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Cape May The Ebbitt Room Named for the original owners of Cape May’s first hotel, the small, candlelit dining room in the restored Virginia Hotel is an exceptionally pleasant setting for some of the best food in Cape May. In a town where restaurants get noisy and hectic, this remains an oasis of calm and professionalism, one worthy of owner Curtis Bashaw’s aspirations for a small boutique hotel. Elegant in peach and gray, the high-ceilinged room has swagged draperies, crisply linened tables, delicate wine glasses, art deco wall sconces and birds of paradise standing tall in vases on dividers. The tradition of top-notch, progressive American fare continues under executive chef Andrew Carthy, who favors bold dishes ranging from pepper-seared tuna with mushroom vinaigrette to roast duckling with pancetta-cherry sauce. Excellent hot rolls with a crisp crust preceded our appetizers, one an eggplant and gorgonzola crostini with red onion pesto and the other a very zesty caesar salad, both served on black octagonal plates. The roast cornish game hen was heavily herbed and rested on a bed of caramelized vegetables on a parsley-flecked plate, and the filet mignon came with a grilled three-onion salad and roasted potatoes. On another occasion we liked the shrimp margarita, flamed in tequila and served with avocado cream sauce and roasted tomato salsa, and the pan-roasted quail with grapes and green peppercorns. These were accompanied by a medley of zucchini and carrots, and potatoes shaped like mushrooms. For dessert, we enjoyed an upside-down fig cake and pecan-praline cheesecake. Others are a valrhona chocolate cake and crème brûlée. The good wine list leans to the expensive side. Service by young waitresses is graceful, competent and ever so solicitous. And the live music emanating from the piano bar lends a glamorous air. (609) 884-5700 or (800) 732-4236.
www.virginiahotel.com. Entrées, $25 to $37. Dinner nightly, from 5:30.
The
Washington Inn Surrounded by shade trees and colorful banks of impatiens, this historic white building run by brothers David and Michael Craig is considered far and away the best of the larger restaurants in town. Originally a plantation house built in 1840, it contains four elegant dining rooms, including a Victorian garden room and a pretty wicker-filled front veranda done up in pink. Although it offers no lodging, the glamorous and atmospheric establishment has the feeling of an inn. Check out the upstairs ladies’ room, which an innkeeper termed the nicest in the entire state. Beautifully decorated in florals, it has a window seat and fresh flowers on the vanity. Personal touches abound, not the least of which is the beautiful mahogany bar that founder Arthur Craig crafted for the lounge. Executive chef Mimi Wood’s American/continental menu blends the traditional with the more creative. Start with her signature sea scallops wrapped in bacon, or perhaps garlicky escargots with tomato and fennel tapenade or a crab cake with a creamy roasted pepper sauce. For main courses, she might stuff flounder with crab imperial and top it with a brandy-lobster-cream sauce, and pan sear sesame-crusted salmon with ginger-mirin beurre blanc and a dollop of wasabi. A sauté of shrimp and scallops tossed with tomatoes and garlic, served over pepper-speckled linguini, is called Jewel of Provence. The grilled Kansas sirloin might be flavored with cambozola, roasted vidalia onions, cracked pepper and red wine reduction. The rack of lamb, rubbed with olive oil and herbs, is served with a pineapple-mint essence. The menu ends with “romantic international coffees.” Typical desserts are a chocolate mousse tower filled with berries, chocolate lava cake with crème anglaise, grand marnier crème brûlée, strawberry napoleon and lemon-glazed cheesecake with raspberry sauce. The 10,000-bottle wine cellar earns the Wine Spectator Grand Award. More than 300 recipes are published in the fine Washington Inn Cooks for Friends cookbook. (609) 884-5697. Entrées, $21 to $33.
