Sea Salt: New restaurant in Stone Harbor

[Diner Girl]

For those of you who are familiar with the Southern Jersey Shore (Cape May, Wildwood, Stone Harbor, Avalon, Sea Isle City, Strathmere, Ocean City), there is an INCREDIBLE new restaurant in Stone Harbor.

It's called Sea Salt.

The restaurant is run by a young couple in their late 20s. She is from southern NJ (and worked at Claude's if you're familiar with the area) and he is Argentinian. They spent many years in NY honing their kitchen and management skills, and have now opened their own place.

It puts every other restaurant in the area to shame -- mostly because the towns are overrun with really awful "Italian" restaurants. If any of you are familiar with Stone Harbor and Avalon and remember the restaurant 9820, then this is comparable, if not better.

Everything is delivered to the kitchen fresh; they don't accept any goods that are or have been frozen. The kitchen staff is amazing, and the front of house staff couldn't be better. Polite, friendly, attentive, without being too much.

The decor of the place is warm, clean, and absolutely perfect. Great music, perfect lighting. Not the place to take kids, which means you can actually enjoy a dinner at the beach with no rugrats running around knocking things over and having meltdowns. Love that!

Here's a sample of their menu (which can change based on availability):

Starters:

Spicy Fluke Ceviche

Arctic Char Tartare

Oysters Malpec

Pan-roasted Soft Shell Crab (with a red curry coconut emulsion)

Tuna Bruschetta (with a peach-basil chutney)

Lobster Mac and Cheese

Entrees:

Skate Wing (brown butter, capers, butternut squash puree, braised baby bok choy)

Argentinian Hanger Steak (chimichurri sauce, provencal fries, tomatoes, homemade sausage)

Scallop-encrusted Striped Bass (oyster mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, tomato confit)

Mar Y Terra (Roasted langostinos, grilled organic veal breast, lentil salad, roasted avocado)

You can also request a tasting menu -- which is over-the-top and a great value for the $.

As with most restaurants in the area, it's BYOB, but they have an affiliation with a local wine shop that delivers for free. The prices are really reasonable (starters range from $7-13; entrees in the mid-$20s).

Sea Salt is located at:

8307 Third Avenue (83rd Street and Third Avenue)

Stone Harbor, NJ

phone: 609.368.3302

They only have 40 seats, so reservations are probably a good thing to make.

If you live within an hour of this place -- it's worth the drive. Even if you're going to Atlantic City (a little more than an hour up the Garden State Parkway), it's worth the trip. The meals we have had there are unforgettable, and I've made plans to host my birthday dinner there in August with a group of friends who are all driving in from DC.

Enjoy!!

[richl2214]

...and now back to your regularly scheduled program...

:)

[jamiemaw]

The meals we have had there are unforgettable, and I've made plans to host my birthday dinner there in August with a group of friends who are all driving in from DC.

Enjoy!!

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Wow. Will Karl Rove be joining you?

Edited July 20, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[birder53]

I'm surprised this post hasn't been deleted by the management.

[Allura]

Lessee....

Yes, it's possible that Diner Girl has some sort of connection to the restaurant; the comments about the BoH are suspicious. However, does anyone have an actual critique of the restaurant to follow up with? Not every new member's a troll; It's possible she's just very earnest & finally decided to delurk. It's happened before. I'm also noting that her other post is about pizza and such in the area, and doesn't even mention this restaurant.

[birder53]

Lessee....

Yes, it's possible that Diner Girl has some sort of connection to the restaurant; the comments about the BoH are suspicious. However, does anyone have an actual critique of the restaurant to follow up with? Not every new member's a troll; It's possible she's just very earnest & finally decided to delurk. It's happened before. I'm also noting that her other post is about pizza and such in the area, and doesn't even mention this restaurant.

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Allura,

You most certainly could be right here. Maybe I'm just an old cynic!

[doc slaughter]

After reading the responses to a newbies post I am a bit put off to leave a report about places that I've eaten at and like (or don't like) without having 1st posted a few dozen times. If that's peoples perception of novice eger's. I've been a reader of this web for over a year and finally felt comfortable enough to join and then after several weeks made a post but have still not felt comfortable ( sure enough in my ability to write with some medium degree of proficency) to write a restaurant review. Having said that I think that I'll make it a goal to eat at this place (since it's not to far away) and get back with a comment on it.

I haven't failed I just found 10,000 ways that don't work. TAE.

[richl2214]

After reading the responses to a newbies post I am a bit put off to leave a report about places that I've eaten at and like (or don't like) without having 1st posted a few dozen times. If that's peoples perception of novice eger's. I've been a reader of this web for over a year and finally felt comfortable enough to join and then after several weeks made a post but have still not felt comfortable ( sure enough in my ability to write with some medium degree of proficency) to write a restaurant review. Having said that I think that I'll make it a goal to eat at this place (since it's not to far away) and get back with a comment on it.

I haven't failed I just found 10,000 ways that don't work. TAE.

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We'd welcome your review of the place. However, the initial post is not really typical of a rest. review on EG. It IS a commercial and a way to get the word out on it. It reads like a brochure or a paid advertisement!!!!

