What’s Hot: J. P. Prime, Kitchen 233, Sofia’s, Richland, The Manor...

December 2006

Business people posit that if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door. Jon Paxton is betting that hungry residents of Wildwood, New Jersey will beat a path to the door of an upscale steakhouse. J.P. Prime Steakhouse is Paxton’s latest salvo in his quest to rule the dining and entertainment world of Wildwood, and one of several new dining and entertainment options in the region.

Last year Paxton launched Juan Pablo’s Margarita Bar; he seems determined to claim his share of the entertainment dollars spent as Wildwood evolves.

J.P. Prime Steakhouse features the traditional steakhouse fare, but in a rustic setting. After the dinner hours, the restaurant becomes a nightclub with music and dancing into the wee hours. As a Wildwood native, Paxton has seen the community change from sleepy middle class community, and is betting on its transformation to upscale happening hot spot. His construction company is finishing ocean front villas to house the people who frequent his eateries. Paxton says, “Wildwood is becoming a grown up town again; we’re trying to grow up with it.”

While Wildwood looks to the future, Richland in Buena Vista Township is enshrining its past as it restores and refurbishes Main Street. Loaded with turn of the century charm, the town owes its restoration to the vision and organizational skills of Chuck Chiarello, Richland’s mayor. A centerpiece of the restoration is a return of the Cape May Seashore Lines train. Special train trips – including wine seminars - give visitors the opportunity to celebrate the season through the end of the year.

A drive along bucolic Route 40 leading into the heart of Richland is one of the special treats of autumn. Dining options in Richland will soon include The Legacy, now under construction at the eastern end of the village.

The Legacy is owned by Tom Pierce and John Durie, who now operate Casa Dori in Vineland. The former Rumor’s Rib Room has been purchased and will be rebuilt by the owners of The Italian Affair in Glassboro. This season, main streets are the place to be. Haddon Avenue, the main drag in Westmont boasts a noteworthy new boite, Kitchen 233. The culinary director is Christopher Painter, a corporate chef at the P.J.W. Group, Kitchen 233, with a menu and ambiance that is nothing like the stereotypical corporate restaurant. However, the stability of the corporate dime allows Painter to offer his innovative and expertly executed menu at reasonable prices.

This intimate 105 seat restaurant features a comprehensive wine list with an emphasis on French, American and Italian labels. It is unusual for a restaurant this small and reasonably priced to have both a wine director and an in-house pastry chef. But owing to the encouragement of P.J.W. Group, Kitchen 233 has all it needs to succeed financially.

A recent visit to the kitchen confirms that they have all they need to succeed where it is most important – in the kitchen. Painter, who worked five years for the Stephen Starr organization, is a serious and detail-oriented chef, sweating the small stuff in a kitchen. Kitchen 233 is worth a visit; in fact, we encourage you to check it out soon.

Sofia Restaurant in Margate is the quintessential family owned business. Run by Sofia Papastamelos and her twin brother Tom, with their sister Angela, they have developed a menu based in large part on recipes adapted from their mother’s kitchen. Chef Michael Giraldi, formerly of Café Nola in Philadelphia oversees the Old World menu. (Giraldi, incidentally, owned Michael’s in Voorhees where in 1999 Hitzel has claimed to have had one of the best meals of his life; that quality, he reports, was apparent in an entrée of chilean seabass on a recent visit to Sofia.)

The 230 seat restaurant features four working fireplaces that enhance the cozy ambiance. Take advantage of this season’s good weather on the first floor patio. Sofia features live music on the weekend, further encouraging diners to linger long and savor much.

Sofia Restaurant features a treat unique in this area; that rich fragrant Greek coffee is available. In addition to traditional Greek offerings, there is an extensive menu of Mediterranean dishes, exquisitely presented. Having the privilege of seeing the appetizers and entrees and such, is a tantalizing prelude to the actual tasting. The many cuisines of the Mediterranean owe much to artful presentation and freshness. Eye appeal is everything, and the Papastamelos family has obviously taken great care in transporting that commitment to visual excellence to the facility and to the food.

Family owned businesses are not always small mom and pop type concerns. Sometimes, a mogul can maintain the quality of the small in many locations.

The Manor Restaurant in West Orange is just one of four outstanding establishments owned by Harry Knowles. Purchased in 1956, the building has undergone extensive renovation to become the elegant complex we see today. In fact, the Knowles family has three facilities in West Orange; the Highlawn Pavillion, Pleasantdale Chateau and Conference Resort in addition to the Manor. Absecon’s Ram’s Head Inn is the Southern New Jersey Knowles family concern.

Executive chef Michael Weisshaupt is responsible for the contemporary classic French cuisine of The Manor. Classically trained, he has spent the better part of his career in service to the Knowles family establishments. The excellence of the cuisine in The Manor, in fact in all the West Orange establishments, make it well worth the drive up the Parkway.

Readers of these publications are familiar with our delight with the cuisine of executive chef Luigi Baretto of the Ram’s Head Inn, a premier fine dining establishment in this area. When Fred Noyes, the original owner, decided to sell, he specifically selected the Knowles family, owing to their commitment to quality and service that had always been the hallmark of The Ram’s Head Inn.

J. T.’S RESTAURANT TO OPEN IN OCEAN CITY

Joe Terrazzini and his wife, Wendy, plan to open a new restaurant in Ocean City in February of 2007. Tentatively named J.T.’s Restaurant and Coffee Shop, the new spot will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner and will be located at 9th and Asbury on the former site of Casa del Dolce.

