Morristown’s new Roots restaurant, opening Jan. 31, has local roots–and no commercial interruptions

2

There will be plenty of places in Morristown to watch the Super Bowl next month.

The new Roots SteakHouse won’t be one of them.

A mahogany bar looks inviting but you won’t find a TV anywhere near it, or for that matter, near its companion hamburger establishment, Urban Table, when it opens next door in about eight weeks.

Harvest Restaurants, the Summit-based company that owns Roots and Urban Table, pays close attention to details and this one’s received plenty of thought.

“We just feel that between BlackBerrys, cell phones, computers and TV, everyone knows what’s going on in the world,” said Grant Halliday, operations manager for Harvest. The company’s seven other restaurants have no screens, either.

“If we can provide a place for two hours with no outside interruptions, people will enjoy themselves. It forces boy to talk to girl, and girl to talk to boy. Typically, women choose the place to go out, and they would just as soon not have TVs.”

(Click icon below for captions.)

Grant’s BlackBerry chirped continually during a short interview this week, as construction crews put finishing touches on the 6,500-square-foot, 145-seat Roots SteakHouse for its Jan. 31 opening.

Roots and Urban Table will be centerpieces of Shoppes on the Green, the ground floor retail space at the 40 Park luxury condo complex across from the historic Morristown Green. The complex occupies the former site of the Epstein’s department store.

A few years ago, the Harvest team gave Morristown a look and said no thanks. Upscale developments such as 40 Park, the Metropolitan, the Vail Mansion and the Highlands at Morristown Station changed the minds of partners Chip Grabowski and Bob Moore.

grant halliday
GET UP EARLY, GO TO BED LATE: Grant Halliday's recipe for restaurant success. He is helping Harvest Restaurants open Roots SteakHouse in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

“We think Morristown is well on its way and is being revitalized, and we wanted to be part of it,” said Grant, a Chatham native whose restaurant resume includes a seven-year stint managing the Black Horse Inn in Mendham.

“We think we can be at the epicenter of all that. And the developer of 40 Park knew of our other restaurants. They wanted us to be smack dab in the middle.”

Harvest opened its first place, Trap Rock Restaurant & Brewery, in Berkeley Heights in 1997. In Morris Plains the company owns the Tabor Road Tavern and Gratto.  In Basking Ridge, it’s Ciao and 3 West. And in Summit, there is Huntley Taverne and the original Roots SteakHouse, now four years old.

Roots is named for a men’s clothing store that once occupied the Summit building. The store also had a branch in Morristown, where the Peapack-Gladstone Bank now resides. Haberdasher themes can be found in paintings adorning the restaurant walls, along with murals of convivial patrons painted by Chatham artist John DeLade.

Steve DeMarco, executive chef at Roots SteakHouse in Summit, will wear the same hat in Morristown.

“He’s a Morristown resident, so he’s got a little skin in the game,” said Grant.

Steak, seafood, chops and chicken dishes will range from about $20 to $40; sides are extra. (Here is the menu.) The restaurant features plush couches, mahogany-stained oak floors, and a private dining room for 27 people. The back of the restaurant opens into a courtyard with easy access to the Morristown Parking Authority’s DeHart Street garage.

“The parking garage is awesome,” Grant said.

Morristown has rolled out the red carpet, he said. Roots and Urban Table participated in last year’s Fall Festival on the Morristown Green, and Grant said the chain plans to be part of Restaurant Week in April, too.

PLACES, EVERYONE!

On Thursday, Roots resembled a theatrical show in previews.  Wait staff rehearsed for opening night by serving each other menu items, as the kitchen crew went through its paces. The night before, staff spent three hours “hand-cleaning everything,” said serving Captain Robert Hunter.

The average customer will be paying $75 to $80, so these run-throughs are important, said General Manager Andy Silverstein. The staff’s job: Providing “whatever the guest needs,” he said.

Executive Chef Steve DeMarco, right, explains the rules to recruits at the new Roots SteakHouse in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Executive Chef Steve DeMarco, right, explains the rules to recruits at the new Roots SteakHouse in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Joe Esposito, a waiter at the Roots in Summit, came to Morristown to help show new employees the ropes — and to share a secret about the grand opening.

