HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 2 MONTHS SINCE OPENING...LET'S START 2010 WITH SOME MUSIC ON THE 17TH.

Happy New Year's!!! 2010 is finally here! And today is our 2nd month since we opened our doors!!! We closed out 2009 with such a fantastic night...full house, fun night upstairs and continued celebrations downstairs at The Rat. We're already planning ahead for other festive evenings and musical weekends, kicking it off on Sunday, January 17th, with Sandy Zio joining us at our Rathskeller lounge, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Not only is she terrific, you have no idea how many emails we've gotten from fellow musicians who absolutely love her! Some of them on this very blog...

So much has happened in less than 2 months--we opened our doors on November 3rd...and yet, it's become our home. We live & breathe The National Hotel. Our children feel comfortable going into the kitchen and asking our wonderful staff for this or that. Our girls sit, eat, and chat with the members of our staff. The conversations range from what's happening in school, to history, to movies, to the work at hand, and even world events. It's so good to see such a sharing of different lives. It's an extended family.

Even our customers, who graciously come back again and again, have become part of our extended family. They hear about our joys and woes and share their lives, bringing us into their lives, their daily experiences, their history and family. All this over great food, terrific drinks, and what we hope feels like a comfortable and inviting ambiance. The winning combination of a professional and experienced kitchen staff, led by Ron Rittenhouse, to our terrific bar staff, led by Kasey Goyette, complemented by exceptional service from our wait staff, to overall management with attention to every detail from our general manager, Marlon Aranha, continue to deliver a blue ribbon experience for our customers.

We hope to see you soon...and we'll soon post photos of Lisa, Glen, Brenda, Lynn, Ryan, and Juan...and yours truly (who is always behind the camera)...who weren't on shift when we took these photos...I think it's time for a group shot actually, don't you?

Anyway, let's celebrate the arrival of 2010 together! Share this post with your friends and spread the word about Sandy Zio performing at The National Hotel on January 17th! Until then...

CLOSING OUT 2009

It's unbelievable how quickly the days pass by. It seems like just a minute ago, we were preparing for Thanksgiving. Even Christmas has come & gone, as we now prepare for New Year's Eve. And yet, there's so much that has happened since we opened the doors to The National Hotel, that it's important for us (on a very personal level), to stop, think and take in every little thing and every big moment before we cross the threshold and start 2010. Yes, 2010!!!

So very briefly, here's my own, "focus group of one" assessment of The D'Costa family venture:

After months of seeing The National Hotel closed, shuttered--overnight it seemed--Pete and I decided that we would place a call to the real estate broker whose name appeared on a sign outside the very sad-looking building. Steve Darlington of Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors called us back right away, and explained the situation. After months of negotiations, with a period of time passing when we thought we were completely "out of the running," we received a follow-up call from Steve, who asked if we were still interested. Of course we were! And as quickly as it took to have that last phone call, it seems that the days passed just as fast during the early summer months, and on

July 31st, we were given the keys to The National Hotel.

Then came the grunt work--often in the dark, as we had no electricity for some time after New Jersey was pounded by severe storms that caused power outages throughout the area. JCP&L needed to restore service to existing clients before they would activate new accounts. That was an interesting, challenging, and most demanding time! Renovating in the dark (& with no water to boot, as that's a whole other story with getting that turned on), definitely delayed our opening day.

But opening day did happen, and on November 3rd, Election Day, we very quietly opened our doors and let our Frenchtown neighbors who were passing by, driving by, some going places, some going to vote, stop by to find out that yes, finally, The National Hotel was open for business.

The joy, the warmth, the absolute and unconditional support that the Frenchtown community had extended to us in the months while we renovated and prepared the building to be a business of which Frenchtown could be proud, made it all worthwhile. This new and wonderful extension of our family to the community, has permeated every aspect of our lives. From our two wonderful and very independent daughters who have weathered the highs and the lows of opening such an ambitious undertaking, and who have been our finest ambassadors in the community--they would leave us to continue to make progress on the building, while they walked throughout the town, visited the local shops, bought gifts, treats, etc., and just thoroughly enjoyed their afternoons in Frenchtown--to our friends who have given us of their time, their energy, their help on so many levels, to our own families, who have pitched in and raised their shirt sleeves to help in numerous ways...we have so much for which to be thankful.

And now it's not just Frenchtown, but all of the surrounding areas, whose residents frequent our establishment. There are customers from Clinton, Pittstown, Franklin Township, Flemington, Milford, Lambertville, and on and on. Our hotel guests have come from nearby towns, to New York City and the Washington DC area, to as far as California.

The latter is just one of the many reasons why this last Christmas will forever be in our minds as one of the most special holidays that we have had. The D'Costa family started a new tradition: Christmas Eve at The National Hotel. Pete and I were able to work, while my mom visited and spent time with our girls.

