New dishes on fall menus in North Jersey
Feeling that slight chill in the air? Noticing orange leaves pop up on trees? Seeing more pears and apples at farmers markets?
You're hardly alone. North Jersey chefs, too, are realizing that fall is about to overtake summer, and that calls for new dishes. "With fall you begin to think a little heartier dishes, more root vegetables, more warm spices, more game meats," said Joseph Cuccia, chef and co-owner of 17 Summer Restaurant in Lodi.
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Hungry for new seasonal food? Here are some of the fall dishes that await food lovers at North Jersey restaurants.
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Ariane Kitchen & Bar, Verona
Likes many chefs, Ariane Duarte, chef and owner of Ariane Kitchen & Bar, is looking forward to the coming season. "It's always exciting when seasons change," she said. After all, most chefs get to change things up, come up with new eats in their kitchens. "Fall flavors are comforting and colorful," Duarte said. For evidence, Duarte need only present her new fall salads: a bright green kale salad dotted with orange-hued butternut squash and sprinkled with vibrant cranberries and spiced walnuts dressed in a sherry shallot vinaigrette; and a bright red beet salad strewn with creamy goat cheese and specked with pomegranate seeds and pistachios dressed in a pomegranate molasses vinaigrette. Both salads cost $12; the beet salad is gluten-free.
Go: 706 Bloomfield Ave.; 973-744-0533, arianekb.com.
Axia, Tenafly
Go ahead, begin your meal at this sleek contemporary Greek restaurant with chef Alex Gorant's delicious traditional Greek spreads — tzatziki, santorini and melitzanosalata (chopped grilled eggplant). Just make sure to leave room for some of the new fall entrees, including roasted quail stuffed with quinoa, butternut squash, Swiss chard and cured beef. And as for the addictive homemade flatbread for the new season? Figs and cured wild boar.
Go: 18 Piermont Road, Tenafly; 201-569-5999, axiataverna.com.
Smoked, Ridgewood
Want some new barbecue this season? This popular eat-in and take-out spot in Ridgewood has added to its autumn menu long-smoked sticky ribs. These are kept in the smoker longer than their other ribs offering, including Smoked's classic ribs, and are caramelized with house-made barbecue sauce (individual portion with 2 sides $14; $29/rack of ribs). Want a salad to go along with that? Consider the fresh beet salad with cinnamon apples, carrots and parsley ($6; serves 2).
Go: 2 Godwin Ave., Ridgewood; 201-447-6653, smoked2go.com.
Ho-Ho-Kus Inn & Tavern, Ho-Ho-Kus
Chef Troy Piegaro has been busy conceiving fall specials for the season. “When I think of fall and the transition of seasons, I always think of roasted squash, combined with the earthiness of mushrooms — they always pair well." Which is why the Inn's house-made ravioli for autumn is stuffed with butternut squash and sport chanterelle and oyster mushrooms in a mushroom butter sauce ($24). And to combat the chill in the air, the Inn is offering a harvest soup packed with autumnal veggies including butternut and acorn squash, kale, Poblano peppers and white beans ($9). "It's a hearty broth-y dish that needs no pureeing to combine flavors," Piegaro said.
Also for the season: grilled pork tenderloin accompanied by butternut squash puree, roasted Brussels sprouts and pumpkin seed and carrot puree ($27).
Go: 1 Franklin Turnpike, Ho-Ho-Kus; 201-445-4115, hohokusinn.com.
Cafe Amici, Wyckoff
Arthur Toufayan, chef and owner of this longtime Italian BYO, is making his popular fall rabbit dish, cooked three ways, once or twice a month as a special. Veal, lamb, pork belly and venison are all finding their way back onto his menu. As an appetizer, he has introduced slow-braised Berkshire pork belly bathed in an apple cider vinaigrette with Dijon potato salad ($12).
As entrees: Angus porterhouse for 2 or, Toufayan said, "one very hungry individual" ($60), and house-made pappardelle with roasted organic cauliflower, organic mushrooms including hen of the woods and royal trumpet topped with fresh shaved truffles ($27).
Go: Cafe Amici, 315 Franklin Ave., Wyckoff; 201-848-0198; cafeamiciwyckoff.com.
Erie Coffeeshop & Bakery, Rutherford
Renee Faris, owner and chef at the popular Erie Coffeeshop & Bakery, loves autumn. "Autumn is so beautiful, especially in the Northeast," she said. "Drinking that first cup of coffee in the morning is so much better on a cool fall day than a hot summer morning." And what to have with that cup of joe?
If it's Sunday, grab an apple-caramel cinnamon roll made with brioche dough and topped with a brown butter frosting ($4.25); the rolls are only available on Sundays. If it's Saturday, consider an apple-spiced doughnut or a cinnamon-sugar doughnut ($3). Want a slice of cake instead? For autumn, Faris is offering an applesauce cake made with house-made applesauce, apple cider caramel and Maldon salt.
And you won't want to miss the chocolate bundt cake topped with candied pumpkin seeds, ganache and coco nibs ($3.75 a slice).
Go: 10 Franklin Place, Rutherford; 201-460-0073, eatdrinkerie.com.
