If it’s not the sliced raw beef dressed with briny olive and blood orange segments at the newly opened Hartley, then it might just be the crisp-and-tender octopus set atop a bed of smoked pork-infused beans—cassoulet-style—that hooks you.
Tucked away off Greenwood Ave in Madison, The Hartley is Morris County’s newest hidden gem. It’s a culinary dynamo that looks to fit the many careful intricacies of fine dining into the outfit of an accessible, neighborhood restaurant. Inside, the bar brings chic, moody digs, while a white tablecloth-set dining room grounds you in a fine dining mindset.
What you get is a taste of upscale cookery that’s not restricted by the fuss of outdated concepts—nor is it inundated by any of the culinary gimmicks often seen in modern dining.
Instead, The Hartley finds itself somewhere in the middle, where poised technique, functional plating and quality ingredients are the name of the game.
This style is exactly what General Manager Scotty Moran and Chef Jon Boot were after: an approachable option for diners looking to explore upscale dining. They also run the attached restaurant, Madison Wine & Tap.
The journey begins once the first bites hit the table. Slices of raw tuna were draped over a shaved fennel salad—studded with pieces of citrus like zingy gems in a quarry of flavors. Buttermilk and black garlic pooled at the bottom of the plate. As you cut into the vibrant red tuna, each element moves closer to full cohesion. A few bites in, the tangy buttermilk, which was only an accent at the beginning, now permeates the entirety of the dish. By the time you take your last bites, it’s a completely different plate than the one you began eating two minutes prior.
Beef carpaccio appears classic at first but hides a few wildcards within it. Rounds of paper-thin beef tenderloin are fanned in a circle on the plate, piles of crushed olive salad scattered atop it. Blood orange suprêmes and crunchy focaccia croutons—which burst with fragrant olive oil flavor—bring a bright and textural characteristic to the plate, while a shower of grated Parmigiano Reggiano rounds out the dish with a sharp punch of umami.
The fun continues beyond cold starters. Large tortelloni are stuffed with ricotta and English peas. Around it, a medley of blanched peas, torn mint and lemon zest, which perfumes the dish with citrus essence. Stupendously delicious and mystifyingly simple, sauteed shitake mushrooms and pea tendrils bring home the woodsy springtime vibe in this stellar pasta appetizer.
Braised octopus gets flash-cooked on the grill—the suction cups char into tiny morsels of intensified flavor. It’s prepared in the style of a cassoulet, a gluttonous French bean stew that is usually layered in a Dutch oven with braised meat, Toulouse sausage, confit duck and oftentimes breadcrumbs cooked in reserved duck fat.
The Hartley’s cassoulet is scaled back—noticeably lighter—and centers around octopus as the primary component. The beans are cooked in a flavorful broth made up of what I assume to be a combination of aromatics, tomato, smoked pork fat and the octopus braising liquid. This lends a complex flavor profile that, much like a traditional Cassoulet, is layered with different tastes. Of course, the final execution is more tame than the classic offering and scaled down from a family-style entree to a composed dish.
Though not a steakhouse, beef fanatics will take comfort in knowing that the steak options at The Hartley are plentiful. A dry-aged New York Strip came sauced with unctuous, meaty demi glace. Melt-in-your-mouth tender, with just a touch of funk around the edges, the strip steak was an unexpected surprise and distinctly impressive.
Iterations of fresh pasta make their way to the table, too. Soft, pillowy potato gnocchi sauced with rich braised short rib ragu. The short rib is left in chunks rather than shredded, making it feel more “entree-like.” The morsels of short rib are fall-apart tender with succulent, flavorful meat. Broccolini and dollops of herbed ricotta weaved throughout the dish. It was an excellent display of pasta-making skills combined with a general aptitude for cooking technique.
Then, there’s the cider-marinated pork chop, which served as the centerpiece for the table. Charred in spots, the rib chop was sliced to reveal a moist, rosy interior and served alongside scorched red cabbage, kale and a cardamom-spiked sweet potato puree. The cider brine assured a flavorful piece of meat as well as a tender one. A good piece of pork will always lure me, but the dish’s real X factor was the sweet potato, which burst with cardamom flavor and added a unique twist that broke from the norms of most pork entrees.
The Hartley offers a Chef’s tasting menu on Tuesdays, giving diners a more streamlined approach to fine dining that gives Chef Boot more freedom to riff. Much like the a la carte offerings, tasting menus at The Hartley are anything but boring or typical.
For dessert, you shouldn’t pass up the rich chocolate soufflé, which requires just north of 10 minutes for the kitchen to prepare. Listen to me when I say this: it’s worth the wait. This means they aren’t cutting corners—that it’s being made the traditional way. Rich chocolate batter, aerated by whipped egg whites, gets baked off in a ramekin to order. It results in a deeply chocolate-forward cake with a gooey center. Vanilla creme anglaise comes on the side.
The way to eat it is simple. Break open the center with your spoon and pour that vanilla custard right into the crater. What an absolute treat.
The Hartley is bringing fine dining concepts to Madison with a decidedly approachable feel. This means cassoulet-style charred octopus, vibrantly-flavored tuna crudo, pillowy gnocchi and dry-aged steaks. Have dinner in the white tablecloth-adorned dining room, or come in for a quick bite at the bar. It’s malleable, and that’s exactly what I like to see with new spots.
Situated in the back of a lot off of Greenwood Ave, The Hartley is one of North Jersey’s true hidden gems. Lucky for you, you’re early. Time to get in while you can.
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.
