This article was originally published in in the Bucks County Courier
Times, 10/19/2005. It is posted on our web site, in whole and unedited,
with permission from the author Carl LaVO.
Bucks County Courier Times (Levittown, PA)
October 19, 2005
Section: FOOD
Edition: PREPRINT EDITION1
Page: 2E
1019 ROVING DINER - BELL'S TAVERN
CARL LAVO
COURIER TIMES
There's something about Bell's Tavern that's made it a Lambertville
icon. We can't remember ever making a 60-mile drive for garlic
mashed potatoes.
But there we were on a recent Sunday evening, searching for Bell's
Tavern on the side streets of Lambertville, N.J. An editor at
the Courier Times had been raving about the Golden Fleece of mashed
potatoes for many months and begged me to give them a whirl.
So we took the bait.
We knew beforehand that the tavern is in an obscure location.
An associate and her husband couldn't find Bell's when they went
looking.
In fact, Chef Paul Eschallier's place sits all by itself, sandwiched
between row homes at the far northern edge of town. Crossing over
the river from New Hope on the free bridge, you must turn left
off Main onto Union and follow it exactly eight blocks to where
the restaurant's string of pin lights attracts attention between
Elm and Buttonwood streets.
From curbside, the pub seems an unusual culinary destination.
The view through the front window is an oval bar and big-screen
plasma TV that, together, fill the room. What's not obvious is
the single dining room behind the taproom with seating for about
60.
Mary Anne, Genevieve and I entered a restaurant with the feel
of Lambertville's former Phyl and Dan's - crowded, lively, with
great food.
Like Phyl and Dan's, there's nothing pretentious about Bell's,
founded in 1938 by Jack Bell. Paper napkins, sturdy silverware
and heavy white china keen to a blue-collar tradition. Pale ochre
walls are studded with original art for sale.
The motto at the dinner-only tavern is "where good friends
meet." It seemed that way to us; you had to speak up to be
heard over the din of happy banter. We saw lots of couples and
a few families with kids.
Chef Paul's cooking and lively atmosphere is the real draw, as
noted in Zagat's 2006 guide: "Locals make a point of getting
there early. It's an institution. A good time on the cheap."
Chef Paul, who bought Bell's five years ago, has been cooking
for 20 years, trained at the Academy of Culinary Arts in Atlantic
City. He preaches "quality cuisine with fresh ingredients,
ample portions and competitive pricing."
The restaurant offers a variety of appetizers and salads, like
10 peel-and-eat shrimp for $7.95 and a Caesar salad for $5.95.
Fine imported pastas and homemade sauces, the core of the menu,
are served in 13 varieties. Bell's Gamberetti features shrimp
with wilted spinach, fresh tomatoes, pine nuts, oil and garlic
for $17.95. Puttanesca - a robust sauce of plum tomatoes, olive
oil, garlic, anchovies, olives and capers - is $9.95, $5.75 for
a half order. Tortellini Rosato offers cheese tortellini with
peas and prosciutto in a light plum tomato and cream sauce for
$10.95, half order $6.25.
The menu also includes charcoal-grilled selections - from steaks
to burgers - and a sizeable list of weekend blackboard specials
with at least one "eclectic recipe." On our visit it
was grilled salmon with coconut orange sauce, jicama (similar
to a sweet potato and grown in Mexico) and arugula salad with
ginger vinaigrette ($14.95).
Bell's also offers 15 varieties of wine by the glass, a dozen
brands of vodka, high-end tequilas and many brands of bottled
beer.
There are also brews from a custom-made tap from Ireland, which
Chef Paul insists is one of only two in the U.S. certified by
Guinness that keeps beer refrigerated from keg to glass.
We decided to order from the specials written in chalk on a very
large blackboard in the dining room.
The pan-roasted 9-ounce center-cut filet mignon was outstanding,
thick and juicy and mounded high with broiled mushrooms, shallots
and thin ribbons of onion, served on a bed of the legendary garlic
mashed potatoes with a drizzle of brown gravy ($23.95). The steak,
served medium, was extremely tender, with a delicious charred
crust. The potatoes were hand-mashed with an essence of garlic
that didn't overwhelm. We gave them enthusiastic three thumbs
up.
What's his secret? "Lots of butter and lots of half-and-half
cream," he said. "Most people use milk."
The linguine pasta with mussels, oil and garlic ($12.95) was another
excellent dish. It came with about two dozen choice shellfish
in a light broth.
From a list of a dozen desserts, the lemon meringue pie was a
winner ($3.95).
In the end, we think the trip was well worth it, not only for
the mashed potatoes, but also for the menu as a whole and for
the adventure.
Carl LaVO can be reached at 215-949-4227 or clavo@phillyBurbs.com.
October 19, 2005
BELL'S
TAVERN
