By Sally Deering

Chef Dan Latham grew up in Upstate New York and studied cooking at the Culinary Institute of America. He and his wife, Kris, a seasoned pastry chef are the proud owners of Latham House, a handsome restaurant on Marin Boulevard tucked inside the heart of Grove Streetâ€s transportation hub in downtown Jersey City. Their partner is Mike Ryan, a busy and popular Jersey City restaurateur.

Latham House stands out with a beautiful atmosphere of dark woods, white walls, and a long row of gray-marbled tabletops for two that fill the center of the dining room. Beautiful roomy booths with green-tufted banquettes to lean back on come with super-sized windows offering nice views of downtown Jersey City. Off to the right near the kitchen, thereâ€s a bar, and near the bar, thereâ€s a Supper Bell that has an historic place in the Latham family scrapbook.  

‘The bell came from my grandfather, itâ€s the supper bell,” Chef Dan says. “We ring it now and then. We have our own way of doing things.”

Chef Dan has been a Jersey City resident since the late 1980s and he and his wife, Kris, and their daughter live in The Heights. Kris is also the Latham House Pastry Chef and Hostess, running the front of the house, seating guests and making sure everyoneâ€s happy.

“The key to being great is consistency,” Chef Dan says. “I want you to come here every time and say thatâ€s amazing. Consistency is extremely important.”

Running a great restaurant is hard work and long hours, too. Before opening Latham House last July, Chef Dan spent 17 years as Chef for Cornelia Street Café in Greenwich Village. (Thatâ€s where he and Mike Ryan met and decided to partner up at Latham House.)

“I get here at 9 am and leave at midnight,” Chef Dan says. “Kris and I take Sunday night and Monday off. You need to be dedicated. We push ourselves and we listen to our clientele.”

Chef Dan serves American Cuisine, and the menu has influences from his upbringing on the East Coast and Krisâ€s West Coast background

 â€œIts comfort food; big portions,” he says.

Some of the signature dishes are the Cuban Reuben sandwich made with corned beef thatâ€s been cooked for six hours and then smoked another six hours; and served with pickle, mayo/mustard, and spicy slaw on the side with French fries.

“Itâ€s a huge sandwich,” Chef Dan says.

The Chicken Pot Pie and the Thai Bouillabaisse made with seafood in a curry coconut broth are also popular dishes that keep customers coming back.

The menu features appetizers, salads, sandwiches and supper dishes. Appetizers include Maine Crab Cake, Crispy Fried Calamari, Spanish Mussels with chorizo sausage, and French Mussels with bleu cheese, Hummus, and Griddle Cakes & Garlic Shrimp. ($11-$15).  Salads include the Asian Chicken Salad, Seared Salmon with Grains & Greens; and Get Your Greek On (with Shrimp). ($15-$23)

Sandwiches include the Classic Latham House Burger with New York Cheddar; the Latham House Black Bean Burger and the Cuban Reuben. ($14-$18).

Supper dishes feature the Moroccan Spiced Lamb Meatballs, Braised Short Ribs, Herb-Crusted Salmon, Risotto, Thai Bouillabaisse, Cast Iron Mac & Cheese, and Chicken Pot Pie. ($17-$28).

Pastry Chef Kris makes all the desserts like Carrot Cake, German Chocolate Cake, and her signature Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding made with Challah bread.

“We use fresh ingredients; everything is local New Jersey,” Chef Dan says “We use local vendors who deal directly with the farms.”

And hereâ€s the backstory on the Supper Bell: It states on the Latham House website: “Our bell is an original US Navy Ship’s Bell given to Grandpa ‘JC†Latham for his many years of service. The bell had resided over 150 years in Upstate NY in a small town called Bath. The last 10 plus years, it was prominently displayed on our porch in The Heights of Jersey City. We now proudly hang “Bell” in our restaurant, Latham House. Welcome to Latham House.”

“Kris and I are a husband and wife team,” Chef Dan says.

They also rely on Alvin, the Sous Chef.

“He is fantastic,” Chef Dan says.

