Top "Down the Shore"
Top "Inn Dining"
Top "Service" "superb" "imaginative" prix fixe dinner and excellent service
-Zagat NJ Restaurant Survey
"a real find"-New York Times
"a haven of fine food, elegant atmosphere and continental charm."
-The Press of Atlantic City
Best Romantic-Atlantic City Magazine
Best Undiscovered-New Jersey Monthly
-The Courier
Post
-New Jersey
Monthly
-NJ Corporate
Connoisseur
- Cuisine-Asbury Park
Press
-The Press of Atlantic
City
Green Gables Inn And Restaurant Earns
From Dining Out
by Valerie Sinclair and Anthony Giglio
New Jersey Monthly
Grand Hotels
New Jersey hotels host some of the most elegant restaurants in the state. Here are four you don't want to miss.
In Europe and in many major cities in America, the best restaurants are frequently housed in hotels. You could say that this is becoming the case here in our state. The hotel restaurants we feature this month are worth a visit, and you might even want to make a weekend out of it.
Green Gables Inn
And Restaurant
Beach Haven
Food: Italian-influenced American
Ambience: Quaint Victorian Inn
Service: Warm and professional
Wine List: BYOB
Price Value: Worth every penny
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Practically every meal I've eaten at the Green Gables has been a serene, truly satisfying experience. This tiny Victorian Inn not far from the beach is a culinary oasis, run by a bohemian Italian couple, Rita and Adolfo de'Martino. If you are a guest at one of the Inn's six cozy rooms, prepare for an intense gastronomic journey. You'll receive a complimentary breakfast consisting of Adolfo's home-made English scones and Italian bomboloni, which are like cream-filled zeppole but much lighter. For lunch, there's an a la carte menu that's absolutely wonderful. Try the excellent grilled Portobello mushroom sandwich stuffed with red and yellow peppers, onion confit, and Montrachet cheese, or the Piadina-a flatbread sandwich filled with prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato, and arugula. All of the dishes arrive piled high with fried root vegetable chips and mixed baby greens.
The high drama, though, occurs at dinner. Be warned that this European luxury does not come cheap ($150 prix fixe for two without wine), and reservations are mandatory. Adolfo, a true culinary artist who has no formal training, shops every morning for the freshest ingredients for the daily-changing menu. You'll be asked by the reservationist whether you have any food allergies or dislikes. After that, you're in Adolfo's capable hands. The five-course menu is always a welcome surprise.
If it's summertime, you can dine alfresco, but I prefer the tearoom, which has full-length glass doors that are thrown open when weather permits, allowing a beautiful ocean breeze to sweep through. All of the dining areas are candlelit, the flowers are beautifully appointed, and classical music plays ever so lightly. To add to the experience, your not given a menu, so unless you spy on another table, you have no idea what's coming. One night, we were served froth-filled coffee cups containing the chef's signature Chervil Cappuccino. The cream dome concealed tiny quenelles stuffed with wild game and a spritz of lemongrass. Another evening, a clear glass bowl arrived with the lightest lobster soup I've ever tasted. The chunks of fresh lobster meat were afloat in a lobster essence surrounded by julienne carrots and celery and a hint of Thai oil.
During the summer, the second course is usually a wonderful salad, perhaps tossed with fresh scallops or squid. In the winter months, Adolfo prepares pasta, like butternut-squash gnocchi dressed with a rosemary-infused butter and served in a Parmigiano-Reggiano "basket" made by melting the cheese on a griddle, then molding it over a bowl. A crispy piece of roast halibut with a miniature "turban" of Provencale ratatouille was dressed in a syrupy-sweet sauce of red wine and tawny port, a wonderful contrast. The grilled Petaluma duck was cooked medium-rare and fanned out over a mousse made with sweet-potato-and-orange-distilled honey. It was accompanied by purple potato gaufrettes, duck essence, and fresh marjoram.
One cold winter night, Adolfo called dessert "a study to celebrate the end of the season for plums." What arrived at the table was a mille-feuille filled with black plums fermented in Armagnac, a sun-dried-plum sorbet, and a spectacular as it sounds. -A.G.
212 Centre Street, Beach Haven, (609-492-3553). (fax: 609-492-2507)
Lunch: daily, 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Dinner: daily, 6 and 8:30 PM seatings, Wheelchair access easy. American Express, Discover, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa. Dinner for two is $150.
