by Tammy La Gorce
Deciding what makes a lounge a lounge and not a
bar, a nightclub or a hip restaurant can be like trying to sort out what separates house music from disco: if you haven't checked in a while, chances are you can't.
The proprietors of some New Jersey lounges, which
typically combine food, cocktails, music and an
atmosphere conducive to socializing, have no shortage of explanations, however.
Christopher Flynn, co-owner of 4,000-square-foot
Verdigre in New Brunswick, a restaurant and lounge that opened in 2006, described a lounge as "a place people come to have a drink, share small plates like tapas, and dance"
At Verdigre, edibles such as prosciutto-wrapped
asparagus match the elegance of, say, the not-too-sweet strawberry martini. The cocktails are more glamorous: the raspberry rose mojito, for instance, arrives in a highball glass lined with shredded mint.
The lounges' emphasis on chic, whether on the menu or behind the bar, is meant to counter the idea that Manhattan is the only option for a sophisticated night
on the town.
At Verdigre, the absence of college students seems to
be the point, at least for customers like Nonye Sullivan of Highland Park.
"The age range is like 21 to 30. You don't see the kids who'd normally go to the Shore," said Ms. Sullivan, 24, who sipped red wine with her tapas of
grilled pita bread and Mediterranean spreads at the bar on a recent Thursday night.
"It's a great environment for winding down after
work," said Danny Lozano, 29, of Plainfield, a
Johnson & Johnson employee who was drinking tequila while sampling a mango-flecked ceviche with several co-workers at 9:30pm.
At the other end of the spectrum is Linda Van Liew, 50, of Somerville, who recently stopped with friends
for dinner at the bar at Verdigre.
"I come for the ambience and the nice service, and I really enjoy the food," she said. "But I'm not here to party all night. I'm not one of those. I like to go home by 10," she said.
