Modine's smoked fried chicken is crave-worthy. (Michael Persico)
By Jessica Remo | NJ Advance Media
Can fried chicken seduce?
The folks at Modine, easily the most-anticipated new restaurant at the Jersey Shore this year, are betting the farm on their delectable signature dish — and hoping to become a staple in the foodie haven that is Asbury Park.
Steve and Shanti Mignogna first came to town to open their hit pizzeria Talula’s (it's across the street) in 2014. Now, their chef buddies from Brooklyn, husband-and-wife team Jill Meerpohl and Chris Davin, have migrated south as well. Andrew Rasizer serves as GM, rounding out the five-person partnership.
After insurance costs killed a plan for a smokehouse with an open-flame grill, the team pivoted to “low-country” fare and a Charleston theme, inspired by Meerpohl and Davis’s honeymoon to the South Carolina and Georgia coasts.
The name honors Meerpohl’s grandmother Helen Modine Meerpohl, who her granddaughter says is a master of Southern coastal cooking and taught her the ropes.
But the ridiculously delicious fried chicken recipe? That's an original.
Green leather semi-circle booths line the windows in the dining room area. (Michael Persico)
The vibe
“When we saw the space, we said, ‘We’ve got to do this,’” says Meerpohl of the high-ceilinged first floor in the historic Post building, which has been home to President Woodrow Wilson’s summer campaign headquarters, a bank, the Asbury Park Press and, most recently, seafood restaurant Fish.
Meerpohl says the very first thing she did was rip down, with her own hands, every window treatment — there are dramatic, tall windows lining the space — letting the light pour in.
"I can't understand why anyone would ever cover them up," she says, perplexed.
The bar is a beauty, decked out in deep green and lots of brass. (Michael Persico)
The space is like three restaurants in one: There’s the sunny “mezzanine” area in the front with great windows for people-watching (the location is smack-dab in the middle of Asbury's bustling downtown). The main dining area is flanked with high-backed semi-circle booths, which seem dangerously nap-inducing. Then there’s the lively bar area, separated by a long wooden bench dotted with marble-topped tables.
The vibe here is cozy and neighborhood-y, instead of see-and-be-seen. There's an Art Deco motif, sea-foam and deep mermaid greens, and brass lighting and accents. It’s all perfect for retro-obsessed Asbury Park.
Having recently visited Charleston, I can say with confidence, that yes, Modine would fit in, but does it evoke that sense of place enough that you truly feel it, here at the Jersey shore? Restraint is good, but it all could be turned up just a notch. I'm definitely transported somewhere, but I'm not sure I've made it all the way south.
Honey is drizzled over the top of the top of Modine's fried chicken. (Michael Persico)
Chicken & biscuits
For heaven’s sake, order the chicken. I’m still dreaming about the damn chicken. It’s Modine’s specialty — first smoked and then fried — and gets play on every menu: Get it at the bar as a biscuit sandwich ($12); order a half chicken to share (or not) for $22, or go big and order the whole dang bird with champagne for $40 at happy hour. It’s smoky, it’s crunchy, it’s crave-worthy, and anyone else in the Jersey fried chicken game has just been put on notice.
“The chicken recipe took six months and 15 pounds on my body to develop, which was time well spent I suppose,” says Meerpohl with a laugh. Bless your heart, Jill.
The pasture-raised, all-natural chickens from Fossil Farms in Boonton are butchered, brined in a buttermilk-pickle juice mix, cold smoked at 150 degrees, brined again, then floured with a "shake method." Some of the brine is mixed with the flour and shaken in a bag, all to make those big crunchy pieces when fried, Meerpohl explains.
Also in the mix are cauliflower, bread-and-butter pickle bits and red onions, which you’ll get as little tempora’d treats atop the bird. And, oh yeah, a drizzle of honey to finish the whole thing off, plus a lovely hot-honey sauce served on the side.
I'm still dreaming about these heavenly biscuits. (Michael Persico)
You get two sides with the half chicken. We chose the cornbread, which had nice flavor, and the mac-and-cheese, which was a bit heavy and, dare I say, over-cheesed.
No matter, because just as perfect as the fried chicken are the biscuits that come with. Made with White Lily flour and coated in butter, there’s a thick, audible crunch on the outside, pillowy goodness on the inside.
That crust is for a purpose — so the biscuit can stand up to fillings. Amen to that. We’ve all had a biscuit disintegrate around its contents like a wet napkin, right? Mess. Gimme the hefty biscuit. Sea salt on top. Yum-o.
Local diver scallop hush puppies with "comeback sauce" -- a Southern staple usually made with mayo and chili sauce, though Modine's chefs are keeping their version of the recipe a secret. (Michael Persico)
What else to order
We liked the local diver scallop hush puppies, with scallops from Local 130 Seafood, just down the road. The ham and cheese biscuits were tasty, but a bit rich – they’re made with Col. Bill Newsom’s aged Kentucky country ham, Cabot cheddar and sweet and spicy pepper jelly.
If I were to do it all again, I’d chose a lighter, fresher appetizer (a salad, perhaps) to precede the inevitable fried chicken feast to come.
For another entrée option, try the Koji-rubbed petite tenderloin with bone-marrow tossed golden beets and fingerling potatoes ($28). Koji is an Asian fungus, and here it’s pulverized to a powder and then rubbed on the meat — a trick that dry ages in days as opposed to months, according to Rasizer.
