni-
($36) were wonderfully sweet and
slathered the seasoned butter on both
son sirloin ($38), a meat you hardly
tender, swathed in a relish of briny
and, yes, ate every crumb. I left sated,
ever see on menus, either. This hefty,
capers and bits of salty pancetta.
happy and imploring my friends to
just gamey enough protein sits on a
They were served with a lovely but-
“go.” ■
MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE HOLIDAY 2019
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