restaurant

The Swiss Tavern, Wayne NJ

| Paul Havemann

Long-time area residents remember the exquisite dining experience known as the Swiss Tavern. The place had been some sort of eatery for years before it opened its doors, in the early 1930s, as a full-fledged restaurant under the management of Ernest Alpsteg, the owner-chef from Switzerland.

His son Hans and his wife, Agatha, by all accounts turned it into an first-rate dinner destination during the 1960s and 1970s; Swiss Tavern was rated ‘four stars’ by the New York Times.

The Alpsteg family kept it going until 1979, when the place was sold and transformed in L’Auberge de France. But we’re getting ahead of the story…

Swiss Tavern Restaurant, circa 1950s
Swiss Tavern Restaurant, circa 1950s

According to a NY Times food review in early 1979,

…the Swiss Tavern in Wayne began life as a speakeasy during Prohibition. The family of the present owner‐chef, Hans Alpsteg, turned the century‐old frame house into a full‐fledged restaurant in 1934, but managed to retain the Victorian coziness of the small parlors and the Victorian splendor of the large bar and grill.

(I don’t know anything about “the bar and grill” that it was before now, but I’m sure the building had an interesting history prior to its Swiss Tavern incarnation.)

The building itself was described as “A large 1850 house of many small rooms, glassed-in porch, a roomy oak-paneled bar, period wallpaper and furniture, paintings and drawings, ferns and aspidistras. Candles and fresh flowers, good napery, friendly service.”

The NY Times reviewer was enthusiastic about the fare, describing it as “excellent” and “delectable”.

A stylized aerial view of the restaurant. The owners gave it an address in Pompton Lakes, but it was actually located in Wayne. Note the fountain pond out front where live trout were kept.

The recommended dishes included “baked oysters or baked clams ‘Swiss Tavern,’ homemade headcheese, butterfly shrimp Genevoise, laeberle (Swiss‐style liver), oxtail in a red wine sauce, sauerbraten with spaetzle, rack of lamb persillade for two, soufflé potatoes for two, apple fritters, caramel custard, and Swiss apple cake.”

There was even a fountain pond out front, stocked with live trout, where patrons could check out the fish, have the chef catch it in a net, and have it cooked to order.

Besides being a lunch and dinner haven, the Swiss Tavern was something of a social center as well. Rotary meetings and political get-togethers were held there; local mayors held meet-and-greet functions; the Pompton Lakes chamber of commerce held its annual dinner-dance there. Large dinner parties were not uncommon. Many a wedding party held its reception there, as well as later anniversaries.

The place stayed in the family until 1979 when the Alpsteg family sold it, whereupon it became a French restaurant, L’Auberge de France.

Alas, the successor was met with far less enthusiasm in an August 1979 review by the NY Times:

For four months, the establishment continued to be known as The Swiss Tavern. But two months ago, it became L’Auberge DeFrance, translated literally, “The French Inn.” Unfortunately, something was lost in the translation, or the transformation, if you will.

The food was just fair to middling, according to the reviewer, but with “big league” prices, and noted that “it is a rarity to find a dish that totally satisfies at this new restaurant.” The review concluded by lamenting “It is a pity when a restaurant as good as The Swiss Tavern leaves us, but more’s the pity when its successor leaves so much to be desired.” The reviewer pronounced it merely “fair” — no stars.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t succeed. I don’t know when the restaurant closed for good (I understand it became other eateries including the French Quarter and the Red Fox Inn), but the long-abandoned building is slowly crumbling. A website called “Abandoned but Not Forgotten” visited the place at some point; see the photos here.

The Swiss Tavern building (Google Street View, Aug 2018). The fountain pond, foreground, once held trout served by the chef.

An enterprising fellow named Luke also managed to get inside and take some photos. He’s posted them on his Flickr account.

Update: The building was razed on April 9, 2019; it seems a WaWa will be built on the site. I arrived a day or two late, and this is what greeted me.

Nothing left of the proud old house except rubble. (The site across the street was formerly Atkins Chevrolet.)

Triangle Hofbrau, Pequannock

| Paul Havemann

Pequannock residents still fondly recall a German restaurant known as the Triangle Hofbrau. In its last incarnation, it stood on Route 23 in Pequannock at the corner of Madison Street. It was an authentically high-class German restaurant, specializing in sauerbraten, roast Long Island Duckling, leg of lamb, reh schnitzel (venison steak), and a variety of seafood.

Triangle Hofbrau’s holiday dinner menu. Literally everything from soup to nuts.

The original Hans’ Triangle Grill, a humble hot dog stand, was opened about 1932 on the Newark-Pompton Turnpike, on a literal triangle of land that intersects Lincoln Park Road. (In later years the location would be home to The Point, Rumsellers, and other establishments. Now, it’s a bank.) It was owned and run by Hans and Hilda Gropp, who had immigrated years before.

In 1933, when NJ began building Route 23, Hans and Hilda purchased land on the southbound side and moved the Triangle Grill there. The grand opening on July 30, 1936 was an immediate success, due in part to the traffic passing by. In those days, the highway’s north- and south-bound lanes were separated by a grass median. Conveniently, an opening in the median permitted north-bound cars to pull right into the parking lot.

At first, the Triangle Grill didn’t have a bar.

Inside, the tap room and dining rooms were finished in knotty pine to resemble an Alpine hunting lodge. A varied selection of choice wines and liquors joined the menu. At some point soon after, the Gropps renamed it the Triangle Hofbrau, and expanded their menu, making it a full-fledged — and authentically German — restaurant.

Over the decades, various changes and additions were made. I believe this was how it looked in the 1930s. The original house (with living quarters upstairs) is still recognizable. At the far right was the original walk-up window for hot dogs and such. The parking lot is unpaved, too.

When the Triangle Grill re-opened on Route 23, there was a walk-up window — you can see the steps at the far right — but an indoor seating area made it obsolete. At some point, the Dutch Colonial roof line was replaced with a standard peaked roof.

The Hofbrau served the area for many decades. The Gropps retired; other owners took over. According to W. Jay Wanczyk, head of the Pequannock Historic District Commission, ownership only changed hands three times in all of its history.

But in late 2007, the Triangle Hofbrau closed its doors for the last time. The place was sold to new owners, and Tiff’s Rivaaz now serves delicious food in its stead.

This is how I remember the Hofbrau; I passed it a zillion times, as I grew up on Madison Street. Compare with the earlier photos.

Several additions were made to the Hofbrau, including the huge dining room at left.

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