Elements

We are a foodie family and fortunate to have eaten at some of the best restaurants in the US and Europe and, hands down, the service and presentation at elements is as good as it gets. The asian inspired food and wine pairings were also spectacular and wildly inventive. We had the four course dinner – and each of us ordered different courses to share with each other. Highlights included an amazing cold pea soup, live scallops, and the best guinea hen I’ve ever had. And the desserts were crazy good. However, a couple dishes (out of the 12 we sampled) were more interesting to talk about than delicious to eat. Nevertheless, if I lived in Princeton or NYC I would eat at elements as often as I could.

Incredible! The service, the ambiance, the food, and the drinks were all perfect! We came in during Princeton Reunion weekend looking to splurge. We got the Pinot Noir and Gin & Tonic — both incredible. Quail egg appetizer was smoky and a surprise! Each course was beautifully presented and delicious. The staff was personable, attentive, and very warm. I love the open style kitchen — it really makes for a great experience. We got to interact with all the chefs and still had our waiter’s full attention. The server who prepared the drinks was also amazing. I wish I remembered any of their names! I believe Joseph was the one who took my reservation, and he was courteous and kind. The bill is definitely hefty, but gratuity is included in the bill which is a nice gesture! If you’re looking to splurge and take your taste buds on an adventure, Elements is definitely the place to go.

[I managed to score a reservation for the Chef’s tasting with Chef Shinobu Namae of L’Effervescence in Tokyo held at elements on Apr 24^th, 2016. These are my notes and pictures from that event]
The tasting consisted of a number of courses, some elements originals, some Chef Namae’s own plus collaborations between Chef Scott Anderson’s team and Chef Namae — so if some pictures look like you’ve seen them before, now you know!
Elements is on the 2^nd floor of the building at 66 Witherspoon, so access is assisted by a Maitre’d from the dedicated entrance to elements on the first floor
The first course was a smoked quail egg. This small egg was presented in a ‘nest’ (see the picture), which didn’t give any warning of the flavour lurking within. The smokiness permeated the egg, and in the end reminded me of a strong smoked cheese. in a very very nice way
Next up was Chawanmushi — oyster; veal; morel; ramps and yuzu. Sitting on top of an egg custard base. Descriptions never really help describe how this was — the picture does! — the combination worked very well — the taste from the smoked quail egg lingering on from the first dish!
Next came the Hamachi sashimi — chili mole; flowers; Mitsuba; spring onion looked too good to eat — it was like looking at a picture — too good looking to eat! Well that didn’t stop me!
Up to now, the smoked quail egg had been my favourite dish (and I loved the way it’s smokiness lingered on). Now it’s time had come to be replaced on the podium with Asparagus — pork; mustard; seaweed — lots going on in this dish… So this comes to life from Saki lees plus sugar salt, add in the pork (to let it tenderize using the macrobiotic reaction) then cooked a little… The asparagus was fried — tempura style — and finally a Shroom hiding in there was a great end to the dish. Seconds? no, they said no (okay i didn’t ask. I guess I have to go back for seconds (!))
Next up came Squab — mugwort; spelt; Koji; milk — The green and white colours shone out in contrast — hopefully the picture shows this/​Squab was cooked on open fire over oak.
Unfortunately after (!) I had eaten most of the squab, I thought to mix the two sauces and the result was amazing! Definitely facepalm!
Lamb — garlic mustard; enoki; taranome: has foraged ramps too possible a little too salty for my tastes but the presentation was again off the charts
Now to the desserts — I’m a sucker for white chocolate, so guess which one I liked best out of the next two…
White chocolate — aged sake; grapefruit; The 10 y.o. Saki was in the jelly! So needless to say neither it nor the WHITE CHOCOLATE ice cream lasted long
Second dessert — knotweed — soy milk; buckwheat; honey; the candies kumquat lurking on the top of the buckwheat ice cream finished this fun dessert off
Liked it a lot but the first dessert with WHITE CHOCOLATE ice cream… Well that got me hook line and sinker
Naturally there was more (apart from the coffee!) — in the form of an after dinner mint which was very morish!
So a wide range of techniques and some dishes I would definitely like to see again — very happy by the time I left!

My husband took me to Elements last night for our anniversary– we had the Chef’s Tasting menu with the wine pairing. First of all the atmosphere was extremely welcoming with a full view of the kitchen and the chefs working diligently to create amazing dishes. The entire staff was friendly and helpful. Next– the food! We were served so many different dishes I lost count– but I will say that each one was elegantly and uniquely displayed– smoked quail eggs served in a birds nest or marinated mushrooms served atop a mossy forest arrangement– just to name a few. The food itself was nothing more than out of this world. The flavors and components that went into each dish were extraordinary, I could go on at great length about each one but I think the best thing for you to do is to try it for yourself. While it is a pricey restaurant– you are getting a remarkable experience and it certainly is well worth every cent. The wine parings were delightful and the wine director was extremely helpful through out the meal. The wait staff was by far the best we have ever had– attentive and pleasant. And the chefs were just perfect. Nothing but the utmost praise for the entire experience!

