say, gimmicky ones. A light on the ceiling
turns from red to blue to green, etc., all
evening long, and three times a year, the
napkins change.
Even before our first order made it
onto our table, my companion and I had
strong inklings we were in the hands of
a skilled chef. The heavenly house-made
bread sprinkled with sea salt, the dreamy
home-churned butter speckled with sea
salt and the complementory made-in-
house creamy hummus were instant
giveaways.
More evidence was supplied by a gen-
erous portion of aged beef tartare ($18)
that made good use of our bread. This
lovely-looking tower of silky-soft raw beef
sat atop a financier and was crowned by
fermented black trumpet mushrooms. It
provided subtle bursts of complementary
flavors, from sweet to earthy to lemony
to buttery.
Chef Gregg won the 2015 Jersey
Seafood Challenge. His winning dish?
Scallops. So, of course, I ordered scal-
lops ($32) ... again. This time, they were
served with lovely braised leeks and
mushrooms. I haven't any prizes to hand
out, but I can heap praise on the strik-
ingly sweet and subtly briny super-plump
scallops that were beautifully seared and
perfectly cooked.
But skilled chefs make mistakes too.
Take the heirloom polenta appetizer
($15) covered with charred leek pow-
der. The dish hid an egg yolk that burst
the moment my fork dug into it — nice!
However, the coarse cornmeal was bland
and somewhat watery, and completely
overwhelmed by the woody flavor of
black truffle shavings.
Or take the short ribs ravioli ($28).
The fork-tender meat was simply deli-
cious, bathed in a thrilling veal sauce.
The ricotta-stuffed ravioli that sat beneath
it, however, were so under-cooked that
neither my dining companion nor I could
eat them.
We had no trouble, though, polishing
off the rich chocolate gateau with house-
spun vanilla ice cream. And though we
don’t know if it will be on the menu the
next time we dine here, we’re pretty
confident that whatever replaces it will
be delicious, too. ■
LINGUINE WITH CRAB
SCALLOPS
SHORT RIB RAVIOLI
CHOCOLATE GATEAU
WAYNE MAGAZINE SPRING 2020
35