Four New Jersey Restaurants with Notable Wine Lists

What You Talking About? High-end farm-to-table comes to New Jersey thanks to Manhattan restaurateur Chris Cannon (Marea, Alto, Convivio), who has turned the former 1917 Vail mansion into a culinary hub.
Whatta Dish: Chef Kevin Sippel’s four-course tasting menu ($72) might include scallop crudo (fresh from Barnegat Bay), poached eggs with caviar, dry-aged Long Island duck, and artisanal cheeses.
Hey Wise Guy! Wine dude (a.k.a. sommelier) Charles Prusik’s list includes 50 wines less than $50, and he’s happy to do pairings.

Nicholas
160 Rte. 35 S., Red Bank, 732-345-9977

What You Talking About? Chef Nicholas Harary received the Prix Littéraire de la Gastronomique for his 2009 Nicholas Cookbook. Well, getting all fancy now, are we?
Whatta Dish: Marinated oysters from Cape May, butter-poached Nova Scotia lobster, bourbon-braised suckling pig, and toasted coconut soufflé.
Hey Wise Guy! Break out some bubbly from the dazzling Champagne selection, or choose from the boatload of Château d’Yquem Sauternes, pages of Burgundy, and numerous California cult faves.

Pluckemin Inn
359 Rte. 206 S., Bedminster, 908-658-9292

What You Talking About? Historic Pluckemin Village was good enough for George Washington. Now you can wine and dine at Gloria LaGrassa’s Colonial-style inn.
Whatta Dish: Chef Andrew Lattanzio’s house-made charcuterie and cheeses, spring-vegetable gazpacho, asparagus tagliatelle with wild ramps and morels, and New York strip steak with fairy ring mushrooms.
Hey Wise Guy! Wine? There’s a three-story wine tower with 10,000 bottles! And if you can’t afford Petrus, just order from the wallet-friendly “Plucky 100” list.

What You Talking About? Rather than face Route 23 after a wine-soaked dinner at this golf resort’s world-class restaurant, consider staying the night—and practice chipping in the morning.
Whatta Dish: Chef Anthony Bucco, a New Jersey native and a veteran of top-notch tri-state area restaurants, suggests rabbit roulade with pickled rhubarb, wagyu rib-eye with bone marrow and white asparagus, or lightly smoked Spanish mackerel with English peas.
Hey Wise Guy! Wine director Robby Younes oversees a 135,000-bottle wine collection that includes all 310 of Robert Parker’s 100-point wines. Ba-da-bing!

A version of this article appeared in the April 2015 issue of New York Cottages & Gardens with the headline: Jersey Scores.

This article appears in the April 2015 issue of NYC&G (New York Cottages & Gardens).