[Curlz]

Anyone who has been reading eG for a while must know that folks in the regional forums get a little leery of a first-time poster who sounds like a restaurant PR person. It's not to say that all enthusiastic first-timers are PR people; just that there is a tone in some posts that can come across that way. Phrases like Here's a sample of their menu (which can change based on availability) send up red flags. If Diner Girl was simply an enthusiastic customer, that's great--but it would probably help if she made that clear.

[adegiulio]

I just looked at her profile. She's kinda cute, so let's cut her some slack, huh...

[tommy]

After reading the responses to a newbies post I am a bit put off to leave a report about places that I've eaten at and like (or don't like) without having 1st posted a few dozen times. If that's peoples perception of novice eger's. I've been a reader of this web for over a year and finally felt comfortable enough to join and then after several weeks made a post but have still not felt comfortable ( sure enough in my ability to write with some medium degree of proficency) to write a restaurant review.

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if you write like an advert we'll make fun of you even after 10,000 posts.

[Curlz]

It's so true.

This message brought to you by a non-PR gal.

[whitetrufflechick]

You can also request a tasting menu -- which is over-the-top and a great value for the $.

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What I find a bit odd is referring to a tasting menu as "over-the-top and a great value" without actually mentioning any of the food that you were served. If you didn't actually HAVE the tasting menu, then how do you know its over-the-top or a great value?

Just curious

[tommy]

What I find a bit odd is referring to a tasting menu as "over-the-top and a great value" without actually mentioning any of the food that you were served.  If you didn't actually HAVE the tasting menu, then how do you know its over-the-top or a great value?

Just curious

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perhaps a friend has had it or she read about it. i've never had the 9 course tasting at the French Laundry, but i can make some reasonable assumptions about it given what i've heard, but not necessarily experienced.

i'm in agreement with adegulio on this one.

[Diner Girl]

Well, well well.... way to harsh on the newbie-poster but long-time lurker. Jeez, guys.... cut me some slack. (except for the "she's cute" comments... you can always keep those coming). Nothing like posting something I felt passionate about, going away for a few days on a business trip, and coming back to the guillotine. Man.

Here's the deal. I am not a restaurant PR person. I am in no way affiliated with Sea Salt. I found out about it when I got to the beach that weekend and heard one of the local bookstore owners talking about this place. I went there over the Fourth of July weekend on the Friday night (Argentinian hanger steak) then I went back with other friends again on the Wednesday night before I left the beach. I mentioned to the waitress that I wish I had time to try everything on the menu and she suggested doing a tasting menu. It was over-the-top, and for $60, well worth all the food we got. When the chef came out to see how we liked everything, he introduced himself, as well as his wife, who manages the place, and they told us their story.

I asked for their menu and business card because I thought for my first post here, I actually wanted to talk about a place I hope does well and survives more than one season. And, I also posted a lot of their menu items because I can't stand it when someone writes about a restaurant and just says "they have great Tex-Mex." Tell me why it's great. Tell me what they have. Tell me if it's worth the money or the driving time. Don't make me post and ask nine hundred questions. Give me the info upfront. That's just me.

I welcome any of you who live in or around the area to try it out and see what you think.

So, bigtime apologies to anyone who may have been offended or thought it sounded like an ad. It's not. It's a huge thumbs up, a galaxy of stars and a crock full of whisks to a restaurant in southern Jersey that finally provides an alternative to spagehtti and meatballs or fried flounder with Heinz tartar sauce.

Again, apologies all around.

Edited July 22, 2005 by Diner Girl (log)

[Curlz]

No need to apologize after that post, DG! Thanks for setting the record straight. It's always great to have another feisty female around.

[adegiulio]

As the only one who passionately defended DG, I think I deserve an apology from all of you.. 'Cept Tommy...

Now I have a hankering for fried flounder...

[birder53]

Glad to hear back from you Diner Girl. I hope you can appreciate why some of us responded the way that we did. The pattern of new poster raving in such detail about a restaurant that hasn't been mentioned before has been played out here before. It usually turned out to be someone affiliated with the restaurant, which is fine if they say so up front. I am an old cynic!

So, if it's not too late to make you feel at home here, welcome to egullet!

Is Sea Salt open all year? I usually find myself looking for a good meal along the shore in January when most of the shore eateries are closed.

[Diner Girl]

Glad to hear back from you Diner Girl.  I hope you can appreciate why some of us responded the way that we did.  The pattern of new poster raving in such detail about a restaurant that hasn't been mentioned before has been played out here before.  It usually turned out to be someone affiliated with the restaurant, which is fine if they say so up front.  I am an old cynic!

So, if it's not too late to make you feel at home here, welcome to egullet! 

Is Sea Salt open all year?  I usually find myself looking for a good meal along the shore in January when most of the shore eateries are closed.

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I think they said they are staying open until Thanksgiving. I'm not sure, though.

And, thanks for the welcome. I appreciate it!

[ghostrider]

It's a huge thumbs up, a galaxy of stars and a crock full of whisks to a restaurant in southern Jersey that finally provides an alternative to spagehtti and meatballs or fried flounder with Heinz tartar sauce.

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My gut feeling was that it was a post from someone excited to have such a place around. Sorry I didn't get a chance to post that thought earlier. Glad to have you around!

[Kim WB]

At my house in Avalon this month. It's a good restaurant on first visit, potential to be more. Packed, and loud..lots of meat, not sure how anyone can know the food is not frozen...they had soft shell this week...out of season.