Jersey Exploration: Verjus

To celebrate our wedding anniversary, we wanted to treat ourselves to something special so we made a dinner reservation at the lovely French restaurant, Verjus.

We fell in love with this place as soon as we discovered that it is run by a husband/wife team: the husband is the chef, and the wife handles everything in the dining room.  They, like us, had decided to relocate to NJ after years in NYC and the restaurant was born.  We learned all this because the wife is so friendly and would stop by the table every so often to make sure we were enjoying our meal and chat a bit.  It's clear that both she and her husband care a great deal about their diners' overall experience.  

Mel chose the Herb Crusted Roast Filet of Atlantic Salmon, which came with beluga black lentils, roasted cauliflower, wilted cucumbers, roasted tomatoes and Verjus beurre blanc.  Delectable!  The skin on the salmon was a perfect crispy complement to the rich sauce.  And though not the focus of the dish, the lentils and roasted vegetables were delightful.  Mel took one bite of the tomato and wished she could have a whole plate of them.

DJ was equally impressed with his choice: the All Natural Roast Pekin Duckling served with braised red cabbage, black barley and cranberry salmis sauce.  The duck was prepared beautifully, and the sauce absolutely took the dish to another level.  We don't often try red cabbage, and DJ really enjoyed how it paired with the meat. 

Thankfully, we saved room for dessert and we decided to try the Crisp Du Jour.  On that night, the fruits "du jour" were strawberries and blackberries.  After the first bite, it was complete dueling spoons until the last bit had been carefully scraped from the corner of the dish.  AMAZING!  The fruit was so fresh, and the sweet crumble on top did not overpower the natural taste of the berries at all.   What a treat!

We enjoyed every element of our special night at Verjus, and both agreed that we'd love to return in spring and summer to see what creative menu items appear in warmer seasons.  Definitely a go-to date spot!