Tastemakers
CASUAL BUT SERIOUS
Lauren Hirschberg brings fine dining to a neighborhood space
Growing up in Upper Montclair, Lauren Hirschberg got
night out, and he stares at me in the kitchen, and I don’t know
to witness fine cooking and hospitality close to home —
why. Then he’ll get up at the end of the meal and say, “That
in fact, in his home, where his parents threw
was great” or “This is the best restaurant.”
regular dinner parties. As a middle-schooler,
I get to see his response to the fruits of
he occasionally cooked for his family of
my labor, and it’s a reminder that that’s
eight, and developed an interest in prepar-
why we do what we do.
ing interesting meals. He enjoyed being the
go-to guy for quality late-night munchies in
You would never know by
college — even after a dozen sorority girls
looking at it, but the space
stole his stash of meatballs. After graduation,
you currently occupy was
he studied at the French Culinary Institute
once home to a Five Guys.
(now known as the International Culinary
How does the room’s layout
Institute). He continued to learn on the job
work to your advantage?
at Tom Colicchio’s restaurants, where he
Before Turtle + the Wolf, I spent 15 years
Turtle + the Wolf
eventually became over the celebrity chef’s
behind closed doors, and was only face
622 Valley Road, Upper Montclair
culinary director. At his farm-to-table restau-
to face with other cooks, chefs and dish-
(973) 783-9800, turtleandthewolf.com
rant, Turtle + the Wolf, Hirschberg’s dishes
washers. Here, the kitchen isn’t even sepa-
reflect his belief that fresh and locally-
rated by a wall, so guests can walk into the
sourced ingredients are paramount in
kitchen and talk to us. It’s easy for me to grab
great cuisine.
plates and walk 50 feet to a table if a server’s not available. And as I walk
around, I see people eating the food and pick up clues, like “At table
What should diners know about
number 4, that person is just moving the food around the plate.” It gives
Turtle + the Wolf, and the food you serve?
people the opportunity to say, “This is not what I expected,” and I can
People think we’re a fancy restaurant, and there’s a positive to what that
improve the experience, so people leave happy.
means — good service and good food. But whether you’re considered
fancy or fast-casual, great food and service should be a given, not a
Are there dishes that people ask for a lot?
qualifier. Our efforts are to use great ingredients, give genuine hospitality
The fried chicken has something of a cult following, which I think is
and warm service, and we don’t think that qualifies us as a “fancy
awesome. We can serve it preordered as a large-format meal, meaning
restaurant.” We’re not taking ourselves too seriously. We want this to
that it’s meant to be shared family style, with whole table participation.
be a neighborhood space for people who don’t want to cook after a
We serve a whole suckling pig that way, too, though with a six-person
long day, have a hankering for chicken liver mousse and know ours is
minimum. People also talk about our duck pot pie.
awesome.
LAUREN
HIRSCHBERG
I’m in the situation of thinking “This is why I do it” 20 times a day. We’re
not a massive entrée-typical old-school restaurant. I’ll see a stodgy old
man come in and think, “I hope he gets what I’m doing.” This is his big
What advice do you have for holiday cooks?
Know your limitations. If you have a kitchenette, don’t invite 20 people
and plan on cooking yourself. Also, really plan ahead. Take an hour or
two a couple days leading up to your meal and get projects such as
chopping veggies and buying goods out of the way, so when you start
to cook, you’ve cut out 75 percent of the time you need to do things.
Then you can enjoy the day.
>
“WE WANT THIS TO BE A NEIGHBORHOOD SPACE FOR PEOPLE
WHO DON’T WANT TO COOK AFTER A LONG DAY, HAVE A HANKERING
FOR CHICKEN LIVER MOUSSE AND KNOW OURS IS AWESOME.”
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HOLIDAY 2017 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
What do you like best about running
your restaurant?