I am a total sucker for a restaurant atmosphere—the design choices and how they contribute to a meal’s success. After all, the first thing you judge when walking into a new restaurant is how it looks. It’s the first thing you form an opinion on, no matter how hard you fight it. When a restaurant employs an atmosphere that transfers you to another world, that’s what makes for memorable dining experiences.
My absolute favorite style of restaurant you ask? That’s easy. The ones that shamelessly flaunt their history.
When I heard that Chef Sean Gray would be taking over an almost 300-year-old inn located a stone’s throw from the Pennsylvania border in rural NJ, the food nerd in me could not be tamed. The revamped Sergeantsville Inn is firing on all cylinders, serving simple food with pristine execution, alongside a varied wine list, classic cocktails and perfect pints of Guinness.
Gray brings to the Inn a lengthy career spread across Philly and New York, most notably as the Executive Chef of Ko, which earned Two Michelin Stars during his tenure. It seemed odd at first—why here for the lauded chef? But it turns out that rural New Jersey is exactly where Gray was meant to land. The Sergeantsville Inn has become a place for locals to come for seasonally-driven, unapologetic cooking (and drinking), seven days a week. At the same time, it is quickly becoming New Jersey’s own destination restaurant.
The first thing you’ll notice pulling up to the inn is the sheer age of the building. Pictures just don’t do the Revolutionary-era space justice. Inside, that sentiment only grows. It’s dim, with multiple floors, dark wood accents and stone walls. In the attached tavern section, which was added sometime in the 1800s, patrons munch on plates of nachos and other bar bites, washed down with cold ale, vermouth tonics, and tart Hemingway Daiquiris.
While much of the building’s structure and design (and even many of the drinks) serve as a portal into the past, the food takes a sharp turn to the modern era.
Take the fried chicken that’s served on the blue plates specials menu from 4 to 6 p.m. in the tavern. I’m not sure New Jersey diners fully understand the storied nature of this seemingly simple fried chicken leg, which the Inn sells by the piece. At Ko, Gray made headlines with this chicken for more than one reason. For starters, it was served cold. Yes, cold. Additionally, the chicken was rather laborious—needing a brine, four trips to the fryer and multiple layers of a sweet glaze, which adds up to days of prep before being ready to serve.
At the Inn, Gray ditches the cold element but keeps the rest of the chicken more or less the same as how it was served at his Two-Star Manhattan restaurant, and the results are quite literally mind-blowing. The shatteringly crisp breading uses a mixture of wheat flour and pure starch. The sweet and slightly spicy glaze adds a beautiful sheen in addition to its addicting flavor. The meat is succulent and juicy, pulling away from the bone with ease.
It’s the look that really gets me, though. Gray somehow produces a cartoonishly perfect fried chicken leg that looks strikingly similar the chicken leg emoji on iPhones. On the side, a stack of pickled watermelon rind to cut the richness, and you get what just might be the single greatest piece of fried chicken in the state. Seriously, it’s that good.
The full menu boasts just as impressive of offerings. Gooey potato-filled croquettes served in a skillet over spicy tomato sauce prove why the classics never go out of style. With their crisp coating and creamy center, it’s the perfect food to go along with a cold glass of Austrian Grüner Veltliner or a creamy pint of Guinness.
Chef Gray also shows his full-fronted love for seasonality. Every item on the Sergeantsville Inn menu is infused with some type of seasonal produce. For some, the produce is the dish.
I was lucky to snag some of the last Jimmy Nardello peppers of the season. Gray serves them extremely simply: charred and drizzled with barrel-aged balsamico and a cheek of lime on the side. The combination of the syrupy vinegar and the brightly acidic lime come together with the sweet peppers to form what is essentially a three-ingredient bite that lets the quality do the talking. No fluid gels, no foams, just superb food—cooked well.
For entrees, you’ll be delighted to discover a similar format. It’s this new-age of cooking, that almost returns to the simplicity and the roots of dining, that I search for. Proteins whose craveability lies in its method, paired with produce that was sticking out of dirt just days prior—treated with the care it so rightly deserves. Real food, so to speak.
Delicate morsels of squash-filled pasta come sauced with slivers of almond, coconut curry and the last of the summer squashes. It’s a marriage of fall and summer—a dish that is really only possible for a few weeks out of the year. These are the plates that are unlikely to be found at restaurants with less of a farm-centered approach. While many might think of Northeastern US cooking as separated into four seasons, chefs like Gray will tell you that reality is more nuanced. The pairing of the Autumnally forward squash filling with a brighter set outlined by end-of-summer flavors is what restaurants like the Inn are all about.
Bone-in pork chops are grilled to temperature and served on bistro plates alongside sweet potato and a charred onion. A syrupy jus coats the meat and punchy salsa verde rounds out the dish. The meat is succulent, with a developed crust and rosy interior. The dish is fully composed and straightforward: protein, starch, allium. That kind of proud simplicity is what I find to be necessary in a world of high-end dining that, to me, appears more and more bombastic each day.
Look around the dining room or tavern and you’ll see diners reveling in thick, pub-style burgers draped with Cooper Sharp cheese and moules frites. Plates of mahogany-tinted sausage come served over leek and pepper-studded beans. Crusty slices of sourdough bread with anchovies and butter reign supreme, too.
If you’re like me, though, you’ll order the chicken. Half chicken, to be precise—roasted to a deeply brown sheen, shielding succulent, tender meat. Dressed farm lettuces and a sliced summer squash come on the side. Think rotisserie chicken without the stringy, overcooked breast meat. A perfect protein, enhanced brilliantly with a cheek of lemon or lime on the side. Again, simple cooking. A practice that we have strayed too far from.
The portions are generous, and the food is filling, but I am nothing if not a dessert kind of guy—no matter how full I may be. Tarte Tatin is the name of the game. Buttery crust surrounds a filling composed of copious amounts of sliced apple, each slice layered delicately atop one another. They cook down but hold their shape. A slice reveals the marvel that is—what seems like—fifty layers of apple. A scoop of custardy vanilla ice cream slowly melts over top.
In true Inn style, pair it with a pour of lightly chilled Pommeau—a French aperitif made from mixing apple brandy and unfiltered apple juice before being left to age for an additional two or so years. It is caramel-forward with plenty of body, the perfect pairing for a sweet dessert.
A meal at Sergeantsville Inn starts before the food hits the table, and your journey begins before drinks, too. The real experience of the Inn lies in the atmosphere, which houses centuries of history. This has long been the draw of the Hunterdon County restaurant, but with Chef Sean Gray at the helm, the space has catapulted into a new era.
One that pays homage to the history of its bones, while pulling diners to the modern age with a meal that weaves through the flavors, textures and apparatus of local farms and ingredients. Gray’s vision for this takes the form of simple plates of grilled vegetables, mind-numbing fried chicken legs, bread with unapologetically straightforward condiments and entrees defined by expertly cooked proteins and the best produce of the area.
It’s a concept that words and pictures almost don’t do justice. While locals have quickly caught on to the gem that is the Inn, the rest of the state is still catching up. Sean Gray and the Sergeantsville Inn team have something special, and it’s past time you experienced it yourself.
Peter Candia is the Food + Drink Editor at New Jersey Digest. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Peter found a passion for writing midway through school and never looked back. He is a former line cook, server and bartender at top-rated restaurants in the tri-state area. In addition to food, Peter enjoys politics, music, sports and anything New Jersey.
