Returning Diners Finding New Twists, Same Great Food at Clydz During Restaurant Week

One couple who came into Clydz last week took a look around the dining room and wanted to know where the Tiffany lamp went.

It seems that a number of customers who have been away since before the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 have been lured back during City Center’s Restaurant Week.

They are noticing changes to the décor and the menu since the last time they descended the stairs and stepped inside the speakeasy-style restaurant at 55 Paterson St. that is known for its exotic game and artisanal cocktails.

Since coming to Clydz in May 2021, chef/manager Jackie Mazza said her recipe has been to perfectly blend reverence for what loyal customers have come to love about the place, yet push it into the future.

“So, we still have the alligator on the menu,” she said. “Come fall, there will be a can-can pork chop on the menu, which is very Clydz-esque. So, there are things on the menu that pay homage to what was because that’s so important because it’s such a wonderful restaurant and it has been all these years.”

With Restaurant Week in New Brunswick running through Sunday, July 24, Clydz is offering a prix fixe dinner for two for $80 that includes an appetizer, two main courses, and a dessert.

The main course choices include a hangar steak, seared airline chicken breast, pappardelle Bolognese, grilled shrimp, and miso roasted eggplant.

Mazza said the prix fixe dinner is an invitation for those who typically don’t set foot in the dining room.

“I wanted diners to get the full Clydz experience,” Mazza said. “I wanted them to get a little taste of everything. I wanted them to come in, have a cocktail, and maybe go into the dining room. You would be shocked at how many people come into Clydz and have never been in the dining room. They’ve never ventured past the brick wall here except to maybe go to the bathroom. Clydz, to them, was a hangout or they’ve only eaten at the bar.”

Mazza has brought fresh ideas and unbridled enthusiasm to Clydz. In return, she says it has reminded her why this has always been what she wanted to do with her life – going back to the day in kindergarten when the first book she borrowed from the library was a cookbook.

Her first job may have been bussing tables at a family friend’s restaurant when she was 14, but she honed her craft at the best kitchens in New Brunswick.

Mazza served as a pastry chef at The Frog and The Peach, and her subsequent bread-making business counted INC and Destination Dogs among its clients.

She was serving up delicious Italian food at Fatto Americano when it closed in spring 2020.

With COVID still wreaking havoc on the restaurant industry, she suffered a moment of a career crisis.

“I had a conversation with one of my family members that week and she suggested I go into something recession-proof,” Mazza said. “I think that (career crisis) lasted for about that conversation. This industry is in my DNA, it’s in my blood. It’s so much a part of who I am and I consider myself very lucky to be able to do something that I love so much.”

She said she’s lucky to have landed at Clydz, where there’s a long legacy of clients downing smokey donkeys (Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, Domaine de Canton, St. Germain, lime, and ginger beer) and feasting on “Brontosaurus” short ribs.

“You don’t cook something and set out for someone to have a bad experience,” Mazza said. “Bt when they have a great experience, there is no better high and it’s an addiction, right. You constantly chase that high.”

For more information about City Center New Brunswick's special deals and contest promotions for Restaurant Week, click here.

Story by: Chuck O'Donnell
Photo Credit: Jackie Mazza