Uptown Hoboken’s Liberty Bar and Grill is well known for its entertainment, but recently the quality food has become the talk of the town.
The team of owner Dawn Kaplan and executive chef Denis Alvarez has created a new identity at Liberty. The once “just a bar” location now offers filet mignons and fine pastas in addition to dozens of appetizers, pizzas and burgers. More and more people are coming to experience what the new chef is cooking.
“We have great food,” Alvarez said proudly last week. “We have become one of the best places for dinner in the area.”
Alvarez graduated from the New York Restaurant School in 1992 and since then has worked in five-star restaurants in Bloomfield and Boca Raton, Fla. He was working in the area when he met Kaplan, and soon their mutual interest in creating a competitive dinner menu proved fruitful.
“We had a vision of what the place should be,” Alvarez said. “We upgraded the menu, and now the dishes are excellent.”
In just over a year, Alvarez has taken a simple bar menu and transformed it into an American with international fusion menu, which includes such specialties as: the executive ($20.95), a 10-ounce file mignon cooked to temperature, served with potato croquette, fresh spinach and Alvarez’ signature sauce; Samara’s chicken ($14.95), Francaise style chicken topped with sliced tomato and fresh mozzarella and served with potato croquette; rigatoni serena ($14.95), fresh salmon, peas and mushrooms served in a pink sherry sauce; penne vodka ($11.95), prosciutto, onions, tomatoes and heavy cream finished with Parmesean cheese and basil; and blackened chicken Alfredo ($14.95), Cajun style chicken, sliced over a classic linguini alfredo sauce.
The restaurant’s large doors are left open during the cool summer nights, allowing the breeze to creep in. The large rotunda bar in the middle of the dining room sits alone like an island, while the dining tables line up around it. The bar offers a variety of beverages ranging from domestic and imported beers to specialty-mixed drinks. The dining room seats up to 50 people.
On one wall, there is a painting of the Statue of Liberty sitting down in the Hudson River staring toward Manhattan. And, there is a pool table and a large screen to view sports games in the back.
“We are very versatile here,” Kaplan said. “We can be a sports bar and a great place for music.”
Kaplan took over Liberty more than three years ago. Since then, she has compiled a weekly entertainment schedule that includes sports nights on Mondays and Sundays complete with drink specials; live acoustic music on Wednesday nights; karaoke on Thursday nights; and a DJ spinning records or a band on Fridays and Saturdays.
“Every night there is something different,” Kaplan said.
My meal
I began my meal with fried calamari ($7.95), served with fresh marinara sauce, which is prepared daily by Alvarez. Then I had the buffalo wings prepared medium ($5.95), which can also be ordered hot, or mild. I also tried the sampler ($14.95), which consisted of four jerked chicken fingers, four fried raviolis, four conch fritters, and four coconut shrimps. I recommend the sampler for people interested in trying a little bit of everything. The fried raviolis were a delicious treat, and the coconut shrimps were big and tasty.
After the appetizers, I enjoyed a terrific royal filet au poivre ($21.95). Recommended by Alvarez, the pepper-encrusted filet mignon was prepared medium-well and it was finished in a brandied cream sauce with a side of potato and spinach. The large steak was tender and juicy, and the delicious creamy sauce around it was excellent. The potatoes were spicy and mashed, terrifically complimenting the entr