I’ve been around for a long time, grew up in Princeton and visit there regularly. This is the best restaurant Princeton has ever had, at least going back to the 1960’s and i doubt there was better before then. If they opened in NYC where I live they could probably open with a 3 star review from the NY Times, not an easy thing to do since 4 is the highest you can achieve.
Regardless of what the NY Times would say, I say that the food is amazing, inventive, and satisfying on so many levels. Scott Anderson and his crew have it nailed. Contrasting and harmonizing flavors and textures leave you deeply satisfied. It’s an evening of yummy noises. Add in wine director Carl Rohrbach’s elegant and even sometimes whimsical wine pairings along with the staff’s extremely personal service (the chefs bring you your food) and honestly you can’t go wrong. Dishes to recommend? All of them. They’re always changing, go for what intrigues you. My last visit I had what might have been the best squab of my life. The desserts are as sophisticated and as satisfying as everything else.
My only regret, it’s not in NYC. My family are about to go again, a 50 mile journey and we can’t wait!

Update. I guess a few regulars were in drinking copious amounts of Jameson. One of the group decided to hold the front door open on a 26 degree night. A customer had to tell him to shut the door, as the bartenders didn’t care. Right after that, they hand the man who yelled his bill. He asked why and was not given an answer. The female bartender seemed very hostile. He produced his CC and gave the male bartender a $ 20.00 tip. He real it gets good. He is sitting there texting or e-​mailing on his phone. Another woman comes up and taps him on the shoulder. I found out it is the manger, Fia. She starts saying something to him and he motions to get away from the bar. They move near the door, Fia stands in front of him with her arms crossed saying get out of my bar. I hear the man asking her why are you being confrontational? No answer, except for this is my bar, get out. Now the men drinking the Jameson get up and walk over. The man starts yelling out loud what great customer service Fia is providing. One of the Jameson drinking men places his hand on the man and now Fia has created a real mess… the three of them go outside for which looks like a brawl. Of course, Fia, who escalated this does nothing to stop it. The three guys go outside, Fia stands inside. The guys talk, a lot of hand gestures going on. They calm down, talk and all three shake hands. The man leaves, the two Jameson drinkers come back in a have water. Me and wife leave.
Fia needs to check her attitude. She turned a discussion into a possible brawl. The three men had the cooler heads when they went outside and away from her. She was the issue. Real chip on her shoulder.
I will not be back with my wife.

This place is fantastic. The food is done extremely well and superbly presented, the chef is inventive, the service is perfect, and the wine list is great. There aren’t a lot of places in the area where you can actually get interesting culinary creations, so we were very pleasantly surprised to discover how good this restaurant is.
All of this makes me a little confused about some of the other reviews here on Unilocal.The ratings on other sites (e.g. the verified ones on OpenTable) are much more favorable, so maybe the ones on here are outliers. If you aren’t willing to spend what amounts to a fair bit of money to get something genuinely interesting to eat, this place isn’t for you. If you are, then I highly recommend it!
(Also, if they still have it, get the turnip cocktail!)

