VUE

When you make your way up the main staircase, above the Oyster Bar, that's when you truly appreciate the breadth of everything. At the top, overlooking the property's 1500-foot reflecting pool, is the Vail family living quarters which has been transformed into Jockey's fine dining room. The dining room is perhaps the most unique of the spaces as it exudes exclusivity and pushes the boundaries of common culinary ideals. Executive Chef Kevin Sippel explained, "Each dining room has its own food identity at this point, the Oyster Bar and Vail Bar, are very casual, everything is very approachable. The dining room is more hands on pushes the envelope without being pretentious." Sippel's farm-to-table menu is deeply rooted in the classics of France and Italy, and utilizes the best of what New Jersey's agriculture has to offer. "We are in the middle of the Garden State, we have such a wide variety of farms out here utilize. Cooking with local ingredients is pretty much how we've eaten since we've been on the planet," said Sippel. Through strong relationships with Ralston Farms and Barnegat Bay, Sippel is able to source what is in season, and use wintered vegetables during cold months. Our four course meal began with the grilled Spanish octopus, a delightful starter which was served with eggplant and black olives. This was followed up with hand rolled garganelli, which is made with braised veal and a lamb ragu. As a pasta dish, the garganelli stole my tastebuds and left me damn near mesmerized, that was until I tried Sippel's kurobuta pork filet with parsnips and mushroom ragu. DINING ROOM VUE ON DINING V U E N J . C O M 86

• Cover