You are currently browsing all posts tagged with 'natirar'.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 entries.

Bring Me Food

  • Posted on February 6, 2010 at 4:13 pm

“Bring Me Food” is Ninety Acre’s version of a tasting menu, with a twist. Instead of a menu, patrons are presented with a list of ingredients from which the chef will make their dinner. They are simply asked to indicate which ones they would prefer not to eat. Additionally you are seated in the kitchen area instead on the main dining room. Wine pairings are available as well.

We were there last Tuesday, the first night they began doing this, and we were the only ones which meant we essentially had the kitchen space to ourselves. It was a bit hard to resist all the good food that was passing us by as we waited. We realized that they seem to have a separate bar menu, as we saw burgers or sliders and fries and various other tasty tidbits we had never seen on the regular menu. I meant to check it out before we left but completely forgot; hopefully I’ll remember the next time we go in.

We arrived a bit early for our reservation, which wasn’t a problem except the kitchen wasn’t -quite- ready with the cheesy cracker point with Parmesan and assiago cheese that they intend to serve just after folks get seated. After taking a look at the ingredients, the Husband opted for no mushrooms or tomatoes, and I said no to the fresh from the chicken eggs. I also now know to let them know that I don’t want a cheese course, either. But we’ll get there.

The first course for the Husband was an egg with bacon and parsnip mousse with, I believe, a vinegar essence, all served in the egg shell. The kitchen was kind enough to bring out two orders, just in case I wanted to try it. I did, and it was delicious, but bacon and eggs are not my thing. Instead they had sent out a beet and blood orange salad on an endive leaf which was tangy and tasty and delicious.

Next course was Barnagate scallops with Hawaiian gold pineapple, cilantro, and piquillo peppers, served cold in a broth that seemed to be essentially pineapple juice with ribbons of cilantro.  Generally the Husband doesn’t like scallops that are not seared but these were fantastic! Definitely not a combination I would have thought of, but it worked remarkably well. Although David is a huge proponent of farm-to-table, and locally sourced and sustainable, he said the pineapple was one of his few exceptions, and it was in peak season. He was right, this was an outstandingly fresh and clean tasking course.

Pan roasted tile fish came next, served with a Serrano ham and saffron broth with mezzaluna greens.  The skin was perfectly crisp and the parsnip puree it was served with was a creamy counterpoint. I didn’t have any issues with the texture of the fish, but the Husband’s was possibly a bit underdone for him. (For reference, he prefers his salmon cooked through as well, and we’ve learned to specify that.)

Griggstown pheasant with spinach gnocchi and black trumpet mushrooms. Swoon. Yum. I don’t know if either of us has had pheasant before but this was delicious. Skin on sliced breast, and then it seemed like some of the dark meat was cubed with the mushrooms. I gave the Husband gnocchi, he gave me mushrooms. It works.

Cheese course was Valley Shepherd nettlesome cheese served with quince. The quince was tasty. I had a nibble of the cheese and it wasn’t really too my liking but then again most cheeses are not.The Husband seemed to like it though.

Dessert was a cranberry orange napoleon with orange zabaglione, tuille, apple compote and candied cranberries. Wow. Just wow.  I want one now. One of my favorite desserts has always been a zabaglione and some fruit and a cookie. I used to get it at the Stage House in place of a cheese course and it was always something I looked forward to. The orange zabaglione was incredible.

Finally, there we were presented with two mini (but not too mini, mind you) ice cream sandwiches with vanilla ice cream and orange chocolate chip cookies.

David had messed up his back pretty badly the previous Friday, but managed to drag himself in for opening night. I almost felt badly that we were the only ones there; it hardly seemed worth it for him.  But he himself said they were still working some things out and was glad to be able to try it out on some friends first. We certainly couldn’t tell that they had issues to work out. Once we were back on schedule (we did show up 20 minutes early) things were quite smooth and nicely paced.