Dinner nightly, 5 to 10, May-October; Wednesday-Sunday 5 to 9, rest of
year. 410
Bank Street A gumbo of New Orleans, Caribbean and French dishes, many grilled over mesquite wood, is the forte of this Key West-style restaurant that consistently ranks as best in town in the annual New Jersey Monthly readers’ poll. The owners’ companion Italian restaurant, Frescos, is next door and some reviewers think it’s even better. Dining is pleasant in the enclosed garden courtyard, surrounded by plants, tiny white lights and Victorian lamps. If you can't eat there, settle for one of the narrow, vine-covered porches or the small, intimate dining rooms done in Caribbean pastel colors inside the restored 1840 carriage house. Owners Steve and Janet Miller are theater-set designers, so both inside and outside are quite dramatic. For appetizers, we passed up the menu's crawfish bisque, oyster stew, crab terrine and blackened sea scallops with rémoulade sauce for excellent specials of seviche and mesquite-grilled quail. After those, both our entrées of blackened red snapper with pecan sauce and yellowfin tuna in Barbadian black bean sauce with a hint of sesame and ginger, served with crisp vegetables and rice pilaf, were almost too much to eat. We had to save room for the key lime pie, which was the real thing. Other favorite entrées include mesquite-grilled mako shark with tamarind-mango sauce, blackened catfish fillet in a lime-jalapeño sauce with bananas and tomatoes, Chilean sea bass creole, cajun shellfish file gumbo, Florida red snapper sautéed in a light provençal sauce, grilled Jamaican filet mignon with twin island sauces and rasta pudding, and rack of lamb with burgundy demi-glace. A French-style roast is offered nightly. For desserts there are chocolate-pecan pie with amaretto purée, triple-chocolate ganache with grand marnier sauce, hazelnut cheesecake with raspberry purée and a Louisiana bread pudding with hot bourbon sauce that's the best around. Service is by knowledgeable waiters attired in tropical shirts and bow ties. With the Key West-like atmosphere and a menu like this, who'd guess that the chef, Henry Sing Cheng, is Chinese? Savants consider him the top chef in town. (609) 884-2127. Entrées, $23.50 to $36.95.
Dinner nightly, 5 to 11, May to mid-October. BYOB. Tisha’s This little waterside prize in the Solarium Building juts out over the ocean beside Convention Hall. Pretty in pink and white to match the glorious sunsets beyond, it seems to be mostly big windows beneath a high ceiling, with close-together tables and a few art and floral accents on the walls. There’s patio dining outside as well. Such is the summery backdrop for some mighty fine fare, as prepared by chef-owner Paul Negro, whose fisherman-father often provides the day’s catch and whose mother, Tisha, persuaded him to open a restaurant in nearby Wildwood before moving into the thick of the Cape May scene. Interestingly, the contemporary American menus change every two weeks. They’re published in booklet form so “you can check your dining date here to see what is offered that evening.” What is offered in the way of three appetizers and eleven entrées from fortnight to fortnight doesn’t seem to be repeated, making for a remarkable repertoire. In addition, several specials are offered nightly. Terrific bread and excellent salads, one caesar and one tossed with balsamic vinegar, come with the entrées. At one visit, we enjoyed pork tenderloin with a dijon-caper cream sauce and clams aglio over penne pasta. An autumn dinner produced grilled lamb chops with mint sauce and grilled duck with raspberry sauce. Tiramisu and an apple crisp with ice cream proved worthy endings and, a nice touch at our first visit, the chef sent out complimentary cordials of frangelico. From smoked salmon parfait to cajun fried oysters, sea scallops sautéed with sambuca to grilled veal chop, profiteroles to strawberry fondue, the choices never fail to impress. Indeed, the guest reviews of local restaurants, as written in one inn’s book at a recent visit, were decidedly mixed from one to the next. There was unanimity on only two: Tisha’s and the Washington Inn received the most glowing reports, with nary a complaint about either. Now that’s high praise. (609) 884-9119. www.tishasfinedining.com. Entrées,
