Heirloom Kitchen, Old Bridge, NJ: A Restaurant Review

Tucked away in a small strip mall in Old Bridge, Heirloom Kitchen is a multi-faceted culinary experience with chef's table seating interacting with acclaimed chef Viana and his team as they prepare well-executed offerings that are highly creative and beautifully plated, prepared with quality, locally sourced ingredients.

They are a Farm-to-Table Restaurant and Supper Club, a recreational cooking school, and a retail boutique with a carefully curated selection of kitchen wares and table-tops.

Heirloom Kitchen was originally opened in 2013 by Neilly Robinson and her mother, Judy Rosenblum, as a cooking school and retail boutique kitchenware store. This successful venture received an award in 2016 from Food & Wine Magazine as one of the "Best Cooking Classes Around the World. "

Also in 2016, Neilly took on a partner, acclaimed Chef David Viana, and expanded the Heirloom kitchen to include a Weekend Restaurant. Chef Viana honed his culinary skills with several famed chefs, notably Bobby Flay, Anthony Bucco, and Michael White, and at the highly rated restaurant kitchens Eleven Madison Park in NYC and Two Star Michelin restaurant Villa Joya in Portugal. Chef Viana also served as executive chef at The Kitchen at Grove Station and chef de cuisine at Ryan DePersio's Battello, both in Jersey City and as chef de cuisine at Daryl Wine Bar in New Brunswick under Zod Arifai.

In 2018, Chef Viana was nominated for the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Neilly Robinson's cooking specialty is focused on naturally leavened bread, using non-chemical leavening agents to make the bread rise. Neilly bakes Heirloom's bread in-house daily. However, there is a small charge for their homemade, tasty, crusted bread with cultured butter.

The Heirloom Kitchen features a four-course prix fixe menu at the chef's counter/open kitchen, at counter height, and communal seating. This is an interactive dining experience with Chef Viana and his team as they prepare highly creative and beautifully plated offerings with many interesting, unusual ingredients and unique flavor combinations. They are committed to using organic, locally sourced produce, dairy, grains, poultry, and meats. The culinary team is personable and interactive and is willing to share their tricks and tips with diners.

Except for the locally sourced primary ingredients, everything else is made on-site, including the bread and butter, mustard, ketchup, etc.

Diners who favor vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free dishes are often accommodated by just letting your server know.

Additional seating is available in the dining room at basic farmhouse-type tables with smaller-sized wooden chairs (note: can be uncomfortable for tall diners) and at their communal seating farm table reserved for larger parties.

The interior is modern, light, and airy, with floor-to-ceiling windows. The centerpiece is the open Kitchen.

Service is unpretentious, friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive.

The hands-on cooking classes include pasta-making, healthy cooking, ethnic cooking, basic skills, and more.

Chef's Table restaurant is open for dinner on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Reservations are a must.

Not recommended for children

(updated: September 2024)