Latour the crown jewel of Crystal Springs

HAMBURG — Located in the beautiful mountains of Northwest New Jersey, Crystal Springs Resort (www.crystalgolfresort.com) is New Jersey's premier culinary and leisure destination, a perfect getaway just an hour from New York City. The Resort’s culinary crown jewel is Restaurant Latour, a luxurious four-star restaurant overseen by Chef de Latour Martyna Krowicka and Crystal Springs Resort Director of Food & Beverage, Chef Anthony Bucco.
Born and raised in the Garden State, Chef Bucco has guided the kitchens at such acclaimed New Jersey restaurants as Uproot, Stage Left and The Ryland Inn, where he first worked with Chef Krowicka. She was then a sous chef at New York’s Empellón Taqueria, part of Chef Alex Stupak’s group of restaurants. In 2015, Bucco recruited her to head the kitchen team at Restaurant Latour.
At Restaurant Latour, Bucco and Krowicka marry modern techniques with the freshest seasonal ingredients from local purveyors, foragers and the resort’s own farm to create a truly unique dining experience. Chef de Latour Martyna Krowicka brings a wealth of culinary insight and a respect for ingredients to the menus, which also interplay with wines from the resort’s incomparable Wine Spectator Grand Award-winning 75,000 bottle wine cellar.
Restaurant Latour offers two menu options: a five course “Anthology” prix-fixe with multiple choices in each category ($115) or a seven course Chef’s Tasting menu ($145).
The Anthology menu allows diners to construct their own meal with one selection from each category – vegetable-focused Harvest, Aquatic, meat-centric Grazing, Cheese and Dessert. The tasting menu features a progression of menu items highlighting the best ingredients available in season. Each menu can be paired with selections from the cellar, with 35 wines available by the glass offering the sommeliers the flexibility to create unique pairings for each guest’s menu ($55 pairing for 5 courses, $65 for 7 courses).
Restaurant Latour sources from the country's top foragers known for their ability to uncover rare and hyper-seasonal ingredients, often available only for a few short days or weeks. Crystal Springs has fostered relationships with a diverse group of sources across the region to supply the kitchen and bar with top quality ingredients at the peak of freshness and ripeness. Locally, Sarah Berman and Corey Finck of The Armstrong Farm in Wantage produce edible plants and heirloom vegetables on their organic 6-acre farm in addition to foraging from the property and surroundings.
Restaurant Latour and its unrivaled Wine Cellar have held Wine Spectator’s highest accolade, the Grand Award, since 2006. The wine list has also been awarded three stars (the highest rating) from The World of Fine Wine’s “World’s Best Wine Lists” since 2014 and 2015, was named one of “America’s 100 Best Wine Restaurants” by Wine Enthusiast in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Crystal Spring’s cellar is home to one of the largest fine wine collections in the world with over 75,000 bottles, featuring 6,000 labels and vintages going back to 1863. Overseen by Wine Director Robby Younes and sommelier Susanne Lerescu, this unique collection includes verticals of all the great chateaus of Bordeaux and Burgundy, including many prized vintages and rare bottles such as more than 100 vintages of Chateau Latour (from 1863). The entire Restaurant Latour wine list has been converted to an iPad format and is also available as two printed volumes.
Restaurant Latour’s cutting-edge cocktail program highlights whimsical, intricate drinks made with modern techniques such as sous vide infusions, local spirits produced within fifty miles of the resort, seasonal produce and unorthodox ingredients such as truffle pearls and housemade beet vinegar, resulting in boldly flavored cocktails with creative garnishes.
Restaurant Latour garnered a rating of “Excellent” from The New York Times in 2014 and received four stars from the Newark Star-Ledger in September 2016. It has retained its place on New Jersey Monthly’s “The 25 Best Restaurants” list since 2013.
Restaurant Latour is located at 1 Wild Turkey Way, Hamburg, NJ in the Clubhouse at Crystal Springs Resort. The restaurant serves dinner Thursday–Sunday from 5 p.m. till 10 p.m. On Sundays, dinner guests receive a guided tour of the award-winning Wine Cellar along with a glass of wine and passed hors d’oeuvres. Dress code: no jeans or sports footwear.