Saddle River Inn
“I truly got to know my three children,” says chef Jamie Knott of the months when the Inn—the fine-dining flagship of his three restaurants (with Saddle River Café and NJM Top 30 Cellar 335 in Jersey City)—restricted itself to takeout one day a week, Saturday. The Inn resumed indoor dining in late September with classics like its fennel-dusted pork chop, and branzino with capers, raisins and romesco sauce. What inspired Knott during the summer’s darkest days? “My 84-year-old grandmother. She’s a lifetime smoker, prefers Miller Lite to water, and her diet isn’t the best. She got Covid, was hospitalized 11 days, but fully recovered. And hasn’t changed her ways.”