Photo by Christina Johnson
By Christina Johnson | cjohnson@tworivertimes.com
RED BANK – Sickles Market, a sophisticated country market in Little Silver, has announced April 8 will be the opening date for its hip, new urban spinoff on the West Side.
The new store, called Sickles, will focus on breakfast, lunch and healthy options, with grab-and-go items, as well as fresh produce, meats and quality grocery. It is located on the ground floor of the renovated turn-of-the-century brick Anderson Bros. building at the busy corner of Monmouth Street and Bridge Avenue, home to other new commercial tenants.
“We’re going to learn a lot,” said owner Bob Sickles, during a tour of the unstocked store Friday. “Ethnically, we’re in an amazingly different demographic. There’s so much diversity over here, which is great because we have so many ideas about food. And we’ll have really good competition. There’s some really good food places around here.”
The 8,000-square-foot family-owned store has instant character, thanks to exposed pipes, a polished concrete floor and a cozy corner seating area furnished with bourbon barrels and wood benches featuring a gelato service window. The windows frame a lively scene outside, with NJ Transit trains gliding in and out of the station across the intersection, the whistles sounding, the gates dinging, and waves of pedestrians coming and going along the sidewalks. Taxis pause, trucks rumble and passenger cars wind their way through the streets.
On this day, the store was lined with empty illuminated display cases, counters and cash registers, poised to be put to use. Sickles can’t wait to see them packed with an abundance of colorful fruits, charcuterie, leafy salads, a rotisserie station, rustic baked goods, shiny balls of fresh mozzarella and creamy bowls of guacamole, among many other things. “The food is the soul of the store. The food is the show, really,” he said.
The visual feast will be underscored by the aroma of fresh roasted coffee. The local Booskerdoo Coffee Company brand is featured with its own section, something not found in the Little Silver store.
Another new addition to Sickles’ beverage offerings is the adjacent Bottles by Sickles store, which is already open and doing business in fine wine, liquors and craft beer.
Back in the kitchen at Sickles, Chris Mumford was at work shaping a turkey meatloaf with cranberry ketchup and popping it in the oven. Mumford is the culinary director at the new store and has been working solo in the kitchen here for the past five weeks, scratching out 140 unique recipes to date. He is the former owner of Café Mumford in Tinton Falls, a “local legend,” said Sickles.
Photo by Christina Johnson
As he tested a recipe for quesadilla, Mumford said he is thrilled to be part of Sickles’ new venture. “I’m really excited about growing again so I can do ‘seed to pan’ that I’ve done the last 35 years. And being able to inspire a bunch of young cooks and guests.”
Mumford is putting a twist on a few signature items from his café days, including his apple and smoke-brined roasted Turkey Vermont sandwich. But he is also jazzed about developing a lot of lighter food, vegan and gluten-free options he predicts will be popular with the West Side residents and workers passing through the evolving West Side transit hub. His vision, he said, is “ever changing, seasonal, creative, new world, exciting and continuous fresh food.”
Photo by Christina Johnson
As he accepted a delivery of McConnell’s Fine ice cream rushed in from California for a tasting, Dan Rothman, general manager, said there was so much to be excited about. “We’re looking to expand on as well as take some of the greatest hits people love about Little Silver to a new community,” he said. “I think it’s going to be pretty upbeat, high energy.”
The article originally appeared in the February 27- March 4, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