Courier-Post
Eating Out
with Alonzo Gristle and friends
Restaurant without a Menu
By Alonzo Gristle
For the Courier-Post
"You should have told them I detest liver," Mater huffs. "You know I can't stand the stuff." We are en-route to Long Beach Island, to a restaurant without a menu.
"A shocking oversight," I confess. "But don't worry, Mater. What are the odds they would be serving liver tonight?"
As I park the car in front of the Green Gables Restaurant & Inn in Beach Haven, I mumble a silent prayer that pate is not on this evening's bill of fare. It is the patron's duty to inform the staff of any food allergies or dislikes when booking the reservation.
You see, they do things in a delightfully different fashion at the Green Gables. Chef and owner Adolfo de Martino decides what he will serve each day. He knows precisely how much food to prepare because patrons must reserve a spot at one of the restaurant's two evening seatings - and seal the deal by providing a credit card number.
I am, in effect, entrusting my exquisite palate - as well as dear Mater - to the chef.
We don't have to choose what to eat at the Green Gables, but on this summer Saturday we have the delicious dilemma of deciding where to sit.
Shall we retire to the veranda, a funky Victorian decked out in Crayon-bright colors? Ah, it is a touch too cool.
What of the formal dining rooms furnished in lovely antiques? Ah, that seems a bit too warm, better suited to an Autumn repast.
And how about the little room reminiscent of a sun porch, its walls and ceiling upholstered in exuberant floral fabric? Ah, this is just right.
Mater and I sit at a circular table of glass and rattan as our congenial server brings the first course. It is a clear tomato consomme with Thai oil and a lemon grass infusion. Dotting the fragrant broth are crisp, confetti-bright vegetables - green peas, fava beans, red pepper, fennel, zucchini, yellow squash and a pearl onion.
The presentation is equally spectacular. The octagonal glass bowl arrives on a big purple plate, a reed of lemon grass on the side.
"You're not supposed to eat the lemon grass, Alonzo," Mater whispers.
"Mater!" I reply, "Really!"
The second course is a stupendous salad, served in a huge clam shell. The creatively extravagant blend: glorious hunks of lobster with bits of peach, cantaloupe and mango atop a green bed of frise, fennel, watercress and mint. The dressing is an achingly fresh, citrus-mint vinaigrette.
On course three, Mater and I part ways. She is, as I earlier alerted the staff, allergic to eggs. She contents herself with a creamy risotto in a nifty basket constructed from crisp, woven Parmesan cheese.
I wish Mater also could have tasted the dense and delicate butternut squash gnocchi dressed up with a velvety green ribbon of asparagus sauce.
The fourth course is a breathtaking display, the chef's interpretation of a Napoleon. A piquant tart of eggplant and portabella mushroom is topped with three lavish layers - a juicy, firm-fleshed filet of sea bass, a crispy circlet of Yukon-gold potato and an artichoke ragout. A spear - actually a cornbread stick - holds the creation together. It is bordered by two reductions, one a heavenly squiggle of squab and juniper, the other of bass and ginger.
"is everything to your liking, Mater dear?" I ask.
"Why, uh, yes!" Mater beams.
Dessert is mercifully light. I nibble a hazelnut and vanilla basket filled with papaya, mango and strawberry topped with creme anglaise. Mater enjoys and egg-free parfait-refreshing layers of tropical fruits and sorbet.
The tab for two, including tax and tip, is a flat rate of $147.50. Bring your own spirits; the Green Gables has no liquor license. Service is leisurely, unobtrusive and informative.
A priceless bonus: Pleasing Mater!
Join Alonzo Gristle or one of his dining out friends - All Dente, Chardonnay Winecorque and Aida Grub - every Wednesday in Taste.
Food
Service
Ambiance Hip Victorian
Cost For Two (includes tax & service) $142.00
Owner: Rita and Adolfo de Martino
Menu: Creative continental
Credit Cards: All major
Reservations: Required
Hours: Seating at 6 and 8:30 p.m. in summer, seven days a week; winter hours: 7p.m. seating on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Open other nights by request.
Seating: 65
Non-Smoking section: Yes
Handicapped facilities: Yes
Alcohol: No
Parking: On street