I usually don’t review after just one visit, and this location is such a departure from the previous location, that even though the name remains the same, I wouldn’t even count those visits as trips to the same restaurant. After reading some of the previous reviews that included one by a professional one-​star reviewer and another from someone who didn’t even actually eat there, I’m chiming in with my two bits to relate my experience.
First off, the service is the best in Princeton – by a long mile. It’s the sort of service that you expect to see in an NY Times 3 – 4 star reviewed sort of place. It’s service on a very personal level, as the person who brings you your food is the person who actually prepared it. The gentleman who was in charge of our table (look, I had the wine pairing on a nine-​course menu, and I forgot his name — I’m not as young as I used to be) provided elegant and knowledgeable service, that was never rushed or forced. The 20% service gratuity was included in the bill, which caught me by surprise, but I didn’t really begrudge it, as I would have gone there anyway, because the staff certainly deserved it.
The room is small and modern looking, and it’s elegant without being stuffy. We had a great seat right against the floor to ceiling window overlooking Witherspoon. One review complained about loud music from the kitchen, but that certainly wasn’t the case. My wife and I were able to easily speak in a normal voice between ourselves or with the staff when they were at our table.
The limited menu meant that there wasn’t a lot of time between ordering our meal and having the first courses delivered. There were three small bite courses that arrived before the actual first course was brought to the table. I’m glad that I didn’t order a cocktail first, because there’s no way that I’d have finished it before the food started to arrive, and I don’t like mixing cocktails and meals. The courses came out at a steady pace, but never seemed rushed. I did have to slurp a little quickly a couple of times to stay ahead of wine pairings, but I was up for that challenge. Including the after dinner coffee, we arrived at 6:30 and left at around 9 PM, so I think the amount of time the meal took was just about right.
The food was very good, interesting and inventive. I was relieved to not find any molecular gastronomy weirdness. The food looked like food. My favorites were the sea urchin taco, the squab, the yellowtail and the carrots. I’d have been happy with just a plate full of those carrots for dinner – they were that good. Their house baked sourdough bread was killer good, and my wife couldn’t stop talking about the ice cream too. Both here and in the previous location, there was a lot of the fish served either raw or lightly cooked (some may have been fermented – again, the wine and my memory), but the chef told me that they take a great deal of pride in their fish presentations, which certainly showed in the food, and I don’t think that I’ll be able to enjoy sashimi in an ordinary sushi restaurant again after having the superior presentations that I did at Elements. If they ever do an all fish menu, I’m going to be there with bells on.
Okay, all of that goodness isn’t cheap. But you’re really getting something special for your money. The portions were small, but with all the courses we I didn’t walk out hungry. You’re paying for superior service, superior food preparation and superior ingredients. It’s not a place that the average person can afford to go to frequently unless you’ve got some pretty deep pockets. But for the average person who’s looking for a location to celebrate a special occasion, do yourself a favor and try this place. The old Elements location was my local go-​to spot for special occasions, and this new location has just taken over that job.
Everyone’s got an opinion, and what’s gold for one might be considered garbage by another. Hopefully enough people will write Unilocal reviews so that the restaurant will get the valid attention that it deserves.
If you still have doubts, here’s the review from NJ Monthly.

The service here is impeccable and the presentation lovely. But I found the food to be very average in flavor and overpriced. They have a 4 course price fixed priced menu. My friend and I didn’t want all the courses, so they told us we could order a la carte. But they don’t list the a la carte prices, and when we asked, the waiter said «oh, it’s around such and such». NOT a way to run a restaurant. The bill was huge for what we ate — wines are incredibly expensive. And you certainly don’t walk out feeling full. If they want to be an upscale restaurant with prices competing with NYC, they have some work to do in the kitchen.

This is the epitome of food and service. Easily the best restaurant in NJ and one of the best I’ve ever frequented. Creative, beautiful, delicious, these are all appropriate. It is ambitious for a restaurant to strive to execute adventurous cuisine and pristine service. What is admirable is that they succeed on every level. Restaurants like this are truly rare. NJ is lucky to have you Elements.

Just dined there for the second time on New Years Eve and it was wonderful once again. Still highly recommended if you want try innovative fine dining in Jersey.

Looks like I won’t be eating at this restaurant anytime soon. I tried to make a reservation in October. I called twice and left messages. No one called me back. I also sent two emails. No response. This week I called on Wednesday evening and was asked many questions. I was told I would receive a response within 24 hours. Again no returned call or email. We are well passed the 24 hour mark so I called again this morning. I was told they cannot accommodate us. No explanation as to why they didn’t fulfill their promise of a response. The person I spoke with had an attitude and wasn’t apologetic at all. Don’t they realize customers may need to make arrangements to dine somewhere else? Very rude and inconsiderate!

