Restaurant News

Today Rosie tells us about Via 45 in Red Bank.

VIA 45, RED BANK
With antique furniture, bookshelves filled with cookbooks, charming pictures on the wall, mismatched tables and tableware, and colorful pitchers on a sideboard, we felt as if we were dining at a friend’s house. Via 45 is charming, the food is fresh tasting, flavorful and enthralling; the service attentive. The handwritten menu changes daily.

A salad with romaine, avocado, bacon, tomato and blue cheese dressing was a refreshing light starter. Meaty mussels were served in a white-wine broth containing chickpeas and slices of garlic—we could not stop dipping our bread into it. Another recommended app was an entrée-size portion (that was shared) of rigatoni pasta with asparagus, crabmeat and cherry tomatoes. Chickpeas found their way into a colorful and beautifully plated vegetarian entrée with sweet, roasted carrots, grilled asparagus, string beans, yellow and green zucchini and a herbed-rice flecked with red pepper. The portion was tremendous and I shared with Lowell, who ordered a tender, crunchy, crusted pork Milanese topped with arugula, onion and cherry tomato salad. For a light entrée opt for the lovely sautéed trout topped with shrimp cooked in olive oil and lemon.


Rigatoni pasta with asparagus, crabmeat and cherry tomatoes.

Desserts were just as distinctive. A raspberry sorbet was cloaked in chocolate and reminded us of a bombe. Tart lemon chiffon pudding with citrus-apple compote was lively, and the accompanying small brownie bite was so chocolaty that we wished it was bigger and not just a bite.

Be sure to check out the bathroom, which is down a long hall lined with mismatched mirrors. There is a Buddha here holding money. I asked co-owner chef Claudette Herring, “Has anyone has ever taken money from the Buddha?” She said, “Some days there is nothing and all of a sudden everyone is putting in dollar bills, probably making wishes. Every so often someone takes the money but I feel that whoever takes it, needs the money.”


Buddha in the bathroom with pennies.

Via 45 is a gem. The dinnerware and furniture may be mismatched but the cuisine is harmonious.


Mussels with chickpeas in a white-wine broth.
Photos courtesy of Lowell Saferstein

Via 45
45 Broad Street
Red Bank
732-450-9945
BYO

DINING DEALS
HAVEN, EDGEWATER

Happy Hour is held in the lounge at Haven Restaurant and Bar, 2 Main St (for GPS, put 45 River Road), Edgewater Harbor, Edgewater (201-943-1900) Monday through Friday from 5 to 7 PM; $5 beers, $6 skinny cocktails, $7 wines by the glass and $9 food specials.

STEAKHOUSE 85, NEW BRUNSWICK

On Sunday nights bottles of wine are half price at Steakhouse 85, 85 Church St, New Brunswick (732-247-8585).
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