Red Gables ’21 Barbecue

By Bob Sacks

What do many restaurant chefs do for fun when they have a chance to be out of the kitchen and have a day off? They love to cook, especially for their family and friends.

Chris Calabrese, chef/owner of the highly-rated Nettie’s House of Spaghetti on Asbury Avenue in Tinton Falls, decided that he wanted to do just that, but on a grander scale and with a broader purpose. He told his wife Tania that he wanted to create a “fun event without rules.” He would invite a number of chefs with whom he was friends to join together over multiple nights and cook whatever their hearts desired. It would be outside with open fires and he had the ideal location in mind.

He wanted to feature local New Jersey produce and have live music, cocktails, area artists exhibiting their work and invite some interested members of the public to share in the festivities. When he described all this to her, she was concerned that it would be a huge amount of work to put this together. His reply was, “We all need this, after this past year.”

Hence, the Red Gables Barbecue was born. It was held over three nights, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 26 – 28 at the Red Gables Farm, site of a large, 1920s vintage house and numerous outbuildings. This stunning property is situated on over 5 acres of land on Navesink River Road in Red Bank, on a scenic overlook at the junction of the Navesink River and McClees Creek. The home has been owned by the Hovnanian family for many years.

Chris’s good friend Jonas Forssell a grower of organic produce and strong proponent of locavore and farm-to-table dining, has been overseeing extensive plantings of delicious New Jersey produce – including tomatoes, peppers and eggplants – on the property, so it was natural for the two of them to unite, to ensure that as much of the super fresh, just-harvested produce as possible would be used in the dishes the chefs prepared. Proteins were provided by the iconic Pat LaFrieda. Ultimately there were over 25 chefs involved, and a large number of other people in the restaurant and food industry also contributed to the mix. 

Many of the chefs were alumni of top local restaurants such as Restaurant Nicholas in Middletown (now Barrell and Roost) and Chris Mumford’s restaurants in Long Branch and Tinton Falls. On Monday night, Big Mike Metzner from The Little Red Store, Locust, roasted a large, whole suckling pig over an open fire. David Viana of Heirloom Kitchen, Old Bridge, created his deservedly famous paella with fire roasted duck and scallops. On another night, Chris Calabrese made an excellent Brazilian classic – slow-fire-roasted pichana schwarma.

Of course, these were just a few of the many delicious, and different, dishes served each evening.  On any given night there was a large group of chefs tending the food and fires, including Sergio Casal and Paul Holzheimer of The Grand Tavern, Matias Britos of Anjelicas, Alex Riley of Almost Home General Store and Pancho, Mike Iorio of Nettie’s, Mike Halsey of Maeberrie Market, Nino Coniglio of Brooklyn Pizza Crew and Claude Lewis of Freetown Road Project. What was impressive was that they were not there for personal glory or notoriety, but rather to have fun cooking for and feeding one another and the guests and simply just “hanging out.”

There was live music to enhance the experience by Mr. Tickle Hands (aka Roshane Karunaratne and Andrew Robinson), Blue Ox and Haig Hovnanian. In addition to the wide range of food, there were drinks served from an impromptu bar, which included a very tasty Farmhouse Ale-Saison beer from Carton Brewery called “Something Harvest” made especially for the occasion, and an Armenian red wine Karasi Areni Noir. Cocktails were made and dispensed by veteran mixologists including Erin Lamb of The Grand Tavern, Colleen Nealon of Deal Lake Bar & Co., Pasquale Pipi of Reyla and Laylow, Billie Huwyler of Nettie’s, and other drink pros.

In keeping with the locavore concept, Barnegat Oyster collective contributed fresh oysters for the chefs to use; Two River Mushrooms provided fresh organic mushrooms from their local farm. Of the three fire pits that were in constant use, one was constructed by Calabrese and Forssell, and the two others by Fuego Argentinian Grills.

Since there was plenty of stimuli for taste and sound, it was only fitting that sight was included as well; thus, the artwork of a number of very talented artists was on display in an adjacent greenhouse, including works by Leni Forssell, Rob Santello and Lucy Kalian of Locust. Cassie Karinja created the posters for the event. 

It should be obvious that the primary purpose of the Red Gables Farm Barbecue was achieved. A large group of very talented cooks, bartenders, artists and musicians were given the opportunity to come together and collaborate with one another, in order to create a nonstop evening of food and fun for all involved…an end of summer celebration that was truly special. It is rumored there may be more events to follow in the future. Stay tuned! 

Bob Sacks, longtime food and wine buff, writes about food, wine and restaurants in this column. Follow him on Instagram @dinnerwithbob. 

The article originally appeared in the October 14 – 20, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.