By Pat Tanner
Technically, Joe Immordino and James Karalis’ new restaurant wasn’t even open yet.
But a couple of weeks before the Sept. 30 grand opening of Centro Grille in Robbinsville’s Town Center, the restaurant — located in the space that had last been Poseidon — had quietly flung open its doors to surprising success.
“Without any official signs saying that we had opened for business, we were getting an average of 300 people coming in a day.” he says, sounding a bit awestruck. “The reception has been beyond our expectations.”
For the last seven years, Immordino has been the chef/owner of Acacia in Lawrenceville, and will remain so.
The location of Immordino’s venture has seen two restaurants fail in the last four years, but Immordino is confident his will be different.
“I’m a Robbinsville resident,” he said. “My partner and I feel Town Center represents the future of Robbinsville. We felt there was a desperate need for a family restaurant for locals and from locals. We are dedicated to Town Center and to bringing in young families.”
Both Karalis and Immordino live in Robbinsville, Immordino for 10 years. He and his wife have three children, 8, 7, and one and a half. The men met through a mutual friend a few years ago at a dinner party.
“We both had the same appreciation for great food and wine, and have been good friends ever since,” Karalis wrote in an email.
The result of their collaboration is Centro Grille, which is open seven days a week, with menus for lunch, dinner, children, Sunday brunch, wine and cocktails, and happy hour. The menus feature popular modern American fare, from beef brisket sliders with pickled red onions and jalapenos to veggie burgers, pasta dishes, lobster mac ‘n’ cheese, jumbo lump crab cakes and Black Angus filet mignon.
Some dishes have proven popular from the get-go.
“Our baby back ribs have been huge,” Immordino said before adding fish tacos, Centro meatloaf and chicken-fried lobster tail and shrimp to the list. At $26, the last is the most expensive item on the menu. On the other end of the price spectrum is a $10 SoHo burger with smoked cheddar, caramelized onion and chipotle mayo on a toasted brioche bun. The burger is served with fries, potato salad or steamed vegetables.
The menu features Griggstown chicken and hormone-free meat. Immordino says he likes to “hand pick” his vegetables and is in the process of researching farms in the Robbinsville area.
In addition to bringing in a few of the kitchen staff from Acacia, the chef/co-owner has hired culinary graduates from Johnson & Wales and the Culinary Institute of America.
“We’re bringing in some of the exciting, inventive flair of Acacia but for a more traditional family-oriented restaurant,” he says of the more casual space. A few menu items, like his sweet and sour calamari, appear on the menus of both restaurants, while others share the same main ingredient but are given different treatments.
At Acacia, sautéed jumbo lump crab cakes are accompanied by grilled asparagus, chilled corn feta cheese salad, garlic mashed potatoes and tomato caper remoulade. The more relaxed treatment at Centro Grille includes the same asparagus, plus tri-color couscous and scampi garlic butter.
“Thanks to a great staff,” Immordino says, “I can divide my time between the two restaurants.”
Centro Grille will have daily specials, like bottles of wine at half price on Mondays, kids-eat-free (with adult purchases) on Tuesday, and $1 oysters from the raw bar on Wednesdays. The wine list is populated with such well known names as Kendall Jackson, Cakebread, Stags Leap and Ravenswood. These are in addition to a rotating selection of draught beers, 11 martinis and an equal number of cocktails, such as a classic Cuban mojito and The Hummingbird, made with St. Germain liqueur and Champagne.
Asked if the fact that the Robbinsville location came with a liquor license was a major factor in deciding to take over the Town Center spot, Immordino demurred.
“The location is the determining factor,” he said. “I simply had to take advantage of this great focal point. The bar here, well that’s just a luxury. There aren’t many in Robbinsvile, and I do hope that it becomes a neighborhood hangout eventually. One good thing is that people can walk over. Couples, families, whoever. I feel good about that. And we’re not on a busy highway – like Route 1 for example, so people don’t have to worry about pulling out into heavy traffic. The liquor license? That’s just icing on the cake.”
The newly reconfigured space seats 160 inside and an additional 30 on the patio.
“We’ve kept the layout basically the same,” Immordino says, referring to Poseidon’s soaring ceilings and open kitchen, “but the look is bright, cheery, and open. It no longer separates the bar from the dining room – no more tinted glass – so there’s a nice flow.”
Oysters and other raw seafood on ice are prominently displayed next to the open kitchen. The patio, facing Route 33, includes a fire pit and heaters to extend al fresco dining into cool fall evenings.
“Town Center is the perfect location for a family restaurant, and because the center is such an important focal point, we chose the name Centro,” Immordino explains.
He says that as a Robbinsville resident, he respected both previous restaurants, Santino’s Bar One and Poseidon, and is still friends with Peter Mazzella, an owner of the latter.
“James and I love the location,” he said. “The reason the previous restaurants failed was because the concepts were wrong. They were maybe too high end. We’re here for the long run; we coordinated our own long-term lease.”
The warm reception given to Centro Grille was not only beyond the owners’ expectations, but also, Immordino confesses, “beyond overwhelming. We have to get our service in order fast.”
Finding service staff is, he says, the hardest part of opening any restaurant.
“Even so, we’ve had nothing but positive responses,” he reports. “Our test trials and soft opening made us feel we are hitting the right market. I hope people will be patient as we get up to speed.”
Centro Grille is located at 2360 Route 33 in Robbinsville. Phone: 609-208-9300. Web: centrogrille.com
Pat Tanner blogs at dinewithpat.com.
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Some of the dishes offered at Centro Grille in Robbinsville include baby back ribs (top) and the scallops special. (Photos courtesy of Joe Immordino.)
The dining room of Centro Grille is ready for the dinner rush Sept. 19
