J. P. PRIME STEAKHOUSE: OPEN IN NORTH WILDWOOD...

October 2006

North Wildwood now has an upscale restaurant and nightclub called J.P. Prime Steakhouse.

Owned by Jon Paul Paxton, J.P. Prime offers a wine list of more than 100 varieties, center cut filet mignon, porterhouse steaks, stuffed veal chops, double pork chops, and seafood specialties. Its décor is sleek and rustic, with oversized seating wrapped in authentic cowhide and branded with the J.P. Prime emblem. It opened in August.

“I wanted to create the kind of place where you don’t have to wear a jacket and tie to enjoy a truly great meal,” says Paxton. “The kind of place I would want to go. Where my Dad would want to go. A great steakhouse appeals to everyone.”

The a la carte dinner menu is served from 5pm to11pm nightly. At 11pm, the steakhouse becomes Prime Time, a late night spot for drinks, dancing, and late night snacking. Dinner entrée prices average $30 to $33.

“We’re bringing high society food to the Wildwood area,” says Frank McMonagle, executive chef of J.P. Prime. “The 18-ounce bone-in rib eye with wild mushroom ragout will be the signature dish, along with my grand marnier glazed diver scallops.”

McMonagle is the former assistant executive chef at the Sands in Atlantic City, and has also cooked at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Philadelphia. “We also plan to introduce tableside service later on,” he adds. JP Prime Steakhouse is located at 206 Olde New Jersey Avenue in North Wildwood. The phone number is (609) 729-4141.

CLASSY CLANCY’S PUB OPENS IN BROOKLAWN

Clancy's Pub, a classy addition to Brooklawn, has opened at the Brooklawn Circle.

Open for lunch, dinner, and late night food, Clancy’s is “like a TGI Friday’s and a PJ Whelihan’s,” says Joanie Taormina, controller of the Pub and its sister Pub in Sewell. “It’s not quite a fine dining restaurant and not quite a neighborhood bar. There’s nothing else like it around here.”

Clancy’s seats 160 and also has an outside patio. There are 28 plasma televisions throughout the handsome bar and dining areas, all done in mahogany with high ceilings. “There’s also a VIP mezzanine, and we’ve kept the original fireplace from when it was Wayne’s Log Cabin Restaurant and Bar,” adds Taormina.

Highlights of the menu, created by chef Michael Pino, are chicken pot pie, corn crab chowder, the crab cake platter, and homestyle meatloaf. Prices are affordable, and families are welcome, says Taormina.

Clancy’s Pub is located at Route 130 South, Brooklawn Circle, in Brooklawn. The phone number is (856) 456-4100.

AUDUBON SOUP REOPENS...

Audubon’s Alphabet Soup, the quirky and cozy French-influenced restaurant with a small plate menu, closed in July after only a few months in business, and has reopened with a nine course BYOB tasting menu on Friday and Saturday nights. The cost for the meal will be $120, gratuity included, and there will be no corkage fee.

Jason Grossberg, a CIAtrained chef, who owns his own catering company and formerly worked at the Union Square Café and Mesa Grill in New York City, plans to do private parties in the space on other nights.

Alphabet Soup is located at 34 W. Merchant St. in Audubon. For more information, call (856) 310-0605.

CARRIAGE HOUSE ADDS HEALTHY ITEMS

One of Cape May’s most popular tourist spots has a new name and new menu. The Twinings Tearoom, located on the grounds of the historic Emlen Physick Estate, is now the Carriage House Tearoom and Café. Chef Denis Bellanger still provides the classic fare for a tea luncheon or afternoon tea, but he’s introduced more hearty dishes to the menu. Joining his freshly baked tea breads, finger sandwiches, homemade soups, and desserts are the cajun turkey club, roast pork wrap, jerk chicken wrap, grilled flank steak salad, and ahi nicoise salad.

Tea luncheon service begins at noon, and afternoon tea starts at 2pm.

The Tearoom also is available for parties or business functions, and menus can be customized for weddings, reunions, parties, or business functions. The Mid- Atlantic Center for the Arts, a not-forprofit organization, owns and operates the Carriage House Tearoom and Café.

All proceeds from the Tearoom operation go to fund activities sponsored by the organization.

The Carriage House Tearoom and Café is located at 1048 Washington Street in Cape May. Reservations are recommended. Call (609) 884-5404 or (800) 275-4278.

CAPTAIN BLACKBONES OPENS AT SITE OF CHURCH...

Captain Blackbones restaurant recently opened at the site of a former church on Broadway in West Cape May. The affordable family restaurant serves hot wings, burgers, hot dogs, cheese-steaks, chicken, french fries, and other side dishes in a fun atmosphere.

The BYOB, which opened this summer, seats about 70, and features a pirate motif throughout. At 5:30 p.m. each evening a pirate visits to entertain families with games, songs, and stories.

Pirate hats are given out when he leaves.

