More changes to Montclair’s restaurant scene. Table 8 will be closing as of tomorrow, Saturday, July 31, after five years in business. We will miss the restaurant, the stuffed dates and gregarious owner/host Demetri Malki, who promises to let us know about his next venture.
Around the corner on Park Street, Epernay has a new chef. Jayson Grossberg (pictured right), fornerly of Alphabet Soup, joins Randall Vindas (left) in Epernay’s kitchen. Grossberg won raves from the Times’ Karla Cook and is putting his own stamp on Epernay’s French brasserie fare.
I’ve long been a fan of bistro classics at Epernay — the steak au poivre, the mussels in white wine and garlic and the frisee salad with lardons and blue cheese. The good news — those dishes are all still on the menu, along with a number of other familiar dishes. Grossberg’s influence can be seen with some tweaks of existing dishes as well as some bold new additions that skew lighter than some of the other menu items.
Some of the new dishes I sampled at a recent tasting:
A creamy summer gazpacho with crab and lime that was perfect for summer; an expertly cooked tuna tartare with crispy shallots, cucumbers and basil soy vinaigrette; a refreshing pan roasted Mayan shrimp with a bright jicama slaw in a citrus vinaigrette; and last, but not least, a crispy duck breast with wild mushrooms, pistachios, asparagus and a sundried blueberry jus. A terrific balance between the earthy mushrooms, the salty crunch of pistachios and the sweetness of blueberries made this dish memorable.
If you go, let us know what you think. And a big shot to the two couples at table next to ours, Epernay regulars from Millburn –it was fun talking with you and getting all the great restaurant recommendations.
I’m so sad to hear that Table 8 is closing. I was a huge fan of both the restuarant and owner. I threw my husband a surprise 40th birthday dinner there a few years back and Demetri was wonderful to work with and the party was great.
I saw that Alans @ 594 closed as well. And dai kichi is serving alcohol now. Does anyone know what the owner is planning for the upstairs there?
I never knew the name of Epernay. I, like many locals I’ve met, simply refer to it as “The French Rooster”! Now that I know the name and have seen the menu, I might actually try it sometime.
As for Alan@594 closing – that would be the most deserved closing to date. The place had pretty good food, but the service was atrocious! My husband and I dined there on 3 separate occasions, thinking after the first time that it was perhaps a busy night, after the second that we’d had a particularly daft waiter, but on the third realizing that even the manager didn’t care if the guests were served or the staff treated properly. I worked at a restaurant in college with similarly ignorant managers and many of the waiters behaved the same as those at Alan@594 – why should they care about the customer if the manager didn’t?
Alan@594 was simply disappointing on so many levels. It was a great space wasted.
The closing of Table 8 is a loss that I, personally, am having a hard time dealing with. It was the first restaurant we ate at when we were seriously contemplating the move to Montclair back three Decembers ago. There is no other place quite like it in the entire city. The loss of Table 8, for me, takes away a chunk of what has made Montclair the restaurant Mecca for a number of years.
I hope that Demetri’s next venture will be in our fair city, and I hope it will be soon.
ahh! we knew something was up when we dined last Friday. the gazpacho was spot on, but the duck was overcooked.
Epernay is one of my favorite, most frequented restarants, but unfortunately, portion sizes were just drastically reduced and prices are still in the “NYC range” – not a good thing.
truly one of the best values around for finer dining is The Highlawn; if you sit on the patio, it’s like a little holiday too.
i look forward to Demetri’s next step.
Funny, last time we were there we thought the portions were monstrous and the quality of the ingredients dreadful. If they start using really good ingredients and focus on preparing them well they have a chance of becoming a legitimate bistro.
LOVE the new food at epernai. my wife and I went last night and were really surprised : calamari were crispy and tartar sauce delicious, best clams I ate, fantastic pork chop and well cooked scallops. Our waitress was attentive and very enthusiastic.
Good job. Keep it up! Will be back, especially for duck confite on Saturday.