Flavour campaign markets the spice of Red Bank’s life
BY KRISTEN DALTON Staff Writer

I t could be argued that the backbone of Red Bank’s vitality is the restaurants that feed the visitors coming into town, but restaurateurs are taking it one step further by launching Flavour, a culinary marketing campaign set on bringing them there. “It’s a tough environment and sometimes the best ideas come from tough times,” said George Lyristis, owner of The Bistro at Red Bank on Broad Street and Teak on Monmouth Street.

The Bistro at Red Bank on Broad Street (l-r) and Front St. Trattoria on West Front Street are among the eateries promoting the new Flavour campaign, which spotlights the dining scene in Red Bank. KRISTEN DALTON

In an effort to avoid being swallowed up by the rough economy, restaurateurs launched www.redbankflavour.com as a one-stop location for information regarding the town’s restaurant scene. “The goal, first and foremost, is to get Red Bank back on track. The writing was on the wall that if the town goes down, our business goes down, so we wanted to nip it in the bud. We wanted to stop the bleeding,” said Lyristis.

The culinary campaign was developed by Flavour’s restaurant committee and marketing firm M Studio over the summer and spotlights numerous places to eat, sip and savor the foods produced by the town’s culinary scene.

“No one’s going to care about your business more than you. So why put it into the hands of other people when we can do it ourselves?” asked Lyristis.

Lyristis said the economy isn’t the only challenge restaurateurs face. The growth of the dining scene in nearby Long Branch and Asbury Park is a reminder that Red Bank needs to revitalize, he said.

“All those places took a sliver of our pie. Ten years ago our pie was a lot bigger. There’s nothing wrong with that, all towns have to try and better themselves, but you as a business owner have to figure out how to maintain and bring more into town,” he said.

“You have to be proactive instead of just thinking, ‘Hey, we’re Red Bank.’ No, that’s not the case. You always have to keep proving, showing people that we’re still here.”

The new website features 37 different dining spots located in Red Bank, from bakeries and coffee shops to fine dining.

Judy Matthew, owner of Dish, a restaurant on White Street, said the marketing campaign was a long time in the making.

“We’ve kind of been standing by and watching; the marketing efforts for the restaurants wasn’t exactly the direction we wanted, so we decided to grab the bull by the horns and be responsible for our own destiny,” she said.

“We decided to put together something and market it specifically toward restaurants, but ultimately we do want to incorporate other things in the Flavour campaign because it doesn’t just mean flavor in foods but also the flavor of the town.”

Matthew said Red Bank offers something for everyone — and not just during the summer months. Flavour creates a sleek, sophisticated Web presence that resembles the personality of the town, she said.

“I think of Red Bank as sophisticated but not to the point where we take ourselves too seriously. It appeals to every level [of dining]. There are a lot of restaurants in a small space.”

Valerie Aufiero, owner of the Front Street Trattoria on West Front Street, said it is the town’s rich culture and diversity that draws people in.

“There’s so much to offer in Red Bank besides just restaurants. We have a movie theater the arts theaters, the antiques center and the galleries. There’s so much more to Red Bank than just the restaurants,” she said.

Marketing the town’s businesses is largely left to RiverCenter, a business alliance established in 1991 to manage and revitalize the business district.

According to Aufiero, the restaurant committee currently has a cohesive relationship with River- Center, albeit with some challenges and growing pains during the process.

“There are always obstacles when you start things up, because no one quite grasps exactly what you’re trying to do. But we work with them,” she said.

According to Aufiero, the core restaurant committee meets with RiverCenter once a month, and members communicate more frequently with meetings every two weeks in addition to phone calls and emails.

The constant communication is unique for such a large group of restaurateurs invested heavily in a common cause.

“I think what’s unique about us is that we’re working together so well and there’s no competition between any of us. We all think we’re all doing a great job. And just the fact that restaurant people can get along and egos stay out of it is just incredible,” said Aufiero.

This isn’t the first time the Red Bank restaurateurs have banded together. Throughout the summer, the restaurants, in conjunction with RiverCenter, organized the Red Bank Food and Wine Walk that featured samplings for $25 per person. The funds raised from the summerlong program were used to fund the Flavour marketing campaign.

