The Only Tavern We Support
September 7, 2025
I realize Bucks County has a ways to go to achieve what other areas of the country have gained culinary. It’s rural, sparsely populated, and isn’t pushing envelopes we’ve been used to.
I get it. If you are going to serve food that pleases the common working man, you have to do it right. It has to be consistent, and above all, it has to taste good.
In the last couple of years, we’ve been loyal patrons at The Gardenville Hotel. A historic mid seventeenth century former hotel. With ties to the Revolutionary War, it is a wonderful tavern that serves really good American fare.
We only just recently started going there. One reason is I was already a chef at a Doylestown Tavern call The Farmhouse. We really had no reason to venture out to any other taverns because my wife loved my cooking, and I became acquainted with many regulars who were an integral part of my social life. Plus, other taverns in the area couldn’t touch our quality of the food.
After leaving The Farmhouse in 2023, we struggled to find a decent place for a burger or wings. We lived just down the hill from Gardenville and thought of the place as a drinking establishment vs. a full service restaurant.
One afternoon, we decided on drinks at Gardenville and wandered in. The bar was funky and old. Deer heads all over the walls, various pictures on the walls, many showcasing the owner’s fishing jaunts, and we immediately felt at home.
The servers, who have been there years, provide some of the friendliest and attentive service we’ve ever experienced.
Since we now go at least twice a week, they anticipate our needs immediately. It’s a rarity to find places like this in our area. Most of the Taverns just don’t care enough to go the extra mile. This place blows most local Taverns away.
We highly suggest their wings, the burgers are excellent as well as amazing fish and chips and turkey anything. It isn’t cheap, but nothing really is post pandemic. We only sit at the tables in the bar. That’s where the fun really is. The dining room is More suited for families and older folks. We like the buzz the bar provides.
The Gardenville Burger
Our Wedding Anniversary Trip To Easton Pennsylvania
August 30, 2025
We’ve been to Easton a number of times. It reminds me of old cities that still have their architectural charm like Cincinnati and Wheeling West Virginia. Both cities are surrounded by hills and turn of the century buildings.
We’ve never stayed overnight before and usually just visit their marketplace, which I wrote about earlier on this blog.
My wife surprised me by booking us a suite at the Grand Eastonian Hotel. They’ve turned a 1927 hotel into condominiums and reservable rooms and suites. Our suite was gorgeous with a balcony looking over the city and also has a heated salt water pool that was amazing.
Home
Surprisingly, the restaurant we made reservations with was directly across the street called Kabinett, which is named after a German style of wine. The meal and service were great. They have an enormous wine list as well. We do suggest sticking with noshing on a variety of apps. My steak, which was $59, came out a bit under done and wasn’t hot. They quickly remedied it, but we liked our apps much more.
https://www.kabinettwinebar.com/
We had a cocktail at a lounge two doors up that played great 60’s r&b that featured some excellent cocktails called Presley’s.Â
I highly recommend Easton Pennsylvania. If you are seeking a city, feel like New York but want more accessibility and a slower pace, this is a great town to visit.
A Reflection On My 25th Wedding Anniversary
August 25, 2025
In the fifteen years of contributing to this blog, I rarely talk about my personal life. I have a post here and there, but I try to stay true to why I created this site to begin with. To celebrate the restaurant industry and everyone that contribute to one of the most important industries on the planet.
Even during the Great Depression, people still dined in restaurants, cafes, taverns, and pubs. Being together and sharing a meal gave one a sense of community and hope in dire times, and what a better prescription but a well crafted meal.
This same industry is how I met my wife, Judy. We both worked at a “Euro Bistro” in San Francisco called Palomino. I came to San Francisco in 1993. My twenty-eight years in Cincinnati had come to an end. Shitty jobs, shitty relationships, and I was ready to make the leap out west. I had family in the Bay Area, so I sold everything I owned and with a duffle bag and six hundred dollars to my name, I drove someone’s car and delivered it to Palo Alto and my journey in San Francisco began.
