New Jersey Chef Mixes Casual With Fine Dining

Thomas Ciszak sees a big void in North Jersey dining: "Casual food items are not cooked by really good chefs anymore." The chefs are more inclined toward foam and sweetbreads, Ciszak says, while everyday dining is dominated by franchises.

This year, look for Ciszak to start trying to change this. In 2010, the well-regarded German-born chef, who has an extensive fine-dining background, took over the trendy Paramus restaurant Chakra. He added simple but expertly executed items like pasta and weiner schnitzel to the upscale menu, and began encouraging customers to pop in for a burger on a weeknight.

In 2011, he and his partners will be scouting locations for a new full-service restaurant. They are also working on plans for a more casual quick-service concept: "places that fit people’s lifestyles … in the gastropub kind of philosophy. It’s real good food, but it’s still a pub," Ciszak said.

"People don’t take four hours out of their weekday to just have dinner. But they are still the same diners, with the same sophistication, the same idea of wanting to eat good product."

To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Record (Hackensack, N.J.).