Grand Tavern was the first place I thought of as well. Heirloom Kitchen is a given–and a great experience; just note that they moved to a prix fixe-only format. I’M dying to get to Il Nido, which you can read more about here: Il Nido, Marlboro, NJ
I love Talulah’s, but I don’t know if it’s a ‘special dining venue’ and it’s also very loud.
Finally, I haven’t been yet, but a friend just recently mentioned he wants to try Harvest in Farmingdale; I didn’t see many mentions of it on the NJ board, but perhaps someone else can chime in about it?
Let us know where you end up!