“You get the excitement and the buzz, and you’re going to wait a couple of months for it to wear off. Well, it hasn’t worn off yet in Summit” after four years, Joe said.

Next week will mark the eighth restaurant that Senior General Manager Scott Eadie has opened for Harvest. What counts most on opening night?

“The smile!” Scott said. “It has to be perfect every time.”

And that’s not all.

“Everything has to flow. People have to feel like we’ve been doing this for 50 years,” said the Madison resident, who opened The Office in Morristown years ago.

“This is going to be the flagship restaurant in Morristown, the go-to place,” said Nick Bernardo, a waiter who transferred to Roots from Grotto. He and fellow staffers were waiting to sample the seafood.

“The popovers are amazing,” offered Fernando Murillo of Morristown.

Across the room, bartender Bob Anastasia shared a few secrets gleaned from three decades of plying his trade.

“Make sure people are happy when they come in, and when they leave,” Bob said. “And know people when they come in.”

‘WAKE UP EARLY, GO TO BED LATE’

Roots and Urban Table will become Harvest’s third pairing of restaurants in close proximity, a pattern that Grant said has worked well in Morris Plains and Basking Ridge.

“You get a bigger return on your investment,” Grant said. “One plays off the other. You’re not going to eat hamburger every day. And you’re not going to eat steak every day. Put them side by side, and they promote each other.”

Roots will be competing with Sebastian’s, a New York-style steak house on Elm Street near the train station. Sebastian’s features a pianist on Fridays; no live music is planned for Roots. Menus at both places are à la carte.

Harvest’s two Morristown restaurants are creating about 75 jobs between them, Grant said. Despite the soft economy, he is confident patrons won’t balk at New York prices.

“If there is quality and value, people will pay,” he said.

Grant’s instincts were honed over 13 years with the Back Bay Restaurant Group in Boston; he opened Papa Razzi in the Short Hills Mall during that gig. Beautiful design, “fanatical” attention to service and hospitality, and an ever-changing menu of good food are ingredients for success, he said.

“Wake up early, go to bed late,” he said. “Never stop trying to improve what you’ve already created.”

All of which may make Roots SteakHouse the only game in town for football-haters on Super Sunday.

“This is a dining establishment, not a hangout. Morristown has plenty of those,” Grant said. “This is a high-end New York steak house.”

Staff at the new Roots SteakHouse test the product--and the protocols. Seated (L-R): Alex Shabalkin of Basking Ridge, Fernando Murillo of Morristown and Nick Bernardo of Rockaway. They are being served by Nick Raimondo of Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Staff at the new Roots SteakHouse test the product--and the protocols. Seated (L-R): Alex Shabalkin of Basking Ridge, Fernando Murillo of Morristown and Nick Bernardo of Rockaway. They are being served by Nick Raimondo of Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

2 COMMENTS

  1. Finally, a restaurant that is just like almost every other restaurant in Morristown. And this one just happens to be a steakhouse. How many steakhouses can Morristown support? We have Sebastian’s, we will soon have that fusion steakhouse from Dover (did they fail there? not sure) and there is now Roots, which by the earliest admissions by diners…. is just ok.

    I like the Summit Roots, make no mistake here. However, I think the Morristown one on first glance is like a theme park restaurant. Can the town support so many steakhouses? I’m not sure yet. Time will tell. They have to do the pretty basic stuff well. Do they? Tell me. Review the place in a style that doesn’t read like a service piece.

  2. Finally, an upscale RESTAURANT and NOT a bank…that is truly “upscale” on food and ambiance in the ‘hood is long awaited…I am tired of having to go to Madison for a “foodie” experience with my wife or forced to entertain friends and clients outside of Sushi Lounge (which I also love for the non-biz gathering)

    I have been impressed by Tabor Road in Morris Plains and Roots in Summit too. Morristown and around the Green needs more upscale restaurants, lounges and cafes…the ones we have are C and B ratings at best!

LEAVE A REPLY