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Club 201 is engaging new dinner and music spot in Englewood, NJLatin and Sushi cuisine seasoned by smooth supper-club singer Bobby CurtisBy Lucy Komisar
You walk into a dimly lit room of maroon-covered tables and are greeted by the soft strumming of a recorded Spanish guitar. On one side is a long bar, on the other, separated by gauze curtains, are private nooks brightened by small cut-glass Moroccan lanterns. As you sip a delicious white Sangría at the bar or share a bottle of good French or American wine at a table, you relax in the artfully created setting.
The Latin cuisine is prepared by Andrew DiCataldo, who spent nine years as a chef at the popular New York restaurant, "Patria." DiCataldo, who is Italian, lived in Colombia and Miami, then after culinary school worked in Spanish restaurants. Sushi is prepared by a Japanese chief.
Bittan has a history that helped inspire this restaurant. After his father died in 1963, his mother decided to leave Morocco and take the family of six children to Israel. He explained, "It was a turbulent time for the Jews in Morocco after the '56 war and Sinai Campaign." They spent seven months in a Jewish immigration transit camp in Marseilles. In Israel, he served in the army and ran a disco in Tel Aviv, then traveled around Europe, working in clubs in France, Belgium, and Spain. He came to the U.S. in 1973 and soon opened the New York club "Mr. Laff's" with Mets baseball player Art Shamsky and the Yankees' Phil Lentz. He jokes about how his identity has changed as he's moved around the world: "In Morocco they called us Jews; in France they called us Africans; in Israel they called us Moroccans, here they call us French."
Bittan was out of the restaurant and music business for a while. He worked in fashion (Sassoon Jeans and then Guess Jeans) and still deals in real estate (hotels and medical centers). He arrived in Englewood in 1996 and set up the Solaia Italian restaurant next door to the Bergen Performing Arts Center, on whose board he serves.
On the night I visited the Supper Club, patrons were having a smashing time. "I love it, I love the atmosphere," said Daryl Richardson, a pressman for a Wall Street newspaper. "Curtis is not so overwhelming, he blends in." His companion Carla nodded, "The ambience is great." At another table, two couples, including a dentist, doctor, and real estate agent, agreed. One said they liked getting cabaret for the same money as a restaurant meal. Another echoed, "Bobby Curtis is great. The atmosphere is fabulous, lively. It brings new life to Englewood." Think Mediterranean coast, with a hint of Las Vegas, on the Hudson. If you go: On the Spanish menu, appetizers are $7 to $14, main courses $18 to $29. Sushi menu starts at $2 a piece, $5 for rolls, $9 for Maki and $18 to $25 for combination entrees. A bottle of wine costs from $45; wine by the glass is $7-9, beer is $7, pitchers of Sangría $29. There is no minimum or music charge in the club restaurant. The valet parking lot is free At the entrance to the complex is the Sangria-Sake
Restaurant with a Sushi Bar, a less expensive menu and a younger clientele. In the back, a 200-seat terrace has been built for the Matt
and Alex Mediterranean & Grill restaurant set to open in Spring 2006. All restaurant hours: Mon, Tues, Wed 12pm-10:30pm; Thurs & Fri 12pm-11:45pm; Sat 4pm-11:45pm; Sun 3pm-10:30pm. The Club 201 Disco has a cover charge of $20, free to restaurant diners. Thurs 10pm-2am; Fri 10pm-3am; Sat 10pm-3am. Photos by Lucy Komisar |
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A Morocco-inspired décor, a soulful singer of standards and
blues, and a choice of superb Latin and Japanese cuisine produce the excitement
of Michel Bittan's new 201 Supper Club. The style and panache of elegant dining
combine with tuneful cabaret to make this the place to go in Englewood, on the
New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge to Manhattan.
The waiter brings a complimentary dish of banana chips with
chopped tomato garnish. From the Latin menu, I choose rosemary lamb chops with
balsamic juice, butternut squash and Shiitake mushrooms prepared in a delicate
brown sauce. My companion orders pinwheels of salmon and flounder with basil
pine nut pesto, white clam sauce and sautéed spinach. Both dishes are flavorful
and subtle. We share an excellent bottle of Louis Jadot Pouilly-Fuissé but also
try a glass of more earthy Argentine wine. For desert, there's scrumptiously
dense cheesecake and elegantly light Tres Leches rum cake.
Michel Bittan's decisions about this complex are very
personal. He was born in Casablanca and lived and worked in Europe. He designed
the rooms himself to create a combination Moroccan and European feel. The bar is
backed by three tiers of lit arches. "I saw it in a magazine and I liked it," he
says. The menu choices? "There are three kinds of food everybody eats: Italian,
Chinese, and Spanish," he explains. Why Sushi? He had the best market research:
"I have three little kids 10, 12 and 14. Whenever I take them to a restaurant,
one wants to eat sushi!"
His love of dining and music translates into cabaret in the
supper club and a disco upstairs. Soon after my companion and I arrive, so does
Bobby Curtis, with his backup keyboard player and drums, to entertain us with
the kind of melodic mood music that never goes out of fashion: "A Foggy night in
London town," "Have I told you lately that I love you?" and "The way you look
tonight." This is music at a sophisticated level where you can hear yourself
speak.
But he wasn't satisfied. He decided the city needed an
upscale restaurant. And, "There was no space in the area where you could have a
party for more than a few people." So he created Club 201, with a supper club on
the ground floor and a large disco above it. The disco, with comfortable
Moroccan-style couches, has a DJ and colorful light shows as well as an arcade
room. Bittan adds, "I give all charities the space free. Last week we raised
money for hurricane [relief] and for a book fair."