As a native New Yorker, why am I so enchanted with Montclair, New Jersey? Let me count the ways. Barely 30 minutes away from Manhattan via frequent NJ Transit trains, Montclair is strung with a necklace of parks and gardens that are laced with leafy trails, peppered with colorful blooms and ancient trees, and dotted with numerous water features. An energetic, creative vibe runs through this town that hosts the Montclair Film Festival each October, is home to the recently renovated arthouse, Clairidge Cinemas, and showcases avant-garde and other contemporary works at the Montclair Art Museum. It’s a joy to explore the Saturday morning farmer’s market with its abundance of produce from nearby farms, including Japanese sweet potatoes, watermelon radishes, Russian banana fingerling and more than half a dozen different sorts of hot peppers (such as Thai dragon chilies and fatalii peppers). As a foodie, I find it difficult to choose from among the cornucopia of cuisines served in Montclair’s restaurants, from Ethiopian to French to Brazilian.
And now I have a reason to not just visit Montclair for the day but, rather, to stay for a while, thanks to the newly opened MC Hotel.
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This sun-filled, contemporary, luxe property is a pleasant walk from the Walnut Street train station, and is centrally located on buzzing Bloomfield Avenue. (It’s also just a block or so from the Montclair Art Museum, a favorite cultural hub.)
But it’s not the location that sets the MC Hotel apart and makes me fall in love with it. No, it’s the hotel’s embrace of an ethic that revolves around local sourcing, whether it’s the art adorning the walls of the public spaces that resemble a gallery of sorts; or the food and beverages offered at Alto, the ninth-floor rooftop bar and lounge that boasts stellar views of the Manhattan skyline; or the grab n’go items sold in The Market, an open-plan space connected to the coffee bar and Allegory, the hotel’s locavore-centered restaurant serving Mediterranean-infused cuisine. In fact, the origin of some ingredients couldn’t be closer to the source, aka the hotel’s rooftop kitchen garden that grows everything from lavender and rosemary to pineapple mint and orange thyme. Pizzas are topped with homegrown basil, pineapple mint is a mojito garnish, tricolor sage is added to salads, and Mexican mint is part of a taco recipe.
The majority of the hotel’s vendors live or work in and around Montclair. And the artists have been Montclairians, live nearby, or take inspiration from Montclair’s leafy environs. This is what intimately connects the MC Hotel to Montclair and the nearby communities in New Jersey. As a result, guests can experience the flavors and cultural aesthetic of the surrounding neighborhoods even if they don’t travel far from the hotel.
Locally-Based Food And Beverage Makers —
Chocolate
Federica Heiman, owner of Dolce Federica, is an artisan chocolatier who lives in Montclair. Using Belgian and French chocolate, Heiman handmakes luscious creations that reference her Italian heritage — she grew up in Northern Italy — whether it’s flavors like limoncello, or ingredients such as hazelnuts, which grow in abundance in Northern Italy. “For the MC Hotel, I like to provide them with designs that are inventive, modern and sleek but with flavors that are neither too cliche nor too foreign,” says Federica.
She changes things up quite a bit when she designs each of her collections, including seasonal variations. In The Market, you’ll find two of her dark chocolate bars: Fruitti di Bosco that’s a blend of mixed dried berries (raspberries, blueberries and strawberries); and Noci Miste that’s rich in a variety of nuts: Italian hazelnuts, almonds and pecans. You’ll also find small boxes containing a collection of bonbons: hazelnut-imbued Bacio, citrusy Limoncello, Casses e Pep Rosa that’s made with black currant gelee and pink pepper ganache, and vanilla ganache that has a cinnamon crumble base. Also in The Market is a Hot Chocolate Stick, which, in essence, is a high-quality hot cocoa “kit” consisting of dark chocolate and mini marshmallows on a wooden spoon. Just add hot milk, stir and enjoy.
Beer
Leo and Denise Ford-Sawadogo are the husband and wife co-owners of the Montclair Brewery, a microbrewery whose slogan couldn’t be more apt: “Building community one beer at a time.” According to Denise, “Having our selection of craft beers available at the MC Hotel allows us [to have the] opportunity to live up to our slogan by partnering with a hotel that also takes community as seriously as we do.”
Given that they have roots in Africa — Leo originally hails from West Africa — and the Caribbean (Denise’s family is from Jamaica), it’s not all that surprising that their craft beers are suffused with some unique ingredients. These include baobab fruit that’s imported from West Africa, hibiscus, and passionfruit. On tap, the MC Hotel serves their MC/Claremont Pilsner, a crisp, light-bodied beer with an earthy flavor and a hint of citrus. (It’s brewed with Czech hops, lemon peels and a bit of rosemary.)
