Historic tavern becomes home of New American fare in Martinsville

Though celebrated chef Zod Arifai closed his beloved Blu in Montclair and its casual sister restaurant, Next Door, in 2015, he’s back in business in Central Jersey, with the Martinsville section of Bridgewater now the site of his latest culinary venture, The Duke and Elephant Food + Spirits. 

Launched on the site of the former Martinsville Taverna on Washington Valley Road, the recently opened eatery brings Arifai’s unique style of contemporary American fare to the historic tavern, offering the community an experience rich in hearty comfort food, creative cocktails, and camaraderie.

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A culinary evolution

The 52-year-old Montclair resident has had a creative way with cuisine that began earning rave reviews early in his cooking career; Arifai attributes his talent to his upbringing in Kosovo and his family’s close ties with food. 

“Before we came to the U.S. in 1974, our whole day revolved around cooking — my mother and grandmother made our bread and butter from scratch and we had our own milk and eggs and prepared everything fresh,” he said. 

“We only ate in season and I was blessed with the knowledge of how food needs to be treated," he added. "This very pure and biodynamic approach was implanted in my DNA and has always been reflected in my style of cooking.”

A former guitarist and vocalist with the rock band ‘Bang’ in the 1980s, Arifai decided to leave his rock 'n' roll roots behind him in his mid-20s to focus on a career in cooking.  

“I opened my first restaurant, Juniper, in Lyndhurst in 1995, and we got an excellent review from The New York Times within six weeks of opening, which was rare and exciting,” said Arifai, who would go on to work with such world-class chefs as Charlie Trotter, David Bouley, and Roger Vergé. 

“From that point on,” he said, “cooking became my lifestyle and religion.”

Juniper remained open for nearly two years and was followed by other of Arifai’s restaurant ventures, including Ten Square in Morristown in 1998 and Crisci in Brooklyn in 1999. These were met with critical acclaim but eventually closed because of financial issues, Arifai said.

Then, his 2005 launch of Blu in Montclair introduced “creative, avant-garde food and small plates that were affordable and accessible to everyone,” he said. 

“The media fell in love with Blu immediately and, while the small plate approach was very new to the New York and New Jersey area back then, once it caught on everybody wanted to come,” he said of his popular and unconventional restaurant, which expanded to a second, more relaxed eatery adjacent to Blu called Next Door.

After closing the pair of restaurants two years ago, Arifai’s plan was to open a new restaurant on East 13th Street in New York City’s Greenwich Village. He said he was just days away from launching when he and his then-partners opted to pull the plug amid continued issues with the space. 

“I understand the restaurant business better than most people — you need investors in order to succeed, which can be a struggle, but for me, it’s not always about the money,” he said. “I need to do something I feel good about.”

That opportunity came about this year when Arifai teamed up with partner and veteran restaurateur Benny Mavraj, current owner of Café Azzuro in Peapack-Gladstone and the Martinsville Taverna in Martinsville, to open The Duke and Elephant. Arifai describes the venture as "a contemporary tavern" whose name was inspired by a real-life resident of Martinsville in the 1700s who owned a stagecoach business and was considered so hospitable by the townspeople that he affectionately became known as “The Duke.”

“A neighborhood place”

“The building goes back to the late 1800s, when it was originally a general store,” Arifai said of the structure’s deep historic ties, which he aims to honor. “It was one of the first buildings in Martinsville to offer something in the hospitality field and has since operated as several different restaurants, so it’s always been in that business.” 

Remodeled by Mavraj earlier this year with inviting rustic wood accents and vintage lighting, “it has a decidedly tavern feel inside and we wanted to create a menu that would offer something for everyone along with a casual ambiance that would make people feel comfortable coming here more than once a week.”

Among the hearty selections on the menu are a variety of fresh salads, pasta dishes, steaks, chicken, pan pizza, and even a ramen noodle bowl with chicken, peanuts, cilantro, and bean sprouts. Known for his signature burger topped with white sharp cheddar, caramelized onions, and rosemary aioli, Arifai included that item on the menu along with everything from brined and fried spicy chicken wings to chicken paillard, salmon with butternut squash purée, pistachios, cranberries, and endive, and such other compelling entrées as tender short ribs, roasted chicken, cod in a miso broth, and New York strip steak. 

“We also have a great ‘snack’ section on the menu featuring options like a spring roll burger, sea urchin and japaleño peppers, octopus, meatballs that are uniquely prepared and served, and a ‘sushi bowl,’ which features all of the elements of sushi — salmon, soy, wasabi, cucumber, scallion, and seaweed — presented in a bowl,” he said. 

“We’re also offering a daily ‘Family Feast,’ which includes seven dishes served family-style for $36 per person and on Sundays-only a prime rib dinner, which is hard to find in restaurants these days,” he added.

Seating roughly 100 people between the restaurant’s two dining rooms and its bar area, which offers an extensive wine list and trendy cocktail program, “we’re a neighborhood place where you can eat amazing food at insanely reasonable prices,” Arifai said. “Our menu is all about comfort foods — my version — and will be different than any other versions you’ll have anywhere.”

“Though I have a reputation for being a creative, fine-dining chef, The Duke and Elephant is more like Next Door in the sense that it’s a casual restaurant and bar,” he added. “We want people to have fun and enjoy themselves and there’s no right or wrong way. It’s like coming to someone’s house.”

Representing the latest in a series of memorable culinary experiences that he’s created in his more than 20 years in the industry, Arifai said that he never tires of the process of bringing his latest vision to the local dining community.

“I love the challenge of opening up a new restaurant — it’s a lot of hard work and I get a kick out of that,” he said with a smile. “I must be a glutton for punishment!”

Take a taste:

The Duke and Elephant Food + Spirits is at 1979 Washington Valley Road in Martinsville and can be reached at 732-563-1717 or by visiting thedukeandelephant.com.