Customer reviews on Yelp.com are terrific and seem to prove that people are responding to Chef Danâ€s cooking philosophy: “Know what youâ€re eating and love what youâ€re eating.”

If you go

Latham House

299 Marin Blvd, JC

(201) 479-8432

www.lathamhousejc.com

The post FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS Latham House in Downtown Jersey City serves American Fare with a Classy Twist first appeared on River View Observer.

 No Jersey City club had a better name than The Dopeness, a little restaurant and performance venue on Second Street off Newark Ave that served kitschy food and entertainment that ran the gamut from stand-up comedy to jams and slams. Then, suddenly The Dopeness sign came down and a new sign went up for The Citizen. Run by the same team – Anthony Gude and Stephen Schlat – (minus one original partner) The Citizen has what The Dopeness never had:  a liquor license.

Now, visitors who stop by The Citizen can order a Colt 45 and a shot of “Jaimo”, 16-year old Single Malt Scotch, or The Grateful Dead and Moscow Mule – drinks that get squirted into the glass by way of nitro fusion. After one of those you may forget all about The Dopeness and welcome The Citizen with open arms.

“The liquor license was officially granted on Oct. 22^nd and now we have a full bar,” co-owner Gude says, “We have a nice selection of top-shelf drinks and late-night deals that are synonymous with the dive bars in the Village. Weâ€re classy but we serve it all in plastic cups for safety.”

Entertainment-wise, co-owners Gude and Schlat are broadening The Citizenâ€s horizons. The bands Melting Pot and Japanda just played there; and for its Holiday Happy Hour Toy Drive starting at 5 pm on Thurs, Dec. 17, singer GISELLE BELLAS gives a special performance at 8 pm.  (Bring a toy to be donated to the Children’s Specialized Hospital.) On Fri, Dec. 18,

at 9 pm, THE NAKED CITIZEN, an evening featuring the artistry of burlesque takes the stage.

“Our biggest thing before the end of this year is the burlesque show.” Gude says. “We have a film festival potentially coming in and a lot more planned for 2016.”

The burlesque show is a Christmas Cabaret run by The Love Show and NYC Stilts. Performing as a guest star is Satine Sâ€Allumer who is originally from Australia and has toured nationally. There has been a revival of Burlesque since the early 1990â€s, Sâ€Allumer says, and although the art of the striptease is part of her performance, she nor any of the other dancers that will be performing will  go the full Monty There are pasties and G-strings and other adornments that keep the show R-not-X-rated.

.“Burlesque is a fantastic venue for self-expression,” Sâ€Allumer says. “It celebrates all genders, all body types, and all sizes. Itâ€s body positivity.”

Along with the new shows and liquor license, The Citizen boasts new décor, too, sort of a nautical theme like a Retro 1950s-60s pro-citizenship thing, Gude says.

“Weâ€re trying to be Renaissance guys,” Gude says. “We have something really good here.”

THE CITIZEN:

332 Second St, JC

(201) 963-4277

Hours:  Tues-Thurs, 5 pm-Midnight

Fri:  5 pm-2 am; Sat: 5 pm-3 am

For more info visit The Citizen on Facebook.

The post NEW PERSONA- With a New Liquor License and Broader Range of Entertainment – The Dopeness becomes The Citizen first appeared on River View Observer.

 By Sally Deering

 When the Hard Grove Caféâ€s original owner Domenic Santana opened the Jersey City restaurant  on Grove Street in the early 1990s, the neighborhood was not as affluent as it is today and Santana offered locals more of a diner menu where you could get a peanut butter & jelly sandwich for a buck ninety-nine.

Times have changed and the restaurant has changed hands a couple times. In 2005, Evelyn Padin and Carmen Mendiola—two practicing lawyers and Jersey City residents – decided to try their hand at running a restaurant and purchased the Hard Grove Café. They kept on Chef Rafael Valdespino and the trio created a menu of Modern Latin Cuisine that is refined and delicious. Instead of the soupy beans and sticky yellow rice typically found at many local eateries, the Hard Grove Caféâ€s beans are light, the rice is fluffy and both dishes are seasoned gently.

