The apps I think are where the menu shines. The meatballs are heaven.
FWIW, I find most restaurants don’t shine with the entree, and that’s where you “fill up”
1 Like
I agree. And the mussels and the arancini and the octopus and especially the lump crabmeat crepe that Chef brought over from Lorena’s. I found ordering the special is the way to go with the entrees.
I don’t remember each entree having the same sides. I’ll have to look at the menu again.
1 Like
And the bread pudding
Mike’s not that far off, if not spot on.
I just looked at the menu and I see different sides for each dish. Maybe new?
Paul,
Is this the restaurant that took the old Jessica’s location?
Definitely new.
But he also has a much bigger kitchen now, so that probably helps 
Yes it is.
1 Like
I guess this is more central NJ but we had an amazing meal last night at Ram and Rooster. 8 course chef tasting menu. Sat at the counter. Very small restaurant and kitchen turning out very inventive food. Located in Metuchen.
Brought some Chablis, a Barthod chambolle for the duck course and a Zind Humbrecht SGN for dessert. Wowsa.
I think Heirloom Kitchen is in this thread, so that would work for sure.
Thanks. I recognize the Chef de Cuisine, Roselyn, who cooked at Common Lot and was very good.
1 Like
She’s great!
It is with sad news to report that Common Lot closed this past weekend. The family is moving back to Australia. Their sister restaurant Byrd closed back in March (though wasn’t BYOB).
Sad times. He not only created a legendary restaurant, but really paved the way for a lot of others to step up their game. Hopefully someone can fill Ehren’s shoes and be the next face of NJ fine dining.
1 Like
Read that article, was a great place for food and off lines. Sad that he is leaving
Over the last few years, he changed the business too much and we found ourselves rarely going there.
They never ended the 90 minute dining time, the price fixe menu wasn’t always that interesting, and eventually it just got too pricey and less creative.
In the weeks leading up to this, everyone lamented about why they didn’t go back to the original menu.
1 Like
He seemed to care more about the presentation than the food at the end. Too bad because in the early days we would go like once a month and our wine dinners there were great! I think losing sous chef Mike hurt. Some of the dishes like the tea smoked duck were his creation.
1 Like
The creativity seemed to have walked out the door with Mike.
I think opening Byrd hurt a ton too. I went once. Besides being a pain in the ass to get there, it really wasn’t what I was expecting. It felt like he was going after upscale family dining with kids. Odd concept. He had to be creative for 2 menus, and it was too much. Plus it was super empty when I went. A total of 8 other people came in while I was there, and it was across 2.5 hours! (6PM reservation, left at 8:30, so pretty much covered the whole dinner service)
I’ll miss Common Lot, but that said, I hadn’t been in years for all the same reasons everyone has detailed. Hopefully another exciting restaurant will take its place.
Rumor is that it will be a “high end Asian restaurant”
1 Like
Mike, you might enjoy Ram and Rooster. Roselyn who was at Common Lot and Jungsik is Chef de Cuisine. We’ve been once and liked it a lot. Probably going back in June when the menu changes.
2 Likes