The owners of Bordentown City’s newest restaurant have clearly been taking notes on the latest and coolest trends in food and hospitality.
Bordentown Square Tap and Grill, at the corner of Crosswicks Street and Farnsworth Avenue, has got it all: open spaces, brick walls, cement floors, exposed beams and ductwork, tin ceilings, Shaker-style furniture and a pendant-light-lit bar. The eclectic menu seamlessly blends high- and low-concept, American and international styles, comfort food and cheffed-up classics.
And that’s before we even get to the wall of self-service craft beer taps. But at a restaurant that has oozed with cool since opening in late December, none of those things is the coolest thing about B Square, as it has quickly become known.
The coolest move owners Chad Whyte, Sam Jobanputra and Dan Byard have made so far was hiring two popular former B-town restaurateurs to be their co-general managers on launch.
They would be Gian Belardo, formerly of The Vault Pizzeria, which closed in 2018, and Matt McElmoyl, formerly of Oliver, a Bistro, which closed in 2019. Foodies throughout the region were disappointed to see both of those popular spots shutter.
Belardo told the Current that the partners behind the restaurant approached him about getting involved, and once he learned that McElmoyl was also on board, he said he’d be a fool not to go along.
“We’re all a bunch of big foodies. Matt is a chef, he loves to cook, he loves to eat. I love to eat, the [partners] love to go out and eat. We are always at places going, ‘If this was our place, how would be change it, how could we make it better?’”
The site of the former Jester’s Café had a lot going for it, Belardo said. “It’s on a very good, popular main street. There’s other restaurants here that bring in other clients. We’ve got that gastropub feel here, we’ve got the vibe of a spot that you want to be a part of, you want to go there. We want that happening-place vibe.”
He said in developing the menu, they wanted to put things on the menu that one would not see at other restaurants. “We were looking to step outside of the box, so to speak. One thing would be the Go-Gho cauliflower, which is buttermilk battered cauliflower with spicy Thai chili sauce. We have fried cheese curds, bulgogi chicken lettuce wraps, sweet potato fries with marshmallow dipping sauce.”
Even the burgers are a nod in that direction, Belardo said.
“We’ve got our bacon jam burger with brie cheese, fried egg on top and bacon jam instead of bacon. Or our Triple S burger with kimchi, bacon, sambal sauce — it’s the only one of its kind around. People will come for that. They will come for our coconut curry shrimp tacos, our short rib tacos. You can get a bacon cheeseburger at any other restaurant. We don’t want to have that regular stuff.”
McElmoyl brought with him a number of fan favorite recipes from Oliver, including steak frites, sea scallops and shrimp and grits, all of which are on the B Square menu. B Square chef Dante Foggy has also added his own flair to the menu with items like pan-seared jerk salmon with pineapple salsa, collard greens and roast potatoes.
Also on the menu are soups and salads, quinoa jars, three kinds of tacos, a variety of sandwiches and daily specials. Other entrées include filet mignon, crab cakes, Cajun Alfredo shrimp and pasta, 14-ounce pork chop and Mediterranean vegetable kabobs.
Alas, there is no pizza on the menu. Belardo said they looked for a way to incorporate wood-fired pizza like he served at The Vault, but there was no room in the kitchen for the oven.
However, he said that is involved in a project with B Square ownership to open another bar restaurant in the town of Columbus, one that will feature wood-fired pizzas as well as sandwiches and burgers — “upscale, artisan pizza, kind of like the stuff I was doing at The Vault,” Belardo said.
That restaurant, to be located in a restored firehouse, will also have a beer wall, and is set to open in the not too distant future.
* * *
Right, the beer wall.
There’s plenty of novelty in Bordentown Square’s menu, but the most novel thing at the restaurant is surely the wall of self-service craft beer taps at the center of everything.
“Our biggest attraction would be the beer wall,” Belardo admitted. “It’s like a frozen yogurt bar for adults, where you can get a card and pour your own beer.”
The beer, largely sourced from New Jersey craft breweries, is sold by the ounce. The idea is something along the lines of try-before-you-buy.
“You don’t need to pour a full 16-ounce beer. You can pour a few ounces and give it a shot. If you like it, you can pour yourself a full beer,” Belardo said. “Myself, I’m a dark beer fan, but I don’t always know if I’ll like something before I try it. Sometimes if you order a beer and you don’t like it, you’re stuck with it. Here, if you don’t like it, you can move on from it and try something else.”
On the day the Current visited, there were beers on tap from Icarus Brewing, Brix City, Last Wave, Conclave, Bolero Snort, Kane, Twin Elephant, Czig Meister, New Jersey Brewing Company, Magnity and Tonewood. There are a number of wines on tap as well.
And of course, there are mass market beers as well as a cocktail program with bespoke mixed drinks with locally inspired names like The Farnsworth, The Kirkbride, The Patriot and Bourbon Bonaparte.
Customers are welcome to finish off their meals with dessert choices that include beignets and a cobbler du jour.
“Everyone is excited about the whole project here,” Belardo said. “The feedback has been positive. Me and Matt have the background here in Bordentown, people know the products that we can put on the table. We had regular clientele, we were both in the kitchen. I made my bones on the pizza oven, Matt over a stove, people saw that and they appreciated it — we like to put forth a good product. The town is just happy that me and Matt are back and this corner spot is back open once again.”
Bordentown Square Tap and Grill, 233 Farnsworth Ave, Bordentown. Phone: (609) 669-6036. Hours: open Monday through Thursday, 11 to 11; Friday and Saturday from 11 to midnight; and Sunday from 11 to 10.
Customers try out the pour-it-yourself beer taps at Bordentown Square Tap and Grill, which opened in December at the corner of Crosswicks Street and Farnsworth Avenue. (Facebook photo.),
