Highlights: Prosciutto with Cheddar Gougères, Summer Vegetable Gratin, Brick Chicken, Excellent Cocktails
If it’s not the eclectic food menu—defined by globe-spanning flavors and techniques—or the poised cocktail menu that veers off into the territory of well-riffed classics, then it might just be the flawless design that pulls you into The Roxy. And once they have you, there’s no sense in fighting it—you’ll be hooked.
The murmurs of The Roxy were almost too much to ignore. When I first heard word that the team behind what I consider to be one of the best restaurants in the state, Corto, would be bringing a new concept to Jersey City, I found it hard to hide my excitement. And as the new restaurant—donning the playful and luxurious name, The Roxy—came to fruition, I quickly realized that in no way were partners Drew Buzzio, Justin Buzzio and Chef Matt Moschella planning to open anything that would be seen as Corto 2.
Instead, The Roxy was bringing a completely unique experience to Jersey City. Where Corto shines with its intimate dining room, accented by a quaint open kitchen and homey back patio, The Roxy instead looks to embrace the retro-modernist essence of Jersey City’s ever-evolving dining scene—a dining scene that continues to prove itself as the best in NJ.
As you walk through the front doors, you are met with a dining room and bar that fully leans into the art-deco style. Slate-gray walls and floors, accented by light-wood booths and pristine marble-topped tables and bar. Tan leather seating with sage-backed cushions and an exposed ceiling painted with red ties together the ends of the space. Plates of monochromatic octopus, towering bowls of brothy mussels and cocktail-filled coupes scatter across the tables, adding to the allure of the space. Each and every piece of The Roxy is calculated—it matters.
This realization comes to a point the moment you sit down as your eyes begin to scan the menu. Chef Rachel Dos Santos leads the charge in the kitchen. Her expertise helped to establish Corto as the powerhouse it is, and now, she does the same for The Roxy.
Her culinary intellect is seen with dishes like the cheddar gougères—a perfect first bite. Five pieces of baked pâte à choux—seasoned with sharp cheddar cheese—surround a puddle of house-made, full-grain mustard. Atop each cheesy delight is a pile of imported Prosciutto di Parma. The pastry is easily separated in half, revealing an airy (read: proper) interior—perfect for filling with prosciutto and mustard. What you get is a ham and cheese slider of sorts, paired perfectly with their Light Rail Manhattan—a stirred rye cocktail with Starlino Vermouth and a dose of botanically-rich Amaro Romano.
This unorthodox approach to serving Prosciutto di Parma is, in a way, the antithesis of how the team might serve it at Corto, but that’s why it’s attractive. Dos Santos proves her malleability, and it does not stop at gougères. Scallop crudo with charred peaches, baby carrots and peppers offers a bright contrast—defined by succulent and sweet scallop meat, which shines in its most simplistic form: raw.
As you make your way through a meal at The Roxy, you’ll find that the borders continue to fade, blending flavors from throughout the world. Charred octopus served with Merguez-studded lentils is a prime example. Morsels of crispy Merguez—a Maghrebi lamb sausage that became popular in French cooking during the 1960s—become the defining flavor of the dish, offering a bold accentuation to the sweet and otherwise subtle octopus. Mixed with lentils and pimenton, the dish stands as an ode to the diversity of flavors found across the Mediterranean.
That borderless French bistro feeling is what The Roxy is all about. The team leans heavy on this idea of elevated dishes and techniques, without the boring rules to weigh them down. A summer vegetable gratin, for example, doesn’t just break rules—it shatters them. Where a traditional gratin might include the vegetables neatly ordered in a dish, covered in grated cheese or sauce mornay, and broiled until a golden-brown, bubbling delight, The Roxy decides to not only deconstruct this, but to reimagine it, too.
A chorus of summer squashes and peppers are cooked separate from the cheese, which is the blatant stand-out of this side dish. A funky, soft-rind goat cheese—bucheron—is seared on the plancha, lending a golden cheese skirt which covers the entire top. The cheese’s core begins to just barely melt. This is placed atop the vegetables and allowed to slowly morph it into something more composed. And as it sits, it gets better and better.
But, Dos Santos can just as easily steer back into total classics. Pan-roasted half chicken, cooked under a brick, with charred lemon and a carafe of rich, sticky gravy to douse the chicken with. A masterful cook on the bird lends juicy meat and a shatteringly crisp skin.
Butter-cooked skate wing with leafy chard and halibut chicharrones shows ability to play with textures. The fall-part skate wing juxtaposed with a crunchy, halibut-flavored treat is proof that The Roxy doesn’t abide by any specific set of rules. And duck-fat-cooked potatoes with paprika emulsion eats like the best patatas bravas you’ve ever had, showing the continued effort to redefine Mediterranean staples.
For dessert, Thai tea-infused Basque cheesecake is rich with a slight florality. The decadence is cut in half by a mouth-puckering calamansi curd. Pours of cherry-forward Stambecco amaro help to bring the meal home.
The Roxy brings a fresh, new experience to the Bergen Lafayette neighborhood of Jersey City. It’s specialty? Regionally-inspired dishes that break rules and a studied cocktail program that’s built to match it. What you get is a dining experience that leaves an impression—one that you’ll ponder on for weeks after the fact.
When Chef Matt Moschella—along with Chef Rachel Dos Santos and partners Justin and Drew Buzzio—announced The Roxy, the last thing I wanted was something that felt like a sequel to Corto. Instead, they delivered an entirely new dining experience, complete with its own style of food, design and hospitality.
The Roxy has quickly become one of Jersey City’s best restaurants, and soon, the rest of New Jersey will catch on.
