The Greater Bucks County region is bursting with people who are at once separately and collectively securing a renowned reputation for the culinary scene here. Whether they are well-established and long revered or fresh and trend-setting, they are producing the type of dining experiences that once were only possible in Philadelphia or New York. This is a collection of those who are at the forefront of that movement. They are chefs, restaurateurs and connoisseurs. What they all share in common is an undeniable passion.

The Protégé
MARK MILLER
Executive Chef, Hamilton’s Grill Room
The legendary Lambertville, NJ, restaurant is not for the timid chef. Owner Jim Hamilton is a stern believer that dining out should be entertaining, and the Grill Room is clearly a literal interpretation of this concept. Mark Miller spends most of his nights at a grill that anchors the intimate restaurant in a dining room just off the entrance, in plain view of every curious eye. It’s a position that Miller found uncomfortable, to say the least, in the early going. “I definitely had some rough days,” Miller says. “But you put it behind you and you keep moving.” Now entering his 15th year at the Grill Room, Miller is more than a master of the grill. He is perhaps the single most significant reason, behind Hamilton himself, of course, that dining at the Grill Room is practically an unparalleled experience. And while Miller may lack some of Hamilton’s theatrical flair, he is the envy of Hamilton for the ways in which he is so in tune with every nuance of the temperamental grill, juggling as many as 15 different cuts of meat and fish at a time, each with different degrees of doneness. And he does it center stage every night with the consistent conviction of a Broadway veteran.

The Revolutionary
MAN WONG
Owner, Concerto Fusion
It struck him in the midst of settling on a look for the interior of his now two-year-old restaurant in Morrisville, Concerto Fusion. This was an opportunity to do something completely new, revolutionary even. On the heels of this epiphany, the pieces suddenly fit together with ease. He knew then that what he was embarking upon was more than a new culinary venture. In creating an environment that is at once stimulating and comfortable and building a menu around a number of Asian influences, including Japanese, Chinese and Thai, Wong aimed to shape a dining experience that dropped the cultural context and instead focused solely on satisfying the senses – all of them. By involving every aspect of the being in savoring the food, Wong believes it makes for a more satisfying experience. In a day when so much of the world is literally at our finger tips, Wong’s approach is both in step with the times and wonderfully antiquated. He’s created a place where boundaries are almost nonexistent, yet the pace is focused and deliberate.

The Visionaries
TERRENCE MECK & RAND SKOLNICK
Owners, The Raven and The Nevermore
When Terrence Meck (left) and Rand Skolnick bought the storied Raven in New Hope four years ago, they envisioned turning it into one of the premier gay resorts on the east coast. While they’ve made significant improvements in the time since, their vision never came to fruition in large part due to the constraints of the size and the location. But their dream was rekindled when they received a call from the owner of the Best Western hotel in New Hope, just up the street from the Raven, who told them he appreciated what they were trying to do and proposed selling the motel to them. Skolnick says they knew immediately upon seeing it that it was the right move for them. At the hotel, which they’ve since renamed The Nevermore, they had the space that they needed. Perhaps more importantly, though, it was a blank slate. They still envision a resort, but it will be all-inclusive. PLATE, a casual, tapas-style restaurant, is the first piece to be set. Next in line, a disco and lounge that is expected to open in the spring and, opening on March 1, Harlans, a cabaret that will draw top-tier talent from New York under the guidance of Emmy-winning producer Elissa Patterson.

The Icons
ROZANNE & GERARD CARONELLO
Owners, La Bonne Auberge
For the last 36 years Rozanne and Gerard Caronello have set the standard for fine dining in Bucks County at their New Hope restaurant La Bonne Auberge. In an age when everything has shifted toward the casual, La Bonne Auberge is the exception. Situated in a historic stone farmhouse that sits atop a steep hill surrounded by a residential development, the restaurant is isolated in its own world, which is exactly how chef Gerard Caronello and his wife Rozanne have operated it. Turning a blind eye to what is fashionable, they have always gone with what they know, which is a true love of food and an uncompromising work ethic. “You do what you know and how you like to do it, but never look at what the other people do,” Gerard says. “I say you have to be honest with yourself.” Quite simply, the Caronellos run their restaurant as they expect to be treated during the rare occasions when they go out to dine. Through her wonderfully personable touch and his masterful grasp of French cuisine, they’ve created an experience that is impossibly consistent and beautifully timeless.

