elements: Princeton, New Jersey

The Privateer

• 1 1/2 oz  Batavia Arrack,
• 3/4 oz  Smith and Cross,
• 1 oz  Velvet Falernum,
• 1/2 oz  Dubonnet rouge, 
• 3/4 oz  fresh lime juice,
• 3  healthy dashes of Angostura bitters.

Shake well  and strain onto fresh ice.  Garnish with  freshly grated nutmeg over the top.                                                                            Photo and recipe courtesy  elements barblog.Mattias Hägglund

Restaurant Review

elements

163 Bayard Lane (Route 206 at Leigh Avenue)

Princeton, New Jersey 08540

609.924.0078 

The drink pictured above was the hook that enticed me into a restaurant in Princeton, a venue I know has been super-busy since it opened. An NPR food show on the radio made me curious: the food experts rated this drink higher than any other found in the Philadelphia area -- high praise, indeed!

Chef and owner Scott Anderson

Chef and owner  Scott Anderson  has also recently won numerous local awards for inventive cooking, and is heading to New Orleans to compete as well. His awards are well deserved if our recent visit is any indication of the norm of the restaurant as a whole. 

elements has a special area for diners interested in ordering a very long tasting menu. The style of the main room is sophisticated and modern. A smaller room upstairs for overflow and meetings hides a giant hidden computer monitor which we got to see on our guided tour at the end of the evening. This tour astounded me since they didn't know I like to write restaurant reviews; they saw me looking into the kitchen and invited me inside the door. Surprisingly warm for an expensive restaurant, non? It's a  very large kitchen; fish and meat prep areas are separate. A well-cooled storage area upstairs holds an awe-inspiring array of wines. Shiny caramel wood ceilings and walls enrich the atmosphere, and impressive windows angle rays of golden sunlight.

elements is a restaurant with an attitude aspiring to old-fashioned excellence in a modern, international package. They want you to enjoy the meal, or else they take the consequences and make it better. 

Interior of elements Princeton, New Jersey

We were offered three choices of waters when we first sat down. After ordering,  a gift of three precious appetizers  arrived on a platter, tastings of fish ceviche and so on, all described in detail by our server. The menu offered a variety of seafood and meats.  My dish seemed to have everything -- including curds and whey! Presentation was careful and decorative in china of varied shapes.

Frequent service proved proud, friendly and caring. I can't  praise the quality  highly enough. And sure enough, off went the crumbs!

Our main course offered a melange of tastes emanating from fresh ingredients and spices. The vegetables were taken fresh from "Frank Muth's" farm to create the "farm to fork" service the restaurant prizes.  

 

elements Restaurant, Princeton, New Jersey

For a better than Manhattan meal in Princeton, elements is the place, especially now  Princeton's favorite old European restaurant Lahiere's is closed. Similar in ambience to Salt Creek Grille, elements has more unique, upscale food and service. The tasting menu with around fifteen dishes in the small dining room sounds overwhelming, but many seem to like it. It also looks like Cut in Beverly Hills.

In conclusion, I would call elements excellent from varied points of view: atmosphere (ambience), service, and food -- taste, quality, and presentation.

A cellphone here (if I dare say so) would be an unwanted interruption to the sybaritic and hedonistic enjoyment of food-tasting at elements. Call them anyway (609.924.0078) or stop by. Best try weekdays, when at least there's a chance of a table. Free parking on site.

Idyllic Frenchtown, New Jersey: Visit Liz Gilbert's "two buttons" And Eat At The "Lovin Oven" Next Door

Lovin Oven, Frenchtown, New Jersey interior, from Josey Miller

While usually I write posts with an international audience in mind, this post will be a review in favor of a wonderful restaurant in Frenchtown, New Jersey. It's a hip, upscale hot spot with flowers and art, and wooden tables and an imaginative menu, partly vegan, with pastries and artisanal breads worthy of greater recognition.

