Creative and affordable food is what you'll find at this relaxed, kid-friendly place in the country.
It may look like a roadhouse, but The Kingwood Tavern is so much more than that. Sure, there are guys in flannel shirts at the bar, but here they are eating fig and goat cheese pizzas ($16)
It's a happily unpredictable place, where you can find fried pickle bar snacks for $4 (they're darn good and crispy/crunchy, too) or the veggie Vietnamese po' boy ($10) as a cheeseburger ($10) alternative, for those who want one. Need another? Chicken and waffles are presented as sliders ($7) that get their gusto from a sriracha maple dip.
Mussels with red Thai curry and coconut broth are among many eclectic offerings at The Kingwood Tavern. The country BLT ($14) puts the emphasis on the B, as in bacon, one pound of it. Thick cut, the bacon teams with bacon aioli (if you can never get enough bacon, this one's for you) along with lettuce and Jersey tomato. And all that is just scratching the surface of the finds to be encountered at this kid-friendly place, where everything is made, smoked or pickled on premises except the fries, chips and "tater tots."
Entrees, such as the chicken seared under a brick ($19), paired with mustard greens and mashed potatoes, offer large portions presented with style.
The restaurant is as unusual as its owner, Ben Rosenthal, who grew up in East Brunswick, which is a long way from rural Kingwood Township in character as well as miles.
He had a vision for what he wanted to do, shared by classically trained chef Peter Van Antwerp, whose resume includes such New Jersey standouts as the Frog and the Peach in New Brunswick and the late lamented Doris and Ed's in Highlands. The chef calls the offerings, "mid-scale tavern food with a creative edge."
"Both of us have been around 'fancy,' but both of us don't want to do fancy," explained Rosenthal.
Here's an example: Brisket ($22), the Saturday special, is smoked in a filing cabinet with charcoal and wood chips in the bottom drawer, and holes drilled in the other drawers to let the smoke come through. (Rosenthal recalled arriving one day to see his files splayed all over and the chef taking possession of the cabinet.)
The meat is served with chipotle molasses barbecue sauce (maybe the chef found that recipe filed under C), a combo that melds with the smokiness for a little kick tempered by sweetness.
Among other daily specials are a pound of prime rib au jus ($25) on Thursdays, served with roasted potatoes and vegetables, and market catch fish ($23) on Fridays. Main courses on the regular menu include a salmon paillard ($22) in a brown butter/caper sauce, balanced by a beet, arugula and orange salad. Hanger steak ($24) elevated by shallots and white wine and surrounded by fries and green beans, is cooked exactly to order.
A salmon paillard, on the regular menu at The Kingwood Tavern, is served over a beet, arugula and orange salad, with brown butter caper sauce. Rosenthal's route to Kingwood was circuitous. After learning how to make wine on the North Fork of Long Island, he became the assistant manager of a winery in Chile, which was, he said, in what undoubtedly is a masterpiece of understatement, "quite an experience."
With mileage as a bartender and restaurant manager, he got involved with the wine and liquor business in New York City, finally running a Brooklyn wine shop. And then he decided to move his family to the country.
When his wife asked what he was going to do there, Rosenthal replied, "I don't know. I'll figure it out."
The space occupies the old Forge and Anvil, before becoming the late unlamented Uncle Scott's Steakhouse, empty for five years. The owner likes "the character of old buildings" and saw the potential of the early 20th century structure on a 2 1/2-acre site suitable for parties and events. A new floor of hexagonal tiles carries out the black and white theme of the interior.
The bar at The Kingwood Tavern. Note the hexagonal floor tiles. That potential still is developing at the tavern, where service can be slow and a little ragged. There are no desserts yet except on Sundays, when you might encounter a fried donut with a nutella banana filling as part of the prix fixe "Grandma's Spaghetti" meal ($20 for adults/kids' portion for $12). Rosenthal plans to offer more desserts, but the place only opened at the end of July and he's doing things step-by-step.
His background in wine and spirits is evident in an interesting arrangement. Under his "bottle program," every wine ordered with a meal goes for $10 more than the suggested retail price. The deal gets better as the bottles get more expensive, because it's a flat mark-up. The tavern gets many of its wines "from small producers ... that most restaurants never even heard of" and Rosenhal has expertise about all of them. If guests want to buy a bottle of wine to take home, he drops the $10 charge and sells it for the suggested retail price.
Cocktails are quite reasonable, starting at $7 for a bloody Mary up to $10 for a black Manhattan made with Bulleit bourbon and Averna herbal liquer.
A few notes: Reservations are taken only for parties of six or more and the building is not wheelchair accessible. And although the restaurant is in Kingwood, its address is Frenchtown, so prospective patrons using GPS should try putting in Frenchtown. It's also noisy, as this kind of spot tends to be, but the variety and quality of food helps make up for that.
The Kingwood Tavern
650 Route 519, Kingwood (use Frenchtown for GPS). 908-777-5000. thekingwoodtavern.com. Hours: 4-9:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 4-10:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. Noon-9 p.m. Sundays. Closed Mondays. (Bar stays open later). 1/2
Cody Kendall may be reached at CodyDine@aim.com. Follow Cody on Twitter@CodyDine. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.