It’s Element(ary) my dear Watson….
Elements Cafe: Elements is a tappas style byob restaurant sandwiched between stores and other restaurants in Haddonfield, NJ. Elements is a very small establishment with not much seating (large parties I’d definitely call ahead). The inside décor is very plain with beautiful paintings for sale displayed on the wall. For those aren’t familiar with the term “tappas” (me prior to eating here). It pretty much means small portion style restaurant in which you are generally ordering more than one course. In my case I went during restaurant week and we were given a few choices to pick from to form a four course meal all for the great price of $25 per person. I love the idea of tappas because it gives you an opportunity to try numerous items without being burdened with finishing dishes and being overly full. For my first course, I had shrimp studded risotto balls with a tomato horseradish aioli. This was a great way to start off the night! The balls were a little bit smaller than a golf ball and were bursting with flavor. When ordering, I was nervous that there would be not enough shrimp at all but I was mistaken. Each bite contained a great blend of the little creature and risotto. The tomato horseradish aioli was drizzled on top and I wish it would have been more prevalent as it was a great accompanying sauce. The next course was a Manhattan clam chowder (yes, the red). It was a great soup. But, I’d like to note that this was my first time ever trying the red so my opinion on the matter is weak. The bowl was packed with vegetables and could have used a few more clams but, I’m not really complaining. The third course was a hearts of romaine salad in a creamy black pepper dressing and sprinkled with asiago cheese. I think that this salad defined simplicity with great taste. I’ve had many salads in the past that were overdone and packed with ingredients that sometimes weren’t needed. So it was refreshing to have something so simple and delightful. The creamy black pepper dressing was out of this world and the aisago cheese made it all the better. My fourth course of the night was homemade cavatelli with roasted cherry tomatoes, broccoli rabe in a parmesan cream sauce. This was just out of this world. Everything tasted great and complimented each other perfectly. I’m not really sure what else to say except do yourself a favor and try this if it’s on the menu. Overall, everything was great from the fresh ingredients, reasonable price and great wait staff. Elements left me excited for my next visit, whenever that may be!
-J
Price: $$ - moderate
Element’s Location: 517 Station Ave, Haddon Heights, NJ