The Authority
DICK PHILLIPS
Owner, Phillips’ Fine Wines
“In Dick Phillips we trust.” That’s the mantra recited by wine enthusiasts throughout Central Bucks County and New Jersey. As the popularity of wine has grown in America in recent decades, so, too, has the size and scope of the Stockton, NJ, store, which Phillips’ father started with $400 in 1946 and he has overseen for almost 40 years. It is easy to get lost in the vast array of what’s available, but that has never been the case at Phillips’ Fine Wines, even as its staggering inventory spills from one room to the next, jumping from one part of the world to another, from transparent pinot noirs to heavy-bodied chardonnays. And that is for the simple reason that while the store continues to grow (an addition was in the midst of construction as of the writing of this piece), Phillips and his staff, some of whom have been with him for almost 30 years, remain deeply committed to customer service, to getting to know their clientele and their tastes. As impossible as it seems, Phillips says they taste every vintage before it hits the shelves. So you tell them what you like and they will find you the perfect match. They are experts at uncovering the needle in the haystack.

The Professor
JEAN PIERRE TARDY
Owner, Chef Jean Pierre cooking classes
For 17 years, the Newtown restaurant Jean Pierre’s was synonymous with perfectly prepared French food. It had a mystique that few restaurants are ever fortunate enough to develop, much of which could be traced to its chef and owner, Jean Pierre Tardy, who had a reputation for being intensely demanding, mostly on himself. And then, seemingly overnight, Jean Pierre’s closed in 2002. The void was immediately felt. The taxing toll had at long last caught up with Tardy, who is one of 250 chefs recognized as a Maitre Cuisiniere de France. “I take six months off and I breathe a little better,” Tardy says in a still-thick French accent. His re-entry into the public scene was gradual. He started hosting informal cooking classes for a small circle of friends at his home. As demand grew, it became apparent that this would be the next step for him. He found a space about a block away from his former restaurant and began hosting classes there in August 2003. It’s not a cooking school. It’s more for entertainment. Some come, Tardy says, to learn, others simply to eat. The more relaxed pace has agreed with him. Nonetheless, he’s begun exploring the idea of owning another restaurant, a steakhouse this time. “I’m going to be 58,” Tardy says. “I’m ready for 25 more years.”

The Mastermind
MAX HANSEN
Chef and Owner, MaxHansenCaterer
Where Max Hansen differs most from almost every other chef featured here is that when he enters the kitchen, it’s usually to prepare a meal for a few hundred or even a couple thousand people at a time. To maintain a high level of quality at that quantity (which he does), it requires rare talent and the organizational skills of a leader of a small country. Hansen honed the first part of that formula working under some of the world’s greatest chefs, including Thomas Keller and Sottha Kuhn. The other came after he left New York and started the next phase of his culinary life. “It’s great having the restaurant background that I do because I understand how to cook very fine food,” says Hansen, whose warm way is camouflaged by a rather imposing figure. “I tried to apply that approach to catering when I first started. I realized very quickly that I was driving myself crazy.” He promptly found his way, however, without sacrificing the quality of the food that has made him one of Bucks County’s most revered chefs. To this day he receives compliments for the pasta he prepared for 10,000 at Governor Ed Rendell’s inauguration. It’s hard to tell, though, whether he’s prouder of the recipe or of the detailed plan he created for every phase of the affair, which remains stored on his laptop.

