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by Frank Quattrone
Sometimes a fire can be disastrous. But in the case of Earl’s New American, one of the fine restaurants at Peddler’s Village, it was a time of reawakening. Although the small kitchen fire in January 2015 caused mostly smoke damage, it gave management an opportunity to rethink its whole approach to the dining experience.
Prior to the fire, according to Executive Chef Bill Murphy, Earl’s Prime was essentially an event-style restaurant, where guests could enjoy fine dining for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special times. “Now it’s more relaxed,” he said. “It’s more contemporary, more casual, more inviting. And our guests love our new décor, which has a kind of rustic charm that really befits Bucks County.”
Timbered, hardwood floors have replaced the lush carpeting. The tables are fashioned from reclaimed wood. There are copper ceiling tiles, beaded chandeliers, an entrance ramp for the disabled, a new patio, and a pleasantly disconcerting new LED fireplace with a “upside-down” appearance that has to be seen (and heard) to be believed. General Manager Louis Torres applauds the restaurant’s fresh new face, created by Bethany by Design, and said that Earl’s is now “the most ADA-compliant restaurant in Bucks County.”
But, as might be expected, guests are drawn to a restaurant more for its food than its décor, and here too Earl’s New American excels. That’s because the chef has fully embraced the new approach, transforming Earl’s menu from fine American steakhouse fare to farm-to-table contemporary cuisine. When he began his tenure at the restaurant three years ago, he decided that Earl’s would not be a place “for ‘foofoo’ food. We wouldn’t have forty ingredients that sound and look good on the menu, but three or four simple ingredients on the plate, all locally sourced, that would taste really great. And that’s exactly what we’re doing now. I’m not here to feed my ego but to feed my guests.”
And for a chef with Bill Murphy’s impressive resume, that speaks volumes. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, the chef apprenticed at DiLullo Centro before gaining valuable experience at the Four Seasons in Chicago, and then at Philly’s renowned Lacroix at the Rittenhouse Hotel, working side by side with gracious, world-renowned Chef Jean-Marie Lacroix. Murphy has also served as executive sous chef or executive chef at Jake’s in Manayunk, and at Philadelphia’s Buddakan, Blue Angel and Continental Restaurant & Martini Bar.
At Earl’s, guests can enjoy something rare these days—pastas made in house. That’s because the chef has brought in an extruder pasta machine from Italy. On the menu are entrées such as vegetarian House Made Fusilli, accompanied with Haycock Township wild mushrooms and spring asparagus in a roasted garlic tomato sauce, and Rigatoni Pasta and Sweet Italian Sausage, served with broccoli rabe and roasted garlic in an olive oil and white wine sauce, topped by shaved pecorino cheese.
We decided to save these for another visit, instead choosing tasting portions of some of the chef’s favorite menu items. We began our meal with succulent Maine Lobster Dumplings served with shaved carrot slaw and aromatic sweet soy, followed by the most tender octopus we’ve tasted this side of Venice, Italy. The Spanish Octopus was served with lavash and a tangy chickpea salad (kissed by togarashi, a Japanese chili pepper) and drizzled with lemon and olive oil.
The Chopped Salad—an artful arrange ment of romaine hearts, crispy bacon, red onions, seasonal vegetables, highly prized Spanish Marcona almonds, and blue cheese in a sherry mustard vinaigrette—was a meal in itself that we enjoyed again on our next evening home. Accompanying the salad was one of Earl’s signature appetizers, Shrimp and Grits, rarely seen outside the Deep South, a memorable dance of Castle Valley Mill grits and jumbo shrimp in a zesty Creole sauce.
For our entrées, Eve chose a satisfying twelve-ounce grilled New York Strip Steak, served with au gratin potatoes and backyard asparagus in a red wine sauce, while I enjoyed the popular Divers Scallops, pan-seared and served with a local wild mushroom risotto and crispy shiitake mushrooms in a gentle fennel broth. For dessert we shared the exquisite and highly aromatic Hot Dim Sum Donuts, accompanied with raspberry, cream cheese, and chocolate sauces—served with chopsticks! —another original and unforgettable culinary experience from Chef Bill Murphy’s creative kitchen.
General Manager Torres, hired in January to reopen the restaurant, also praises Earl’s new wine list. A first-level sommelier and former wine director at King of Prussia’s Capital Grill, Torres says that the wine list “is as approachable as the food and works well with the fish and other dishes.”
Also a magnet for private parties behind its attractive barn doors, Earl’s New American proudly displays its new face to a new generation of attentive casual diners who expect great food in a more relaxed environment.
Earl’s New American is located at 2400 Street Road in Peddler’s Village, Lahaska, PA 18938; 215-794-4020; www.earlsnewamerican.com. Open for lunch Friday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–3 p.m., and for dinner Tuesday–Thursday, 4–8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4–10 p.m., and Sunday, 4–8 p.m. Available for private parties; wine dinners.