UPDATE ON JOCKEY HOLLOW BAR & KITCHEN, MORRISTOWN
Three floors of our favorite pastime, eating and drinking, can be found in Morristown at Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen.
Let us start from the top where a 70-seat dining room at Jockey Hollow will offer a prix-fixe menu featuring contemporary modern American/Italian, farm-to-table cuisine. Reservations are necessary and it is expected to open around Thanksgiving. Across the atrium is the glassed in kitchen, where guests can see chefs scurrying around. The opening menu items are divided into three areas:
Fish: blue-fin tuna crudo; grilled baby cuttlefish; lobster raviolini; ocean trout bouillabaisse; and black bass confit
Vegetables: selection of Ralston lettuces; poached hen egg with oyster mushroom and sweet corn; butternut-squash risotto with bone marrow; sunchoke pansotti; and seared bean curd with Chioggia beet and cabbage conserva.
Meat: fois gras torchon; pork belly bucatini; veal sweetbreads; dry aged Long Valley duck; and roasted sirloin.
View from the kitchen looking down into the Oyster & Wine Bar.
From here, walk down a sweeping Italian marble staircase and stop on the landing to look into the Juliet balcony, where a tiny 3-foot-by-4-foot pool table is set up with billiard balls from the 1930’s. This is but one of the whimsical decorations that reflect owner Chris Cannon’s sense of humor. A spaceman sculpture is embedded in the wall on the first floor. Eight antique phones are scattered throughout the restaurant. Can you find all of them? After all, this home was built by AT&T President Theodore Vail, who never got to live here.
The Oyster & Wine Bar at Jockey Hollow and The Vail Lounge, a 1920’s-themed cocktail room are located on the main floor. The cocktail, wine list and menu are on iPads. Featured cocktails include the Hollow Jockey with No.3 London Dry gin, clarified grapefruit, and angostura; and the South Street Smash with Koval bourbon, JHBK ginger syrup, muddled lemon and Ralston mint.
Oyster & Wine Bar before renovations.
Oyster & Wine Bar after renovations.
Items available in the Oyster and Wine Bar and The Vail Lounge include: raw bar including plateaus; salumi; cheeses; Ralston Lettuces; chicken liver terrine; smoked baby octopus; smoked turkey club; burger; cauliflower agnolotti; monkfish confit; lamb sausage; and dry aged sirloin. This may be a grand building but dining will be informal, casual and fun.
The Vail Lounge before renovations.
The Vail Lounge after renovations.
The Rathskeller, in the basement has its own entrance and will take on many functions once it is open: a bar, a German beer hall, and a private event space. There will be a room where sausages are made and hung, a keg room and wine room.
Kevin Sippel, is the executive chef. He worked at L’Impero and was chef de cuisine at Alto, NYC, which earned three stars from the New York Times. His farm to table American/Italian menu will emphasize New Jersey ingredients. Cannon has a partial ownership in Forty North Oyster Farms in Barnegat Bay and the house beer is brewed for Cannon by Ramstein Brewery in Butler. The freshly butchered meat comes from Ralston Farm in Mendham. Ron Morgan is the general manager, and was previously GM at Convivio and most recently at Boqueria also in NYC. Pastry chefs are Andrea Lekberg, owner of The Artist Baker in Morristown and Erica Leahy who works for the Artist Baker and previously for Craft Restaurants in NYC.
Executive chef Kevin Sippel flanked by pastry chefs (pink hat) Andrea Lekberg and (purple hat) Erica Leahy.
Kudos to owner Chris Cannon, a man who had a vision about 4 years ago when he toured this 15,000-square-foot desolate, dilapidated mansion, an ugly duckling, and knew that he could turn it into a magnificent swan. He is no stranger to the industry as he was a principal in Palio, Remi, L’Impero, Convivio, Alto and the James Beard Award-winner Marea, all located in NYC. He also launched All’Onda in Greenwich Village. At a recent press dinner, we had items from his upcoming menus including several varieties of oysters, cheeses, salumi, crudo, ethereal agnolotti with roasted cauliflower, Romanesco and Colatura butter; roasted sirloin with radish, carbonara and kale; and brown butter-pecan cake with roasted apples and buttermilk sorbet. All were exceptional, beautifully plated and served by an exemplary staff. We predict that Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen will be one of the top restaurants and culinary destinations in New Jersey; there is nothing like it in the Garden State.
Agnolotti with roasted cauliflower, Romanesco and Colatura butter.
Photos courtesy of Lowell Saferstein
Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen
110 South Street
Morristown
973-644-3180
*************************
DINING AT THE PRUDENTIAL CENTER, NEWARK
The Prudential Center, 25 Lafayette Street, Newark and Legends Hospitality have announced that the following restaurants have opened:
Chef David Burke has two venues: Angry Taco, which offers fresh Mexican cuisine and Burke’s Bacon Bar, a bacon lover’s dream, with dishes such as Maple Black Pepper BLT Wrap and Smoky Bacon & Parmesan Mac n’ Cheese.
It is not just sports TV as patrons have arcade games, pool tables and darts for entertainment at the newly opened at Epic America Sports Bar, 1813 Rt 23 S, Wayne (973-633-9700).
Chef Mike Isabella also has two locations: G Pizza, which will serve a number of flatbreads and pizzas and Isabella’s G Sandwich.
Tony Baloney’s, offers creative subs and cheesesteaks throughout Prudential Center’s main and upper concourses.
The Ryland Inn, known for their farm-to-table dining, will be located in Prudential Center’s main restaurant as The Ryland Inn at The Rock.
New Jersey-themed restaurants include: The Jersey Diner featuring diner menu classics; Ironbound District offering a wide variety of Brazilian and Portuguese foods; and Boardwalk serving Jersey shore classics such as fried seafood, salt water taffy and zeppoles.
OTHER OPENINGS
Belford Brewery, 84 Leonardville Road, Belford. Contact for opening hours 732-769-7168.
Duke’s Southern Table, offering Southern, Low Country and American cuisine has opened at 11 Clinton St, Newark (862-763-5757).
Mercato Tomato Pie, a coal-fired, brick-oven pizza restaurant, has opened at 212 Market St, Newark; full bar (973-424-9000). Other menu items include: salads, pasta’s and piadas’s.
Prohibition—Fresh Food and Fine Spirits, has opened in the former Old Man Rafferty’s space at 541 Cookman Avenue, Asbury Park. (732-455-3808).
Sangria Restaurant and Bar, offering tapas and Spanish cuisine, has opened at 1033 MacArthur Boulevard, Mahwah ( 201-962-3310).
Durie Sushi, 540 Durie Road, Closter (201-750-8811); BYO.
Sweet & Flour, 300 Front St, Secaucus has opened featuring custom cakes, cake pops, cupcakes and a variety of desserts (201-552-2678). The bakery delivers throughout NJ and New York and ships cake pops and cookies throughout the US.
CLOSINGS
Maggie Moore’s Pub, Lincoln Park
Please send press releases and restaurant news, including information on staff changes, wine tastings, and cooking classes, to [email protected].