Eno Terra Kingston NJ
It was with exceptional eagerness that I made reservations last Saturday for Eno Terra in Kingston NJ. I was surprised there was even a restaurant in Kingston since it really isn’t a town, but more of a buffer between Princeton and South Brunswick , and is situated in a spot my wife and I run past quite frequently. Upon seeing a review of the restaurant, imagine how great it was to know it was only 15 miles away. Eno Terra’s website shows a full wine bar and pretty deep cellar, even with NJ being BYO paradise, it was nice to see a place offering a list focused on esoteric wines especially from Italy. The best part about the restaurants philosophy was that it emphasized local ingredients. Now many of you may think of NJ as an endless highway surrounded by refineries and airports, but in my “neck of the woods” there are quite a number of farms dedicated to producing very high quality meats, cheeses, produce and even the occasional wine.
My enthusiasm was to be short lived…while a little slow, the staff was somewhat gracious but perhaps less than knowledgeable in most catgories. No, do I need to know all the types of wood used in grill, no, but it’s nice to know that there are at least 3. My wife’s dinner however was totally misrepresented, Farro is not pasta, it’s a grain….anyway…the knowledge of the wood in the grill did come in handy later…*
OK first of all, the good. A nice open airy location with valet parking. Immediate seating….……ok….hopefully you are comfortable because you are there for the long haul… great wine list I went with the
2007 Ignaz Niedrist Lagrein “Berger Gei”
When I was younger, I used to get generally pissed off when a here-to-fore unknown region, varietal or winery got “discovered” by the mainstream wine press. That’s no longer the case for several reasons, such as the irrelevance on wine critics in general; the “halo” effect of more wines being imported to ride the coattails of success as well as the complete bastardization of wine scores; so while I have enjoyed this wine on several occasions over the last decade, the over the top review of the 2006 version of this wine did not lead to any run on the latest vintage. I love Lagrein and Ignaz Niedrist is one of the best producers. While he may use a bit too much oak for some, I always find his wines refreshingly balanced upon release and easily capable of evolving over 5 years or some. The 2007 is a worthy successor. On the nose you get that classic espresso roast, with a hint of herbs and earthiness. On the palate it has a more tannic structure than earlier versions, but it quickly dissipates over an hour or two (And trust me we had plenty of time to savour it). A wine like this has a enough backbone to satisfy the Aussie Shiraz lover (my wife) and is interesting enough to be enjoyed by an esoteric Italophile like me. Nice tea aromas came out through dinner and the finish was perfectly balanced.
The Dinner
Appetizers:
Tuna Bruschetta: Ok seriously, where’s the camera, is this one of those Pizza Hut commercials? When they served this dish my wife and I both looked at each other and were giggling, my response “um well it’s a good sized portion” Hers: “Where’s the mayonnaise?” Maybe we expected something more akin to a Tuna carpaccio, but seriously….to their credit we expressed our disappointment and they appreciated it enough to take it off the bill….
Grilled Quail: A whole quail for an appetizer, nice….oh wait it’s a quail….I assume they killed this thing with a rubber band from a distance of 2 feet, but the braised cabbage was extraordinairy, seriously. Actually the dish was enjoyable, and well prepared.
Soup:
Chorizo Chowder: This was very very good bowl of soup, and like most of their dishes was a large portion. Well balanced with chunks of tomato and chorizo….
Main course….
Oh wait in between the main course the table next to us goes on fire, seems the guy next to us threw his napkin on the candle when he left resulting in a very quick flame up. My wife thinking quick, grabs the napkin and douses the flames. The wait staff, who were out of the room, (There were about 15 tables in the room), arrived after the busboy had already taken away the charred remains. *They began to notice the smoke smell and probably realized that it was NOT the oak, cherry, and hickory they were used to. The woman seated to my wife’s left noted to the matre’ dei that my wife had literally saved the restaurant, if not for good, at least for the evening…. They showed their appreciation by throwing in the $7.00 dessert complimentary……
OK…where was I…dinner
Braised Pork Farrotto: No this was not as described, it was not “Like pulled pork on a bed of spalt or risotto”. It was a deep bowl of Farro with a couple of hunks of pork fat with veins of meat in it. Yes there was a lot. But a lot of Farro……interesting well seasoned…but…seriously, more meat on the quail than on this dish…no thanks
Trio of grilled Eno Terra Sausages: Garlic, Chorizon and Lamb. Well let’s just say this, they are getting their money’s worth from that grill. There was absolutely no danger of bacterial infection due to an under cooked sausage. The only way to tell the difference of the charred remains on my plate was probably via dental records. I could only tell which was the chorizo only after slicing it sideways…but even today I cannot recall which was the lamb and which was the garlic sausage…. A side of creamy 3 cheese polenta was just that…3 cheese polenta…also nice sized portions…
Dessert
Gelato….nice…gelato…
Decaf cappucino for which I ordered a side of Sambuca. The “side” came in a Brandy snifter and was at least a 6 oz pour….if I were to add this to the 4 ounces of cappuccino it would have made an interesting evening….
The highlight of the night? Valet parking . Nice guy, pulled the car up in 12 degree weather while we waited inside.
You might think I wouldn’t be going back to Eno Terra and you might be right. But as we were leaving I have to say the Wine bar downstairs looked inviting, they were very nice and there is a chance…slim as it is, I may try the wine bar (Enoteca) since that menu looked a little more on the rustic side…maybe next time I do a 13 miler…
To sum it up: Eno Terra go for the wine….bring a fire extinguisher….
JJB