NJ Monthly - June 2019

Avenue

LONG BRANCH

in opening avenue on the boardwalk in Long Branch in

2006, general manager Thierry
Carrier, a French native, recalls,
“Before we thought about
anything else, we wanted a
separate raw bar with seats
where you could watch the guys
shucking and could look out at
the ocean.” Over the years, and
especially in summer, Carrier
says, about 40 percent of tables
in the tall-windowed restaurant
order something from the raw
bar. There is much to choose
from: Jersey clams and oysters,
plus oysters from Maine and the
West Coast. Happy hour prices
and selections are generous. “In
France,” says Carrier, “from the
south to Bordeaux to Paris, you
see raw bar plateaus in all the
brasseries.” These are the tow-
ers that are the ne plus ultra of
slurping. At Avenue, the petite
plateau is $55, the grand is $85
and the royale, which serves
six to eight people, is $135. It
includes 12 oysters, 12 clams, 24

Prince Edward Island mussels, 8 jumbo shrimp, a whole chilled 1.5-pound lobster, four snow crab claws, an octopus salad, a conch salad and raw razor clams.

Avenue also sells a lot of caviar, including Russian osetra at $135 an ounce. “It’s hard to come by,” Carrier says. “Somehow, people know we do. I’m always amazed, but it’s great.”—Eric Levin