Last year, it kept raining in September. So much so that we never managed to line up a nice outdoor dinner for my birthday. 9 months later, we decided today’s bonus holiday day off was a perfect one for a date day trip to Morristown. Never too late to celebrate. 1776 by David Burke had been on our list for a while so we decided to check it off on Friday! Besides — the venue seemed fitting for so close to the 4th.
It rained earlier so was still a little bit wet. We asked to still sit outside and they accommodated us. We had the whole space to ourselves, surrounded by beautiful flowers and numerous closed umbrellas at the tables around us.
I had to try their Caliente Breeze cocktail, which was made with a jalapeño-infused Hornitos tequila, pineapple reduction, lime and peychaud’s bitters. So good and refreshing on this hot day. Extra delightful for the Tajin rim!
We were there for lunch so felt like trying a mix of smaller plates rather than more mains. To start, we had to go their bread service seeing as it included popovers (my fave.) The order included gruyere popovers, corn bread, sweet butter, radishes and grapes. We got four popovers in the order and I can’t wait to eat the two remaining ones tonight! Unfortunately we don’t have more of their butter. Not sure what they did to it but it was slightly sweet and I am obsessed with it.
The asparagus watermelon and burrata salad was a must try and was another standout. It was prepared with heirloom tomato, pistachios, Kalamata olives and balsamic. I always forget about how dynamite watermelon and burrata are together. The tomato and pistachios made for the perfect adds. Such a great summer salad.
We always love to try the different tuna tartares we come across so had to try this one — which was both tuna and salmon. It was prepared with avocado, mango, red pepper coulis and plantain chips. I liked the avo / mango / pepper combo. It was unfortunate though that the fish wasn’t cleaned very well so there was a lot we were unable to eat.
Because it’s summer (and we can’t resist) we also had to try their butter poached lobster roll. We weren’t sure if the shishito peppers, bacon and parmesan would compete too much — but it managed to work. It was however quite small and didn’t have a ton of lobster on it for the $33.
I’ll admit I originally pointed out the hipster fries because the name made me giggle but these are so good! These were made with shishito peppers, bacon and parmesan. The shishitos were a phenomenal add and I would like to learn how to cook bacon from them. Somehow it managed to be both thick and crispy. Perfection.
So glad we were able to escape to celebrate! Almost positive we’d never get to have this private style dining there again but it was so nice. And since we followed it by a couples’ massage, it was a lovely relaxing Summer Friday!
1776 by David Burke – 76 East Park Place, Morristown – 973.829.1776
Reservations suggested
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