Trenton Social - Trenton, NJ

It's not often that a new restaurant or bar opens in Trenton, let alone one that opens and gets the town excited.  But times are a changin'!

With the Trenton Steel now making their new home at the Sun Bank Arena, Trenton Social could not be located in a better place!  And to top it off, the Trenton Steel corporate office shares the walkway and courtyard, so the team and their players are already discovering where to get a great bite to eat and a drink after the game.

Trenton Social opened up for business on St. Patrick's Day after several months of renovations!  During that time, owners TC Nelson and Chef Milton Lee transformed an old, stale space, into a swanky space with class.  As you walk in the door, the first thing you notice is the soft lighting, warm colored walls, stone floor, and granite top on the gorgeous 3 sided bar.  Through the archway is the dining room, with more swanky lighting, exposed brick walls, and large areas that will soon be adorned with local art, that will be changing on a regular basis.  As a matter of fact, their first show, "Orange You Glad?" by Melissa Malinauskas, will open tomorrow.  More information can be found on their Facebook page.

We sat at the bar and noticed the 7 beers on tap.  Owner TC was working the bar today, and knew that we wanted a glass of wine.  Let me say that they do indeed have a great wine list, and hands down one of the best lists in the area.  They have several wines by the glass, and they aren't your average by the glass wines.  These are easily more "reserve styled" wines, with the most expensive being $9 a glass.  We both opted for a Chilean cabernet from Ventisquero, and this was one of their Queulat wines!  Needless to say, it was a great cab for the price!

TC started us with the Social appetizer, that came with two fritters of sort, breaded and deep friend with a Spanish influenced meat concoction inside.  Needless to say, the spices were great, and they were deliciously fried to golden brown.

This also came with two of their take on fish tacos, served in a flour tortilla.  These were absolutely delicious, and something I would usually not order.  Regardless, I am glad that TC suggested it, as the flavors from the fish, with the freshness of the salsa were incredible.

For entrees, Zelda picked the Curried Chicken sandwich, which is one of TC's specialties.  I think he perfected this item back in the day at his old restaurant in town, and this was delicious.  As Zelda stated, this was the best curried chicken sandwich she had ever had, and she has had a lot of them.  This had a nice crunch for the almonds, and nice flavors from the raisins.  All in all, this was delicious, and I am sure she would order this again, and order it often.  This has got to be a big seller at lunch!

For my entree tonight, I went the burger route!  Being the burger connoisseur that I am, I could not pass it up, and I had heard that it was great!

Needless to say, it was!  The beef in this burger was delicious, and it was simply seasoned and had great flavor.  I ordered mine with Swiss cheese, bacon, and sauteed onions, and it was delicious!  Definitely one of the best burgers in the area!  Both sandwiches were served with fries.

Half way through our sandwiches we both needed a refill, and we were both looking for something a little lighter, and we both decided on Malbec.  Zelda had the house malbec, which I think was an Astica, while I had their reserve list Malbec from Sottano.  Both malbec were good, but the Sottano was definitely a few steps ahead.

After dinner, we were both pretty stuffed, but TC insisted we tried their homemade family recipe flan.  That said, we did, and it was delicious.  You can tell that this is someone's grandma's recipe, made with love, and absolutely delicious.  It was rich and flavorful, and I would order it again in a heartbeat.

That said, Trenton Social is nice breath of fresh air and another part of the Trenton rebuilding process!  It's great to have te option in town, and once word gets out, I think it is going to be the place to hang out in Trenton.

It is just a matter of time and the menu will be expanding!  They have just a few items on the menu for now, but this is guaranteed to grow!  In talking o Chef Lee, he has a ton of ideas, and a lot of "China-Rican" influence as he likes to say, coming from his heritage!  I truly cannot wait to see what he adds to the menu next.

The dining room could use a bit of pizzaz, but some of that pizzaz will be coming tomorrow night as the walls get covered in art.  I know that they are also working on new tables and chairs for the dining room, but for now, there is nothing wrong with that is in there.  The wood floors look great, and run front to back of the entire dining room, into the meeting space they have.

Overall, I was very impressed with our first visit, and I can see many of nights here enjoing a bottle of vino, of good quality, at gret prices!  I think there were only 2 wines over $30, so there are definitely some good values there!

In short, we've found a new place to eat, drink, and be social!  Check it out soon!  I know that we'll be back on Sunday after we go to the Trenton Steel game!  Maybe we'll even catch "Salsa Sunday" as they teach dance lessons there!  Cheers!

Trenton Social
449 South Broad Street
Trenton, NJ, 08611
Phone:  (609)989-7777

Sundays-Wednesdays: 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. (food served until 10 p.m.)

Thursdays-Saturdays: 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. (food served until midnight)
http://www.trentonsocial.com/
http://www.facebook.com/trentonsocial

2008 Ventisquero Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva

Popped and poured through the Vinturi, then through another funnel and into a decanter.  I then poured the wine back into the bottle, and then did this process all over again.  From here, it sat in the decanter for about a half hour, and then in a Riedel XL glass for another half hour.

After an hour decant, this nose has some serious funk on it.  Lots of vegetal and herbal notes on it, with some green pepper that had me wondering about this wine.  Was this a bad bottle perhaps, or was this going to blow off?  Definitely some alcohol on the nose.

By hour three, the funk has blown off, and the nose reveals some nice smoke and oak.  The alcohol is still there a bit, but has also blown off a bit.  On the fruit front, raspberry and black cherry dominate the nose, rounded out by some creaminess from the oak.

On the palate, this wine is obviously young, and perhaps a little out of balance, but as this wine opens up, it becomes more and more balanced.  Some more of that raspberry on the palate, along with some cherry and pomegranate.  Hints of mocha round out the palate, with a short finish that shows the youth of this wine.  The tannins are still a bit grippy, with just some alcohol on the finish as well.  I poured the remaining half of the bottle into a half bottle, and put this in the cellar overnight to revisit in the morning.

So at the end of day one, I think that for the price of this wine, there is all the potential in the world.  I can only imagine that this is going to get better overnight, allowing the elements to integrate, and becoming a more complex wine.  To me, at this price, this is a no brainer, and a heck of a great QPR.  For the restaurant that wants to put this on their wine list, this is a great food wine, and I’d serve it with any kind of hearty, meaty dishes.  End of day 1:  86 points.  Stay tuned for notes on day 2!  Cheers!

On day two, all the hard edges on this wine came off, the alcohol integrated some, but was still a bit present, but not overwhelming in the least.  The tannins have integrated a little bit, but are still there.  All in all, again, this is another good QPR, and gained another point or two overnight.  Again, this is a great wine by the glass for a restaurant, or a great drinker for a weekday!  Keep an eye out for this one, because if I have it my way, this entire line will be all over restaurants in New Jersey!  Cheers!