RUMSON: BBQ, BOURBON & RECYCLED AMERICA

Mar 29, 2016

Restaurateur Victor Rallo has transformed the former Molly Maguire’s Gastropub into a barbecue joint. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

With two Italian restaurants and a television show about the food and wine of Italy in his portfolio, Victor Rallo‘s latest venture might strike some as a sharp departure from his obsession with his ancestral homeland.

But Surf BBQ, which opened last week in Rumson, is simply the latest turn in a continuing quest for culinary “authenticity,” Rallo told redbankgreen in a recent interview.

“This is about the only true, historical American cuisine,” he said. “I wanted to open something great, but I wanted it to be true to its origins.”

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March 29, 2016 - 8:53 am |

RUMSON: RALLO TO OPEN ‘SURF BBQ’ HERE

Oct 8, 2015

Restaurateur Victor Rallo plans to transform the former Molly Maguire’s Gastropub into a smoked barbecue joint. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Greater Red Bank Green, teeming with culinary variety but short on ribs, is about to get some finger-lickin’ fare.

The former Molly Maguire’s Gastropub in Rumson, which closed Tuesday, will reopen in January as Surf BBQ, buyer Victor Rallo tells redbankgreen.

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October 8, 2015 - 7:00 am |

RUMSON: MOLLY MAGUIRE’S CLOSING

Oct 6, 2015

Molly Maguire’s, above, and Kathy Maguire on her first day as owner in 2011, below. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Just three weeks shy of their fourth anniversary in the business, Kathy and Mike Maguire are closing their Rumson restaurant, Molly Maguire’s Gastropub.

The Tuesday night finale is in preparation for sale of the East River Road establishment to restaurateur Victor Rallo, owner of the nearby Undici, on West River Road, and Birravino, in Red Bank, Kathy Maguire said Monday.

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October 6, 2015 - 9:45 am |

RUMSON: FIVE-DAY SHUTDOWN FOR TAVERN

Jun 26, 2013

Violations caught on videotape will result in the temporary suspension of business at Molly Maguire’s Black Point Inn next week. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rumson’s Molly Maguire’s Black Point Inn will be dark for five days of Independence Day week as a penalty for admitted misbehavior in the hours after the borough’s St. Patrick’s celebrations in March.

The temporary shutdown arises from a police complaint alleging one or more employees were drunk, as well as unspecified violations of a state law prohibiting “immoral activities” in places that serve booze, according to borough documents.

At least some of the misbehavior, which occurred around midnight on a Saturday, was caught on videotape, according to Mayor John Ekdahl, who tells redbankgreen he did what he could to keep the matter out of the public spotlight.

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June 26, 2013 - 2:32 pm |

WILD BOAR ON THE LOOSE IN RUMSON

Jan 30, 2012

Scene of the crime: Murray MacGregor’s, above, and the pilfered Mr. Oinkers, below. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Call it the case of the pilfered pig.

Sometime last week, someone climbed up on a dining room chair at Murray MacGregor’s Publik House in Rumson and removed a mounted wild boar’s head from a wall.

And out the door it went, wee wee wee wee all the way home, apparently.

Never to be seen again? Time will tell. At the moment, the restaurant’s new owners, Kathy and Mike Maguire, are more amused, not angry, Kathy tells redbankgreen. They haven’t even bothered calling the cops.

But there is a surveillance system in the restaurant that may have caught the pignapping on videotape. And if they feel inclined to hunt down the poacher, they may take the time to review it, she says.

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January 30, 2012 - 12:49 pm |

NEW OWNERS FOR MURRAY MACGREGOR’S

Oct 21, 2011

Kathy Maguire takes a breather on day one as owner of the Rumson bar and restaurant. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Word about the sale had leaked out, so when Kathy Maguire showed up for work on her first day as owner of Murray MacGregor’s Publik House in Rumson Thursday, she was all but beseiged with vendors pitching beer, food and more.

Also on her doorstep: a nosy reporter from redbankgreen.

Among our first questions: um, what’s a 44-year-old married mother of five who coaches JV and varsity field hockey at St. John Vianney in Holmdel doing taking on management of a booming business in an industry she hasn’t worked in for years? Is she nuts?

We’re not the first to ask, Maguire tells us with a laugh.

“I like a challenge, and I just wanted to do something other than a nine-to-five job,” she said.

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October 21, 2011 - 11:14 am |