'Hell's Kitchen' Chef to Debut in Haddonfield

Mike and Dave Ralic, whose family name is on the shingle in front of Ralic’s Steakhouse at 26 S. Haddon Ave., haven’t yet put the finishing touches on their restaurant, scheduled to open on June 16.

The site, home to a number of kitchens in the past 10 years, including Blondie’s Seafood and Via Guilia, is undergoing its most recent transformation at the hands of the New York cousins.

The Ralics envision the space as an intimate, boutique steakhouse where customers can chat up the chef and the signature dishes are simple and flavorful. But they’re not too modest to build the buzz around their new place on the nominal celebrity of local chef Ed Battaglia.

Originally from Edgewater Park, NJ, Ed Battaglia works a culinary teacher to special education students at the private Garfield Park Academy in Willingboro. He’s familiar to followers of high school athletics as a Burlington Township High School football coach and indoor/outdoor track and field coach at Holy Cross.

Battaglia’s bigger claim to fame, however, is that he was a contestant on the seventh season of Fox reality television cooking show, Hell’s Kitchen. Ralic’s will be the first kitchen in which he will serve as executive chef.

If TV has changed Battaglia, it’s not apparent from his demeanor. Genial, self-effacing and anxious to get to work, his aspirations for the place are outwardly simple: happy hearts and full bellies. He may be dreaming big, but he’d rather let his food get him there than his personality.

“It’s a perk that Ed is a celebrity,” says Dave Ralic. “That’s all it is, a little perk. The man is a talented chef. The real experience is his cooking.”

Patch talked with Battaglia about managing the demands of local celebrity while finalizing his plans for the restaurant.

Haddonfield Patch: Are you sick of talking about your experience on Hell’s Kitchen yet?

Ed Battaglia: Oh no. Doing the show was great exposure for me. I’ll never get sick and tired of talking about working with Gordon Ramsay.

Patch: Is Ramsay really in everyone’s face all the time?

Battaglia: That’s Gordon. Off-camera he’s a gentleman. He’s very smart. Gordon reminds me of a coach on the field. When the lights come on, if you don’t live up to his expectations, you’re going to get pulled. But when the game’s over, he explains things to you. When it’s your show, your restaurant, your name on the sign, you can’t let bad things happen. If you take it personally, you’re never going to make it in the kitchen.

Patch: Were you able to tell him about getting the chance heading up your own kitchen?

Battaglia: I told his PR people at Fox, but there’s no way. He’s got 12 restaurants, three TV shows; but I think if he heard I was doing this he’d be excited for me.

Patch: What are your expectations for Ralic’s?

Battaglia: Any new business is tough. We’re not competing against Morton’s. It’s impossible. We’re not competing against Capital Grille. It’s impossible. We’re doing fresh, simple, easy, delicious dishes. Those are the things that will keep you running.

Patch: You’ve been cooking for a while, but this will be the first kitchen in which you’ve ever been the head chef. How do you feel about that?

Battaglia: It’s going to be a little scary, I’m not going to lie, taking over a 30-seat restaurant. I thought back to Georges Perrier’s book (Le Bec-Fin Recipes). He came from Paris and opened a little restaurant in Philadelphia. Soon he had people lined up outside to get in, and he was giving them glasses of wine and talking with the guests while he cooked. I thought that was awesome. I would love to be his caliber of a chef one day.

Patch: What are your plans for the menu?

Battaglia:Right now we’re juggling a bunch of things. We’re going to stay very traditional with a Filet Oscar with crab meat and béarnaise; a NY Strip au poivre, for which I’m between a brandy cream and a sherry cream sauce. I still want a basic, grilled porterhouse—a good, grilled, big steak with a bone; bone makes flavor.

We’re going to get a rack of lamb on there. That’ll be seared, with a couscous salad and some grapes; I’m still working that out. And then I’m going to do a hairline chicken breast, pan-seared with nice, crispy skin, a creamy corn polenta with manchego cheese, sautéed spinach, and tarragon jus. I think that will be a hot little dish for people who might not want steak.

We’ll also do a daily fish special. My appetizers... we’ll probably run with a lot of seafood. I’m going to have a carpaccio and back that with a tuna tartare, dressed with simple vinaigrettes and aiolis. We’ll also do a shrimp cocktail with house-made sauce.

Patch: What do your folks think about you opening up your first place?

Battaglia: My mother and father, Leon and Cindy, were concerned that I would end up missing family events because we always do stuff together on the weekends. But they’re very excited because it’s an opportunity for me to do something very good. My brothers just can’t wait to eat steak.

The grand opening of Ralic’s Steakhouse is June 16, 2011. Regular hours will be announced for dinner Tuesday through Sunday. Seating is limited and reservations will be strongly recommended, although not required. B.Y.O.B.