Park Avenue Bistro taking shape in town
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer

FREEHOLD - The owners of a new restaurant are hoping the comfortable atmosphere they are planning will be just what the area needs in an eatery.

The Park Avenue Bistro is expected to open in early 2008 in the Route 33 (Park Avenue) building that was most recently the home of Clifton's restaurant. The location is across the street from a Foodtown supermarket.

The new restaurant and banquet facility is owned by Peter Camamis of Monroe Township. It will offer lunch, dinner and banquet facilities. A bar area with plasma televisions is also planned.

The building is being revamped with an open feel and a cozier look, according to operational manager Michael Klein. He said the slogan for the restaurant is expected to be "Come Casual, Eat Well."

The building that will become the Park Avenue Bistro sits on the site of the former Village Inn, a small bar that had a place on Park Avenue for decades.

The Village Inn was eventually purchased by Troy Goodlow and Jim Lynott, who razed the small neighborhood watering hole in 2003 and built a new restaurant that was originally called Denims and later became Clifton's.

The Park Avenue Bistro will offer American cuisine.

Although menus are not currently completed, Klein said the restaurant will offer food prepared by Chef Jimmy Li, and include appetizers, lunches, featuring sandwiches, salads, combos and soups, and dinners, featuring steaks, chops, seafood, chicken and pasta selections.

The facility offers a large ballroom on the second floor, complete with a bar. General Manager Moose Kachwalla said the new business will cater to weddings, bar mitzvahs, communions and other familyoriented events. The restaurant will not have a nightclub atmosphere, according to Kachwalla.

He said there will be seating for at least 185 diners in the restaurant and bar areas, with room for 200 people in the second floor ballroom. Private party rooms where smaller events can be held will also be available.

"This will definitely be a family place, not a nightclub," Kachwalla said, adding that he understands times are hard and with that in mind he is planning modest prices for his menu selections. "We want people to feel comfortable here in this homey atmosphere."

The general manager said he is a "people person."

"When I am here, this is my home away from home," Kachwalla said. "When you come here, you are not customers, you are guests in my home. You are an extension of my family."