A new Southern-style restaurant is stepping into the Asbury Park spotlight and plans to open this spring.
Palmetto Southern Kitchen + Bar, the brainchild of the BarCo Brands and Chef James Avery, is slated to open March 18 in the space formerly occupied by The Break and the Langosta Lounge on the Asbury Park boardwalk.
The new project comes on the heels of Avery’s sale of The Black Swan Public House to BarCo.
Avery, a chef who has spent time on TV as part of Gordon Ramsay’s “Hell’s Kitchen” and previously operated multiple Asbury Park restaurants, will helm Palmetto’s culinary program. The chef recently told NJ Advance Media that he would be taking “a step up, not a step away” from the restaurant business.
The new eatery’s menu will “celebrates the soul of Southern cuisine, blending tradition with a modern, coastal twist,” according to the Asbury Park Press.
Palmetto will reportedly serve dishes like peel-and-eat shrimp and crab and collard dip, fried chicken, jalapeño pimento cheese and mafaldine pasta in creamed corn cacio e pepe along with a full raw bar, steaks and more.
Handcrafted cocktails plus a curated selection of whiskey, bourbon and artisan spirits will also be offered at Palmetto, which will don a “laid-back yet polished ambiance,” according to the Asbury Park Press report.
Palmetto will encompass the “easygoing charm of Charleston, South Carolina, meets the vibrant energy of Asbury Park, New Jersey,” the report continued.
BarCo Brands acquired the Langosta Lounge and Asbury Park Yacht Club two years ago and transformed the businesses into The Break and Low Dive. The company also owns and operates Deal Lake Bar Co. in neighboring Loch Arbour, Baseline Social in Fort Monmouth and the temporarily closed Swimcrush in Asbury.
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Christopher Burch can be reached at cburch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @SwishBurch. Find NJ.comon Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips/.