Everything's Just Peach at The Frog and The Peach for Restaurant Week

Many budget-conscious diners long ago circled this day on their calendars.

The start of New Brunswick Restaurant Week affords them a chance to sample good food and live the good life at restaurants such as The Frog and The Peach.

And although the restaurant on Dennis Street, along with a precious few others, represents the pinnacle of fine dining in New Brunswick, don’t expect owner/chef Bruce Lefebvre to skimp on the special Restaurant Week menu choices.

“I figure if we’re going to do Restaurant Week, we’re going to discount it, of course,” Lefebvre said. “That’s the idea, to have an opportunity for everybody to come who wouldn’t normally come. So we don’t dumb it down. We lower the price and try to give the same of everything.”

To that end, the restaurant is serving a three-course lunch at $40 a person and a three-course dinner at $55 a person – just make sure you mention Restaurant Week to your server to receive the discount.

Some of the Restaurant Week menu choices reflect The Frog and The Peach’s annual summer celebration of peaches. Each course created by Lefebvre and executive chef Joe Beninato offers something made from fresh, juicy Jersey peaches.

“The one dish we always do is the peach carpaccio,” Lefebvre said. “So, it’s raw, sliced peaches on a plate with baby arugula and prosecco vinaigrette and crispy duck confit and candied almonds. That’s one I invented a long time ago. It’s a nod to Harry’s Bar in Venice, where the Bellini was created. It’s a peach champagne drink, so hence the prosecco vinaigrette. The carpaccio – they also invented the carpaccio dish, the sliced meat carpaccio.”

So, during Restaurant Week, dinner can be the peach carpaccio as an appetizer, pastrami smoked short ribs with a peach mostarda for the main course, and peach sorbet with pizzelle and bourbon glazed pecans for dessert.

Creating fresh takes on American classics while incorporating Jersey fresh ingredients has been the recipe Lefebvre has come to rely on since he became the executive chef more than 20 years ago. He ended up buying the restaurant in 2012 from the founding husband and wife team of Jim Black and Betsy Alger, a couple of Rutgers grads.

And although The Frog and The Peach is widely regarded as one of the best restaurants in New Jersey, Lefebvre has always eagerly signed up to participate in Restaurant Week.

“Some people, they don’t like the people to come out for whatever reason,” he said. “(They say,) ‘It’s not what we do. These are not our clients.’ I don’t know. For me, you’re supporting the city first of all. And the more people who do it, the better experience for everyone, the better the city looks. I’ve never tried to shy away from it.”

Here is a taste of what’s being offered in New Brunswick during Restaurant Week, which runs through July 30:

Batch Bin & Barrel - $7 wines and $8 spirits

Christopher's at The Heldrich - Bottomless Mimosas Sundays, Wine & Dine Mondays, Temptations Tuesdays & Faculty Night Thursdays

Clydz - $80 prix fixe dinner for two

Dashen Ethiopian Cuisine - 10% off lunch orders over $50 and 15% off dinner orders over $100

Delta’s Restaurant – Three-course dinner for only $45 per person

Filippo's Famous Pizza - $7.95 lunch and dinner meal deal

Fritz's - Two for $35 prix-fixe menu

Gloria Jean's Coffees - Buy one beverage and get a second at 50% off from 2 p.m. to close.

Harvest Moon Brewery & Cafe - Two-course dinner with choice of house craft brewed beer or a frozen daily cocktail for only $35 per person

Mozzarella Cucina Italiana & Mexican Food - Purchase any entree and receive two free desserts

Panico's Restaurant + Bar D/B/A Victoria's Tratta Italiano - Free appetizer with every paid entree

Poke Nagomi - 10% off all orders on the kiosk during business hours

Ramen Nagomi - Prix fixe menu for $20 per person

Roosterspin - Three-course dinner and 1 beverage for $35 per person

Salt Seafood & Oyster Bar - Three-course prix fixe dinner for $75 per person Mondays through Thursdays from 3 to 7 p.m.

Social Room Bar & Kitchen - Special offer being announced soon!

Steakhouse 85 - Date Night: three-course prix fixe menu (includes a bottle of wine ) $125 per couple

Stress Factory Comedy Club - Free appetizer with every paid entree

Tavern on George - Complimentary appetizer with the purchase of two menu items ($14 and up each)

The Frog and The Peach - Three-course lunch for $40 per person and Three-course dinner for $55 per person.

 
Story: Chuck O'Donnell
Photo: TAPinto New Brunswick