BY JENNIFER DOME
Staff Writer
BRICK — Melvin Kling remembers the special cupboard that his grandmother kept goodies in for when guests came to visit.
“That’s where the best food was,” Kling said.
So, when coming up with a name for the restaurant he plans to open on Cedar Bridge Avenue, the “Hidden Cubbard Restaurant” seemed like the right choice.
Kling, president of L’il Anna Inc., was given approval by the Planning Board at their Nov. 10 meeting to go forth with what Kling says is his a lifelong dream.
The restaurant will serve as a prototype — Kling hopes to build other restaurants in the state, and elsewhere, that will become franchises. He said he decided to start in Brick because it’s where he lives. Soon, the company’s headquarters will be based here too.
“It’s going to be the actual home of the Hidden Cubbard,” Kling said.
Kling lived in Staten Island, N.Y., with his wife Jodi, now his business partner too, and his four children. He said someone always had a problem with where they went to eat, so he and Jodi decided to create a restaurant with home-style cooking.
“It’ll be something a little different,” Kling said.
The 6,797-square-foot restaurant, which will replace a vacant attorney’s office on Cedar Bridge Avenue, will have 196 seats and employ about 22 people, according to plans given to the township Planning Board office by Kling’s engineers with Lindstrom, Diessner and Woodcock, Brick. The restaurant, which sits on a 1.5-acre tract, is located in a B-2 general business zone with commercial and residential uses adjacent to the property.
Sixty parking spaces were provided at the site, including three handicap spots. Several variances for parking stall size, the parking lot aisle and the buffer zone, among others, were requested as part of the approval.
After talking with consultants, Kling said it was decided that the spelling of “cubbard” was more appropriate because it’s how you actually pronounce “cupboard.” Plus, “cubbard” has fewer letters, he said.
The inside of the restaurant will have a “garden atmosphere,” with silk flowers and trees adding to the décor. Over some booths in the restaurant, kitchen cabinets with glass doors will hang and soup cans and other goods will be stored inside.
“It’s supposed to make you feel like you’re eating in your grandmother’s kitchen,” Kling said.
The bar will appear to be large kitchen cabinets with glass panels lit up from behind. Kling said his attorney, Nicholas C. Montenegro, is in the process of applying for a liquor license.
A student of the French Culinary Institute, Kling said he will make his own sauces for the restaurant, which will also serve fresh bread and soup. Since the idea was to please every member of a family, the owner said he will serve everything from sandwiches to gourmet pasta and salad to steak.
If all goes as planned, Kling expects to break ground in January and open the restaurant by the end of June.