Ninety Acres

Out in a quaint little town in New Jersey, a young man had a dream. His dream was to build an enormous ranch style farm-to-table restaurant pushed back from the road for the entire town to marvel. Ok, maybe I made some parts of that up. Ninety Acres might be set far back from a quiet road, but it’s one of the many indulgences of Sir Richard Branson. (I have to add that the website is crazy fancy).

It took us 45 minutes to get there from Hoboken. I don’t know my way around Jersey, but luckily my driver snagged the very detailed directions off the website.

As we made our way up the drive (I’m assuming once entrance is fully built it will be even more fancy looking), we came upon a gorgeous setting. The ranch-style restaurant was lit up from within. It was so quiet and calm outside that we thought maybe we were the only ones there. Granted, it only opened a month ago. But, we can’t kid ourselves. I found out about the place from Urban Daddy. If I know about it, everyone does. That’s just how it goes. We valet parked because the other parking is kind of far away and it was cold outside! Luckily, the inside was warm and inviting. The clientele seemed to be a little older and it sounded (from my eavesdropping) that everyone there knew each other in some way or another and a lot of the people knew the front of the house. There is an open and brightly lit area by the kitchen they will use for tastings and private parties.

Food:
Bacon wrapped Quail – I have never had quail, but I think I may think twice before having it again. First, just like when I saw people eating rabbit, I can not stand eating a leg so small… I felt like I eat eating a baby (bird). Second, it was not very flavorful. Also, I like a crispy bacon wrap, not one that slides around the food just adding fat and oil. Shouldn’t bacon be crispy?
Venison Carpaccio – excellent. This was my second time having venison. The first time was at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, where I imagine that everything you have for the first time basically ruins you for all other times. But, the carpaccio was very good. It was nicely cooked, topped with cranberries and bitter arugula. They all combined to make a very tasty dish.
Salad – greens, cauliflower, apples, vinegar, manchego. There were quiet a few menu items that called for apples. Do apples have a season? I don’t even know. But, these apples (I prefer green, as these were), were intensely flavorful. The flavor spiced up the otherwise bland dish (no knock on the salad maker, just because lettuce and cauliflower aren’t crazy flavorful). The manchego cheese added a smooth, rich taste, while the cauliflower slices added a crunch. The salad dressing tasted like pure vinegar…and I liked it.
Faro – lobster, carrots. Farro is the “oatmeal of pasta”, according to my foodie boyfriend. Who cares? Lobster anything is good, and I actually liked the faro. Pasta itself never has a real taste to it, it is all about texture. The small pieces of faro lent nicely to the lobster chunks (yes, tail meat!) and the sauce was the kind you wipe up with your bread – and we did.
Brussel Sprouts with bacon. These were ok. Blue Hill in the city had better brussel sprouts. These were a tad squishy instead of their normal crunchy texture.
Ricotta and Kabocha Squash ravioli – very good. We have had Kabocha squash once before, and the still-closed but totally amazing Annisa. I looked it up…kabocha is a generic Japanese word for squash. (The website I found had 15 different kinds of squash!) I’m so cultured. Actually, the only way I’ve had this type of squash is in a ravioli form. The standout here was the pasta. As I said before, it is all about the texture. You can tell this pasta was hand-made. It was so delicate and smooth.
Leg of Lamb with parsnip gratin – Parsnips are relatively boring. But, au gratin pretty much makes everything better. I even went out and bought parsnips today. We will see... They are like potatoes. The lamb was not as tough as I was expecting. It was cooked medium rare, which was suggested by the waiter. That suggestion was the only helpful thing he said all night. I like a waiter, especially at a new place, that talks a lot, makes suggestions, and makes us want to come back. This guy just stood around doing nothing. Or maybe we just weren’t that interesting…

Overall, I liked the place a lot. I can’t wait until it’s finished. They claim they aren’t trying to copy Stone Barns, but we will see. If I lived in the area, I would go here a lot more often. I’ll be interested to see how much progress they make before the summer.