THE PASS, ROSEMONT
Here’s a NJ question you can ask the next time you play a trivia game. What Garden State restaurant is close to the only covered bridge in NJ? There are actually two answers, but as you can see from the title of this piece one of them is The Pass in Rosemont. Do you know the other one?
To get to The Pass, we drove down a bucolic country road that took us past picturesque farms and old stone houses, over the covered bridge to this charming restaurant. Here, chef/partners Matthew Ridgway and Paul Mitchell serve a delightfully different three-course small menu that changes weekly. Ours had five appetizers, three entrees, two desserts and an optional cheese plate for dessert ($3 supplement or $10 as an extra course) for $38.50; a steal in our opinion.
The Pass is casual with wood tables, paper napkins and whimsically decorated walls. We loved the decor as well as the food: the wild boar’s head on the wall (dressed in a hat and scarf); the food tats on Kevin the waiter’s arm; the cans of duck fat, duck confit and guanciale on top of the toilet tank; the menus hanging in the bathroom; and the door to the kitchen painted with a chef holding a cleaver with a see through window, made us giddy with the charisma of it all.
Wild boar’s head with hat and scarf.
When we were given warm rice crackers sprinkled with za’atar—the Arabic word for a blend of related Middle Eastern herbs—we knew we were in for a not your same old, same old meal. Bread sets the tone, this was something we had never been served before, except in an Asian restaurant and then it was without the za’atar.
Kevin’s food tattoo.
Our appetizers were: tender octopus bordelaise with shishito peppers; fragrant, roasted chanterelles with quail eggs and piperade sauce; and mild tasting bluefish rillettes with shaved onions and miso hollandaise; turkey crepinettes salmis (braised turkey leg meat bound with pork mousse, herbs, and wrapped in caul fat and braised in red wine and meat broth sauce served with a meat, red-wine vinaigrette). We passed the plates for everyone to taste and were already moaning as everything was so seductively scrumptious.
Four people, three entrée choices, so there was some overlap. Hazelnut-crusted soft shell crabs with tomato and fennel were crispy with sweet meat creating tasty flavors and textures. Poussin glazed with a ponzu-teriyaki sauce with citrus flavors was garnished with mung-bean sprouts that were cooked with scallion, ginger, and fennel seed; a beautiful balanced dish. The surprise winner, which you should not be hesitant to try, was pork head terrine with sauce Robert (onions, mustard and white wine simmered in a basic demiglace) with dandelion salad. The succulent meat was taken from the pig’s jowls and head and was served as a warm, breaded rectangular fried slab. But we shouldn’t have been surprised that this was a standout dish as chef Matthew is known for his charcuterie and has a retail counter on site that is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM, where products (charcuterie, pâtés, and terrines) from his company called PorcSalt are sold. Entrees came with zucchini pancakes and a bowl containing roasted potatoes, chickpeas, and carrots. They were grudgingly shared; we would have liked two bowls of the vegetables.
There were two desserts offered and they were just as creative and inspiring as the rest of our meal. An apricot and almond torte was an example of how a seasonal ingredient can be highlighted to create a memorable dish. Also impressive was a rich chocolate pot de crème accompanied with coconut granite. Neither was overly sweet. We also shared a cheese course of Drumm cheese from Bobolink Dairy and Bakehouse in Milford, which was accompanied with homemade applesauce. Looking past an old fashioned scale on the ledge of the window and seeing a truck full of hay pass by made us ask, “How much quainter can you get?” With deeply satisfying food and picturesque environment don’t pass The Pass. It is a restaurant you do want to dine at.
Bread and cheese.
The Pass is open Wednesday through Saturday and the menu for the week, as well as suggested wine pairings, are posted on Mondays at the restaurant website.
Covered bridge.
Photos courtesy of Lowell Saferstein.
The Pass
88 Kingwood Stockton Road
Rosemont
609-961-1887
BYO.
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CINNAMON, MORRIS PLAINS
We were able to get into the third restaurant. The first one was closed. “Why didn’t you call,” asked Lowell. “On a Wednesday night at 6 PM, I didn’t think we needed a reservation, and it’s a large ethnic restaurant not a destination place,” I said. The second one, a highway establishment with a bar, had no parking spaces left. We were actually quite surprised and figured if there were no parking spaces left we certainly would have to wait for a table. The third one was nearby and a favorite that we hadn’t been to for some time. That’s how we ended up at Cinnamon Indian Restaurant in Morris Plains. It only took a round about 1½ hour trip to get there. If we had gone there directly it would have taken a half hour.
We like to order bread as soon as we are seated and ask for it to be served as soon as it is ready. The combination bread basket arrived hot and contained naan (leavened flatbread); onion kulcha (a leavened flatbread stuffed with onions); and parantha (a multilayered flat bread). We skipped appetizers and ordered vegetarian entrees. The Baingen Bhartha is made with mashed eggplant, onion, tomatoes and aromatic spices. It reminded us of a spicy baba ganoush. Cauliflower is another one of our favorite vegetables and the Gobi Masala contained small florets of cauliflower that had been cooked with onions, tomatoes and spices. Think of it as a cauliflower curry. Finally our "must" dish, the dal makhani: creamy black lentils combined with tomatoes, ginger and garlic and simmered overnight on a charcoal fire. All of the dishes were served medium/mild as ordered and, although spicy, they were within our range of tolerance. The one dessert we love here, which is not on the dinner menu but is available if you ask, is the gajar halwa, a warm, sweet carrot pudding made from fresh carrots cooked in milk and ghee for a long time until they are soft.
