McLoone’s now on both sides of Ocean Avenue

PHOTOS BY MIGUEL JUAREZ The Pier House provides a view of the Atlantic Ocean to go along with its menu. LONG BRANCH –– Tim McLoone’s new oceanfront restaurant, McLoone’s Pier House, at Pier Village in Long Branch, is akin to the synthesis of his passions in life — running and making music.

“The good thing is they’re all connected,” said McLoone, who has been a runner and a musician for most of his life.

Since the spring, he has mostly been sprinting along Ocean Avenue, between McLoone’s Riverside Dining, his Sea Bright restaurant, and the new Pier House at One Ocean Avenue, which opened officially last weekend.

“Initially, I was running between restaurants because we had no full [certificate of occupancy] for our kitchen yet and there was a wedding booked on April 22. I brought the food down in my truck. There’s no way I would have ever let that wedding not happen.”

Then there’s his music. A singer and musician, McLoone fronts Tim McLoone and the Shirleys and founded Holiday Express, a nonprofit offshoot that brings music and merriment to disadvantaged people.

“I always felt that as a musician, there’s an athleticism to being a singer. Holiday Express has a musical component and a service component. It’s not unlike being in the restaurant business,” he explained recently.

“Three years ago I was told this was going to happen and was asked [if I was] interested.” — Tim McLoone Open seven days for lunch, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., and dinner, 5-10 p.m., and for Sunday brunch, 10:30 a.m. -2 p.m., Pier House has a stunning beachfront location with ocean views on two levels.

“Because of our location, we have the opportunity to be the best restaurant in the state of New Jersey,” McLoone observed, “because we’re starting with something no one else has.

“My decision here was that we’ve got 150 linear feet on the beach, and I wasn’t going to sacrifice 1 inch of that for infrastructure,” said McLoone. “Our basic premise was keep 100 percent of the water view intact.”

The restaurant’s seaside location did present some design challenges for Jeff Cahill of Cahill Studio in Eatontown, who designed the restaurant interior.

“From a functional point, it was a real challenge. We wanted to make sure everyone had an unobstructed view, which I think we really achieved. At the same time, we worked at keeping it original, yet retaining historic elements. We wanted to also create an environment that wasn’t boring, to inject some modern elements into it.”

Cahill’s approach was to recreate the ambiance of a beach house.

“The materials we used were those you would pick for a shore house. The flooring looks like grass cloth you would see in a beach house; the rattan furniture is typical of a shore house. It’s been referred to as a modern shore house,” he said.

“The sand and blue color scheme is derived from the oceanfront,” he added. “The blues of the water and the color of the sand were the catalysts for the whole color combination. We didn’t want there to be a difference from inside to out; it is seamless looking across the beach.”

Will the beach house ambiance play in the winter months?

“My belief is that it could be the dead of winter and I want to get away from it. I think it will be a nice break, come December. The Atlantic Ocean and the sand don’t change. It will be a great destination point in the winter or even on a rainy day.”

The 16,000-square-foot Pier House seats 250 in the restaurant on its main level and 300 in the Atlantic Room, the restaurant’s upstairs banquet room. There are two bars on the main level, the Pier Pub Grill, which serves food, and a martini bar that is still ramping up.

According to McLoone, Pier House doesn’t depend solely on its incomparable location to draw patrons, but offers a varied menu with a range of prices.

“I’d like people who are serious about food to be able to find something they really like, but also people of a more modest budget who want to have a nice night out to also be able to find something to have here,” he explained.

“We tried to make it accessible to everybody,” he added, noting that fare ranges from lobsters and filet mignon to comfort foods like macaroni and cheese.

“I really believe you have to give people the opportunity to have a choice on your menu, that goes for dollars as well as style of food,” he said.

The Pier House shares its general manager, Tim McMahon, with McLoone’s Riverside Dining, and its emphasis on seafood as well.

Sample offerings include “starters” such as coconut shrimp at $12 and a chilled seafood sampler of shrimp, oysters and clams at $28. Soups and salad offerings include Riverside’s wildly popular lobster bisque ($10), and a category called Comfort Foods recalls home cooking basics like chicken pot pie ($6). Updates on classic pasta dishes like linguine rappa range from $17-$29. Entrees range from the Pier House burger ($12) to twin Lobster cakes ($32).

As for the dessert menu, most sweets are made on premises by McLoone’s pastry chef (and sister-in-law) Margaret Gilbertson whose forte is a killer margarita cheesecake.

It’s a good idea to call for reservations.

“The response so far, has been pretty overwhelming,” McLoone said.

Most locals know McLoone as a musician and runner but his segue to restaurateur involved a bit of serendipity.

After moving to the area from North Jersey in the 1970s, he began playing gigs at local restaurants, but by then had tired of the itinerant life of a musician. While playing at the Rum Runner in Sea Bright (now Riverside Dining), he casually mentioned to the owner that he would be interested in buying the eatery should he decide to sell.

“Six years later, the owner gave McLoone first crack at buying the Rum Runner.

“It was September and he gave me until New Year’s Eve to come up with $1 million,” said McLoone, who enlisted a group of partners and bought the restaurant in 1987.

But the transition wasn’t easy, he admitted candidly.

“It was difficult; I thought I made the biggest mistake of my life. It’s only over the last five years or so, that I’ve gotten comfortable with running a restaurant and all that it demands,” he said candidly.

McLoone said he was recruited by the city of Long Branch to be part of the redevelopment of the oceanfront.

“Three years ago I was told this was going to happen and was asked [if I was] interested,” said McLoone, who launched the venture along with a group of nine partners that includes the investors in Riverside Dining.

“I was their first signee for a 20-year lease. I thought it was a tremendous business opportunity,” he said, adding that the group’s total investment in Pier House is about $6 million. McLoone is the majority stockholder, owning more than half of Pier House.

According to McLoone, developer Applied Cos. built the shell of the structure, which initially did not call for a second floor.

“They envisioned a one-story. building, but I couldn’t figure out on paper how we could make money as a one-story. It would be close; the rental is high. I suggested we build a second floor as a banquet hall. We struck a deal where my group paid for the second floor. It was a win-win situation. We built the second floor so it enhances the value of their building but they don’t charge us rent for second floor. They get more value in the building and we’re more sure to make it now which is good for them too.”

While they’re only miles apart along a stretch of Ocean Avenue, McLoone said his two restaurants aren’t in competition.

“So far the two have been very complementary. If someone comes there looking for a banquet on a Saturday night and we’re sold out, we tell them we have this new place in Long Branch.

“One reason is the Pier House has a very different feeling than Sea Bright, which is much more formal.

With a full schedule of gigs and races, why take on another restaurant?

“The challenge and to be part of it,” he said. “I got romantically involved because I love Long Branch. I used to run up and down this boardwalk and it made me sad to watch it fall into the ocean. And to be first here was important.”