134 Years and Counting

Anniversaries are pretty cool things to celebrate. So it was that the missus and I celebrated our 34th at a place that was celebrating its 100th--Bahr's Landing in Highlands, NJ. Owner Jay Cosgrove (nowhere near 100) regaled me with the fascinating history of Bahr's, which began as a boaters' fuel stop while WW1 was still going on.

Most Jerseyans familiar with the area know of Bahr's and have most likely partaken of its offerings. Nestled beneath NJ's famous Twin Lights and the imposing Sandy Hook Bridge, the first owners began to notice that those in need of fuel were also in need of food and shelter, and their hospitality business was born.

While Bahr's has an excellent reputation for its food and lovely dockside ambience, Cosgrove is taking pains to up its beer footprint as well. He has enlisted the talents of an "obscure" Jersey brewer named Augie Carton (that's a joke, guys), whose place of business is not far away in Atlantic Highlands. Augie had an excellent Wit on tap on the night of our visit called Wit Whale, and he told Cosgrove that this batch was "finally just the way he wanted it to be." The missus had two, which she rarely does, so she must have concurred with Carton's assessment. It worked very well, she said with her delicious Blackened Mahi-Mahi.

Personally, I was in the mood for an IPA, and being so close to Sandy Hook Bay and the ocean, I opted for Heavy Seas Tropi-Cannon, a citrus IPA that clocks in at 7.25% ABV, and is loaded with tropical fruit notes of mango, lemon and blood orange. It was a perfect choice for the moment, and it paired superbly with my exceptional Garlic Shrimp Scampi over Rice. The Popcorn Shrimp appetizer was fabulous and big enough for two--maybe three, and the Roasted Corn and Crab Chowder was particularly outstanding.

Bahr's has a lineup of eight beers rotating on all its taps--upstairs, downstairs and out on the Tiki bar. And with his beers distributed over a pretty long distance, Cosgrove knew how important it was to keep his beer lines clean. That necessary task can be costly and problematic, but a bar is only as good as the last beer it shared with a customer.

Most beer distributors will clean only the lines that carry their beer, hence, multiple cleaners are necessary. So Jay researched and installed an automatic line-cleaning unit which automates the process, and it treats all lines at once. I inquired about the cost of the unit, and received only a "VERY expensive" response. Whatever. It's certainly working.

Of course, that was after a visit from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 which was also "VERY expensive." During a quick tour he gave me of the bowels of the restaurant, Jay pointed out how high the water level came up on Bahr's first floor during that disaster, and he allowed that the damage was in the millions.

Diver Dan, who graces the entrance to the restaurant, probably needed his outfit just to navigate the premises.

But, as the rest of Jersey did, Bahr's rolled up its shirtsleeves and went to work rebuilding, and that's to the benefit of anyone who loves good beer and seafood. Even this fellow came dockside, across from a VERY expensive yacht, and we watched him snatch a live Jersey Blue Crab from a piling. He secured it, fought off a would-be winged thief, and enjoyed his own kind of crab cake.

If you go--and you should, before Summer is over--you might be lucky enough to get Dawn (below) as your server. A happily-married mother of three and a former teacher, her eyes lit up our table like candles, and her personality was as pleasant as her efficient service. I can't guarantee she'll pose like this with you, but I doubt she'd hesitate.

In sum, a perfect night at a perfect place for celebrating an anniversary, whether it's thirty-four years or one hundred.