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| Beer Wine & Cocktails at Moonshine Supper Club |
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| Written by Tony Forder | |||
| Monday, 09 July 2012 19:27 | |||
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Remember the days when the wine crowd and the beer crowd went to different establishments to find their favorite fixes? Now, with the advent of craft beer and elevation in status of beer as worthy of a connoisseur’s palate, there are more and more places today that cater to all sides of the liquid palate. The Moonshine Modern Supper Club in Millburn, NJ is such a place. Victor Delapa and Joseph San Philip have combined the ambiance of a bar with the stylish feel of a contemporary American restaurant. Moonshine offers a relaxed place to hang out after work for Happy Hour accompanied by appetizers or small plates, or later on for a more involved dinner. The customer can pick from 20 well-chosen draught beers, a varied beer bottle list or 50 wines by the glass and another 50 on the reserve bottle list. A qualified sommelier (he brings his bar/restaurant savvy from The Brass Rail in Hoboken), Joe's hand is evident not just in the wine and beer list, but also in the Moonshine mixology department. The cocktail menu includes updates on classics such as The Bees Knees, a gin-based, New York Prohibition favorite or Pimm's Cup from England, as well as original classics. The O.M.G. for example is created with fresh grilled peaches muddled with lime peel clarified butter, then shaken with clover honey, potato vodka and white wine. There's also an interesting hefeweizen punch on the menu. Beerwise, there's three Ommegangs on tap — Hennepin, BPA and Three Philosophers, Blue Point Rasta Rye, Dogfish Head 90-minute IPA, Rogue Hazlenut Brown, Maredsous Brune and North Coast's Prankster Belgian Pale Ale to name or few; or you can sample whatever is current in the Brewmaster's Series from Brooklykn Brewery. If you don't want to sit at the 30-foot bar, then you can choose a small table. The food menu boasts contemporary American cooking executed with style, finesse, and an updated comfort-food sensibility. We went with the small plate menu — Tuscan white bean hummus ($10) oysters Rockefeller ($10), PEI mussels ($11) and roasted beet salad $10. Everything was tasty and well-served; the truffled gnocchi and meatballs, and the duck, egg and hash looked good too.
The menu of Executive Chef Francis X. Falivene, previously of Artisanal Bistro in NYC is wide and varied — from charcuterie and cheese plates, to pizza and pasta, to entrees that include such classics as Lobster Thermidor, Wild Mushroom Risotto, Duck a l'Orange and Porterhouse steak for two. There's a $29 3-course prix fixe dinner available at special times and a $17 2-course brunch at weekends. The Moonshine Modern Supper Club
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