Foodie Heaven!!!
If you like bold flavors thoughtfully plated make a reservation now (sounds too marketing but really… I’m not connected to this restaurant I’m just telling you it is as good as it gets on the east coast.)
I had the Chef’s Tasting Menu ($ 125pp) with 9 formal courses plus 3 extra surprises and every dish was worth having. The chef’s menu changes every few weeks so I don’t think I’m giving anything away by describing what we had tonight! The entire menu was well composed and flowed well from course-​to-​course and yet every dish had strong «popping» flavors and varied textures that made you wonder each time how the next dish would awaken your palate… not sure how he did that but it worked.
Each course was brought to the table by one of the chef’s from the kitchen and explained carefully. This added a depth to the experience.
The sommelier’s wine pairing matched the food perfectly and were adventurous without overshadowing the main event.
Ok… now to the food (TL;TR?): –NOTE: Maybe we forgot a course or something… if so… sorry!–
Amuse Bouche #1: smoked quail egg served in a nest. The smoke penetrated through-​out with the yolk being so creamy yet so powerfully smoky, that it was hard to imagine a next course working… this was a truly memorable beginning.
Amuse Bouche #2: Woodear mushrooms served in a forest diorama marinated in shiso leaf and herbs and other wonderful things.
Amuse Bouche #3: Crispy Chicken Skin layered with egg yolk… and black truffle
Gently poached Oyster in smoked pork vinaigrette: … perfect flavor of the sea with a pig thrown in. Really yummy take on surf-​and-​turf
Cod with crunchy shallots and a mix of broth and foam and purees
The Ocean Trout dish was composed of kombu broth poured through bonito and chrysanthemum shavings served in a tea cup with lightly cured fish
Sea Urchin stuffed taco (or mini-​crêpe) filled with Egg and Uni was a soft sensuous bite.
The venison tartar with celery/​juniper/​bergamot was just amazing but did provide a small negative when my companion wanted a substitute for the venison offering and received the same preparation with swordfish in place of the deer… it did not work nearly as well in that formulation and the chef should have substituted some other complete dish rather than just subbing in swordfish.
Crunchy Sweetbreads on top of «risotto» was a textural masterpiece with smooth and creamy and crunchy mixed together and some «ice lettuce» for color and new texture.
Wagyu beef. Enough said.
and then dessert… 2 on the menu plus one surprise:
Yacon: A new fruit we’d never had soaked in Sauterne. OMG. With a thin slice of foie gras.
A wild dessert that was a perfect ending: A cold quenelle of rich buckwheat cream (whatever that is, it tasted like sweet cream to me) with herbs and a smoked tea sauce and some chocolate ganache and… It just is a perfect balanced dessert with many textures, temperatures, flavors…
a grown-​up version of a peppermint patty clears the palate at the very end and you leave refreshed and looking forward to coming back…

This was a nice dining experience w one of my friends/​clients. The ambiance was nice, food was fresh & unique w gorgeous plating. The portions were larger than usual for fine dining. The staff were very helpful. If I had once critique, it would be there was too much service — a wine specialist, order taker, water filler, various servers from the kitchen.

The service here is great, attentive and efficient. However, the food is horrendous. This place tries to be something it is not. The Hen was cold and tasteless. The Australian Rib Eye was cold and Tasteless. The snapper sashimi smelled worse than someone who hasn’t showered in a week. The only decent dish was the corn soup. When eating here there was four of us and all of us thought this place should be closed within 3 months. The food is that bad.

Ambitious, Yet Clunky and Overpriced
Elements, although it has the potential to be an excellent restaurant one day, has some serious problems that need to be worked out. First, at $ 125 for its five course menu, this venue is way overpriced. Seriously folks. For comparison: the five course tasting menu at the acclaimed Annisa in Manhattan’s West Village is priced at $ 88 while Drew Nieporent’s excellent Tribeca gem, Batard charges $ 79 for five courses. What about the food? The cuisine we experienced was always well-​executed, sometimes very good and sometimes downright silly. To complicate matters, the mostly competent service was at times hovering and at other times (with some of the younger employees) unsteady, especially when describing what was on the plate. Finally, the minimalist dining room, while pleasing, is overwhelmed by the bright lighting and cacophonous soundtrack emanating from the open kitchen once darkness falls outside. Finish all of that off with an awkward elevator ride down to the first floor where the door opens to quite a lively scene at Mistral brought to us by the same owners. My recommendation for now is to avoid Elements and opt instead for its more self-​assured and popular sister restaurant, Mistral.

I feel this is by a far stretch the most ambitious restaurant in Princeton. New American with farm/​local and Japanese/​Asian influences. Stands up in terms of imagination, presentation and ambiance to top Manhattan restaurants.
There is both a «Chef’s Tasting» (approx 12 courses) and a 4 course fixed price menu (where you choose from each of 4 courses).
Highly recommended if you’re a fellow foodie.
I’ll enclose some pictures so you can judge for yourself on the presentation.
This is an independent review. I have no relationship to this store, nor to the best of my knowledge, know anyone who works there.