Owners Dan Wesler and James Pointer and their wives aren’t yet sure how many months of the year they’ll be open. Captain Blackbones serves lunch and dinner seven days a week. It’s located at 422 Broadway (the corner of 5th and Broadway) across from Westside Market in West Cape May. The phone number is (609) 898-1555.

SPORTS BAR TO OPEN IN CAMDEN’S HISTORIC SITE...

A 378-seat sports bar will soon open on the ground floor of Camden’s historic Victor Building, owned by Dranoff Properties. The owners of the Victor Pub are Sam Farin and Mike Romano, who also run Sam’s Bar and Grille in Blackwood.

The menu will be similar to Sam’s but more high end. On the menu will be bar food, such as sandwiches, seafood appetizers, and salads, as well as fish platters, Italian fare, and steaks.

Farin and Romano are currently interviewing chefs for their new venture.

The Victor Pub will include 18 plasma televisions, a sleek design, and outdoor dining on Delaware Avenue with a view of the Philadelphia skyline.

Dranoff spent an estimated $60 million rehabbing the former RCA Nipper Building into a gleaming tower of 341 luxury apartments. After opening three years ago, it has a 94 percent occupancy.

Dranoff purchased a liquor license from the city of Camden years ago and sold it to the owners of the Victor Pub for $35,000.

Also in the works at the Victor Building is La Riviera, an upscale Italian restaurant. It’s expected to open soon after the Victor Pub. There are already New England Soup Company and Subway outlets at the building.

FRED AND DORA OPEN IN BORDENTOWN

Fred & Dora’s Kitchen, a casual lunch and dinner spot, recently joined Bordentown’s downtown dining scene. Owned by Chef Erik Zwillinger, Fred & Dora’s lunch fare features quarter pound hot dogs cut down the middle, seared, and topped with cheese sauce, chili, bacon, caramelized onions, and many other offerings on a fresh baguette, and the Mother-of-All-Clubs filled with grilled chicken, quacamole, goat cheese, corn salsa, and bacon on sourdough.

The BYOB’s dinner menu features chicken, beef, and seafood items, including mustard-crusted salmon baked with asparagus and fresh tomatoes and the flank steak sandwich with warm corn salsa and extra virgin olive oil. The restaurant also serves Sunday brunch with unexpected twists on traditional breakfast favorites.

Fred & Dora’s Kitchen is located at 222 Farnsworth Ave. in Bordentown. The phone number is (609) 298-9003.

TOSCANO OPENS IN VILLAGE WALK

More than a year after Misto shut its doors at the Village Walk Shopping Center in Cherry Hill, the Toscano Wood- Fired Grill finally opened in September. The BYOB, owned by Mario Longo, the founder of the Italian Bistro chain and Spaghetti House originator, features brick oven pizza, a firewood grill, and black angus beef in a rustic Tuscan inspired setting.

The new restaurant will lead the entire renovation of the shopping center which will take on a Tuscan theme. Besides his five Italian Bistro restaurants, Longo also owns Toscana Grill & Pizzeria on Bridgeton Pike in Mullica Hill.

Toscano Wood-Fired Grill is located at the Village Walk Shopping Center, 1990 Route 70 East in Cherry Hill.

CHEF’S KITCHEN OWNERS PLAN SECOND LOCATION...

The owners of Chef’s Kitchen, a delightful 26-seat restaurant along the insanely busy Route 70 corridor in Cherry Hill, are working on a new location in the region.

The planned 100-seat eatery along Main Street, Moorestown will feature bistro style fare. The owners, a Russian husband and wife team, Seth and Eve – he’s in the front of the house, she runs the kitchen – are working on the building while they round out the staff for their new venture.

Green Apple Bistro, the projected name for the new restaurant, could be up and running in the fall or early winter.

If the quality of the food and service are close to that of their small, sharply decorated Cherry Hill restaurant, they’ll have a second hit on their hands. On a recent visit, the Filet Mignon, potatoes au gratin and fresh asparagus were delicious, as was the grilled shrimp, Portobello mushrooms and crisp string beans.

Several soups are available daily, and the split pea is not to be missed. Desserts are sweet but not too sweet. The raspberry gelato was a fantastic topper to a wonderful meal.

MIKE CHARLTON AND HIS TEAM OPEN THE CARRIAGE HOUSE

Sometimes you can tell what motivates people simply by looking at them. It’s obvious when you see Mike Charlton, hammer in hand high on a scaffold, that he believes if you want something done correctly, you do it yourself. This is a restaurant mogul who wouldn’t consider sitting behind a desk while someone else is on site realizing his multi-million dollar vision.

The Carriage House located in Galloway is open. The space is reminiscent of Twelve Oaks, but with a scale and grandeur that would leave Aunt Pittypat gasping and in need of the smelling salts. The new banquet facility is luxuriously appointed, offering world class amenities.

Nestled against a lovely copse of trees on Pitney Road, The Carriage House is but the latest facility to open as part of Mr. Charlton’s food and beverage empire. Gourmet Italian Restaurant and Gourmet Liquors, all of which fall under the umbrella of Icon Hospitality, have long been part of the restaurant landscape of Galloway Township. The business community of Atlantic and Cape May Counties has been buzzing about this new venture for nearly a year.

