Morristown's 'Jockey Hollow' Named Among Nation's Top New Restaurants by Esquire

By Dan Hubbard

Esquire magazine has named the Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen one of the 15 best new restaurants in the United States.

Owner Chris Cannon took the experience he gleamed from the five three-star restaurants he owned in New York City across the Hudson.

A New York City native, he was forced out of a partnership and shuttered his last two restaurants, Esquire reported.

“I said, ‘I‘m gonna come back better than I’ve ever been, doing something more ambitious, more interesting.’ We were looked at like carpetbaggers trying to dictate what New Jersey should eat,” Cannon told Esquire.

Cannon said finding the right customers can be challenging, but very rewarding too.

“When we find the right customer, they’re our friends,” Cannon said. “Within a couple of years, this place is gonna be a restaurant full of the people that love us and that we love.”

Cannon spent three and a half years and $5.5 million to open Jockey Hollow at the historic Vail Mansion.

Cannon’s philosophy on food is simple, he told Esquire.

“You take good food and you stay out of its way,” Cannon said. ”Eating should be joy. It should be in your heart.”