I really had high hopes of turning the whole “failed relationship” yolk I was hauling around. Man, was I in for a surprise. The first two and half years of attempting to date anyone resembled the Sahara desert. I had no idea what I was doing. Sitting in pubs trying to start up conversations was an abysmal failure. I almost lost hope when I first noticed my future wife walk past the kitchen on her first day at work.
I played it cool because I didn’t really know her that well. At this time, I was hyper focused on my career to become a chef, so I didn’t really talk to her. About a week in seeing her action, I couldn’t stand the woman. Loud and Philly bred, who was already a favorite of the General Manager, and I was already turned off. But then I heard her infectious laugh, and that was it. I must know more about this woman.
I played it cool. Didn’t seek her out, but let my sense of humor slowly chip away. This lasted two god damn years. Yeah, I know, I’m a hopeless idiot.
I lived a block from her in Oakland. We both had really cool apartments. I used to walk behind her as she escorted her dates to her place. No, not in a stalking sense. We both took the same bus home.
We started to hit it off more. She loved head rubs and always sought me out. I was always happy to oblige. It usually got me in hot water because I guess you shouldn’t attempt this at the front desk of your restaurant. I didn’t mind. I was ready to risk it all.
I had a few miserable dates with coworkers that resulted in nothing. I knew Judy was the one. We both had the same exact sense of humor, we both liked the same music, and I felt it if I just went slowly and kept my cool, she’d feel the same way.
One night, the gang ended up at our local watering hole called Smitty’s. It was a glorious shit hole frequented by industry folks. Beer, smoking, occasional coke, and a pool table. An industry Nirvana.
I put my head in her lap and she pulled me up and viola! Our first kiss. Two drunken fools finally finding each other. I am not one to rush relationships. We moved in two weeks later.
This was 1997. We bought our first car together. A 1968 VW bug. We replaced a dented fender and she inscribed on it,”Kevin’s empowerment, Jude’s freedom.” No truer words have ever been written. We had that wonderful car for ten years before it unfortunately caught fire.
We’ve been through hell and back together. We’ve moved across the country three times and lived in about seven different cities. She’s stuck with me through jobs both good and bad, my cancer, strained relationships with family members. Not once has her love for me wavered. She’s been my rock. I don’t know what I’d do without her.
I need to definitely work on being a better me. A better husband and a better friend. I owe her that much. She has stood by me at my lowest points in life and has always made me see the bright side of things. She always told me to think of five things I should feel blessed about. It always works.
I just hope the next twenty-five years are as amazing as the last. Our anniversary is August 28th. Her name is Judy and I love her.
There’s Only One Restaurant At The Shore
August 15, 2025
I’ve never really been a fan of the Jersey shore. I’ve lived on the West Coast for almost two decades. We enjoyed the solitude of dozens of empty beaches in northern California that gave us peace and solitude.
The Jersey shore always seemed to be the antithesis of this to me. Crammed beaches and boardwalks, tons of kids, strollers, and families, which is probably extremely fun and exciting to them but I prefer the comfort of empty beaches, dive bars and small eateries that we encountered in the bay area.
Now that I’ve gotten that off of my chest, I wanted to share an experience that my wife and I discovered as a fluke at the entry point to the Garden State Parkway, aka the Jersey shore. It’s called Seabright, which is just mile from the Atlantic Highlands. The Highlands is pretty basic place. Airbnb’s, some pedestrian restaurants, a couple of bars, and a vista of New York City
We chose the area because it’s less than two hours from our home and it’s relatively affordable compared to places like Ocean City or Wildwood. It’s perfect for us.
We’ve dined at a few places which were underwhelming yet expensive. Considering we are both in the restaurant industry, we tend to be more critical of our dining experience versus the casual diner.
As we searched for the diamond in the rough, we took a chance on a place on the Jersey shore jetty called ironically 2nd Jetty.