Other Montclair Brewery beers that rotate through the MC Hotel include the light-bodied Golden Buddha Passion Fruit Ale; the refreshing Buzz Ale Belgian Style Blond Ale, named after Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon and a Montclair native; and the coriander-tinged People’s Republic of Montclair Belgian-style ale. In addition, the brewery’s Black is Beautiful can be found in cans and on tap at the hotel. Containing baobab, this beer is a twist on a stout recipe, with malty, nutty, and dark chocolate flavors. (Black is Beautiful is a global collaboration of craft breweries, including the Montclair Brewery, that’s designed to boost awareness of the descrimination and inequality facing people of color.)
Whiskey
Friends since childhood, JD Recobs and Chris Buglisi, co-founders of Misunderstood Whiskey, created this brand when they were right out of college in Montclair. In fact, they originally delivered their product by pedaling their bicycles around Montclair, Hoboken and Jersey City.
The brand name couldn’t be more appropriate. “We believe that not only flavored whiskey, but the entire whiskey category as a whole is misunderstood,” says JD. They made Misunderstood Whiskey to be a spirit “that’s enjoyed all year round, that’s fun to mix, and that’s welcoming to any level of whiskey drinker without compromising quality for flavor,” adds JD.
Recobs and Buglisi created their Ginger Spiced Whiskey by relying on bourbon that’s aged in new American oak barrels, and American whiskey aged in used bourbon barrels, something that enriches the flavor. Thanks to the sweetness of the Indiana- and Kentucky-sourced mashbill blended with the smooth ginger notes, this whiskey appeals to connoisseurs and newbies alike. The flavor is delightfully complex, seamlessly melding ginger and caramel with hints of butterscotch, making it perfect no matter the season.
At the MC Hotel, you’ll want to try the “Goodfella,” a signature cocktail that contains this whiskey along with muddled lemon and oranges plus Amaro CioCiaro. You’ll delight in the refreshing citrus notes, the pleasant bitterness and the slight sweetness from the CioCiaro along with the smooth ginger finish.
Hot Sauce
Connor Barshay, who’s now 14, has long been a foodie who, according to his dad, Ethan, especially favored all things salty, spicy and savory. No wonder he created his own hot sauce brand. Residing in nearby Verona, Connor is the Executive Chef and co-owner (along with Ethan) of Connor’s Saucery.
This handcrafted brand that’s made in small batches (50 bottles at a time) has more complexity than a simple hot sauce where it’s the heat that’s central. Cooked rather than fermented, Connor’s hot sauces allow the fruity pepper notes to shine. The base — smoky garlic, onion and vinegar — are blended and then the specific peppers are added, including serrano, jalapeno, fatalii, habanero, or bhut jolokia that are all sourced from New Jersey-based farms/growers.
Says Ethan, “It’s extremely important to us to encourage people to incorporate the sauces into their cooking, rather than simply use them as a condiment.” Among the six hot sauces sold in The Market, you’ll find ILLIMEINATI that’s made with orange habaneros plus fresh lime juice, cumin and turmeric; the Snake Charmer that contains Spanish onions and smoky Madras curry, giving it an Indian flare; and the Caribbean-flavored Mada and Bird, which is made with fatalii peppers, fresh mango and ginger.
Local Artists and Locally-Inspired Art —
Standing at the reception desk to check in, you’ll find yourself gazing at “Rest,” a vivid, organic piece created by Karen Kimmel that was inspired by the Jersey shore where she spent many a summer as a child.
In the lobby hangs the pastel-hued “Pearl” by artist Basia Goszczcynska who repurposed plastic oyster farming bags and thick salvage ropes that were sourced from the Atlantic waters off of New Jersey.
Walk around the lobby bar and you’ll notice an expansive black and white, nature-based mural by illustrator Ruben Toledo. This piece is a reflection of his strolls in Montclair’s many green spaces.
Wandering through Allegory, you’ll discover a boldly-hued fabric stretching across the wall above a banquette. Along with his late wife, Isabel, Ruben’s piece shows off their take on Montclair’s lush surroundings.
It’s worth taking the elevator to each of the guest room landings just to see the series created by Siona Benjamin-Kruge, a Montclair-based artist who took inspiration from her wanderings through Anderson and Edgemont parks, two green spaces she lives near. Titled “Montclair Shangri-La,” each painting displays the same fantastical scene, but with a distinctly different color palette, reflecting the seasons as well as other variations in weather and the time of day.