This restaurant has the unusual name, the "Lovin Oven" and I was told to go there by a friend even though it's an hour's drive away. After hearing it shares the building with the Asian artifacts store called "two buttons" owned by the writer of the book "Eat, Pray, Love" now also a movie, Elizabeth Gilbert and her husband, Jose Nunes, I couldn't resist. Trusting this great recommendation and intrigued by the quirky name, I was pleased to finally hear the location of the Gilbert shop, which I had wanted to visit since reading the book.

I definitely recommend the Lovin Oven for sophisticated diners of any age. The scenery of Frenchtown is quaint and accessible, as it is in the other nearby towns of Stockton and Lambertville, some of my favorites in western New Jersey, all situated along the Delaware River. The new address of the  "Lovin Oven" where it has relocated from Milford is in a building with plenty of parking, shared with "two buttons" and a Pilates studio.

Service was friendly, and couldn't have been better. Not for ages have I felt sufficiently inspired to write a restaurant review here, which goes to show how worthy it is of more traffic. It was filled Friday evening, and will likely soon require reservations as they've only recently moved to this new location. After a thorough renovation, the building that used to be an old warehouse now looks unrecognizably different from the view on Google maps.

We enjoyed bruschetta with broccoli, tomatoes and cheese on fresh artisan bread. The tomato soup was very fresh and spicy. For the main course entree, grilled salmon was placed atop Israeli coucous, accompanied by broccoli and carrots. My tortellini had pesto filling and tomato sauce. Dee-licious! We followed these dishes with chocolate chip mint ice cream and Terhune Orchards plum sorbet. What a heavenly taste bouquet.

62 Trenton Avenue, (Route 29) Frenchtown, NJ 08825 - (908) 996-7714 Open Wed-Thu 8am-9pm; Fri-Sat 8am-10pm; Sun 8am-3pm. Wine welcome, byob.

For more information on Frenchtown, you might read a special article in the Washington Post by Josey Miller on July 9, 2010 or see the local magazine, the Frenchtowner.

photo: twobuttons.com

Panera Bread

You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.
- Olin Miller

Panera Bread

My daughters and I love going to have lunch at Panera Bread. It is part of a large chain that here in the Northeast also includes Au Bon Pain. I have really enjoyed lunches there, and have sometimes had dinner there. But lunch is their forte. They also are the place all day long for wonderful sweet snacks with tea and coffee, a Starbucks alternative with more food.

The way they have the "two for one" menu specials is awesome. They offer two of soup, salad, and generous half-sandwiches at a special price. These are great for those days when you want variety with your lunch and great taste. Their food always tastes delicious, and is organized to be ready quickly. It is also great for a fast lunch or dinner meal on the go. Their meals are always ready promptly and are meant to be collected at the front and taken to your table. Panera Bread is also a great choice for relaxed days when you want to sit down with a friend and chat at length.

What I like is the upscale ambiance combined with the great taste of the food at appropriate prices. Like Starbucks, Panera Bread has comfortable armchairs, tables with chairs, booths and high tables, imaginative architectural design and impressive lighting. Some branches, like my favorite one in the Nassau Pavilion outside of Princeton, New Jersey, have both indoor fireplace seatings and outdoor seating areas. It manages to be really welcoming every month of the year.

As far as food options are concerned, they are always mindful of the current diet obsession and were able to find low-carb breads when so challenged a few years back. Low-cal vegetable soup and sandwiches are always good for the diet conscious. They bring back favorite dishes to the menu and wonderful combinations of tasty ingredients.

One of their signature dishes is the soup in a bread bowl. The edible soup bowl can be eaten along with the soup inside. The soup gives a wonderful taste to the bread and gives you a very original meal to remember. It's a fun, light-hearted place to stop and have a cozy, light meal.

The Nassau Street branch in Princeton serves thousands of breakfasts and lunches to the visitors and parents attending Princeton University events. Wonder how the town managed before they arrived only a decade or so ago, although Au Bon Pain (in other towns) dates back decades.