When we pulled up to the place and into the parking lot, we both said wtf? From the outside, it looked like a run-down tiki bar connected to a clam company. PERFECT!
We both committed and wandered in. The interior was a gaudy nautical themed dining room with huge booths and fishing decor on the walls, and we immediately felt at home.
The staff is young, funky, and seemed to love working there. The kitchen resembled the staff from the movie “Waiting,” which I highly encourage watching if you’ve ever worked in a restaurant before.
The core menu hasn’t changed in years. As a chef, I understand why. The chef creates an extensive fresh feature menu that consists of at least five items that the staff have memorized perfectly that even regulars wouldn’t be fatigued by.
Their cocktail and wine menu are both top-notch. The core menu offers a variety of shellfish, raw fish, and small appetizers that have both Asian and Caribbean influences. This is a win/win for us.
We decided on some starters to begin our journey. The Careless Navigator consists of six local clams and oysters and six jumbo shrimp. They literally get their clams from the adjacent business connected to the restaurant. The oysters were local as well. Small, succulent, and delicious. We loathe those gigantic, cow tongue sized oysters that litter many east coast menus. The shrimp were huge and fresh, and everything came with traditional cocktail sauce and mignonet. Amazing.
We continued our culinary journey with the poke of the day. Cubed yellow fin tuna over rice with a wadabi aioli, wakame, scallions, and rice chips. Again, outstanding.
Our final appetizer was the daily crudo. Sliced tuna belly over cucumber with yuzu, sweet soy and aioli with micro sprouts. Delicious.
We decided on our two core menu favorites. The mussels with a coconut curry broth with crostini. The portion was huge! The broth was balanced and had a great umami flavor.
My choice is the popular pan seared Corvina that was served over a “Risotto style” potato-bacon chowder topped with a quinnelle of spiced apple. I get it every time we dine there.
I highly recommend this joint. You can even “buy a round for the kitchen” if you like, and by watching the staff, they will literally give the kitchen that round why they cook you meal.
Finally, 2nd Jetty is seasonal. They usually close not much past Labor day and reopen around March, so visit soon! You won’t be disappointed.
Home
There’s Only One Italian Restaurant That Qualifies
August 3, 2025
When the word “Quakertown” comes to mind, great food isn’t immediately associated with that town. It’s not a culinary juggernaut by any sense of the word.
My brother-in-law urged us to try this tiny BYOB years ago, and to this day, we can’t go anywhere else, but La Campagna. It’s a hidden gem in the woods of Nockamixon State Park, which appears to be in a used to be office building. There is absolutely nothing fancy about the place. It’s simple in design, but the food is out of this world.
Mussels, Caesar salad, and Bruschetta are rop notch. My wife gets the Frutti di Mare with clams, mussels, shrimp, and cod in a white wine sauce and I opt for the Ripieno which is a stuffed chicken breast, breaded and pan fried on a bed of risotto. Amazing! Their desserts are made in-house, and the staff are beyond friendly!
Easton Marketplace
August 3, 2025
We love taking the trip up River Rd from Point Pleasant to Easton Pennsylvania. Easton is a charming little town east of New York City, with turn of the century buildings, great eateries, and a great and diverse population.
We’ve been to the Easton Market a few times, and I wanted to highlight a few vendors that are absolutely killing it with originally, execution and consistency.
First is More Than Q Barbeque. We decided to get the meat platter for 2 ($42), which is 3-4 meats, 2 sides, all the toppings, which included pickled onions, cucumbers, and jalapeños with two slaws and cornbread. We decided on sausage, brisket, and ribs with sides of Carolina BBQ sauce. The flavors were amazing, and the sauce had a wonderful vinegar flavor to it. Not sweet.
The next spot we tried is Mr. Lee’s Noodles, which is a ramen joint from the folks from Bolete. We tried the BBQ pork ramen ($18). Really great Umami flavor from the Dashi broth and a great, balanced meal.