Isn't it glorious to be able to have the support of one's family? And what could be better than a grandmother to cater to your every need?! Last night we had a customer, Herb, who very astutely pointed out that a parent's responsibility is to say "no" to children, while a grandparent's privilege is to say "yes." He said it much better than I'm recounting, but he was so right!

And here we are now, approaching New Year's Eve. The preparations are well underway. We even have a special menu that Ron Rittenhouse, our executive chef, has been developing for weeks now, and which we are sure will be a hit. How exciting, just to think about the New Year coming and all the possibilities it brings.

May all of you who are reading this, have an absolutely fabulous New Year's. Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2010.

MUSICAL AFTERNOON KICK OFF

We had an unbelievable Sunday a week and a half ago, enjoying the music of The Jericho Mountain Grass musical ensemble, which blended traditional ballads with new-grass tunes. The Grass consists of Carl Klinger on madoline, Toby Hoffman on banjo, Peter Kane on fiddle, John Stetson on bass and John Gehman on guitar.

It was standing room only at one point in the afternoon! We had all the seats filled, the tables spilling over with food and drinks, and people still kept coming in. Luckily, we featured The Grass in our downstairs Rathskeller Pub (The Rat) lounge, which allowed people to have more freedom of movement to enjoy the live musical performance, while having food and drinks--and those who came to The Rat to watch the football game were still able to do so in the bar area, since the music was in a separate space.

We had guests who came from an hour away to enjoy a musical afternoon at The National Hotel, and to see The Grass. What a day!!! Pete and I were just bowled over by the depth of the musicians' repertoire and ability to engage with the audience. It was truly a wonderful way to launch our musical afternoons at The National Hotel.

Did any of you catch The Grass at our place? Did you like it? Should we have done anything differently? We want to keep the music running at The National Hotel and if you have suggestions, we are always open to hearing them. Thank you for your support and we hope to see you at The National Hotel when we feature another musical group in the very near future.

ONE MONTH OPEN AND MUSIC KICKS OFF THIS SUNDAY

We made it past the 1st month of being open!!!

Last month's photo:

I'll take some photos tomorrow to post them on the blog, so you can see the difference in how the building looks now. And this weekend, we are lucky to have The Jericho Grass featuring the “High and Lonesome” sounds of blue and new grass, playing at The Rathskeller Pub on Sunday December 6 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The Jericho Grass blends traditional ballads and new-grass tunes. The Grass consists of Carl Klingler on mandolin, Toby Hoffman on banjo, Pete Kane on fiddle, John Stetson on bass and John Gehman on guitar.

The Grass is returning to Frenchtown after playing for the past four summers at the Stockton Inn. The Grass has played throughout Hunterdon and Bucks County, PA since 1980 from venues as various as the Tinicum Arts Festival and Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve to The Inn at the Hawk in Lambertville and The Bridge Café in Frenchtown.

"We're thrilled to be playing at the reopened National Hotel in Frenchtown," stated Carl Klingler, mandolinist. Please join us on December 6th downstairs in the Rathskeller Pub to welcome the Jericho Grass. Click here for more information, or call contact Toby Hoffman, at 1.215.794.7671.

We hope to see you there on Sunday! Let us know if you are interested in performing in the future. We have received a lot of inquiries and would love to add you to the list of performers with whom we may be able to work in the future. This is just the start...we can't wait for what will come!

In these short weeks, so much has happened that I'm glad I've written many of the things down on this blog, because the stories keep coming. But even the little things, such as the outside touches to the beautiful building, the Halloween decorations that have now come and gone--and the new Holiday decorations and lights we've put on the building are touches that we feel are an add-on to an already gorgeous building.

Many of you have celebrated with us, and we couldn't be happier. It's been 4 weeks of meeting people, sharing stories, celebrating milestones--from birthdays to "We met right here and now we're married"--a compilation of which would create a wonderful book of short stories about how truly interwoven the history of The National Hotel is with the townspeople of Frenchtown and the surrounding areas.

One month and two days...but who's counting?

This is a week marked with family memories, recollections of gatherings, verbal history passing from one generation to the next, and sharing of joy and warmth. For Pete and for me, Thanksgiving Day has become a week-long celebration of our desire to join our Frenchtown community in celebration of a rebirth of this beautiful Delaware River town.

If you stroll down the street, you'll find activity, you'll find energy--from the shop owners to the customers. What a diffference a year makes! Almost every store front has a business that is viable, that is anxious to participate in Frenchtown's growth, and that contributes to the economic vitality of this great nation. Somehow, Pete and I got on this express train, and we're staying on to the last stop!

I just have to brag...please forgive me...but I have to share with you the article that Chris Poh, editor of American Public House Review, has written about our establishment. Here is the pasted copy of the page, that includes a picture of an old sketch that even has the name misspelled of "Restaurant," but that incorporated the hand-drawn element that pre-dated computers. His review is so generous and truly conveys what Pete and I try to share everyday: You are welcome here...truly welcome. We want to greet everyone, meet everyone, make sure everything surpasses your expectations, and above all else, hopefully make you feel welcome and have the opportunity to see you time and again. The National Hotel has reopened for YOU, not for us, but for you. This establishment has so much history that has been here for generations prior to our arrival, that all we can do is try to be hosts who can carry forward the tradition to the next level, and try to make it a place you frequent often.