“We’re bargaining, so to speak, food for marketing dollars. When we do a wine walk, it really does cost the restaurants because we don’t get the money in hand, it goes into the restaurant fund. We decided to put themoney into a use that will be a little more advantageous for all of us,” explained Aufiero.

On Dec. 1, Flavour will kick off the holiday season with a culinary affair at The Oyster Point Hotel from 6 to 9 p.m. More than 20 of the town’s most popular restaurants invite guests to a sampling of cuisine and cocktails.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit Lunch Break and the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Kitchen, which opened on Oct. 19 on Monmouth Street.

Lyristis thought that Tom Capello, owner of Gaetano’s on Wallace Street, said it best in a recent conversation.

“Capello said Red Bank is like a carousel. You get on, you get off. As long as people keep coming into that carousel, we don’t care where they go. They’re going to come to us at any given point. We just have to bring them into Red Bank.”

That’s the message from a group of borough restaurant owners who have banded together in an effort to recapture a bigger piece of the Monmouth County dining-out pie.

After three years of slow build-up, the no-name group is ready to bust out of the Red Bank RiverCenter crib with its own marketing effort aimed at bringing some sizzle back to the downtown.

“Red Bank has really fallen behind,” says red and the Downtown owner Dan Lynch. “We have a really great grouping of restaurants that needs to be showcased.”

“There’s no name or structure” to the group, says George Lyristis, owner of Bistro at Red Bank and, for the past week, Teak. “It’s just a bunch of restaurants getting together, trying to figure out how to get Red Bank on its feet.”

But the group of 25 to 30 restaurants does have a plan, one that’s expected to yield visible results in coming weeks.

Armed with $35,000 in marketing funds, the restaurants have hired M Studio Design & Marketing – based in Asbury Park, wouldn’t you know – to create a butt-kicking website and social media campaign to juice interest in Red Bank eateries, and eventually, retailing and public events.

The firm has done splashy web and print work for the City of Asbury Park, Langosta Lounge, and the Bond Street Bar, among others clients.

The seed money comes from RiverCenter, but was generated not by the Special Improvement District tax on businesses downtown and on the West Side but by fees paid by customers of last year’s Food & Wine Walk.

Proceeds from the sale of $20 tickets to the event went into a segregated account held for the restaurants, which organized and managed the event, says Nancy Adams, RiverCenter’s executive director.

“They earned it,” says Adams, who adds she’s unaware of any prior use by the business-promotion agency of dedicated accounts. “But it’s also a new time, new economy,” she says.

Though all the participating restaurateurs – including Readies Fine Foods owner Tom Fishkin, who is vice chairman of RiverCenter – make nice with the agency, the restaurant breakout does reflect some frustration, not so much with RiverCenter as with the limits of what RiverCenter can do to generate interest in stores and restaurants.

“RiverCenter is not a marketing firm, it’s a Special Improvement District” that includes landlords, retailers, banks and other types of businesses, says Fishkin. “We’re just looking to coordinate things and not have to rely on RiverCenter so much. If we can do it with their assistance, that’s great.”

“Red Bank’s fallen off the map,” says Dish owner and chef Anthony Ferrando. “We don’t want to blame anyone. It just needs to be promoted.”

Lyristis says everyone involved “took their eye off the ball” as Pier Village, downtown Asbury Park and that city’s boardwalk came roaring out of nothing to steal the borough’s reputation as a diner’s paradise. Now, with an influx of new restaurants to Red Bank, including organic pizzeria Pizza Fusion, gourmet Chinese Temple, Vietnamese Pho Le and the soon-to-open Blue Water Seafood, it’s time for the restaurants to lock arms with other types of businesses, he says.

“We’ve got to own up to the mistakes we’ve made,” he says. Now, “we’re taking our destiny in our own hands.”

In addition to the website and more proactive and engaging use of Facebook and Twitter anticipated under the contract with M Studio, the restaurants hope to expand a roster of events that call specific attention to eateries and stores in town.