Finally, we stopped by Cluck-n-Chuck for a dozen amazing east coast oysters ($36) and a fried Gochujang chicken thigh sandwich with fries ($16). The oysters were served with a shiitake mignonet and kimchi with two hot sauces. It’s really great stuff. This, by the way, was on two separate trips. I didn’t want to give the impression that we ate all of this on one visit!
If you are ever in the Easton area, I urge you to try the Marketplace. It has a great mix of vendors.
Easton Public Market
Happy Birthday Dad!
July 25, 2025
He would have been 84 today. He was a great father. Both of my parents did a tremendous job raising us. I wanted to thank them for helping me become the man I am today.
Sushi, It’s Not Just Fish and Rice
March 8, 2025
I’ve not always been a fan of this culinary delight. In fact, I didn’t try it until I was in my mid thirties. My wife, then girlfriend literally had to force me to try it. My initial first bite wasn’t anything special. She eased me into the meal like slipping on a pair of new shoes. A simple California roll. I was a cook at corporate restaurant at the time, we lived in Oakland and I wanted to evolve past my previous love for traditional dishes like Cincinnati chili, Goetta and White Castles.
The meal immediately changed me. We discovered a few local haunts that where we became progressively more ambitious with our choices. One great but now defunct restaurant was Drunken Sushi in Oakland. A tiny joint that served up some amazing food that was reasonably priced but very creative and really consistent.
We enjoyed other restaurants in both San Francisco, one being Sushi Ran which earned a Michelin star. We only were able to visit once but man, the level of excellence was unmatched. We found equally great sushi restaurants in Portland Oregon as well.
Fast forward to 2016, and we found ourselves moving to my wife’s hometown of Doylestown Pennsylvania. It’s a small borough of roughly 8,000 residents about an hour north east of Philadelphia. At the time, I was a chef at a small tavern in town, there was only one sushi restaurant but it had the reputation for a singles bar and we were more focused on finding a place that focused on executing great meals versus pick up lines. I spoke to a regular at my tavern who suggested Hachi in Chalfont. He highly recommended them and claimed it was the best sushi he’s ever had. We thought, why not? It was fifteen minutes away, a BYOB and saw the menu and headed over.
Hachi is located in a drab strip mall that featured your basic grocery store, a few small restaurants and that was about it. From looking at the outside of the place, you’d think it would feature a buffet, gaudy decorations and subpar food. Then we stepped into the restaurant. We were immediately taken back by the amazing decor, the sushi bar was gorgeous, walls adorned with dried grape vines once teeming with grapes and trendy, upbeat lounge music. We felt like we had been whisked back to San Francisco.
I’ve mentioned this restaurant in an earlier blog post, but I wanted to add updated photos that I’ve collected over the eight years of dining there. There combination platters are spectacular. Their specialty rolls are some of the best we’ve had outside of San Francisco and the service is always excellent. We are always treated with a complimentary appetizer by the chefs, the continue to impress.
We find that eating early is the best option. They fill up quickly and what was once a not so infamous restaurant has now become a huge hit in the area. It gets packed and very loud. I hope you enjoy the photos.
https://www.hachichalfont.com/
Bucks County Culinary Musings
May 28, 2023
We’ve lived in Bucks County for almost seven years. It’s the second longest stretch that we’ve occupied in the twenty-three years of being married. We’ve come from a city that was seven square miles and hosted over three thousand restaurants which is San Franciso. The borough we currently live in rural Pennsylvania has a population of about eight thousand people and has only fifty restaurants. Most are Italian. Most aren’t great which narrows down our choices on where we want to spend our hard-earned money. There are only so many times you can order red pepper hummus or pierogis before you desire to slowly walk into the deep end of a river. I get it. Pubs and taverns serve a purpose but when you want food that is elevated, you have to seek them out. We did.
