{"id":144010,"date":"2026-02-24T18:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T18:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/144010\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T18:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T18:48:09","slug":"michelin-starred-chef-sean-gray-brings-manhattan-edge-to-njs-sergeantsville-inn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/144010\/","title":{"rendered":"Michelin-Starred Chef Sean Gray Brings Manhattan Edge to NJ\u2019s Sergeantsville Inn"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you take an award-winning chef out of Manhattan and plunk him down in rural New Jersey, will the inventiveness used to survive in the city dwindle as the pressure to perform downshifts? If the chef in question is Sean Gray, the answer, blessedly, is no.<\/p>\n

Gray, who took the reins at the Sergeantsville Inn<\/a> in 2024, made his name at the now-closed Momofuku Ko in New York\u2019s East Village, where he won a couple of Michelin stars. The versatility he showed there is fast turning the inn into an if-you-know-you-know kind of place.<\/p>\n

If you know, for instance, that his spicy, quadruple-fried chicken helped secure those Michelins, you might not be surprised to see squads of regulars filing in at 4 pm, when he offers the exact same bronzed, exceptionally crusty drumsticks for $5 apiece.<\/p>\n

And if you know they\u2019re but one of several tantalizing snacks comprising the inn\u2019s ridiculously cheap \u201cblue plate special\u201d menu, a concept Gray now offers during a two-hour daily window, you\u2019ll have come prepared to delight in an atmosphere that intentionally blurs the line between simple and sophisticated.<\/p>\n

The Sergeantsville Inn is achieving a tricky balancing act in the kitchen with Gray, who grew up a few miles away in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Since setting up shop in New Jersey, the chef says, he\u2019s figured out his culinary M.O. \u201cThe restaurant can sort of wear whatever hat you want it to,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you don\u2019t want to come in for a massive dinner, but you want to pop in for a beer and a plate of nachos and see your neighbors, great.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re angling for a demonstration of his culinary chops, that\u2019s okay, too.<\/p>\n

\"Exterior\"Exterior<\/p>\n

The Sergeanstville Inn in Delaware Township is housed within a cozy 1734 stone farmhouse. Photo: Ted Nghiem<\/p>\n

The setting, a cozy 1734 stone farmhouse split into three dining areas, makes ample room for both experiences. In the tavern, a slip of a bar with fewer than a dozen seats is surrounded by rustic tables arranged close enough to encourage conversations with strangers. If Gray\u2019s New York City restaurant past is evident, it\u2019s here. Though the room is not closet sized, like the dining rooms Manhattanites often squeeze themselves into, you\u2019ll know if someone went heavy on the cologne.<\/p>\n

Formality is more readily accessible in the intimate dining room and upstairs loft. Both are quieter and not so much laid back as romantic. Formality of a sort is available on the compact dinner menu, too, where innovative seasonal dishes like pumpkin ravioli with kabocha squash and Parmesan share space with nostalgic American classics like a dry-aged New York strip steak. All of it, unlike the humble blue plates, is luxurious. Almost all of it, judging by my two visits, is delicious.<\/p>\n

\"Halibut\"Halibut<\/p>\n

The halibut is served with cauliflower and capers on vintage china. Photo: Ted Nghiem<\/p>\n

Entr\u00e9es include a dollar bill-sized wedge of halibut that may qualify for the most perfectly cooked piece of fish I\u2019ve ever had, and a couple of rotating large format dishes meant for two. In the fall, they included a well-fired roast duck, whose depth was rounded out with squash and tender-sweet caraflex cabbage, and a 32-ounce c\u00f4te de boeuf with sweet potato and mushrooms.<\/p>\n

On the not-so-delicious side was a starter of beets with ricotta and cherries, whose prettiness atop a delicate china salad plate didn\u2019t make up for its failure to transcend meh-ness. The bread \u201cwith nice butter\u201d on the other hand\u2014a locally made sourdough paired with French butter\u2014is a crusty, hearty revelation.<\/p>\n

Desserts are as intensely American as the blue plates, and maybe just as capable of leaving you marveling at the glory of simple pleasures. The chocolate torte with silky local chocolate ice cream travels a grown-up lane, avoiding cloying sweetness and sending endorphins to your brain. And a humble, dense slab of almond cake with citrus, apricot and sweet vermouth can\u2019t decide whether to be homey or sophisticated. So, like the restaurant itself, it satisfies both cravings.<\/p>\n

\"Cocktails\"Cocktails<\/p>\n

The cosmopolitans and martinis are served in gorgeous vintage glasses.\u00a0Photo: Ted Nghiem<\/p>\n

Expect the same at the bar, where an intuitive barkeep will patiently steer you through beers, wines by the glass or bottle and popular cocktails like the Desk Job, a rum drink Gray says a regular turned him onto. \u201cSomeone threw it together half-jokingly in the fall, and we thought, This is awesome,\u201d he says. He\u2019s keeping the recipe around for the same reason he keeps anything he considers worth keeping: \u201cIt\u2019s simple and approachable and really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

HOW WE REVIEW: Restaurants are chosen for review at the sole discretion of New Jersey Monthly. For our starred fine-dining reviews, our critics visit a restaurant at least twice with a guest, always maintaining anonymity to avoid preferential treatment, and the magazine pays for their meals. Stars are assigned by the dining-section editor in consultation with the reviewer.<\/p>\n

Four stars = extraordinary; three stars = excellent; two stars = very good; one star = good; half a star = fair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you take an award-winning chef out of Manhattan and plunk him down in rural New Jersey, will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-144010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-manhattan","9":"tag-manhattan-headlines","10":"tag-manhattan-news","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}