For starters, the group will be organizing a second Food & Wine Walk as well as a reprise of last year’s highly successful Oysterfest in a bid to stimulate appetites and replenish the fund, members say. Details to come.

It is amazing how far salt has come from being an iodized staple in everyone’s kitchen and “salt of the earth,” a preservative in ancient times, into today’s culinary scene as specialty salts for all seasons.

Over the next two weekends, Carter & Cavero Old World Olive Oil Company is hosting Sensational Salts Weekend in all three of its New Jersey locations (Red Bank, Long Branch and Princeton) to introduce its new line of salts from around the world. Local chefs will create specialty sampling dishes from delicious salads to creative and inspiring dishes using the salts.

On Saturday, March 19 from 1 to 2 p.m., Chef Dominique Filoni from Avenue restaurant will create his specialties at Pier Village, Long Branch. Chef Filoni was introduced in the Maîtres Cuisiniers de France at age 33, making him the young French Master Chef in the U.S.

Sunday, March 20, Chef Anthony Ferrando from Dish and Chef George Lyristis from The Bistro, both Red Bank restaurants, will appear from 2 to 4 pm. Chef/owner Ferrando is know for his New American cuisine with a unique Mediterranean twist which he attributes to his Italian heritage and extensive travel in southern Italy. Chef/owner Lyristis is known for bringing the world right to your table with exceptional world-class cuisine from Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Executive Chef Luis Bollo from Mediterra in Princeton will be cooking on Saturday, March 26 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Palmer Square store. Chef Bollo trained in Spain and specializes in Basque/French cuisine.

In today’s kitchen, salts have evolved from the basic sea salt into gourmet salts with unique flavors. Some of the salts that are now available at Carter & Cavero are: Bali Lime & Coconut Smoked Sea Salt, great on seafood; Himalayan Pink Salt, all-natural and one of the purest salts, great for grilling and roasting; Habanero Sea Salt, full of heat with a mighty kick, to be used sparingly;Yakima Applewood Smoked Sea Salt – aged applewood gives it a sweet savory flavor; and Hawaiian Black Lava, a stunning black salt that  is solar evaporated Pacific sea salt combined with activated charcoal.

Chef Lyristis from The Bistro says he’s going to keep foods all natural, serving sushi-quality raw tuna and salmon and trying the fish with different salts ~ Hawaiian Black Lava, Himalayan Pink, Habanero and Yakima Applewood ~ demonstrating a wide variety of tastes. Chef Ferrando at Dish is also using Hawaiian Black Lava Salt to create the ultimate sweet, a salted caramel brownie.

Chef Filoni from Avenue is going to the Pacific Rim serving hiramasa (yellowtail amberjack from Australian) with shiitake mushrooms, yellow and red peppers in a spicy yuzu (a tart Japanese citrus fruit) emulsion and seasoned with the Himalayan Pink Salt.

The gourmet line of sea salts is available at all Carter & Cavero locations: 19 Monmouth Street, Red Bank; Pier Village, Long Branch; and 27 Palmer Square West in Princeton. Visit the website at www.carterandcavero.com for a complete selection of salts.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Local chefs prepare dishes to introduce gourmet salts at Carter & Cavero – Newark Food | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/food-in-newark/local-chefs-prepare-dishes-to-introduce-gourmet-salts-at-carter-cavero?CID=examiner_alerts_article#ixzz1GxVwAAWm

It’s between lunch and dinner service and things are quiet at the Bistro in Red Bank. A couple of women occupy a table close to the front window – they’re sharing the restaurant with a four-top in the back – and when their food arrives, one picks up a fork, the other a set of chopsticks.

George Lyristis stands in front of the Bistro's brick oven

The Bistro’s menu has always been a bit schizophrenic. It all at once aims to specialize in sushi, Mediterranean, French and New American cuisine, pizza, and, of course, Asian-fusion, which it was doing long before every restaurant decided to throw a couple of spring roll appetizers on their menus.

In some respects, the whole idea sounds like it shouldn’t work, and maybe, in the wrong hands, it would all be a disaster. In an industry where broad and complex can sometimes eschew simple and delicious, the Bistro is an anomaly. The thing of it is, you see, is that it works here. It has for 15 years.

