Sophisticated flavors for an evolving summer clientele at Matisse

Sophisticated flavors for an evolving summer clientele at Matisse

By CHRISTOPHER THUMANN
CORRESPONDENT

With its sand and surf and beach-facing bars and restaurants, Belmar's a fun Jersey Shore community. But back in the '80s, it was a party town. The type of place where you'd rent a house with five of your friends, park on the lawn, and throw shindigs that prompted whole pods of dolphins not to surface until they crossed into Avon.

And on your staggering way to McDonald's on the beach at 13th Street on a sticky post-party Sunday morning, you'd walk by some guy passed out on a porch (yeah, that was me) and think, "Someday I wanna live here.''

Since then, Belmar's evolved some. Its drinking laws are tighter, its quality of life is better, its population is more residential, and that McDonald's is now Matisse, an upscale bistro right on the boardwalk that serves up an often dazzling New American menu in a building that's none the worse for its fast-food wear.

From its unique location on the Belmar boardwalk along Ocean Avenue, Matisse offers unbeatable views of the ocean, along with an inventive menu that builds not just an experience of flavor but frequently one of color as well.

My partner and I started dinner with a couple of appetizers. One of the best items on the menu has to be the Vermont Goat Cheese Ravioli ($11). In this wonderful starter, delicate, thin-rolled pasta dough is wrapped around an artisanal New England goat cheese, drizzled with
a macadamia-flavored syrup and seasoned with sea salt infused with vanilla, all set over slices of pineapple. The flavors that result pair the mellow tanginess of the cheese with a round mouthful of subtly sweet vanilla, which is intense but doesn't overwhelm the rest of the
dish.

I also tried the Grilled Calamari with Arugula, Fennel and Lemon Preserves ($11). Here delicately crusted squid pieces roughly 1 inch square were served over julienne fries and arugula greens. The pungent peppery tastes are all the more infused with the warmly spiced flavors of the preserves and the licorice essence of the fennel.

The Cast Iron Skillet-seared Day Boat Scallops ($34) was both a feast of flavor and color, with a green summer pea coulis painting a plate that's also studded with fresh, bright yellow corn kernels. Six sweet sea scallops, seared on both flat sides as promised, were nested in that puree, all surrounding an attractive centerpiece of a chive-potato tart with an inventive crisp crust crafted from a wonton wrapper. The tasty tart contained chunks of potato in a creamy potato puree and was sprinkled with fresh-snipped chives. The scallops were cooked just a hair past how I like them, but they were still acceptable, and the pea coulis added nice summery flavors to them.

The "No. 1'' in the Chili Spiced No. 1 Tuna ($32) refers to the sushi grade of the fish in this equally colorful entree that decorates the plate with vibrant salad greens and a purple pinot noir sauce. Flavors here were good, with the sauce adding a hearty backbone to the
robust fish. But I was disappointed overall with the entree because the fish was a bit overcooked. We'd ordered it to be cooked medium, and it came out medium well. However, with such a good grading, why didn't our waiter recommend how the fish should be served in the first place? If the kitchen is going to showcase a top-quality ingredient, it should also make sure that the customer has the opportunity to enjoy that ingredient in its optimum preparation.

More popular than ever on menus this year, the Key Lime Tart ($6.99) at Matisse is a nice version of this Florida favorite. Contained within a pleasantly tender crumb crust, the filling was sufficiently limey and not overly sweet. The Homemade Chipwich ($6.99) paired two delicious, warm homemade chocolate-chip cookies, studded with a generous amount of chips, with a soft-serve vanilla ice cream, all drizzled with a raspberry sauce. The colors were as vibrant as the flavors were comforting.

The tuna service issue notwithstanding, Matisse has plenty of pleasant surprises going for it, ranging from its imaginative ingredient choices to its pretty plate-ups. For what it's offering, Matisse's prices are reasonable, and the fact that you can walk in with your own wine means that this is a summer-at-the-Shore dining experience that won't cost you a fortune. Bring five of your friends and have a party. Just don't try to park on the lawn.

Christopher Thumann, a graduate of La Salle University in Philadelphia and Jersey City's Culinary Arts Institute, is a former food editor at Woman's World magazine. He has also edited and written for Weight Watchers, Chocolatier magazine and Pastry Art and Design magazine. You
can reach him at cthumann@hotmail.com. Restaurants are rated in relation to comparable establishments and reviews are based upon an anonymous evaluation of food, service, price, value and ambience.

