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.
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.
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.
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