Chris Cannon’s audacious next act: Transforming a Morristown mansion into a dining palace

Chris Cannon surveys Morristown from the balcony of the Vail Mansion--future home of the Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Chris Cannon surveys Morristown from the balcony of the Vail Mansion--future home of the Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Chris Cannon is laying it on the line in Morristown.

On Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014, the renowned restaurateur will give select guests a $350-per-plate sneak peek (for charity) of The Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen.

The $5 million restaurant is his bold attempt to breathe new life into Morristown’s venerable Vail Mansion–and revive a spectacular career that stalled in 2011 after partnerships in the New York dining world came unglued.

Restaurateur Chris Cannon in his new digs--The Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen in Morristown's Vail Mansion. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Restaurateur Chris Cannon in his new digs–The Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen in Morristown’s Vail Mansion. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Cannon, a Mountain Lakes resident, and his investors are hoping that his vision for the Vail–an Italian Renaissance palazzo-style home built during World War I by AT&T magnate Theodore Vail–will become familiar to generations of customers.

Here is a video reminder of the “before,” and the monumental efforts behind the transformation of this 15,000-square-foot local landmark into four distinct dining venues.

“It deserves, after being around almost a hundred years, to have a lot of life in it,” Cannon said of Morristown’s former town hall.

We shot the frenzied construction scenes in July 2014. Some footage was recorded in October 2013.

Another footnote: The orchestral music was composed by Carl Hausman, a high school freshman who has been an “MG Kids” correspondent for MorristownGreen.com since the fifth grade.  The jazz pieces are by the amazing Kevin MacLeod.

Thanks also to our friends at the North Jersey History Center of the Morristown & Township Library for archival images.

Thursday’s sold-out dinner and cocktail reception will benefit the Community Soup Kitchen and Outreach Center in Morristown.

READ MORE ABOUT CHRIS CANNON’S JOCKEY HOLLOW BAR & KITCHEN

Chris Cannon surveys Morristown from the balcony of the Vail Mansion--future home of the Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Chris Cannon surveys Morristown from the balcony of the Vail Mansion–future home of the Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

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