Raymond's

The Restaurant

Raymond's has anchored 28 Church Street since 2001 — the pedestrianised crosswalk that runs perpendicular to Bloomfield Avenue in the centre of Montclair — and has earned its position as the town's most reliable all-occasion table across two decades of careful operation. The dining room runs to about 120 covers across a main room, a long marble-topped bar, and a glass-fronted patio that opens to Church Street in season. The space is warm and well-worn in the best sense: bistro-style banquette seating, soft incandescent lighting, framed black-and-white photographs of mid-century Montclair, an extensive list of daily specials chalked on a large board above the bar.

The kitchen runs an sharpened American comfort menu with serious technical execution — the burger (a half-pound dry-aged blend on a brioche bun with truffle aioli) has won repeat regional press recognition; the elegant seafood platter for two ($90) brings raw oysters, shrimp cocktail, lump crab, and lobster on shaved ice; the perfectly grilled hanger steak with chimichurri and shoestring fries is the room's signature; a daily fish preparation, a wild-mushroom risotto, and a roast chicken-for-two ($65) round out the most-ordered dishes. The bread service — warm sourdough rolls with cultured butter — is a quiet town favourite.

The wine list runs to roughly 160 references with depth in North American and Italian regions and a sensible by-the-glass programme. Brunch — served daily from 9 AM through 3 PM — has become the town's signature weekend gathering: a serious eggs benedict in three preparations, a buttermilk pancake stack with maple-butter, a working bloody Mary programme. The bar runs late into the evening on Thursday through Saturday. For a team dinner, a family birthday, or a Sunday brunch with the in-laws, Raymond's is the Montclair table that handles all three with the same warm hand.