He’s quite justified in having the faith that he does in his staff, many of whom came with him from his previous kitchen. We had been there the Friday night he was injured, and had we not been told that he was not in the kitchen, there was no way to tell in comparison with our previous visits.  The quality of the food being turned out was just as high and, at least from our limited vantage, the kitchen seemed to run smoothly.

They start doing brunch in a couple of weeks, and we can’t wait for that as well. But we’ll definitely be back to the kitchen as soon as we can for more Bring Me Food.

Continue reading Bring Me Food »

Care to leave a comment? »

second visit to ninety acres

  • Posted on December 20, 2009 at 11:43 am

We were finally able to get back to Ninety Acres tonight, though it certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying. Every time we’d called they could only get us in after 9, and I just can’t eat dinner that late. (Granted, I was usually calling the same day, or at most the day before.) For Friday, I was able to get us a table at 5:30 so I worked from home for the day. It was totally worth it, once again. The menu was fundamentally the same, which was not surprising since they’ve been open less than a month. As luck would have it, the same friend who joined us last time was able to join us again.

Our drink for the evening was once again the “Fall Back” and it was just as tasty as they had been the last time. At least the first round was; the third round was a little more potent, without the subtleties that the first had. Or maybe my tongue was drunk by then, a distinct possibility.

We shared the pumpkin and kale pizza again. It was a little more well done than it had been last time, which was not necessarily a bad thing- though I did manage to snag the least crispy slice when it was first put down. Tonight I needed to start with something hearty and substantive, but I wanted to try something other than the delicious soup which I got last time, so I got a half order of the wild boar pasta, with pine nuts and guanciale. For a half order, it was a rather substantial portion. Once again, David and the kitchen did an outstanding job. The pasta (not quite ziti) was of the perfect texture. It wasn’t a tomato sauce, it seemed to be just the meats and their juices, and some slivers of cheese it was topped with. Even the Husband, who’s never really big on pasta- or game meats- enjoyed it so much he finished my portion! We both went after the leftover sauce with some bread. The Husband was unable to resist the poached egg again, and once again returned a plate that looked like it had been licked clean.

For entrees, I had the duck breast which was just phenomenal, probably the best duck I’ve ever had. As the Husband commented in his blog, the texture was just perfect, without any of the chewiness that can often accompany duck. Or lamb, for that matter, which is what our friend had and it too was just outstanding. Again, perfectly cooked with magnificent texture. The Husband had the Chatham cod which was the lightest entree of the night and still delightful and perfectly executed.

For dessert, the gingerbread panna cotta was declared perfect and light, just the way to top off the meal. The “pie of the day” was a S’mores pie, graham cracker crust, chocolate mousse, marshmallow topping which seemed toasted to order as it came out smelling like the perfect toasted marshmallow. The Husband had the espresso donuts that I’d gotten last time. We also ordered their “assorted sweets and treats” to take home and will have that for a snack later today once the snow comes, I think. Once again we left absolutely stuffed, having eaten and drank ourselves deliciously silly.

As is unfortunately all too typical in our early visits to a restaurant, until we figure out which are the best seats for us, we had to change tables between the appetizers and entrees. The table at which we had been seated was in a row of two-tops fairly close together. Unfortunately, when they finally seated someone next to us, the lady was wearing a substantial amount of a rather pungent perfume. Dinner with a face mask is not really a fun option, so the Husband escaped to the front desk and was able to arrange with our gracious hosts to switch tables to a lovely four-top across the room.  Whew!

It’s certainly helpful that even at a new restaurant, we know much of the management for many years. They know if we are asking to move, that we’re not being difficult, that it’s a real need where otherwise we have to get everything wrapped up to go.

I wonder if they’ll let us make a standing reservation once they have the tables for “Bring Me Food” in the kitchen area. THAT would just rock.

So far they seem to be doing incredibly well and I hope they continue to do so.

Soon, the cooking school. I need to see what classes they’ve got scheduled there. I’m not sure I could handle a whole day in a kitchen like Scott’s doing at Elements, certainly not during the winter, but a class for a few hours, especially with chairs around, I can hack that.