“We’ll be open year round, and we will serve a variety of Italian entrees, pizza, and seafood,” says Joe Terrazzini, a native of Ocean City who will also serve as chef. Wendy Terrazzini will be the manager. J.T.’s will seat 40 and will also offer takeout and delivery services. To give harried parents a break, the restaurant will also offer a 10-by-10-ft. play area with toys and televisions to keep tykes happy while their mothers and fathers grab a bite to eat.

The couple has extensive experience in the restaurant business. They have worked in executive dining for the Marriott in Manhattan and at Harrah’s Casino in Las Vegas.

TASTE BUD EATERY OPENS IN MULLICA

The Egg Harbor City area recently welcomed a new family restaurant where the Red Moon Saloon used to be. The Taste Bud Family Restaurant and Bar seats 80 and is open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday. The large menu includes Italian, Mexican, and American entrees ranging in price from $9.95 to $24.95. The chef/owner is Stan Sacco. Joining him in the kitchen are Bruce Dooley, Dennis Stanford, and Robert Stewart. Popular items on the menu are prime rib, surf and turf, broiled seafood combination, and homemade crab cakes and stuffed shrimp.

The Taste Bud Family Restaurant and Bar is located at 5027 White Horse Pike in Mullica Township, just west of Egg Harbor City. The phone number is (609) 965-6665.

ALEXIS AND ROGER BRADFORD OPEN BULLDOG’S AT PAOLI’S SITE...

Alexis and Roger Bradford opened Bulldog’s Bar & Grill October 19th on the site formerly occupied by Paoli’s Tavern along the White Horse Pike in Cologne. Previously, the couple previously was in the restaurant business in Stamford, Conn.

“We gutted the whole place and really opened up the room,” said Alexis. “We seat 96 people and we have nine booths, each with its own TV.”

Bulldog’s has a horseshoeshaped bar and features appetizers, salads, steaks and sandwiches. Food is served until Midnight seven days a week. “And our stromboli is like a home run in the bottom of the ninth,” she added.

“We love the area,” Alexis said. “It’s so much less crowded here and less expensive then Connecticut.’

CULINARY GARDENS OPENED AT SITE OF CONSTANTINI’S IN EGG HARBOR CITY

October 19th was a popular night to open a South Jersey restaurant. That’s also the night that Andrew and Allison Yoa opened Culinary Gardens along St. Louis Avenue in Egg Harbor City. The Yoa’s also own Island Grill in Ocean City.

Culinary Gardens is on the former site of Constantini’s Caterers. For now, the new restaurant is open for dinner, Thursday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Hours of operation might be expanded later.

Culinary Gardens features American cuisine with Mediterranean infusion, and the eatery offers a full bar. “We’ll also be catering banquets, weddings, sports events, and more and we’re restoring beautiful gardens on the grounds,” said Allison.

FIVE GUYS BURGERS OPENS NUMBER THREE

Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries, an award winning midpriced burger joint popular in Virginia and Washington, D.C., is adding a third Southern New Jersey location in January. Five Guys will occupy the space that was formerly the home of Radio Shack in Cherry Hill’s Ellisburg Shopping Center at Route 70 West and Kings Highway.

Five Guys has restaurants along Bethel Road in the Shop-Rite shopping center in Somers Point and along the Black Horse Pike in the Wal-Mart shopping center in Audubon. What Five Guys menu lacks in selection is more than made up for in taste. There are burgers, kosher hot dogs, grilled cheese, a veggie sandwich, fries and drinks. All toppings are free. In a recent tasting, the burger was fresh and juicy.

“We’re a burger joint and we serve the best burgers you can get,” said Robert Silzle, who has franchise rights for the six southern counties of New Jersey, Philadelphia and Bucks, Chester and Montgomery Counties in Pennsylvania. He also owns Five Guys shops at 1527 Chestnut Street in Center City Philadelphia and along Route 202 in Chadds Ford, Pa. Fifty restaurants are planned for the region.

STEPHEN STARR’S CONCEPTS TO APPEAR AT CHERRY HILL MALL

After recently entering the New York City and Atlantic City markets with his successful concept restaurants, Stephen Starr will join the upscale line-up at the Cherry Hill Mall, the first enclosed mall in the United States. That facility will undergo a $100 million makeover by its owner, Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT). The former Strawbridge’s store at the mall will be demolished to build a two level, 144,000 square-foot Nordstrom’s, the leading fashion specialty retailer based in Seattle. It’s expected to be completed by the spring of 2009.

To give upscale shoppers somewhere trendy to eat, the Starr Restaurant Group recently signed a letter of intent with PREIT to bring two of its popular Philadelphia restaurants to the mall, Jones and El Vez. Jones is a kitschy eatery specializing in food like mom used to make, including homey macaroni and cheese and a beef brisket sandwich. El Vez is a hip contemporary Mexican spot that features blood orange margaritas, made-toorder guacamole, and quirky offerings, such as ahi tuna tostadas, carne asada, and adobo rack of lamb.

FAT JACK’S TO OPEN IN WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP

Fat Jack’s BBQ, the winner of the 2006 Philadelphia Magazine’s Best Barbecue for its hickory smoked ribs, is opening a new franchise at the Acme Center at Greentree and Egg Harbor Road in Washington Township in December. The restaurant is also known for its pulled pork, barbecued chicken, and babyback ribs. The casual spot is moderately priced and has two other locations: in Vineland and Clementon.

Ed Hitzel is publisher of Ed Hitzel's Restaurant Magazine as well as Ed Hitzel's Restaurant Newsletter. He is also host of "Table for One" radio show, heard Saturdays from 10 am to 1 pm on Newstalk 1400 WOND. You can access information about Ed Hitzel enterprises at edhitzel.com For more information about Ed Hitzel publications call 609-909-9755.