OH MY COD
OH MY COD OWNERS KEVIN AND RACHEL CRAMPSEY, AND JESSICA WOODWARD
LARGE COD WITH CHIPS
FISH SANDWICH WITH YAMCHIPS
LARGE COD WITH CURRY CHIPS
Catchy
Montclair
Montclair
OH MY COD
103 FOREST AVE., 973-744-7263 FACEBOOK. COM / OHMYCODMONTCLAIR
x45 6 g r t
’ s finest – and only – fish & chips shop
WRITTEN BY BILL GELMAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNE-MARIE CARUSO
Oh MyCod: Youwon’ t forget the name, or, once you’ ve visited, the cozy, 14-seat eatery that bills itself Montclair’ s Finest Fish & Chips shop. This newcomer onthe local restaurant scene is aproject of Rachel Crampsey, whose Montclair Bread Company operates two locations nearby. She says she’ sbeen cooking up the concept for years.“ My husband is from Northern Ireland, and Iused to joke about opening afish and chips shop,” she recalls.“ I thought the town needed it.”
Yes, Crampsey ismulti-tasking, welcoming the lunch and dinner crowd at Oh My Cod while still owning and operating the highly successful“ bread bakery with a doughnut addiction.” OhMyCod operates on a Wednesday through Saturday schedule, open from 11 a. m. to 8 p. m. Wednesdays and Thursdays while remaining open an hour later Friday and Saturday evenings. How is she handling it all? It helps that the businesses are located a block away from one another, and that her management team has mastered both the art of baking and of preparing Irish-inspired fish and chips. Jessica Woodward, the director of operations, says that the peak times at the two businesses are different.“ The bakery is busy during the early morning hours,” says Woodward.“ We like to be busy all of the time.”
Customers who are on the go will appreciate the compact 13-item menu, of which the whiting and cod fish and chips combos($ 6 /$ 7 small, $ 11 /$ 12.50 large, respectively) are the stars of the venture. In addition to the sausage, fish sandwich and fish stew“ mains”($ 6- $ 8), the mushy peas side($ 4) has been a popular choice. Seven other sides round out the offerings; these include baked beans, coleslaw and curry chips($ 4 to $ 6). The plan is to keep the menu the same for the foreseeable future, with Sunday brunch an eventual possibility. Woodward says that she’ s been getting“ lots of great feedback” from customers, including expats happy to see the staple of the British diet available in their North Jersey suburb. But Oh My Cod’ s fan base is clearly wider; the first Saturday it was open, a sell-out crowd forced the shop to close early. ■
MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE SPRING 2017
61