Last night, I attended an intimate event to preview Chef Eric LeVine’s fall menu at Morris Tap & Grill. This event gave Chef LeVine an opportunity to ‘test drive’ the menu to a targeted group of fans, foodies and food writers who are familiar with his style of cooking.

Mini Tacos

Mushroom Ravioli

The new fall dishes in the works will be part of an almost complete overhaul of the current menu, “this is probably going to be the last time we do a major revamping of the menu”, said Chef LeVine during the event.

Couscous

The dishes we sampled and provided written feedback on were:

• Mini Tacos – flour mini tacos shells fried then filled with goat cheese mousse and topped with roasted beets, crumbled goat cheese and chili roasted almonds.
• Shrimp and Lump Crab Bites – shrimp and crab shaped into bite-size balls then fried and served over fried leeks and onions. The dish was paired with a garlic and curry aioli and a Cajun remoulade.
• Bacon flatbread – garlic oil-brushed flatbread topped with Mozzarella, crisp bacon, pork belly and house-cured Pancetta.
• Chicken Roulade – boneless chicken stuffed with wild mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, Fontina, Panko and broccolini and served over Merlot mashed potatoes and a red wine sauce and pesto.
• Crisp Skin Cod – baked crispy-skin cod served with corn chowder and served over a king mushroom slice.
• Wild Mushroom Ravioli – cremini mushroom flour pasta filled with a mixture or Ricotta, Parmesan, Mozzarella, roasted cremini and served with a wild mushroom cream sauce.
• Soba Noodle – buckwheat noodles with scallions, leeks, oyster and cremini mushrooms served in a ginger and Ponzu broth.
• Lamb Burger – lamb burger patty topped with Feta, cucumber, tomato and olive yogurt.
• House Cured Hot Pastrami – brisket cured and smoked and rubbed with black peppercorn and coriander then served on rye bread with coleslaw, honey mustard and Swiss cheese.
• Lemon Garlic Couscous – Lemon garlic couscous and quinoa blend with curry roasted cauliflower, pesto over a roasted salsify puree.

Hot Pastrami

Lamb Burger

Chef Levine admits that he’s still playing around with some of the components of the dishes and tweaks will be made based on the feedback received at the tasting. While perhaps some of the items may not make the final cut, the general group consensus indicated Chef Levine’s on the right track. I love that he’s now curing and smoking at the restaurant and the pastrami was some of the most tender I’ve encountered.

Bacon Flatbread

This autumnal menu paired with the more than 100 beers served at the restaurant are sure to appeal to the cult following Chef LeVine has built at Morris Tap & Grill.

The new fall menu launches on October 9th, go pay these folks a visit and visit them online to stay abreast of all the events and classes planned for the fall.

500 Route 10 West, Randolph, New Jersey. 973.891.1776.

Cheers,

Veronique