James on Main opened in Hackettstown in 2016. Photo courtesy of Bill Van Pelt
At James on Main, the nose perks up the moment you step through the door.
The aroma of the wood-burning stove and oven “polish the flavors,” says Bill Van Pelt, chef/owner of the Hackettstown restaurant—named one of New Jersey Monthly‘s Top 30 restaurants in the August issue. “Sometimes I can’t put my finger on it, but I know people enjoy it.”
Gathering fallen branches or unneeded wood from a local peach farm, Van Pelt gives it new purpose. It fuels all his cooking. He’ll combine velvety chestnut mushrooms, named for their color, with crisp pork belly and mint-like micro shiso leaf and scallions. Brisket with a peppercorn dry rub smokes 16 hours over the peach wood till luscious.
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“The smoke settles into the food, but in a nuanced way,” he says. “It’s not smoky smoky. You’re not sure what’s tweaking the flavor. It just rounds out everything.”
Before he opened James on Main in 2016, Van Pelt worked at Stage Left, in New Brunswick, for a short time. “They had a tiny wood grill,” he relates. “It was a great asset for the kitchen, and it stuck with me. There is almost a terroir of flavor you get with wood. And any sauces or meats that are resting before being served pick up some of the flavors. It’s like wine. Your nose tastes first.”
Van Pelt grew up just outside Hackettstown—“in Independence Township [Warren County], just behind Kash’s Fruit Farm”—in a family that was Italian on his mother’s side. “They were very into food. We’d have big gatherings for the holidays.”
At any gathering, food was central. His maternal grandparents (“Mimi and Pop”) lived in Parsippany, “which was kind of rural then. They had peach trees and apple trees and a big vegetable garden. From the apple trees, we looked forward to apple pie, peach pie from the peach tree.
“It was an Italian neighborhood,” he continues, “so I would have dinner at my grandparents’ house. Then I’d go to the next-door neighbor’s house and have dinner Number Two. Yet I was a skinny kid, always running around. I was on my own little journey, and food caught my attention early.
“I remember salads from the garden. Next door they raised chickens. So we often had chicken for dinner. I’m like five to eight years old, just starting to enjoy flavors and smells and understand different interactions with people.
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“I got a job at Best’s Fruit Farm in Independence, Warren County. My brother worked in the orchard, I worked inside and organized the produce for sale, making displays.”
At James on Main, not everything is smoky. A first course of strawberry salad, from nearby Donaldson Farms, balances the berries with pea tendrils, smoked almonds, shaved coconut and muscat vinegar. GM Kevin Asciutto, who Van Pelt calls “my right hand, my partner,” attends to everyone in the 36 seats. They may soon be busier. “Next year,” Van Pelt says, “we have expansion in our sights.”
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