Continue reading second visit to ninety acres »

Care to leave a comment? »

ninety acres at Natirar

  • Posted on December 6, 2009 at 11:41 pm

Ninety acres is the name of the restaurant at Natirar, the new resort in Peapack-Gladstone being opened by Richard Branson. Ninety acres is also the new home for Chef David Felton, formerly of the Pluckemin Inn. It’s also the site of the newest Viking Cooking School locations. They opened this past Tuesday and we managed to get ourselves a reservation for Friday night. Once they open the spa there, I may never leave. I was home from work that day, and figured it would be the perfect opportunity, as we could get there early (and it sounded like a good reward for getting through two doctors appointments in one day). We invited a dear friend to join us and despite my running late, we managed to get out and find our way to the estate then wind our way up the road to the restaurant.  I imagine it must be breathtaking with the snow we got yesterday, as it was certainly magnificent when we were there.

The space is interesting. We were seated at a corner table at the back of the banquette near the kitchen. This was just fine for us, as it was as out of the way as it seemed you could get in that room. As it got more crowded the volume increased; it can get fairly loud. It’s also fairly dark in spots. Our table was just fine but the table next to us needed to use the candle to look at the wine list. The tables are fairly close together. It definitely does not have the same white tablecloth romantic ambiance as the Plucky does.

To start I had the butternut squash soup with roasted brussel sprouts. The Husband had both the hamachi and the poached egg appetizer with toast and bacon. Our friend had the butternut squash soup as well as the endive and arugula salad. For mains the Husband had the “farmer’s plate” of the day which was ale battered fish and chips. I love David’s french fries, they really are some of the best and most addictive I’ve ever had. I had scallops which were lightly seared and fabulous. I can’t recall what our friend had but it was meat and she said it was delicious and took home the leftovers. We also got a side of their mushrooms with polenta which were outstanding! For dessert they both got the ice cream sampler which was vanilla, egg nog and peppermint. I only tasted the peppermint but it was delicious with an amazingly creamy texture. I had the espresso donuts for dessert and this was probably the best chocolate dessert I’ve had in a long time. It was not too overwhelmingly sweet or chocolaty, but had just the perfect flavor. The chocolate sauce on the side was just enough to bring it over the top.

David also brought us a pizza (on the house) when they brought our first course- ricotta, pumpkin and kale and it was declared delicious by all of us and devoured, and I usually don’t like ricotta.

They offered house filtered water, either still or sparkling, for free which was a nice touch, and they left the carafe on the table. They had a short specialty cocktail list with all house infused or flavored items. Our drink for the evening was called the “Fall Back” and it was cider and rum and maple and oj and the thinnest strips of orange rind and it was really really good. I think I had three of them.The breadbasket is three different kinds of bread, olive, french baguette and something else as well as homemade crackers.

Needless to say by the time we were done, we were done. The bill was very reasonable for all that we got, and everything was just outstanding. Service was professional and friendly, knowledgeable and eager to please.

There are two things that we’re looking forward to. The first is brunch come spring time. The second is “bring me food,” David’s version of omakase or a tasting menu of indeterminate length. The idea is to start with five courses for a certain price and then expand from there. They’re also supposed to have outdoor seating come spring and even now have a couple of tremendous fire pits out back where you can sit. They also have space for the Viking Cooking School and will do other classes as well. Oh, lordy, this is gonna be fun!

Full disclosure: We know Chef David Felton from the Pluckeminn Inn as well as some of the staff, though not our waiter Jeff. Additionally, dining room manager Richard Spaulding we know from Restaurant David Drake as well as the Stage House before that. Considering it was their opening Friday night, we were just blown away when David came out with that pizza for us. They were having their first party in the downstairs kitchen that night and had just gotten the equipment delivered only a couple of hours before!

I can’t wait to go back. We’re already talking about booking the smallest private dining area for mother’s day this year.

Medical update behind the cut

Continue reading ninety acres at Natirar »

Care to leave a comment? »