Cinnamon is open daily. A lunch buffet is offered Monday through Sunday and a dinner buffet on Sunday, as well as an a la carte menu. Reservations: 973-734-0040.
Cinnamon Indian Restaurant
2920 Rt 10 W
Powder Mill Plaza West
Morris Plains
973-734-0040
BYO
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SUMMIT WINE AND FOOD FESTIVAL 2013
The Fifth Summit Wine and Food Festival 2013 will be held at the Grand Summit Hotel, 570 Springfield Ave, Summit and downtown Summit from September 20 through the 22, featuring Food Network and Bravo celebrity chefs, sommeliers, top winemakers and wineries. Events include a VIP Gala Dinner and Gala Tasting both held on Friday night, seminars, tastings and a gala tasting on Saturday; and wine tastings and seminars on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased at The Wine List of Summit, 417 Springfield Ave, Summit; by calling 908-277-6565 or online at the festival website.
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YVES’NING DINNER, MONTCLAIR
On Saturday, September 28, a five-course meal prepared by chef Patrick Yves Pierre-Jerome will be held at St James Episcopal Church, 581 Valley Road, Montclair. The following menu will be presented:
Tuna Tartare with Cucumber Spaghetti, Gazpacho, Sour Cream, and Salmon Roe
Red Snapper with Lobster Wontons and Ginger Basil Sauce
Poussin Provençal on Chive Crêpe
Baby Lamb Chops with Bacon Shallot Spinach and Mushroom Pie
Goat Cheese Honey Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust and Orange Thyme Sauce
6:30 PM; $65 payable in cash on arrival; BYO. Menu substitutions are not possible. Reservations: 973-600-4235 or [email protected].
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OUTSTANDING IN THE FIELD DINNERS
There will be two Outstanding in the Field dinners in NJ this September.
On Sunday, September 15, an Outstanding in the Field dinner will be held at Great Road Farm, 1459 Great Road, Skillman with host farmer Steven Tomlinson and chef Josh Thomsen from Agricola in Princeton. 3 PM; $200.
On Tuesday, September 17, there will be a dinner held at Stonybrook Meadows, 82 Stonybrook Road, Hopewell, with host farmer Laura Del Campo and chef Scott Anderson from Elements in Princeton. 3 PM; $200. For information or tickets, visit: the Outstanding in the Field website.
Outstanding in the Field mission statement is: “To reconnect diners to the land and the origins of their food, and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it.”
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RARE RIESLING DINNER, CRYSTAL SPRINGS, HAMBURG
On September 14, a Rare Riesling dinner with guest sommelier Paul Grieco and Crystal Springs sommelier Susanne Lerescu, will be held at Crystal Springs Resort, the Grand Cascades Lodge Wine Cellar, One Wild Turkey Way, Hamburg. The following German-influenced dishes created by executive chef Timothy Fischer will be presented:
Smoked fish duo of bigeye tuna, Skuna Bay salmon, Black Forest onion tartlet, pumpkin leather, and Riesling caviar
(Keller, Trocken, Rheinhessen, Germany, 2011 and Schäfer-Fröhlich, Kabinett, Nahe, Germany, 2009)
Apple rutabaga soup and Camembert Maultaschen
(Nikolaihof, "Steinriesler," Wachau, Austria, 1998 and Nikolaihof, "Vinothek," Wachau, Austria, 1995)
Riesling Poached black bass, garden Swiss chard, warm fingerling salad, and gooseberry chutney
(Dönnhoff, Felsentürmchen, Spätlese, Nahe, Germany, 2006 and Schlossberg, Grand Cru, Weinbach, Alsace, France, 2004)
Intermezzo of Elderflower Sorbet
(Schloss Vollrads, Cask 92, Graf Matuschka, Rheingau, Germany, 1959)
Slow-roasted rabbit loin, rabbit schnitzel, choucroute spätzle, caramelized fennel, and black cherry pepper sauce
(J J Prüm, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Auslese, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany, 2007 and Cuvée Frederic Emile, Trimbach, Alsace, France, 2001)
Peach butterkuchen, rosemary peach gelato, and peach preserve
(S A Prüm, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Auslese, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany, 1971
7 PM; $195, inclusive of food and wine; tax and tip additional. Reservations: 973-827-5996 ext. 3.
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CAPE MAY FOOD & WINE CELEBRATION
From September 14 to 22, the Cape May Food & Wine celebration will be held throughout the town. Some events are a Harvest Food & Wine Tasting; Chefs’ Dine-Around; Beer Tasting Dinner; A Taste of Cape May; and much more. Information at 609-884-5404 or online at the event website.
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Please send press releases and restaurant news, including information on staff changes, wine tastings, and cooking classes, to [email protected].