Thirty Acres is the brainchild of Kevin and Alex Pemoulie. Open now approximately a year, it has become a place that even New Yorkers cross the river to visit.
Kevin has cooked at Craftbar (a fav of mine!) and Momofuku Noodle Bar. His cooking is imaginative and flavorful, taking full advantage of seasonal fresh produce. The menu itself is relatively small, and changes frequently, with just enough selection of appetizers, pasta, small plates and dinner portions.
Thankfully the dishes were all manageable in size and very reasonably priced, as we tried most of the dishes on the menu.
Not pictured, but was a hit with us was the Yellowfin Tuna with grapefruit, pickled shallot, jalapeno oil and cilantro. The delicate balance of flavors was sublime, and the tuna positively melted in my mouth. We also had the Pickled Mussels with hazelnuts and meyer lemon. Again, yum.
Still working on appetizers, the next dish up was thinly slice Lamb Loin, with red wine egg yolk and black olives, yogurt, cumin and mint.
This is the chicken liver pate with blueberry jam and grilled brioche. I found the bread a little bit too crumbly, and bit too thickly sliced.
I uploaded this picture larger than usual because this was the star of the evening. It was so good that we had to order another plate just so everyone at our table could have seconds.
This is the cured duck with blood orange, beets, ricotta, sichuan chili pepper and pistachios. Again, this dish featured a crunchy nut that emphasized the texture and flavor of the duck. My friend originally said that she didn't like duck except Peking Duck decided she really liked this duck after all!
Here are only two of the entrees we ate -- the lighting made it hard for me to take better pictures of other dishes.
The dessert specialty of the house are the lemon bars (which disappeared so quickly I didn't get a pic), but this chocolate mint tart was fabulous as well. With coarse sea salt on top, what's not to like?
I've always been a huge fan of Jersey City restaurants ... now I have one more that I can eat at! Almost makes living in NJ tolerable.
Thirty Acres
500 Jersey Avenue
Jersey City, NJ 07302
201-435-3100