Somehow it’s eerily reminiscent of buttered popcorn, but it works — salty, buttery and beefy is a flavor profile I can get behind. I’m not a big fan of beets but I could have eaten a bowl of these bone-marrow rubbed golden variety; the milder version of the red cousin tastes less like, well, beets.
Beef tenderloin and eggs, with shoestring fries, too, on the brunch menu.
Other dishes I’d try next time: the shrimp and grits, the house-made Andouille sausage, the smoked trout deviled eggs, the Barnegat Bay oysters served with shallot mignonette and hot sauce. The boiled peanut hummus also enticed. Southerners will boil anything, won’t they?
Oh, and brunch! I’d come for brunch, where there is the same beef tenderloin alongside eggs, the chicken biscuit sandwich smothered in sausage gravy, cheese grits (add bacon or shrimp, if you like), and beignets with a chocolate chicory sauce. Then, a nap.
The vegan fried chicken didn't fool me. (Michael Persico)
Misses
If I were a vegan, I might find something to enjoy about the vegan fried chicken, but I’m not and I didn’t. Meerpohl’s mix is so good that when it’s coating seitan it almost works, but if you’ve ever eaten chicken, you won’t be fooled by this.
Another miss for us was, sadly, was dessert. We tried the coconut layer cake and the Big Easy chocolate chicory cake, and both looked gorgeous but were disappointingly dry. But there are signs of new dessert life on Modine’s Instagram account – pies and tartelettes and monkey bread.
The black-bottom banana cream pie is one that folks come back for, Meerpohl says.
The "sweet but not too sweet" Jillbilly is named in honor of Meerpohl. (Instagram)
The drinks
The South is right here on the drink menu full of bourbons, ryes and whiskeys, oh my. The classic Sazerac is a favorite ($12). My dining partner, a shore local and NJ Advance Media’s own Bobby Olivier, loved his cocktail, the Minor Threat (Dickle rye, old-fashion syrup and orange bitters - $12), so much that it was gone in seconds.
Not to be outdone, I did work on my Planter’s punch ($12) — Appleton Estate reserve rum, Broadbent Madeira, simple syrup, lime, Angostura bitters — before surrendering; it was just too sweet and too much for my taste, even though I liked the homey touch of powdered sugar on the rim.
I switched to the Jillbilly ($12), which was a revelation: Concocted in Meerpohl’s honor, the mix of Espolon Reposado tequila, aperol, lime and agave with a mezcal “rinse” tasted like summer in a glass, but with a hint of smoke from the mezcal.
Cocktails, anyone? (Michael Persico)
“I'm from Florida, so I love margaritas. Our bartender James played with something that would speak to my personality. Sweet but not too sweet, with a slight bitterness,” Meerpohl says with a laugh.
There are also canned craft beers — some local (Asbury Park Brewing is well represented) and some farther-flung (like the Jai Alai IPA from Tampa). The team found the taps in the space unusable and wisely decided not to try to compete with the ale house next door and biergarten around the corner.
There’s also a variety of after-dinner drinks (dessert wine, cordials, amari and vermouth) if you please — plus, a nice coffee and tea selection, if you don’t.
A spread of some of the most popular menu items. (Michael Persico)
The service
So perfect I have almost nothing to say. Jamison was polite, unpretentious, had great suggestions and was one of those servers who makes you feel almost too comfortable, like if you said, “Hey dude, want to hang later?” he’d be up for it. We became friends in my mind.
The deviled eggs made with smoked trout and pickled mustard seed. (Michael Persico)
Hours, location and other tips
Modine is located at 601 Mattison Avenue, at the busy intersection with Cookman Avenue.
The restaurant opens at 4 p.m during the week but is closed on Wednesdays. Brunch is served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m on Saturdays and Sundays, followed by dinner service.
A takeout counter with biscuit sandwich options is coming soon, perfect for a beach picnic. A vault from the space's banking days will be used for private dining eventually.
Oysters on the half shell with shallot mignonette and Crystal hot sauce. (Michael Persico)
The happy hour specials are a smart way to turn Modine from a splurge into a regular stop. Happy hour is all day Monday and Tuesday, and then from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays. Get the chicken biscuit sandwich for $12, the half fried chicken for $10 (regularly $22) or the whole fried chicken and a bottle of champagne for $40 (regularly $36 for just the chicken).
Feeling generous? There’s a $10 “buy beers for the kitchen” option.
A yellow neon-lit sign was recently installed. (Bobby Olivier | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Ready for the summer rush?
“We’re definitely ready for the warmer weather,” says Meerpohl. “We’re starting to get glimmers of it. During brunch, we’ve turned the restaurant multiple times. Our kitchen is hungry for it. Our staff is hungry for it, too.”
The highs here are high enough to make you forgive the missteps, and I have total faith Modine will be packed come May. It’s the off-season and even with no real signage until recently (before, a waist-high flag that read “Modine” waved woefully out front), but they’ve been pulling a crowd on the weekends — and frying up about 300 chickens a week.
Modine wasn’t perfect, but it still seduced me: the chicken, that tequila drink, the calming greens and brass, all while a cover of Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” played over the dining room. Life was good here at the shore, or in Jersey-Charleston, whatever.
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Jessica Remo may be reached at jremo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaRemoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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