Here is Panera Bread's website:

http://www.panerabread.com/

It is exceptionally helpful, chock-full of recipes and including full nutrition and calorie information on all their "cafe" dishes.

Panera Bread also has an important catering business, that I have made use of from time to time. As a very large, very organized and reliable cafe chain, they fill a niche for the lunch crowd. For a wide-ranging clientele from business to pleasure, Panera Bread has been worthy of its great success in a niche that no other chain can
match. It is a very successful national company that has had a successful stock offering, PNRA.

Tiger Noodles

Tiger Noodles is one of our favorite Princeton restaurants, and one we find ourselves visiting very often. We are definitely 'regulars' and have always been greeted with relentless friendliness and politeness. We love their menu and visit here much more frequently than the other Chinese food establishments in town. It could be the friendly welcome and the excellent food that pulls us in again and again.

Tiger Noodles on Nassau Street has two dining rooms and an outdoor area for dining in the summer months. This is the original, very busy in-town restaurant with a thriving take-out business, very large in reputation. Tiger Noodles also offers take-out for Princeton University students, and have food and tables at outdoor events around Princeton. This is a restaurant of hard-working, loyal employees who are always big on affection. They always remember our family and cheerfully ask about us all, something one might think 'impossible' to find in a place the size of Princeton.

The food is always delicious, and since we often have the same dishes, the staff tend to remember what we want, even to the extent of asking before we place our order, for the soups and scallion pancakes! They also do everything we ask, whether it's asking for an extra bowl of sauce or withholding ice cubes and scallions for my daughter. Generosity prevails in portion size and vegetables, always fresh. Their meat and fish dishes are superbly tasty and pleasingly arrayed in serving platters. Their colorful dishes are amusingly named, "purple action", our secret code for their classic, slow-cooked eggplant dish and "Lover's Nest" creations with mouth-watering beef and chicken. "Creaky chicken", the "Dragon and Phoenix" and the "Happy Family" are all worth trying. Their menu is always reliably delicious and filling.

The owners, Huey Yang et al, have several restaurants in the Princeton area with similar menus in different locations. They have Tiger Noodles, our most frequently visited in town close to the Blue Point Grill (across the street). They also own Ya-Ya Noodles in the Montgomery Shopping Center with a suburban, carpeted and relaxed ambiance which I also love. There are tables for large groups and Asian artifacts, even bubble tea. So you have the choice of one that is frenetic, while always respectful, and the other that is more relaxing. Then there is also a new location on Route 1 with Asian artifacts, with the same wonderfully familiar menu and excellent, attentive and quick service.

Tiger Noodles insists on simple payment by cash, while other locations also accept credit cards. All locations offer easy nearby outdoor parking. Walk-in traffic is fine any day of the week. So often we love this welcoming warm and cozy place to rest and eat, to look around and have fun in a friendly part of the universe.

http://yayanoodles.com/

Lahiere's Restaurant, Princeton, New Jersey Review

Today, I wrote a review of Lahiere's Restaurant, another of my favorite restaurants in Princeton, New Jersey.

This is one of Princeton’s finest restaurants well-located in the middle of town across from the main gate of Princeton University at 5-11 Nassau St. (at Witherspoon St.) (609) 921-2798. With it's prime real estate and nearby parking ramps, this is the restaurant where you are most likely to find V.I.Ps in Princeton. Of course, it will cost you plenty for a nice dinner. But lunch is also a nice time to visit, for a business or somewhat lengthy meal, when the sun filters beautifully through the windows creating a cozy, soothing, restful location and offering a slower pace within a bustling town center.

Along with this convenient, prime location and its’ celebrity-spotting possibilities, you will find a surprisingly comfortable place to relax (if you are not worrying about the bill), with European style ambience, multiple white tablecloths, candles, flowers and fine food. Lahiere’s offers fine wines in very generous glasses (or by the bottle) and has extra rooms upstairs for large, private dinners or tables joined for groups in the various rooms downstairs. Many smaller dining rooms on the main floor add to the charm and intimacy of Lahiere’s. The mirrors and wallpaper, art and nice lighting add a certain relaxed atmosphere that is rare to find in Princeton restaurants.