Don't come just on the "special" occasions; we want to see you time and again, because very selfishly, Pete and I truly enjoy meeting all of our old and new friends who knock on our door. Our daughters are learning valuable lessons every day, and given how splintered our lives have become, isn't it nice to have one place where we can feel like it's OK to let our guard down and share with those around us?

GREAT REVIEWS!

OK, so it's not the newspaper reviews to which I refer...rather, it's the feedback we got last night from our new menu insert that featured our specials of the day. Our executive chef, Ron Rittenhouse, created a "specials" menu that featured deliciously balanced items that excited your palate and left you feeling incredibly satisfied and eager to try the next item on the menu.

Guest after guest who left last night, complemented us on the selection of items, the delicate treatment of the ingredients and the tasteful balance of the choices featured. Wow! Even our two daughters couldn't get enough of the Oyster Mushroom Calamari with a sweet soy wasabi sauce...and our oldest, who is just "salad-crazy," ordered two plates of the Lyonaisse Salad, that featured lola rosa frisée, pancetta crisps and a poached egg, that when mixed, tossed and blended, created an incredible culinary experience.

Anyway, that was just the beginning, because the experience upstairs flowed into the Rat and just kept getting better and better. More over the weekend, I'm sure. Let us know if you had a chance to try any of the dishes on the "specials" menu and if you'd like to see more. We really appreciate all of your feedback and commentary--it's very, very helpful.

ALMOST TWO WEEKS!

A couple of nights ago, Pete told me that we had the distinct pleasure of being joined by a Frenchtown resident who pulled him aside to share a little bit of inter-generational history: One of the photos we have in our upstairs Bar, features either his grandfather or his granduncle. There are two men standing in front of a Frenchtown shop that has the sign "Variety Store" and they are standing next to a smaller sign that says "Opdycke's Ice Cream Parlor Inside."

Turns out that Mr. Opdycke himself was in our building and by coincidence had started walking around our Bar to look at the different photos that we have hanging on our walls. There is just so much history here!

But that's not all: Also this week, we were hosts to the Sieps anniversary dinner. It was wonderful to see them take a few minutes to also walk around our Bar and look at all the photos--many of them reproduced from the very original photos they lent me--which feature not just the town, but also Mr. and Mrs. Sieps (father and mother) who owned this establishment from the 1930s to the 1970s. There are photos of them standing in their back yard...our parking area today! There are photos of them at the Bar, and photos of the front of the building with practically all the men in hats (as was de rigueur in those days) and horses in tow.

Last night was another busy night--NO COMPLAINTS!!! We finished closing up the upstairs Restaurant and Bar, and everyone migrated downstairs to the Rat and to the lounge area we created in the cellar. It's so nice to see people enjoying all of the different areas of the building, from the hotel, to the lounge, to the restaurant, to the Rat. And we keep seeing people starting at the Rat and then making their way upstairs, and vice-versa; exactly what we envisioned as the ideal exchange of ideas, conversation, and everything in between.

We have been joined by local Frenchtown residents, Milford residents, Kingwood residents, and even people from towns and cities that are farther away. I always ask, "How did you hear about us?" and time and again, we are pleased to learn that either they googled this area and found Frenchtown to be a destination--which led them to start looking for a place to stay and eat--or there are those who found our website (or even our blog) and then found Frenchtown to boot. It looks like the information that is easily accessible on the internet on both the town and on us, is helping to boost the people traffic Frenchtown is getting. Wonderful!

People keep coming, keep dropping by, keep making reservations, keep visiting us. We are so grateful to all of our fellow Frenchtown friends, and all of the new friends that we are making from areas near and far. Each night is more exciting, more fun, than the last. And our staff keeps going with the flow, managing this little wrinkle and that one; we'll keep tweaking things to make everything grow organically and continue to assess, improve, and develop this into a place that our friends will be proud to continue to frequent. Friendly service, quality dining, beautiful surroundings; that's The National Hotel.

We'd love to hear from you if you were at our establishment and saw a photo that reminded you of your family, or features someone you know from long ago. Photos are an important part of preserving the history of this beautiful town. But verbal historical evidence is just as important. Let's start recording these little tidbits. I bet you that the next generation will be just as intrigued by the motivations of the early residents to make this town their home, as our generation is today. Historic towns--and charming ones such as this one--preserve the very fabric of our nation's birth. They are often a microcosm of the struggles of a nation that is not even 300 years old! Look at how far we've come in just over 200 years.

Can you tell we love history and historical nuggets of information? This is going to keep getting better.