$25 to $31. Dinner nightly, from 5. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday in
off-season and Mid-October to April. BYOB. Daniel's on Broadway Meals here have been likened to dining in a private home, but with a difference. The owner is a fabulous cook, and the house is a beauty. Harry and Kristin Gleason opened it as a restaurant that captivated Cape May with its style, charm and food. Harry said he “wanted a change” after running his family’s restaurant outside Valley Forge, Pa. He built an addition onto the previous kitchen in the oldest rear portion of the handsome yellow Victorian/Colonial house, which dates to the 18th century. Five diminutive dining areas on two floors seat a total of 95 amidst swagged windows, antique chandeliers, ornate six-foot mirrors, and splashy floral arrangements. Well-spaced tables are set with cream cloths, large stemware and shaded oil lamps. Chef Harry offers contemporary American fare, artfully composed and presented. Homemade breads – perhaps poppyseed rolls with onion and garlic and focaccia with herbs and caramelized onions – are paired with butter and an addictive lemon-dill-garlic-cream cheese spread. They stave off hunger as you study the menu. For appetizers, the chef might sear peppered ahi tuna with white miso vinaigrette and ginger-soy drizzle and accompany with a wasabi and pea shoot sticky rice salad. Or he might serve a black truffle, leek and goat cheese tart with creamy leek sauce and white truffle oil. The Jamaican jerk spiced scallop salad is tossed with greens, avocado, mango, jalapeños and creamy champagne-mustard vinaigrette. Signature entrées are grouper Charleston (sautéed with lobster, corn, leeks and plum tomatoes in a lobster-sherry broth), duet of duck (caramelized breast and confit of duck strudel with a red currant and port wine reduction) and filet mignon stuffed with stilton cheese, sauced with shiitake mushrooms in cabernet wine and served with herb-mashed potatoes and seared spinach. Other possibilities range from sesame-crusted mahi mahi with ginger-lime beurre blanc to macadamia-encrusted rack of lamb brushed with dijon, coconut and green curry sauce. Desserts are as delightful to look at as they are to taste. Crème brûlée with a warm cherry compote, frozen grand-marnier soufflé and triple berry napoleon are sure winners. (609) 898-8770. Entrées, $25 to $33. Dinner
nightly, from 5:30. Sunday brunch in season, 11:15 to 1:30. BYOB.
Well-known local chef John Schatz, formerly of the late Restaurant Maureen, took over the restored dining room of the 85-year-old beachfront Macomber Hotel in 2005. The ambitious, now year-round venture consists of two dining rooms with fireplaces, cherry and mahogany furnishings, antique fixtures and silver service. The main room is a stunningly beautiful, high-ceilinged space evocative of the Cape May of the 1930s. It’s cool and summery with white-clothed tables and napkins, a white inlaid-tile ceiling, white crinoline covering the windows and cherrywood-backed chairs that innkeepers advised are the most comfortable in town. The contemporary menu usually begins with the chef’s tuna marinated in teriyaki and lime and served with pickled ginger and wakame. Other possibilities include panko-crusted crab cake with horseradish crème fraîche, tuna and scallop seviche with mango salsa, garlic-roasted shrimp with dark rum-tamarind dipping sauce and foie gras, the presentation of which varies nightly. Lobster salad is the star among the salad offerings. Entrées range from scallops and prawns flavored with sambuca to grilled filet mignon with a red zinfandel demi-glace. Halibut with herb-citrus oil, soy-lacquered duck breast with pomegranate glaze, pesto-crusted rack of lamb and pan-seared elk tenderloin with a ginger-red currant glaze were recent autumn possibilities. Desserts include tiramisu, crème brûlée, ricotta cheese cake and a flourless chocolate Venetian cake with raspberry coulis and sambuca ice cream. (609) 884-8811. www.unionparkdiningroom.com. Entrées,
$23 to $30. Dinner nightly except Wednesday, from 5:30. BYOB. Closed in
January.
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