Paragon Tap & Table has a new look and menu with an Italian flair, featuring creative items such as a giant meatball for four, chicken Parmesan Benedict and breakfast pasta as chef and “Chopped” champion Eric LeVine returns to the Clark gastropub.
The restaurant at 77 Central Ave. reopened as Paragon American + Italian Gastropub on Sept. 10.
The new menu features reimagined gastropub favorites, creative Italian American dishes and unexpected twists, alongside a revamped beverage program with new cocktails, craft beer and wine. The result is food intended to be approachable and craveable while remaining fun, surprising and shareable.
New dishes include a giant meatball for four, an over-the-top, shareable take on the Italian American classic designed to arrive at the table with a wow factor, as well as playful breakfast pasta dishes available during weekend brunch, including chorizo and egg rigatoni.
Celebrity chef returns to NJ gastropub with giant meatball
1 of 6
The giant meatball for four at Paragon American + Italian Gastropub. (Provided by Foxtrot Media)
More: ‘Mob Wives’ stars bring immersive Italian wedding drama back to Woodbridge
The restaurant also has a fresh look and atmosphere following a renovation that complements its new culinary direction.
“This isn’t simply a menu update or renovation,” co-owners Purvi and Akik Shah said. “We wanted to rethink what Paragon could be while keeping the welcoming, neighborhood feel that has always been important to us. Bringing Eric back gave us the opportunity to do that in a much bigger way.”
Chef and partner Eric LeVine was integral to developing the original Paragon concept when it opened in 2014. Now, after eight years away, he has returned to the restaurant he helped create, this time charged with completely reimagining it for its next chapter.
A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, LeVine began his career under celebrity chef David Burke at New York City’s River Café and later became chef de cuisine at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan. His career has included national television appearances, invitations to cook at the James Beard House, multiple cookbooks and a Food Network “Chopped” championship in 2011.
Go: 77 Central Ave., Clark; 732-931-1776, paragonnj.com.
Staff Reporter Jenna Intersimone: JIntersimone@MyCentralJersey.com
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Celebrity chef returns to NJ gastropub with giant meatball
