NORTH ATLANTIC FLAVOR: Halifax Brings Coastal Cuisine to the Hoboken Waterfront

A seafood restaurant? On the waterfront? Imagine that…

As the steakhouse and BBQ set take their seats at Hoboken’s big kids’ table—Halifax has arrived to round out the dining options along the waterfront.

Moving into the W Hotel in the space that housed Zylo, Halifax is a creative collaboration of owner Michael Barry and Executive Chef Seadon Shouse. The aim is to deliver the taste of the Northeastern coastal cuisine, from the Mid-Atlantic through New England and beyond to Nova Scotia—where chef Shouse grew up. Halifax will offer the sort of menu you’d find at coastal village restaurant a century ago—featuring locally sourced meat, fish, produce and dairy—but with stunning riverside views of the Manhattan skyline.

Designer Gwathmey Siegel, architect and designer Peter Bentel of Bentel & Bentel (whose restaurant design projects include Le Bernardin, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park and Craft) created a dining room that evokes the sea, sky and coastal farmland, with light blues, light greens, whites and grays.

Meals at Halifax can begin with smoked fish, charcuterie and cheese boards for the table. Cured and smoked fish include maple-glazed smoked wild salmon and smoked pollock rillettes. Meats include thinly sliced pork lomo; garlic salami and duck liver paté. A rotating selection of locally sourced artisan cheese currently features Slyboro Goat from New York and Baley Hazen Blue from Vermont.

Raw bar selections will feature East and West coast oysters, Long Island littleneck clams, poached Florida shrimp, Seadon’s house-smoked mussels. There’s also a changing selection of crudo—currently it’s Montauk fluke with a squeeze of lime, fresno chilies, radish and sunchokes. Plates to share include deviled eggs—topped with house smoked herring, scallions and garlic chips, and lightly battered quenelles of gluten-free salt cod and Florida shrimp fritters.

Of course there’s a stellar clam chowder, chocked full of freshly shucked clam, potato, topped with shaved Kentucky double-smoked ham and served with house made rye oyster crackers.

For entrees, there’s Long Island black sea bass with sunchokes, tomato confit; Barnegat sea scallops with cauliflower, golden raisins, capers and beurre blanc; and Maine lobster rigatoni with trumpet mushrooms and lemon.

For the culinary landlubbers, there is smoked Amish chicken, brined and lightly smoked in-house, then roasted, served with warm salad of toasted bread and local greens, with currants, pine nuts, and scallions, and NJ Lamb Ragout (using lamb from Barry’s father’s farm) with ricotta cavatelli, tomato confit, and chanterelles.

Pastry chef Stuart Marx, who also worked with Chef David Burke at Fromagerie and with Dominic Filoni at Avenue, has created desserts with Northeastern inspirations: Boston cream pie; maple crème brulée; strawberry rhubarb and white chocolate parfait, apple fritters with caramel sauce. Finally Seadon’s own personal stash of house made vermouth along with cookies baked by Stuart are brought to the table at the end of each meal.

Specialty and classic cocktails created by General Manager Katherine Teodosic (formerly with Michael White and the Altamarea Group) will be composed with seasonal fruits and vegetables, local herbs and botanical—and a selection of locally distilled spirits. Wines will come from upstate New York, LI, and other places along the coast, with the list mapped by grape. Beers on tap are from Departed Soles (Jersey City NJ), Singlecut Beersmiths from Queens, and other local breweries.

On weekends, the bubbles brunch with unlimited small plates and a bottle of Champagne is served in two seatings from 11am-1pm or 1pm-3pm.

Halifax
W Hoboken
225 River Street
Hoboken, NJ
201-253-2500
halifaxhoboken.com
Breakfast: Mon-Fri 6:30am-11am, Sat-Sun 7:30am-11am
Lunch: Mon-Fri 11am-3:00pm
Brunch: Sat-Sun 11am-3pm
Dinner: Sun-Wed 5pm-10pm, Thur-Sat 5pm-11pm.