Ted Zegarski got his start in bartending almost four decades ago, lending a hand in his family’s Trenton tavern.
He worked at area joints like Duke’s Pub, Mundy’s, Romeo and Juliet’s, Duffy’s Tavern and Smitty’s Bar before leaving New Jersey for Florida and then Chicago.
Now, after picking up tips and tricks during his stints in other locales, Zegarski’s back in Mercer County as the manager of the new pub at Cedar Gardens on Route 33 in Hamilton.
Zegarski came on-board in March, six months after Cedar Pub opened last October. He and the crew in the Cedar Gardens’ kitchen have slowly been ramping up the offerings at the pub in hopes of a full reveal by Labor Day.
The Cedar Pub menu includes the standard pub fare, but doesn’t stop there. There’s a chicken Caesar wrap, a buffalo chicken salad in a tortilla bowl and the Delmonico steak sandwich, which features a 6-ounce Delmonico steak, roasted red peppers, mushrooms and provolone cheese in between two slices of ciabatta bread.
Most dishes come with fresh potato chips, made on the premises.
Aside from the food, the major focus seems to be on a series of drinks Zegarski calls “fruitinis,” many of which he helped develop while working as head bartender for a large catering firm in Chicago. Among the beverages are the Mangolicious, the Dark Banana, the Berrytini—a blend of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries with berry vodka, raspberry liquor and a simple syrup substitute—and another drink that Zegarski said tastes like an orange Creamsicle.
He fancies himself as the head of an “adult liquid candy store,” because his drinks taste so sweet. But just because his drinks have the flavor of candy doesn’t mean Zegarski uses the same kind of ingredients.
“I don’t use a lot of sugar here,” he said. “We don’t use any milk or dairy products. I use almond-based milks. They don’t curdle and they last a lot longer and the flavors are really, really enhancing … We’re trying to go with top quality ingredients.”
Beer fans may also find something they like at Cedar Pub, as the bar has several rotating taps featuring craft brews. In late July, Cedar Pub had Ithaca Apricot Wheat and Sam Adams Dunkelweizen on tap. There are also the old standbys of Bud Lite, Miller Lite and Yuengling lager, too.
“We’re trying to do a great presentation here,” Zegarski said. “We’re trying to do things other people don’t. The cocktails we do here are fresh fruit or real fruit, you don’t see them in other places and I do them for a remarkable price.”
The space isn’t huge—it has a maximum capacity of 70—but Zegarski hopes to make the most of Cedar Pub. The establishment features regular live music, most of it acoustic. Entertainers like Ernie White, Chris Barlow and Jeff Guenther have appeared at Cedar Pub and are scheduled to return.
The whole package—the food, the music and the entertainment—has ensured that patrons have returned to Cedar Pub, too. Zegarski said he has seen an incremental increase in business as the months go on, and he has high hopes for the next 90 days.
Beyond that, Zegarski has set his sights even higher.
“We’re trying to make this the nicest little cocktail lounge in the area,” Zegarski said.
Cedar Pub, located at 661 Route 33 in Hamilton, is open Monday-Thursday, 3-11 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. to midnight. The bar may add Sunday hours in the fall. For more information, call (609) 587-1511.
,