I’m a chef at a tavern but I try to create cuisine that sets us apart from our competitors and we enjoy a loyal customer base and great reviews. My background as a chef for years has been working in scratch kitchens that focused on local products from sustainable butchers and farms. There are not too many eateries in Bucks that are dedicated to this type of discipline. It took us many years to eventually find places, but the ones we did stumble upon need to be mentioned. Not all are farm-to-table but their attention to detail, customer service, cocktail, beer, and wine selections made them stand out and are now favorites of ours.
There was no particular order in which we found these gems. Most were simply discovered because they were open on our days off. Most places around here are closed Mondays.
The first place we frequent the most is Heart of Oak Pub in the ground floor of Baci Restorante in Buckingham. The building is gorgeous, built in the 1700’s and has amazing character. Exposed beams, stone-built, and very cozy. The pub mixes its Italian menu with approachable pub fare. They have great pasta, amazing steaks, and a decent, affordable wine list. We never miss their amazing martinis. It is less than two miles from our home.
https://www.baciristorante.com/
Let’s move on to our next destination which is only ten minutes from our home. It’s the Black Bass Hotel. It’s a hundred-year-old hotel and restaurant in Lumberville PA that is nestled on the Delaware River which borders New Jersey. They feature a CIA-trained chef and a robust farm-to-table menu that features duck, lamb, and even great vegetarian salads and entrees. Their cocktail list is amazing and have an approachable wine list. They also have beautiful suites that overlook the river just upstairs from the restaurant. We’ve stayed in their rooms and they are great. Have a wonderful dinner, then head up to the balcony for wine and an amazing view of the Roebling pedestrian bridge and river.
https://www.blackbasshotel.com
Our next gem is literally up the hill from our home. Another Revolutionary War watering hole and former hotel, the Gardenville Hotel is the definition of a local tavern. They have a very robust working-class crowd and a gigantic food menu, a decent yet small beer list, and great service. We always choose the pub side vs the dining room because it’s lively and the locals are extremely entertaining. Add decent pub food and a great jukebox and it’s definitely a must but go early. It gets crowded fast.
The next venture is a trek up the Delaware River to The Riegelsville Inn in Reigelsville PA sitting again, on the Delaware River bordering New Jersey which hosts yet another Roebling-designed bridge. This is another Revolutionary War era building that used to be an inn but now is just a restaurant. Extremely innovative cuisine which features lobster mac-n-cheese, Asian duck breast, and one of the best pork chops we’ve ever had. They have ample outside seating and the bar is very beautiful and comfortable. The service is good. Patience is the key here and they have a lively local patron scene. F-bombs are provided free of charge!
Our next destination is across the Delaware to Lambertville New Jersey. This is about a twenty-minute trip from our home, through beautiful New Hope PA along the Delaware River. This very small eatery features homemade pasta, great salads and appetizers, and half-off bottled wine Tuesdays. We suggest you go early. The joint fills up quickly and the bar area is first come, first serve.
The last but not least new favorite of ours is the Sargenstvilles Inn in Sargentsville New Jersey. Another Revolutionary War Era building that housed many different businesses over three hundred years that was recently bought by a team of professionals with Michelin starred restaurant experience. This by far is the best place we’ve tried so far on our culinary excursions.
Whole animal butchering, hyper local products, a great, affordable wine list and they even have a wine shop connected to the restaurant. Their small plates are our favorite where you can create an entire experience with three to four choices
https://www.sergeantsvilleinn.com/contact/
We realized that you have to put forward an effort to find decent places to eat. Some are a haul, but the rewards are plenty. Carefully crafted cocktails, a well-designed menu that is presented in a casual setting that puts you at ease, and great service at every place we frequent. We can safely say we are regulars at every place I mentioned and all are highly recommended.
