Please leave Comment for Tim’s Menu, Food, Service and overall Experience
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“American Fare”
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AMERICAN FARE (Maplewood) †††
M
175 Maplewood Ave. (Between Baker St. & Hyland Pl.), 973-763-4005
Make a rezie at this on-the-rise, mid-priced, New American in the middle
of Maplewood’s shopping district; try Chef Tim Fornero’s goat Cheese
strudel with balsamic Chipotle sauce or opt for grilled porterhouse of
pork; N.B. chocolate soufflé makes for a fantastic finish.
To Whom It May Concern,
I have known Timothy Fornero as one of my closest personal friends for the better part of thirty years. It is not a stretch to say that we are family!
Our working relationship began to flourish in the early 1990’s as Tim took over the role of Head Chef at a Manhattan restaurant, Felix. Not only was Felix a popular Soho meeting place, it remained so primarily because of Tim’s great French Bistro menu. Away from Felix, Tim began handling personal catering services for me and my family in New York and New Jersey.
Tim’s ambition to open his own restaurant took him out of the city to Maplewood, NJ with a great BYO bistro named American Fare, in Maplewood, NJ. The restaurant was conveniently located near my hometown of Short Hills, NJ. and drew a very loyal clientele. Again, Tim always made time for catering events both large and small for me in his “spare” time.
Subsequently, Tim opened Tavern 344, there he was able to serve a more diverse client base, expand his menu and handle larger on-site catering services.
Tim has an impeccable reputation in his business life as well as in his personal life, and I believe he would be a welcomed addition to any organization lucky enough to have someone of his skill and expertise.
If there are any questions, my contact information is listed below.
Sincerely,
Kevin C. O’Connor
Managing Director
SecondMarket
26 Broadway, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10004
Cell: 646-325-3844
ESTAURANTS; Americana
By FRAN SCHUMER/NY Times
Published: March 22, 1998
MAPLEWOOD— SOMETHING great is about to happ
''I'm coming back,'' my companion said after finishing the last soupy spoonful.
Many people do return to American Fare, and for obvious reasons. The small kitchen supplies contemporary American dishes in a setting that is low-key yet festive. If they have a baby-sitter and a bottle of wine (American Fare does not have a liquor license), food-conscious residents of Maplewood are assured of a satisfying evening.
The owners, Stephen Van Note and Timothy Fornero, couldn't have picked a more accommodating town (and theirs is just one of many restaurants that have opened here recently). Maplewood has not only what real-estate agents call ''real charm,'' but also the kind of customers whom young chefs streaming out of culinary institutes dream about: people whose major extracurricular activity is food, whatever their budget. Give them great risotto or tuna, and they will come.
Tucked among shops that sell cheese, wine and the lamp in last week's Pottery Barn catalogue, American Fare looks like a thrift shop from the outside, thanks to the coat rack in the front window. Still, the room is warm. Real jazz, as opposed to Kenny G., is piped in over the sound system, and candles glow. By day, acoustical tiles and Home Depot-style fixtures dress down the atmosphere, but by night, the air hums. We all seem so happy to be here.
The local Italian restaurant near my house gets its bread from Dominick's in Hoboken, so it's hard to be impressed with the ordinary variety in this basket. Still, you don't complain because the servers are first-rate and the menu is a compendium of currently best-selling foods: oyster mushrooms, goat cheese with endive and the baby field greens that have become as ubiquitous as café latte. Even more impressive is the range available. You can eat meat loaf; you can eat frogs' legs, and at reasonable prices. (An ounce of American paddlefish caviar, for example, is $22.)
Start with the best of the appetizers, sautéed oyster mushrooms served over mashed potatoes. The accompanying port wine demi-glace and the satiny, wine-soaked mushrooms lend a Continental air to the potatoes, but the appeal of the dish is undeniably American. After countless forkfuls, one of my companions said, ''This is like scraping the roasting pan on Thanksgiving.''
The homemade pheasant sausage, which is equally lush, is distinguished by three interesting sauces: a lively compote of lingonberries, a sorrel puree that is strong but not nasty, and a cheese-and-beer sauce as hale as its principle ingredients.
Baby field greens, here and everywhere, don't have much flavor by the time they show up in restaurant salads. This version, sprinkled with pea shoots, is only mildly aided by its dressing of walnut oil and balsamic vinegar. The bitter-greens bisque, on the other hand, is the essence of salad, its bite and pungency brightened by sweet Madeira. The steamed mussels are hard to disengage from their shells, but the sauce accompanying them, spiked with wine and Dijon mustard and brightened by an anise-flavor liqueur, has charisma and not too much oil.
Main courses sound equally appealing and the list is broad; the simple ones, however, are the most successful. A sautéed tuna served over cranberry couscous as a special was moist and rare, but not raw. The rack of lamb, another special, was rosy, with a beautiful Dijon mustard coating. The person who ordered it frequently visits his wife's stepfather's sheep farm in Sussex, England, and even he praised the lamb as unusually tender (although he insists that no lamb raised in America is ever as rich and flavorful as lamb abroad).
Barbara Figeroa's sea scallops, a light supper of stir-fried vegetables and rice noodles, is marred by rubbery scallops; the cod is dull in spite of surrounding side dishes like potato gratin and horseradish chips beneath a mustard sauce. The maple- and chili-glazed Long Island duck, on the other hand, is a perfect combination of crisp skin and moist meat. Another popular entree the single potato-stuffed raviolo, is slightly hard to handle -- it's so slippery -- but it is flavorful. The problem with the raviolo and many other entrees is the odd choice of accessory, in this case, crab cakes, one more mushy frill the dish doesn't need.
