Write Up - New York Times

New York Times
December 4, 2005

Your Table Awaits
By DAVID CORCORAN

YES, Table 8 is the restaurant's name. But it is also, literally, the name of a table - and of a state of mind. Let Demetri Malki, the founder, explain. "I was born in Syria, came here at 6 years old," he said in an interview the other day. "My family settled in Paterson. My father was a tailor. We struggled. We came from nothing. Everything we had, we had to work for.

"It was a very strict household. My mom did everything she could to keep me off the streets. At 11 years old, I had to work in a bakery making pita bread. Forty dollars a week. I came home with burn marks all over my hands."

Thanks no doubt to that work ethic (and his mother's passion for cooking), Mr. Malki, now 32, worked his way up the food chain, busing tables and then cooking in a succession of fast-food joints and classier kitchens around North Jersey. By 2002 he had his own restaurant on Bloomfield Avenue here, the wellliked but tiny Mediterranean called Demetri's.

This year, when he traded up to a bigger and trendier place, in a former art gallery across the avenue, he decided to set aside the best table in the house - the eight-seater at the front window - "for my family and loyal friends, to thank them for their support." They can come in any time: their table will be waiting for them.

That would be Table 8. It's a way of saying: Look how far I've come; I owe it all to you. It would be hard to overstate how far Mr. Malki has come from those blistering Dickensian days in the pita bakery. The food and surroundings at the four-month-old Table 8 are thoroughly up to the minute. The decor is beguiling, the air of stylishness and comfort heightened by walls of fabric and exposed brick, seats of crushed velvet, and spotlights that cast aureoles of shifting pastels.

And following their boss's example, the young, black-uniformed servers are attentive and cordial. Yet prices are remarkably gentle for dining of this quality, with main courses topping out at $23. Mr. Malki struck a coup in his choice of chef: Michael Clampffer, who at just 28 has already run the kitchens at two of the state's best-regarded restaurants, Dish in Passaic (recently closed) and the Stage House Inn in Scotch Plains. He cooks in a straightforward New American style that aims to satisfy, not dazzle, and he pays close attention to the supply of the market and the demand of the season.

His crab cake, for instance, was one of the best examples of that much-abused appetizer that I've come upon all year. It had great curb appeal, with its intoxicating sesame-oil aroma and its vivid garnish of asparagus and red peppers. The crisp crust belied the lack of breading within. Marinated sea scallops are really raw, the server warned us, in the manner of ceviche - an admonition you mightn't think necessary in Montclair, where diners know their bivalves. Regardless, the scallops were superb, with a citrus edge and the firm texture of fine tuna sushi, over a potato salad with a horseradish mayonnaise that wittily evoked wasabi.

A special of foie gras over phyllo, with a dusting of sea salt and a sweet-tangy garnish of strawberries and balsamic vinegar, was a solid entry in this year's goose-liver sweepstakes. And another special, roasted jumbo shrimps over barley and an eggplant caponata, burst with juice and flavor. Not everything about Table 8 is quite so cosseting as the welcome and the d?cor. With 26 tables packed into a relatively narrow storefront space, noise can be high and quarters disconcertingly close. On a recent Saturday evening, the delay between appetizer and entree gave us plenty of time to get acquainted with the couple at the next table. But the main courses proved, for the most part, to be worth the wait. Improbably large diver scallops were beautifully seared and delicately flavored, with a vibrant m?lange of young vegetables and enticing pools of corn pur?e and cilantro coulis. A special of grilled swordfish (a fish that even in good restaurants can fall flat on its pointy nose, coming up dry or mushy) was tender and accurately cooked, over hearty black lentils seasoned with bacon. Among the seafood dishes, only pan-seared skate wing disappointed, because its accompanying beet risotto was seriously underdone.

There was no such problem with a boned short rib the size of a paving brick, cooked so tender it almost melted onto its underlayer of goat-cheese polenta. Pork tenderloin was moist and full of character, with sweet-tangy braised red cabbage and chewy wild mushrooms. Duck breast was equally terrific, its gaminess nicely offset by baby brussels sprouts, pancetta and pillowy spaetzle. Speaking of pillowy, the sheep's-milk gnocchi in a pasta special almost floated off the plate; too bad their accompaniment of lamb shank and Swiss chard was lackluster.

Impressively, Mr. Clampffer is his own pastry chef, and he turns out some of the state's most winning sorbets, especially the unctuous mango and the brooding, intense chocolate liqueur. Order the chocolate cake - moist, dark and deep - and you get some of that chocolate sorbet on the side. It's a fitting send-off from Table 8, where - if Mr. Malki isn't careful - he'll find he has built a following of repeat customers so loyal that everyone will qualify for that special table in front.

Table 8
615 Bloomfield Avenue
Montclair
(973) 746-2233
www.table8nj.com

VERY GOOD ATMOSPHERE
Smallish, at 70 seats; urbane, elegant and welcoming.
Tables are close, and on busy nights noise can be high.
Dress: casual or smarter.

SERVICE Attentive and charming, but waits can sometimes be long.

SMOKING Not allowed.

WINE LIST Bring your own.

RECOMMENDED DISHES Shrimp over barley and caponata, foie gras, crab cake, marinated sea scallops; seared deep-sea scallops, swordfish, duck breast, pork tenderloin, braised short rib; sorbets, chocolate cake, passion fruit tart, butterscotch cr?me br?l?e.

PRICE RANGE Lunch and brunch: sandwiches and entrees, $7 to $14. Dinner: appetizers, $6 to $15; entrees, $15 to $23; desserts, $7.

HOURS Closed Monday. Brunch: Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Lunch: Tuesday to Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner: Tuesday to Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m.

CREDIT CARDS Amex, MasterCard, Visa.

RESERVATIONS Recommended; necessary on weekends.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS Fully accessible.

IF YOU GO It is in downtown Montclair, on the north side of Bloomfield Avenue, half a block east of Valley Road.