Imagine having a restaurant named for you and being forbidden to enter the kitchen. That is the situation at Peter's Grill and Restaurant in Cliffside Park. The owner and chef is George Bibawi. He named it for his son, Peter, who is 9 years old. "But I don't want him anywhere near that kitchen," George declared one recent day. "This is a hard business."
Indeed, it is hard to make money running a restaurant in the greater New York area, what with a fickle public and thousands of emporiums vying for diners; daily, it seems, some places die off and new ones spring up. In this case, the struggle is regrettable. For the food at Peter's Grill is wonderful, the portions are huge, and the service is remarkably attentive.
We didn't have to compete for attention on the Sunday afternoon we went there just before Christmas. A friend and I were the only customers. After coming into the foyer, we entered the dining room through a curtained passageway and took seats at one of 11 tables in a cozy space decorated mostly in mauves and burgundies.
George, the owner and chef, was also the host and the waiter. But a more generous owner-chef-waiter I have never met. We started by splitting a mesclun salad ($4.95) that was perfect: fresh greens enlivened with feta cheese and the house dressing, a balsamic vinaigrette, sweet yet tangy too. And the portions were more than ample.
As George delivered us a loaf of warm bread that was soft on the inside and crunchy outside, we told him how much we liked the salad, and he offered us more. We declined, however, and that was a good decision in light of what ensued.
My grilled prime rib ($19.95) was big enough for a National Football League training table. Juicy, too. With it came some wonderfully fresh new potatoes, roasted, and a very garlicky serving of broccoli cooked just exactly enough.
My friend had ordered grilled tuna steak (16.99) with rice and broccoli. I snared a bite of the tuna and was almost startled at the taste. What was it? Cinnamon? Allspice? This was no Japanese variety of tuna steak. Indeed, it wasn't, George told us. The tantalizing flavoring was Jamaican jerk spices, of all things. Whatever it was, it worked, and well.
Meanwhile, the owner-chef-waiter had offered us some wine - free! - and had gone in search of it. We declined that, too, however. But even though both of us had to get doggy bags for our leftover entrees, we wanted to see what this maestro had to offer for dessert.
As it turned out, that was the least entrancing part of the meal. We shared a linzer torte with hazelnut crust ($4) that sounded good, but turned out to be fairly ordinary. It would have been much better if warmed.
George, a former chef at the Russian Tea Room, has been in business five years as Peter's Grill and Restaurant. It is open every day except Monday, for dinner only. Though it is neither to the left or right of Carnegie Hall and though it took me years to discover it, its demise would be a shame.
Young Peter may grow up to ba a brain surgeon or a dot-com millionaire without ever setting foot in the kitchen, but there is no doubt he will have been well fed.
Peteršs Grill and Restaurant
613 Anderson Avenue
Cliffside Park
201 941-6623, 201 941-6668
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