A restaurant that prides itself on its Americana should produce a first-rate pumpkin pie, and American Fare does -- with homemade cinnamon whipped cream. The tart Tatin has mushy apples; the miniature chocolate souffle needs air and a stronger, richer chocolate. As for that other adopted American passion, ''I alone will defend the creme brulee,'' a customer told me in an E-mail message after visiting the restaurant. ''It wasn't the best I've ever had, but I must admit that the worst one I ever had, I loved.''
American Fare
175 Maplewood Avenue, Maplewood
(973) 763-4005
VERY GOOD
December 26, 2003 –
I thoroughly enjoyed my two visits to Formerly the French Hill Inn, and a lot of the credit goes to the staff. Warm, welcoming, and eager to please, multiple servers cheerfully worked as an eagle eyed tag-team to be sure we never wanted for anything. It’s an innovative approach to service and it worked surprisingly well. Kudos to co-owners Steve Van Note and Tim Fornero, who in 1999 did a fine job resurrecting this homey restaurant after a decade of others’ failed attempts. The name is a wink and a nod to past glory days: Locals recall with fondness the 1980s French Hill Inn, a popular continental restaurant.
The sprawling interior is dominated by golden oak in the form of pillars, moldings, cabinetry, and tables. Different areas are decorated with Norman Rockwell prints, exposed brick, or wallpaper simulating wine racks and book-shelves. The net effect is a cluster of cozy nooksand alcoves.
Televisions broadcasting various sporting events are placed throughout, but are easy to ignore if you don’t care what the Knicks or Devilsare doing. The sound is off, which is a good thing, especially on crowded weekends, when the noise level can get a bit high. Assorted breads and flavored butter arrive first, along with a small relish plate of carrots, pickles, peppers, and radishes with a delicious vinegar laced dipping sauce. I’m happy already. The menu is diverse, ranging from pubfare and comfort foods to sophisticated salads and elegant entrées. Usually, that kind of range is difficult to pull off, but I enjoyed selections at both endsof the spectrum here.
Two table-sharing starters kicked off our more casual meal. Long wedges of toasty, housemade French bread were brushed with garlic butterand seasonings and served with a marvelous cheddar dipping sauce bolstered by stout ($4.50). Perfectly simple and simply perfect. A large crock of artichoke dip ($7.50) was creamy and delicious, sprinkled with shredded cheese and baked until bubbly. Toasted pita wedgesalongside were soft and warm, with crispy edges.
Many things sounded tempting on the gourmet sandwiches list, but I find burgers to be the ultimate yardstick, so we designed our own by adding blue cheese and bacon ($6.25 plus 75 cents per topping). The burger was excellent, large and juicy with pronounced char-broiled flavor. Theroll was fresh and flavorful, the blue cheese was the real deal, and the bacon was thick and crisp. It was served with a mountain of slender fries, which were hot, super-crisp, and extremely tasty. I learned the precious secret: They’re gently misted with red wine vinegar.
Satisfying comfort foods are definitely a strong suit at Formerly the French Hill Inn. On a brisk night, what could be better than a plate ofchili-glazed meatloaf ($10 small, $13.50 large) served with soft, buttery mashed potatoes and rich creamed spinach. The meatloaf is a super-smooth, luscious blend of veal, pork, and beef, wrapped in bacon and painted with a vibrant chili sauce while it bakes. Caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms lend a sweet and earthy finishing touch.Just as enticing is the puff pastry-topped chicken potpie ($12.50), served in a mini cast-iron skillet. Breaking through the flaky, buttery shell reveals creamy, savory gravy studded with huge cubes of white-meat chicken, tender diced potatoes, julienne carrots, and mushrooms. Potpie doesn’t get much better than this.
The kitchen showed subtler skills with red snapper, the catch of the day ($18.50). The moist fillet was placed atop a bed of sautéed escarole anddrizzled with a gentle white wine sauce dotted with tart dried cranberries. Alongside was penne that hadbeen baked in a cheesy casserole until it was crispy and irresistible.
At Formerly the French Hill Inn in Wayne, Several salads boasted intriguing mixes of fruits, nuts, and cheeses. I tried the apple cheddar salad($4.75 small, $9 large), which featured mixed field greens, small cubes of sharp cheddar, red onion, crunchy walnuts, and diced apples that had beensautéed, magnifying their sweet-tart flavor. It was dressed with a pleasant champagne vinaigrette, gentle enough to let the ingredients shine. Buffalo fried calamari salad ($9) is pub food elevated a few rungs. Wonderfully tender squid rings were batter-fried, doused with the famous chicken- wing sauce and scattered around a plate of baby field greens tossed with fresh blue cheese dressing.
Formerly the French Hill Inn does creative things with spirits, such as a wine sampler of three 2-ounce glasses, local microbrew from Fairfield’s Cricket Hill Brewery, martini-naming contests, and dessert-and-port pairings.
* * *
RESTAURANT RATINGS TABLE
***
FORMERLY THE FRENCH HILL INN
344 French Hill Road
Wayne
(973) 696-9440
Rated by The Record:
Dec. 26, 2003