I visited the old location almost 15 times. And enjoyed everything from brunches, lunches, and a la carte as well as chef tasting menus. Each of those visits were among my best food related memories. My final meal there was about a week prior to the last seating ever, and I expressed my sadness to Scott that I would really miss the place. He understood, and smiled knowingly. I don’t remember his exact words, but they were something to the effect of «wait until you try the next incarnation»,
Finally about 13 months later, I can see that his vision was accurate. It is so much smaller, but so much more intimate and open too. I loved the décor, and it was good to interact with the chefs, manager and the sommelier. I won’t bore you with food descriptions, you can see the photos if you are curious. But chances are when you do come the menu will be drastically different.
If you are new to this type of inspired cooking, you may fare better with the 4 course menu, there will be more options and more familiar dishes. But be assured the tastes will be unlike anything you have experienced. Even food you thought you knew will be transformed in new and exciting ways.
Come with an open mind and receptive taste buds, and more than likely both will be blown. My favorite meal of the year! Thanks to everyone on team Elements for the passion they put into making this a world class culinary experience. I’m already plotting my next visit. 6 Unilocal

Elements had their pre-​grand opening mock dinner service last night and I just have to say I was blown away by the entire experience. It was truly life changing. I feel so fortunate to had been invited!
The food was unique, fresh and above all else delicious. The combinations of flavored and textures were perfectly balanced and masterfully combined by chef Scott Anderson. With every course, I was thinking to myself, OMG what is this I’m tasting and why haven’t I’ve had this sooner! It was truly an amazing experience and I can wait to go back.
Here what I had.
1^st course — live scallops with olive oil, citrus, white soy
2^nd course — orecchiette — chanterelles, pork sausage, poached egg
3^rd course — wagyu beef grilled, enoki mushrooms, buckwheat
4^th course — nectarine with ricotta, maple, olive oil bread
Everything was excellent but my favorite was the orecchiette. It was AMAZING!

A few years ago, my brother surprised me with a birthday dinner that wound up being one of the best meals that I had ever eaten. To make matters even more shocking, the dinner was at a restaurant in Princeton, NJ. At that point, I had not yet heard about Elements, which has since received a large amount of praise. The restaurant was housed in what looked like it may have been a bank or something similar at one time, but was now transformed into a modern and spacious den of class.
During this first surreal dinner at Elements, my birthday gift included a 9-​course meal seated at the chef’s table right beside the kitchen. I was able to see how all of the ingredients came together to form the gorgeous plates. The food and service were impeccable. Unfortunately, it has been a while since that meal, and I had not had a chance to review the experience at that time.
However, I revisited the restaurant on this past Christmas Eve. On this occasion, I experienced the same fabulous service as before, only this time in the main dining room. The 5-​course menu was a reasonable $ 89 and worth every penny. Our meal started with an amuse bouche of a creamy, smoky chickpea soup, topped with crunchy fried chickpeas. It was just a tease for the rest of the savory meal to come. For the first course, my brother and I melted in our seats over a seasonal and unusual plate of dehydrated Beets and roasted Sunchokes tossed with crisp apple, candied pecans, and funky blue cheese. The combination of smoky, stinky, sweet, and tart flavors was a delight. We had never had a warm salad quite like it.
The options for the second course hailed from various regions. My Japanese-​influenced bowl of Ramen was a hearty compliment to the snowy weather outside. The large portion was packed with braised pork, egg, scallions, and nori. The flavor of the soup was extremely authentic, but it would have benefited from a heavier hand of salt. I compared this dish with my brother’s creamy Langoustine Bisque, which included razor clams, tarragon, and brioche. Again, this could have been more seasoned, but worked well otherwise. We were also gifted a pine nut risotto, and by this I do not mean a risotto topped with the crunchy morsels, but, rather, a creamy bowl of pine nuts with the creamy consistency of a risotto. So, essentially the nuts replaced the rice. It was unusual, decadent, and delicious!
My Black Bass entrée was tender and moist. It was lying atop scallions, mushrooms, and black radishes, and finished with a white soy glaze that added just the perfect hint of sweetness. My brother’s Scallop dish was less impressive though. We loved the shellfish and light stew of white beans and pork, but there was also yucca included, which was fried to such a hard consistency that it was tough to eat. Before launching into our sweet course, we feasted on an intermezzo of Pecorino Toscano served over a salad of apple, celery, hazelnut, and arugula. A large, doughy role was served along the side of it. I was so full by this point, and I found the salad to be an unimpressive adornment. I think that the apple would have popped more had it been tart versus sweet, and this would have given the plate more umph. However, I will say that I tend to prefer sweeter ends to my meal.
Regardless, the concluding course was a reason to rejoice. Chunks of roasted Pumpkin were scattered over a smear of dark chocolate, similar to a mousse in consistency. Marcona almonds were drizzled about and a scoop of seasonal hazelnut ice cream was also included. These added variations in texture and temperature. It was such an unusual and beautifully plated creation. As if we were not stuffed enough at this point, we even received some cookies with our check and a mini spiced cake loaf to take home.
Between the high quality food and amiable service, Elements is worth the extra money. And by extra, I mean that you are paying for high-​end food from an amazing chef, but it is still a major deal for what it is.