“Carmen is Cuban-American and Iâ€m Puerto Rican and we were looking for something,” Padin says. “When we saw this place, Carmen didnâ€t want it closing down. Like everybody in the neighborhood, weâ€d known Domenic for years. So Carmen said letâ€s give it a go.”

And they did. Similar to how they run their law practices, Padin and Mendiola oversee every detail of the restaurant while working double-duty at their law offices.

“Every place has its checks and balances,” Padin says. “You have to hire the right people.”

The food has to be great, too, Padin says, and Hard Grove Café has definitely raised the bar with a menu that features Starters, Soups, Salads, Sandwiches, Burgers and Entrees. Soups are the Cuban Black Bean and Grandmaâ€s Chicken Soup; salads include the Shrimp, Chicken, Mango-Avocado Salad with cilantro dressing; the Crazy Hemingway Skirt Steak Salad; and the Gloria Estefan Salad of romaine lettuce, sweet plantains, grilled chicken, and melted cheddar cheese with creamy lime & cilantro dressing.

 For entrees, customers can choose Chicken, Beef or Seafood dishes like the Lemon Salsa Chicken; the Herb-Roasted Chicken with Chimmichuri Sauce; the Crispy Fish Tacos;  Seafood Paella; and Ropa Vieja, slowly- braised shredded beef with onions, red and green peppers and Latin herbs. Thereâ€s a vegetarian menu and a kids†menu, too.

“We offer vegetarian dishes with a Latin twist and a kids†menu because no matter how messy they can be, kids are always welcome here,” Padin, who is also the mother of a four year-old, says. “Everything is fresh. When customers sit down, we give chips and salsa, and our salsa is made from scratch every day. We make our own chips fresh every day, too.”

The Cocktail menu features a section of Skinny Drinks all under 200 calories like the Coconut Strawberry Daiquiri. Hard Grove Caféâ€s Signature Drink is the Mojito with Bacardi Rum. This Mojito is refreshingly tasty because the mint is muddled and the lime juice is freshly-squeezed and not a store-bought mix. The drink comes with a real stick of sugar cane and itâ€s likely one of the best Mojitos youâ€ll ever taste.

“We thought how are we going to brand this restaurant? It has to be the Mojitos,†Padin says. “The public knows these Mojitos are banging.”

To spice things up, a salsa band entertains on Friday nights and Hard Grove Café hosts a weekend brunch where for $20 customers can enjoy unlimited Mimosas and Bloody Marys when they purchase an entrée. The thought-process behind Hard Grove Caféâ€s Latin Menu, stellar service and hip atmosphere is to give customers something theyâ€re not going to get somewhere else, Padin says.

“Food has to be original and creative and it has to be sexy,” Padin says. “Ultimately, when youâ€re in the restaurant business itâ€s all about the service. I can go home and cook a burger myself, but I come to a restaurant because I want service.”

If you go:

Hard Grove Café

319 Grove St

Jersey City

201-451-1853

www.hardgrovecafe.com

Open Daily: Mon-Wed, 11 am – 11 pm

Thurs and Fri, 11 am to 1 am

Sat 10 am to 1 am

Sun 10 am to midnight

The post HARD GROVE CAFÉ IN JERSEY CITY RAISES THE BAR first appeared on River View Observer.

River View Observer’s “Best Pick”-  Mini Vacation for an Afternoon or Evening

Your sitting there cool drink in hand, a warm breeze coming off the water, you stop and think for a moment-“Where Am I?” The Jersey Shore, A Caribbean Island and you realize I’m in Historic Jersey City, I’m at Surf City, one of the newest and coolest places to open in JC in a very long time.

If you want waterfront views, outdoor dining, cool cocktails and a place to hang with family and friends -this is the place for you.

Located at 1 Marin Blvd. Jersey City 201-516-6000 http://www.facebook.com/surfcitybar#!/surfcitybar

Check out our  photos of Surf City and look for a restaurant VIEWS feature on Surf City in our print edition of the River View Observer  coming soon.

The post Jersey City’s Surf City -Bringing the Jersey Shore to Our Backyard first appeared on River View Observer.