I have been here often enough over the last twenty-five years to appreciate the reliable continuity of Lahiere’s and hope for more of the same. Menus vary with the seasons, with carefully prepared soups, salads and entrees, side dishes, cheeses and desserts made from the freshest ingredients.

In my view, along with the relaxed ambience and fine food, it is the discreet and attentive service that differentiates Lahiere’s from most of the other, newer restaurants. The staff does not draw attention to themselves but I have not ever found their attention lacking. It tends to happen unobtrusively before it is needed.

Whether you are with one other or with a large group,"rich and famous" or not, Lahiere’s will find a place for you (especially if you reserve ahead weekend nights) and make your dining experience memorable and pleasant. I only hope at some point that the chairs become slightly softer to sit on (maybe it's just me), and that entrees are very, very hot when delivered to table. Being an affectionate, loyal client, one tends to just forgive and enjoy everything, because of the exciting, prime location, management's constant attention to detail, good old-fashioned service, and relaxing ambience. It is probably the restaurant most relied upon by Princeton's elite.

This fairly dress-up dining location, where jackets and ties are not “required” any more, is what most Princetonians consider the finest restaurant in town. Just be sure to be ready for that check.

More information on this fine dining establishment is available on their website, along with some history. http://www.lahieres.com/

SADLY, THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED.

Blue Point Grill

This evening, my family and I met for a dinner at Princeton's best seafood restaurant, the "Blue Point Grill" at 258 Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.A. (609) 921-1211. Widely acknowledged as having the freshest seafood in the area, the owners, our acquaintances, Jack and Carol Morrison, own it and another restaurant in town, the "Witherspoon Grill" along with "Nassau Street Seafood" that sells seafood and produce. We love the sophisticated atmosphere and the chance to meet friends and acquaintances in a very convivial, fashionable corner location with outdoor seating in the warm months, ideal for people watching, as is "Tiger Noodles" across the road. We buy wine at the shop next door, although the "Witherspoon Grill" has its own license in the very center of Princeton. There may be a little wait for a table unless you call ahead Sunday to Thursday. You will want to dress up a little for dinner here!

One of my daughters loves the lobster bisque at the "Blue Point Grill" and has, in the past, ordered two giant bowls for a meal and always craves their soup! My twenty-year old daughter had raw or very lightly grilled wasabi tuna and found it very tasty. The scallops are subtle, and the caesar salad is substantial, well-tossed and moist, and totally delicious. Those appetizers are great. I have had the avocado and crab in the past and love that, too. Then, for the main course, my chilean sea bass was perfect: moist and well-grilled. The main courses are sometimes of paired fish. Impressively, there are fresh fish dishes from the nearby Jersey Shore and from all around the world and the menu is re-typed daily. Optional side dishes are well done, too. Steak and children's dishes are fine. Desserts are always very rich and imaginative, and I prefer fresh fruits.

The "Blue Point Grill" gets caught up in local charitable events of all sorts, so you feel your money is going to go to good causes. They also sometimes have live music outside.

"Blue Point Grill" is located in a cluster of international restaurants to the near east of the university and long-time food joints for students. While it is primarily a fish restaurant, the "Blue Point Grill" has fresher fish than many restaurants beside the ocean I have tried. But students of Princeton University, despite its proximity don't tend to eat there, except with their parents. Parking is on street. Try it next time you visit Princeton for simple, fresh perfect meals.

The "Witherspoon Grill" in downtown Princeton is hot, too, and offers a wide variety of meat dishes with pep and style and a fine bar. It is close to shopping, next to some new condos and parking ramp (amusingly, where a pond used to be) next door on one side and the new Princeton Public Library on the other side. All this, of course, is in the center of Princeton, where you have lots of choices for eating and parking.

http://www.jmgroupprinceton.com/divisions/jmdivision5.html