On the Menu: Enjoy a Picnic

Located in the Plaza Building in Fair Lawn, a little restaurant called Picnic has quickly become a New Jersey favorite. After being awarded three-and-a-half stars by Zagat and receiving an "Excellent" rating in the local newspaper, Picnic the Restaurant was recently named one of the state’s top 25 by New Jersey Monthly magazine.

With such positive accolades to its credit, the Fair Lawn Patch sat down with owners Christine Nunn and Annabel Schlair to find out more about Picnic the Restaurant.

Picnic opened its doors in Fair Lawn on July 6, 2010 – but its roots go much further back than that.

“It was the name of my [former] catering company,” Nunn explains. “So when we were playing around with ideas for the restaurant…we thought, why not leave it but upscale it [as] Picnic ‘the Restaurant.’”

Schlair adds that “Christine had such a great reputation through the catering business and subsequent lunch place in Emerson, we decided to stick with [the name].”

Both town residents and neighbors who live within walking distance of their restaurant, “We wanted to bring a restaurant into the community,” says Schlair.

The community and surrounding towns have embraced Picnic the Restaurant with open arms. Tom and Joann Salkins of Hawthorne enjoyed a meal at Picnic on the Friday before Valentine’s Day.

“The chef was very helpful [in helping us make our food choices],” said Joann. “The staff was very friendly and all the food we ordered was beyond our expectations.”

“We’ve been very fortunate,” says Schlair. “[This] is a very fickle business and tough to predict, [but] we’re getting more regulars now who we’ve come to know on a first-name basis.”

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Executive Chef Christine Nunn puts her heart and soul into everything she prepares at Picnic. “We serve New American cuisine,” she says of the menu, which changes every day. When asked what her favorite food is to prepare, Nunn has a quick answer: fish.

One fish dish Nunn is known for are her lobster rolls. “It’s the simplest thing in the world,” she says, “but everyone tries to put their [own] twist on it and it doesn’t always taste like you’re in Maine.”

Using an easy, tried and true recipe, Nunn brings in 30 pounds of lobster every summer to make the rolls.

As Picnic’s host and front of house manager, Annabel Schlair aims to make patrons happy from the minute they walk in the door. “I don’t like making people wait,” she admits. “We’re [often] so busy in the evenings that we’ve had to turn people away.”

Schlair recommends all potential patrons of Picnic call to make reservations no matter when they want to come. “Showing up at the door is hit or miss,” she said. “We’ve currently got a waiting list for [this coming] Saturday.” she said.   

Picnic the Restaurant is located at 14-25 Plaza Road. For hours of operation, the menu of the day, and other information, visit www.picnictherestaurant.com or "Like" Picnic on Facebook.