Belmar live picture 8:30am nice waves Oct. 20 2007

The rules at the Jersey Shore

Jersey Shore rules ban a wide array of activities
From camel rides to deep holes in the sand, N.J. beaches have many no-nos more than just Belmar's new keg law


N.J. bans wide array of beach activity
From camel rides to deep holes in the sand, N.J. beaches have many no-nos
The Associated Press
Updated: 12:39 p.m. ET May 26, 2007
SURF CITY, N.J. - Welcome to the Jersey Shore! Have a great time, but please don’t dig too deeply in the sand in Surf City (you could get blown up), feed the seagulls in Ocean City (you could catch a disease), or draw dirty pictures in the sand in Belmar (it’s rude).

If you have tummy trouble, don’t even think of going to Sea Bright, and if you come to Spring Lake, leave your spear gun at home. Other beaches won’t let you eat, pick flowers, fly a kite, gamble or ride a camel.

For a state that relies heavily on shore tourism to power its economy, there sure are a lot of things you can’t do here.

“I used to take pictures of signs at the entrance to beaches that had long lists of all the things you couldn’t do,” said Dery Bennett, head of the American Littoral Society’s Sandy Hook chapter. “There was one with a big word ‘NO’ in red letters at the top and all these things listed underneath it, and at the bottom, someone put tape on it and wrote in ‘fun allowed.”’

Many of the beach towns on Long Beach Island, one of New Jersey’s most popular summer vacation spots, have laws prohibiting people from digging deeper than 12 inches in the sand. They stem from an accident several years ago in which a teenager died when a deep hole he was digging collapsed, burying him.

This year, the prohibition is for a different reason: More than 1,000 pieces of unexploded World War I-era military munitions were unwittingly pumped ashore during a winter beach replenishment project decades after being dumped at sea. Authorities say they’ve removed everything they could, but can’t guarantee more munitions don’t remain hidden.

“How can you tell a kid not to dig in the sand?” asked Faith O’Dell, who lives near the beach in Surf City, where most of the fuses were found. “It’s their nature, it’s what kids do. And when your kid says, ‘Why, Mommy, why can’t I dig in the sand?’ what do you tell them, that they could blow themselves up?”

‘A lot of crazy rules’
Ocean City passed a law in January prohibiting the feeding of seagulls from beaches or other public property. Officials say they acted to prevent bird droppings from contaminating waterways and spreading disease, but also note the avian scavengers have just gotten too brazen in recent years.

Most of the beach laws in New Jersey are common-sense — banning glass containers, fires, pets and nudity — while others go a step further.

Belmar, for example, prohibits smoking, gambling, cursing or changing clothes on its beach. It also says no one may “model, draw or depict any obscene or rude figures upon the beachfront.”

“There are a lot of crazy rules on the beachfront,” Mayor Ken Pringle said. “I’ve been on the job 17 years and I can’t ever recall getting a complaint about that. Mostly, it’s just someone’s Frisbee going where it’s not supposed to.”

No diarrhea or camels allowed
In Wildwood, don’t even think about riding a camel on the beach. That law came about after a vendor in 2000 proposed charging people a few dollars to ride on a camel’s back for the quarter-to-half mile it takes to get from the boardwalk to the water’s edge.

“We said no,” Mayor Ernie Troiano said. “Our beaches are as wide as a desert, but you won’t find any camels on our sand.”

Other no-nos in Wildwood: standing under the boardwalk and looking up through slits between the boards as people walk above your head.

Elsewhere on the Jersey shore, it is illegal to possess a spear gun on the beach in Spring Lake. In Brigantine, you can’t impersonate a member of the beach patrol, or “revel, disport or behave in an annoying, boisterous manner, emitting loud cries.”

Meanwhile, the borough of Sea Bright appears to be very interested in your innards. A sign posted at the entrance to the beach commands: “Do not enter the water if you are experiencing or recovering from diarrhea, or have had any signs of symptoms of a gastrointestinal disease in the past seven days.”

‘Hope I don’t get embarrassed’
Bill Mack, the borough’s water safety director, acknowledges that’s something his badge checkers and lifeguards aren’t likely to keep tabs on.


“My primary concern is to keep people from drowning,” he said.

Officials in many New Jersey coastal towns acknowledge that parts of their beach laws are rarely, if ever, invoked. Take Long Branch’s prohibition on parking a baby carriage on the sand within 15 feet of a beach entrance.

“I can’t fathom what the thought process was behind that one,” said Mayor Adam Schneider, who did not know the law existed until a reporter questioned him on it. “We can do a pretty good job of looking foolish when we enforce ‘real’ ordinances, let alone something like this. I just hope I don’t get embarrassed and find out I voted for it in the past.”


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URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18881735/