The refined architectural design is the work of Harry Harper and Associates, with Karen Babb as the interior decorator. A state of the art website at the-carriagehouse.com offers online tours of the facility. The facility specializes in weddings and seemingly has left no amenity unrealized. Brides and their parties require pampering, and they will surely get that and more at The Carriage House.

Integral parts of the interior design are twin staircases, which simultaneously offer spectacle and functionality.

Not being particularly adept at putting things together, I was fascinated the day I sneaked a peek inside the facility and saw the staircases lying on their side on the floor. Now seeing them installed and party ready, one can only imagine the dramatic entrances and promenades the staircases will facilitate in the coming years.

Mr. Charlton has named Rich Salerno executive chef of the Carriage House.

Chef Salerno has developed an eclectic menu and has a state of the art kitchen in which to execute it. Kevin Scull, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Icon Hospitality, tells me that though wedding receptions are more likely to resemble extended cocktail hours, the kitchen can produce plates for sit down dinners at the rate of 120 plates every 15 minutes. The carefully selected staff of 75 is poised to meet the needs of their guests, no matter the style of reception.

The Carriage House boasts well appointed patios on the ground and second floors, as well as beautifully landscaped areas suitable for pictures, or for the ceremony itself. Mr. Charlton asserts that one party will never bump against another – a daunting goal. Mr. Charlton has said that the completion of this building brings his organization to the end of a five year growth plan.

Owing to his business acumen, Mr. Charlton has created an atmosphere which will certainly make The Carriage House a popular destination in years to come.

PHILLY’S SMITH AND WOLLENSKY IS A PREPARATION AND SERVICE LETDOWN

The view was Rittenhouse Square, the company grand and the food just ok, eh, whatever, not bad. The Smith and Wollensky steakhouse is a pleasant enough experience, its second floor dining room overlooking the park, its walls covered with plaques with the names of companies and individual customers, its servers and managers interested and informed but disconnected.

We are certain Smith and Wollensky can turn out a terrific meal.

It just didn’t happen for us.

The best part of our meal was the strawberry shortcake, which our server didn’t even tell us about. We saw it on a specials board on the return trip from the washroom facilities. The shortcake was biscuit cakes, fresh strawberries and whipped cream, doled out in a tablespoonful. May I have some more?

Another single tablespoon doled out. Sheesh. At Peter Luger they leave the pitcher of schlag on the table. Peter Luger is the steakhouse in Brooklyn which we judge all other steakhouses against. Is it fair to judge Smith and Wollensky against the best? Sure, why not. Especially since the price was the same and maybe even a little higher.

Our experience began with the server telling us: Here’s what you need to know. We listened. He told us about some steaks available. I asked for the dinner menu. He said I didn’t need it. There were certain steaks available. Delmonico (aka rib eye), sirloins with the bone in, and two porterhouses, but only two in the house. How, I asked myself, could a major steakhouse have only two of its porterhouse steaks in the house? There were five of us, the steakhouse crew (I call us), visitors to steakhouses on a monthly basis. We ordered: both porterhouses, two sirloins with the bone in and a Delmonico.

The verdict? Good, not great.

Maybe not even good. For example, Brian’s bone-in steak appeared to be great quality, had fine marbling and flavor, but had too much chew. That is, it was more tough than is acceptable. Jeff, to my left, had the same steak, but it was more tender. My Delmonico was fine, flavorful, well marbled, nicely textured and served as ordered. The porterhouses were overcooked, a fact relayed by “unshy Joe,” which resulted in an interesting conversation. The waiter agreed that the steaks were not served as ordered, much too well done on one side (I saw it, at least half of the steak thickness was well done) but made no offer to make good in any way. No replacement of the steak. No free drink.

No free dessert. Not surprising in a place that skimps on whipped cream.

That was part of the topic of conversation on the way home. The steaks were described as prime, and tasted as such, but lacked in presentation. They were brought to the table on a rouland table, but the table was off to the side, so any sweeping gesture of entertainment value was lost. And everything seemed a little less than up to temperature. At Ruth’s Chris they come out sizzling.

At Lugers they are served sliced and sauce poured over. Here they are just given. There is no ceremony.

The famous split pea soup was served from a silver container into a bowl, but was not heated enough, so the less than hot tasty good quality glob of green pea soup didn’t have the culinary value it might have otherwise had.

Onion rings were also cooling, not crisp, in fact soggy. Most were left on the plate.

Disappointing. Disappointing.

Who is in charge?

Creamed spinach was very good, mashed potatoes very good, bearnaise sauce good, a little gelatinous.

House salad was good.

The service was good, present, available and friendly. But the overall meal lacked a certain spark brought by a dynamic organization with passionate approach to dining We wondered about all those names on the plaques on the wall. We’re sure they had a better meal.

We would go back for the strawberry shortcake, which was delicious.

But not for the steaks and most of the rest.