Tonight was a very sad night. It was our last supper at Tillie’s which is closing next Saturday the 26th. We were just there last Saturday night and had no idea they were closing. This was one of our favorite restaurants and probably the best kept secret in NJ. Chef Wirt is so talented and genuine, and his wife Karen makes the best key lime pie. Their lease runs out at the end of the month and they decided not to renew it. Apparently he received a promising job offer that has to be kept secret until November and Karen is studying to become a nurse. With 4 young daughters they needed to find something steadier with insurance. Although I am sad that I will never get to eat at their amazing restaurant again, I am happy for them. I bought them a bottle of wine that they have enjoyed in the past.
Besides our usual awesome house cured smoked bacon, shrimp and grits, and crispy fried chicken thighs with honey sriracha sauce, I had an outstanding veal chop with roasted Brussels sprouts and smoky eggplant. We also had fresh cavatelli with lobster, seaweed, and bottarga, as well as cold marinated octopus and pickled shrimp. We took home Karen’s incredible key lime pie to go for the road. It all went great with a California red blend. When it came time to pay the check our server told us that the entire dinner was comped! I was so shocked and had a hard time holding back tears. These people are the best! Needless to say we left our server a generous tip.
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