Serenade Restaurant, Chatham
James Laird, executive chef of this contemporary French restaurant, has begun "adding new preparations to reflect the time of year," though he noted that "when it's still in the 80s, people don't want to eat braised cabbage and heavy foods." Right now, he's still working with tomatoes, corn and peaches. Nevertheless, he has started to incorporate into his dishes leafy greens such as escarole, arugula, radicchio and romaine "that are cooler weather crops," he said. He's offering an escarole salad ($14) made with apple cider vinegar, sliced apples, toasted pumpkin seeds, sundried cranberries, roasted butternut squash and a goat cheese fritter.
He has also changed the chicken dish on the menu. Laird braises the leg and thigh in chicken stock and grills the breast. As an accompaniment, he's added gluten-free red lentils combined with cumin-coriander-cilantro spiced roasted vegetables flecked with Brussels sprout leaves and pomegranate seeds. "I knew it was a hit because people were asking for the lentils as a side dish right away," he said.
Go: 6 Roosevelt Ave, Chatham, 973-701-0303; restaurantserenade.com.
BV Tuscany, Teaneck
If you haven't been to BV Tuscany in a while, you're in for a nice surprise. Benny Balidemaj has given his intimate Tuscan restaurant an impressive facelift. While you admire the new look, consider the new fall dishes on the menu: braised short rib ravioli with cherry tomatoes and diced eggplant ($19.95); lamb shank osso buco with orzo and carrots ($26.95), grilled octopus with orzo ($13.95); pork medallion in a light Madeira wine sauce ($26.95); and pumpkin ravioli with brown butter ($18.95). Any of those dishes would go well with most any of the wines on the restaurant's wine menu.
Go: 368 Cedar Lane,Teaneck; 201-287-0404 bvtuscany.com
Kimchi Smoke Barbecue, Westwood and Kimchi Smoke House II, Montclair
Robert Austin Cho, chef and owner of both well-loved Kimchi Smoke locations, has introduced a slew of new fall dishes. Among them: heart of glass noodles, a gluten-free version of Jap Chae, that is sweet potato starched noodles with vegetables and egg ($12); tofu rice bowl featuring steamed tofu over smoked kimchi and Korean slaw with a bourbon chipotle sauce and remoulade ($16); smoked tomato bulgogi salad wilth hickory smoked tomatoes and thinly sliced ribeye over greens dressed in house-made vinaigrette ($16.50); and soy garlic chicken, hickory smoked Goffle Poultry Farm wings with gluten-free sweet and savory glaze ($11.50).
Go: 301 Center Ave. Westwood 201-497-6333; 345 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair 973-744-3900 kimchismoke.com
Zest, Fairfield
It isn't just sit-down restaurants that are changing their menus to reflect the season but even casual smoothie and juice joints are, like Zest, the gluten- and dairy-free spot in Fairfield. Zest has just introduced oatmeal bowls offered in a variety of flavors including chocolate peanut butter and pumpkin spice ($8.50), a cool-weather substitution for its acai bowls. Also for autumn: pumpkin bread ($2.50) and pumpkin spice lattes ($4.50)
Go: 6 Little Falls Road, Fairfield; 973-439-zest (9378), www.zesteats.com.
Esty Street, Park Ridge
You can reserve a table at this fine-dine restaurant and enjoy two new appetizers on its fall menu — lobster salad ($45 for two) and roasted apple salad ($15). Or if you're feeling ambitious, try making the dishes at home. The recipes for both (below) were provided by owner Joachim “Kim” Costagliola.
Go: 86 Spring Valley Road, Park Ridge; 201-307-1515; estystreet.com
Roasted Apple Salad
Courtesy Esty Street, Park Ridge
For the vinaigrette:
1 quart organic apple cider
½ cup pure maple syrup
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
For the salad:
1 medium-sized Pink Lady apple, peeled and cut into 6 equal parts
8 leaves Butterhead lettuce
Handful of baby endive and several radicchio leaves
Candy pecans and Cashel blue cheese (for garnish)
Salt and pepper to taste
Make vinaigrette: Over medium-high heat in a sauce pan, reduce 1 quart of apple cider to 1 cup. Cool and then add maple syrup and Dijon mustard. Slowly incorporate oil olive. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add a touch of oil to a hot sauté pan and brown apple slices.
Arrange Butterhead lettuce leaves on a plate. Add baby endive and radicchio leaves.
Drizzle vinaigrette dressing to taste. Garnish with candy pecans and blue cheese.
Serves: 1
Lobster Salad for Two
Courtesy Esty Street, Park Ridge
1½ pound lobster
For the dressing:
1½ cups extra virgin olive oil
2 ounces each of fresh squeezed orange, grapefruit and lime juice.
Salt and pepper taste
For the salad:
½ cup baby arugula
¼ cup of thinly shaved fennel
3 cooked fingerling potatoes sliced into coins
For garnish:
8 grape tomatoes, sliced in half
8 orange segments
½ avocado, fanned out
2 lemon crowns
Steam lobster in a large steamer. Cool and remove the lobster meat from the shells without damaging the tail of body. Remove claw meat in one piece. Reserve the knuckle meat. Slice the tail meat into medallions and set aside.
Make dressing: slowly incorporate olive oil with the fruit juices. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Make salad: Combine arugula, fennel and potatoes and toss with citrus dressing.
On a large plate, reconstruct the lobster. Top with lobster meat. Garnish with tomatoes, orange segments, avocado and lemon crowns
Serves: 2