The People Person
HUGH PREECE
Managing Partner, Salt Creek Grille
Chain restaurants are not typically granted the most open-minded consideration. And, yes, the Salt Creek Grille is technically a chain. Getting people past that initial mental hurdle is where Hugh Preece invests the greatest amount of time and effort. But the newest edition to Princeton’s Forrestal Village usually manages to speak for itself from there. Preece, who came from ESPN Zone in Manhattan, is intimately familiar with the corporate structure that shapes every decision at a chain restaurant, which is why being at Salt Creek is so refreshing for him. Within Salt Creek’s loose framework, Preece has discovered the freedom to mold the restaurant largely to his preferences. “I can make my stamp with my input,” he says. While there is much that is new and different about Salt Creek (the first of five restaurants was launched in California), including contemporary fire pits for lounging, Preece is well aware that the experience will be judged ultimately on its level of intimacy, which is why his presence is constantly felt. “I think the importance of me interacting with guests and the staff interacting with guests is that it’s part of our atmosphere,” he says.

The Businessman
JAMIE HOLLANDER
Chef and Owner, Jamie Hollander Gourmet Foods
Jamie Hollander spent the better part of the first 10 years of his career working in restaurants, including one of his own, The Knight House, in Doylestown, which developed a fine reputation and put his name on the map. After selling the restaurant in 2004 and taking some time off, he returned in a completely new way, opening Jamie Hollander Gourmet Foods in New Hope, a high-end market and the home base for his catering business. The shift in direction afforded him greater freedom in the kitchen. That is, it would if he spent much time in it, which he does not. The operation was an immediate success, taking off faster than Hollander could have imagined and fully engaging him in a foreign lifestyle, that of a businessman. He now spends most of his time tending to paperwork and trying to organize inventory. Hollander admits the store has already outgrown its space, but he seems uncertain if he’ll relocate, at least in part because he’s beginning to entertain the idea of opening another restaurant, too, though not as a thinly veiled attempt to get back to cooking regularly. For the time being at least, his creative impulses are tied up in marketing campaigns and business models.

The Technician
MARK MATYAS
Chef and Owner, Slate Bleu
After spending the bulk of his career working in Paris kitchens and then the fabled New York City French restaurant La Grenouille, chef Mark Matyas determined that the moment finally felt right for he and his wife Susan to pursue their dream of launching their own restaurant in Bucks County, where they live. The resulting Slate Bleu is a wonderful collection of the best of the chef’s worldly experiences while also being a platform for a vision that is distinctly his own. “When I worked in New York, it was very high class, very high luxury,” Matyas says. “It’s not the same here. Nor do I want it to be the same because the world’s changed. I think people want to relax more casually, dine more casually.” So while you will find exquisitely prepared classic French and European fare at the Doylestown restaurant, there are no bow-tied waiters looking down their noses at you, no intricate draperies. The atmosphere, in fact, is far more bistro than fine dining, which is exactly as Matyas prefers it. What drew him to French cuisine was the precision it requires and refinement it exudes. Today, he’s making it his own by expertly tending to the former while toning down the latter.

The Trendsetters
AMY & JOE McATEE
Owners, Honey
Between Amy’s social nature and her husband Joe’s refreshingly innovative culinary sense, the McAtees appeared to be a couple destined to own a restaurant from their very beginning. They stopped resisting fate a couple of years ago and began searching for a place of their own, eventually landing in a small, unassuming brick building around the corner from the courthouse in Doylestown. The buzz began the moment they opened the door to their restaurant, Honey, less than a year ago. (Excuse the pun. It is absolutely intended.) It was evident from then that what the McAtees were doing was very different, at least for Bucks County. “We always had to go down to Philadelphia or New York to try to find things that are exciting,” Joe says. “And that’s not to put down any of the restaurants that are around here. I just don’t think that they’re set up to be taking risks, culinarily.” While Honey has become known for its tapas-oriented menu, Joe says the early attention has been a bit misleading. “Some people come in expecting to see a full-on Spanish tapas menu,” he says. “It’s not like that at all. It’s just a sharing style.” The menu is unique yet somehow familiar, lending itself to exploration and, ultimately, deep satisfaction.