The Big “C” and it doesn’t stand for Chef
October 12, 2022
Well, it’s been a while since I’ve added to my blog. Almost a year now. Normally, I’d be musing about my favorite restaurants, spirits, or meals that I’ve enjoyed. This addition is a little different. Not my normal approach to my culinary world but as equally cathartic. I had a routine physical last November with my general practitioner. Blood work, vitals, etc. Everything seemed to be normal except for my PSA, which is an antigen test for levels in my prostate. Normal values are 0-2. Mine was 10.5 in big bold red numbers. I had no idea what the test was and decided to go all ‘webmd’ and look up what it meant and immediately got very nervous. There were multiple reasons why these values were so high. One being cancer. I made an appointment with a urologist, received a generous prostate exam, and then a month later another blood test. Same results.
My urologist was leaning towards a cancer diagnosis but needed more tests done before a confident diagnosis was given. I had an MRI which confirmed my worst fears. Malignant Neoplasm Carcinoma of the Prostate. And this was on the aggressive side of the scale. Panic set in. Now it was treatment and option time. Either have a radical Prostatectomy or Hormone Therapy and Radiation.
I was leaning towards Hormone Therapy and Radiation because I saw what invasive surgery did to my Father and it was awful. I didn’t want to have something as important to me as my prostate removed because of the obvious side effects. Incontinence, impotence, and loss of work due to a lengthy recovery time. My wife and I decided we wanted the best of the best facility to handle my treatment. Though Doylestown Hospital was convenient, only five miles away, we wanted a University Hospital to handle my case.
We met with numerous Oncologists, but our Medical Oncologist was the turning point in my treatment decision-making. He laid out a very grim path for going the Hormone and Radiation route. Two years minus any testosterone in my system to starve the prostate cancer cells because that is what fueled them. This means side effects of bone loss, weight gain, muscle weakness and not to mention any libido and possible breast growth. Yeah, that’s not going to work for me. He encouraged us to speak to a Urology Oncologist to discuss surgery because of the success rates of robotic procedures.
After discussing the pros and cons of surgery with the physician, we decided on a Radical Prostatectomy. To say I was scared to death was putting it mildly. I haven’t had surgery this invasive since I had my appendix removed when I was eight years old. I had no clue what robotic surgery was and was traveling back and forth to Philadelphia weekly for one test after another. Not to mention the risks of robotic surgery with my current weight and heart issues, I was petrified.
On September 21st, the procedure was done. My brother Jon-Paul was kind enough to fly from Kentucky to support me. What was supposed to be a three-hour event, took seven hours! I was inverted on a hospital bed, head down which put all the blood and weight shifting to my head. They had to have the entire anesthesia team from Penn Presbyterian including the head of anesthesia consult to make sure I’d make it through the procedure and live to tell about it. This made my wife and brother very stressed and understandably so. I had seven incisions in my abdomen including a five-inch incision below my belly button. They successfully removed my prostate, the seminal vesicles, and two lymph nodes. There was a concern of spread, so they had to do more than just a prostate removal. I was in the hospital for three days.
It’s been three weeks since the procedure. Cancer did spread to the seminal vesicle but the surgeon said that he removed this as well and there were no signs of tumor spread from the biopsy. Clean margins. I’m going back in November to have follow-up blood work done but I am up and about, sans the catheter but feel like a UTI has now invaded my urethra, and had a urinalysis today to confirm.
My wife Judy has been nothing short of a saint. I’ve been nothing but a depressing pain in the ass. Grumpy, sore, alone, and not feeling productive. I miss my work, and the people that kept me sane at the Tavern and this has been a huge adjustment for me. Surreal. You always watch shows where people talk about their cancer diagnosis and you never think it would ever be you. Well, that’s bullshit. Most men will get prostate cancer and never know it. Most will die not knowing they even had it, and have died from something completely unrelated. I’m very thankful I had the PSA test last November. My doctor said I could have had this cancer for two years and not known it. I implore anyone reading this my age, to get a PSA test when you get your physical. It could save your life.