That’s why they call the Bistro a Red Bank an institution.

“It’s not a gimmick,” Owner George Lyristis said. “We’re always changing and we’re always dedicated to staying current. We love what we do and it reflects in each one of our dishes.”

Lyristis has been moving from the dining room, to the kitchen, to his office where he’s been on the phone with vendors. People have come to expect quality in the food they get here, he said, and that’s not going to change.

He also rejects the notion that the seemingly odd assortment of dishes on his menu somehow doesn’t make sense. Clearly, he’s gotten this question before. That’s why he’s got an executive chef in Jorge Manino and an executive sushi chef in Danny Soto making sure that their respective areas of expertise stay theirs.

In the restaurant’s entryway are newspaper reviews and magazine features hanging up on the wall. Plaqued and shellacked. Most of them are a testament to the big splash the restaurant made when it first opened – the hip new spot in New Jersey’s revitalized hip city.

It’s been more than a decade since most of them were written. Even presented prominently on wood behind a shinny gloss, the magazine pages and newspaper articles have yellowed over time. In restaurant years, the Bistro is old hat, the granddaddy of downtown Red Bank’s finer dining movement.

Lyristis, taking a few minutes from his schedule to sit down, falls into the trap of reminiscing about those days and the initial attention; the Bistro splashed all over print and photo spreads. Even Jon Bon Jovi is a fan, he said. He gave the Bistro a shout-out on the radio, told the world he loved the restaurant, that it was his favorite.

When asked when she gave the Bistro that glowing review, Lyristis casually mentions that it happened, oh, about a decade ago.

“Those were good times back then,” he said.

Sure, things are different now. It’s not that the Bistro has fallen off – yellowed like so many hanging reviews – it’s just that things have changed. The economy tanked and the town’s culture changed. For a fragile ecosystem like Red Bank’s downtown, the faltering economy has spelled disaster for many of its shops and restaurants.

But, the resilience of his restaurant is a point of pride. While empty storefronts stick out like pockmarks on the face of the downtown, the Bistro, one of the originals in that revitalization effort, remains open. There’s a bit of defiance in Lyristis’ voice, too, when he says that while everyone else was closing down, he and his two brothers, Charlie and Taso, with whom he owns the Bistro, were expanding. That expansion is Zoe Bistro, which recently opened in Little Silver.

“Behind the success,” Lyristis said, recalling a history of restaurant ownership that began with his father. “It was failure that drove us to success. You learn a lot from losing money.”

The biggest lesson Lyristis learned came from dad. He opened a catering business but expanded too fast. Ultimately, the venture went under, something Lyristis isn’t willing to see happen to the Bistro.

He’s not willing to let the town go under, either.

Lyristis has been a voice for downtown businesses. Recently, representing the Red Bank business community, Lyristis approached the borough council with a list of suggestions on how it could help improve conditions and make the town more visitor-friendly.

That list, with its eight items covering everything from poor parking to messy sidewalks, was written by Lyristis but co-signed by downtown businesses.

Friend and fellow restaurateur, Anthony Ferrando, the owner of Dish, A Restaurant, and Red Bank’s current culinary darling, jokingly calls Lyristis Red Bank’s self-appointed mayor.

Lyristis has clout, he said, because the Bistro’s been doing it for so long.

For now, Lyristis is looking forward to the future. That’s the immediate future and the big-picture future, if you were wondering. Though he was mum on details, saying he hadn’t yet signed the contract, Lyristis said he’s expanding again. In the very near future, and if things go the way he thinks they will, Lyristis and his brothers will take over one of Red Bank’s other restaurants. They plan on featuring Asian cuisine.

“I don’t fear the competition, I love it. Even if the competition is me,” he said. “There are plenty of people looking for places to eat in town.”

Here, in Red Bank, he said, you’ve got something special. All the Bistro needs to do is ride it out, maintain the consistent quality it always has, and those good old days when the wives of rock stars peg you as their favorite spot will come back around once again.

“I love Red Bank,” he said. “You’ll never see this type of thing anywhere else. It’s tough right now, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Hey, we’re still here.”

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