By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
The Iron Whale seafood restaurant in the Fifth Avenue pavilion on the Asbury Park boardwalk is preparing its menu and choosing decor for its April opening.
Restaurateur Tim McLoone said this will be his company’s 11th restaurant.
He also owns Tim McLoone’s Supper Club and The Robinson Ale House both located in the same pavilion.
McLoone was in the process of going over the new menu with Executive Chef Mike Dolan this week and said, although a seafood restaurant, The Iron Whale will also have food for land lovers, vegans and those who eat gluten free.
“That comes from my daughter who is gluten free,” he said.
McLoone said the business is very much a family enterprise.
“It’s family run…we really try to Ma and Pa everything,” he said.
Chef Dolan also served as executive chef at McLoone’s Rum Runner in Sea Bright and The Robinson Ale House in Red Bank.
“We have 100 percent confidence in him. He is a mentor for people in his kitchen, whether they are a sous chef or a dishwasher, he wants them on a path and it shows in his food,” McLoone said.
McLoone said the “bones” of the new building are in place including the heating, air conditioning and water.
After the menu is set the group including Beth McLoone, Tim’s wife, will begin working with interior designer Terry Gierlatowitz on the restaurant’s decor.
It will be contemporary, but not modern, with a natural accents.
“It will have a lot of natural objects, reclaimed wood, rope. It will have a soft look,” McLoone said.
McLoone said one of the things he loves about Asbury Park is that there is no set demographic.
“Everyone is here, there are tens of thousands, that boardwalk is slammin,’” he said.