The Workaholic
BRIAN HELD
Chef and Owner, Rouget
Granted, this may be stereotyping, but chefs are notorious for having bloated egos. Brian Held, however, is not one of them. On the day I arrived to interview him at his then nearly-year-old Newtown restaurant, Rouget, Held was working a bustling lunchtime scene as a waiter. A stomach virus that forced him to reschedule our earlier appointment had moved on to his staff. Nonetheless, Held makes a point a spending at least a portion of the day on the floor, away from the kitchen, which isn’t really as difficult as it sounds. The heavily French-influenced Rouget serves breakfast (Saturday and Sunday), lunch and dinner and Held is there for it all. He moved from the Richboro restaurant Juliana Rose, which he owned, to Rouget in pursuit of a more upscale dining experience. And while he admits Rouget is constantly evolving, Held is also one to covet feedback of any kind and react to it immediately. A four-course prix fixe menu that includes an amuse bouche and a French cheese plate has become the staple of the Jim Hamilton-designed restaurant. Its popularity is perhaps the single greatest affirmation to date that Held is on to something. An idea that leads one to believe he’s just beginning to break through the surface.

The Traditionalist
DIANA PATERRA
Chef and Owner, DeAnna’s
While the look and feel of the Lambertville, NJ, restaurant may be completely contemporary, do not be so easily convinced because the food that emerges from the kitchen is about as true to traditional Italian as one will find in the heart of Rome. Since relocating across town from her original location, which opened in 1990 and where chef and owner Diana Paterra worked in a two-foot by four-foot kitchen – seriously – Paterra considers herself living in the lap of luxury because she operates from a kitchen that is practically as large as her former restaurant. The additional space has given her room to be a little more creative, but Paterra has not strayed – nor does she plan to – too far from the menu that quickly established her as one of the region’s greatest Italian chefs nearly two decades ago. The reason is simple: The foods that she prepares today are the same ones she grew up making alongside her grandmother. The occasional Mediterranean influence may enter into the equation. But, for the most part, Paterra, who is at work on her first cookbook, plans to stay true to the recipes that have satisfied her family for generations, including the cheesecake. (Oh, that cheesecake. How we love you so.)

The Connoisseur
J. DAVID WALDMAN
Owner, Rojo’s Roastery
If only we were all as passionate about what we did for a living as J. David Waldman is about his career. In fairness, though, it took him nearly a lifetime to do what he’d always wanted to do, which is open a café and be an artisan coffee roaster. To put Waldman’s place into proper perspective, we need to take a look at the recent history of coffee. Huge commercial roasters dumbed down the bean beginning in the forties. Then, Starbucks began taking root in the early eighties, renewing our appreciation and raising the public’s coffee IQ. That brings us to the present day and Waldman and the handful of other convicted types like him who will lead us from here. Now that we know what we want from our coffee, he is there to make sure that we get it, whether it be by securing the proper beans, installing the most reliable equipment or even ensuring that our water is adequately filtered and balanced. It is every bit as complicated as it sounds, which is why we need Waldman. With him translating, it’s less science and more art. “Kind of what I’m trying to do,” Waldman says, “is explain visually and in common-sense terms what it is about coffee that if you think about what you’re doing, you could make the cup better.”

The Eternal Optimist
MARTINE LANDRY
Owner, Martine’s River House Restaurant & Bar
A lot of sad stories came out of the three major floods that struck New Hope over a nearly two-year span beginning in September 2004, none more so than Martine Landry’s. Though hers is also perhaps the most inspiring. After running her restaurant, Martine’s, out of the cozy but constraining historic stone building at the corner of South Main and Ferry streets in New Hope for 27 years she bought a neighboring riverside building (a former boathouse, circa 1717) with the hope of expanding. Landry had had her eye on it almost from the moment she opened her restaurant. She closed on it on August 31, 2004. Ten days later, the first of the floods filled the building’s first floor to the ceiling. The second one came right after she had the building gutted. The third, within the week after she had the kitchen installed. Landry persevered, picking up the pieces each time and learning along the way. (The kitchen appliances sit on rollers for easier transport.) She let go of the idea of expanding and settled entirely at the new property. Today, the view of the river is what she covets most about her wonderfully intimate restaurant. “This is great,” she says. “It’s a whole different feeling for me. And I really need that. I was ready for it.”