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It’s been a long road to recovery after last year’s tornado

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Innovation 2019: Circles of Excellence

<p>&#8220;The crab au gratin is to die for,&#8221; Tom Monie, of Plains Township.</p><p>&#8220;We love the steaks,&#8221; said Lissa Smith, of Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>&#8220;They have roast duck here!&#8221; added Smith&#8217;s husband, Dick.</p><p>Those were just a few of the comments from satisfied guests who treated themselves to dinner on a recent Friday evening at Jonathan&#8217;s Restaurant on North River Street, where the decor &#8212; from a portrait of Seinfeld co-star Kramer to a leg-shaped lamp like the one in &#8220;A Christmas Story&#8221; is as interesting as the food.</p><p>&#8220;It reminds me of home, very cozy and warm,&#8221; said Monie&#8217;s wife, Sharon.</p><p>&#8220;We always end up talking to people we didn&#8217;t know,&#8221; Tom Monie said.</p><p>Providing the cozy ambience and a wide variety of food and drink, Jonathan&#8217;s Restaurant is a labor of love for Jonathan Grimes and George DuMont, who moved their restaurant from Harveys Lake to downtown Wilkes-Barre a year and a half ago.</p><p>&#8220;We get more foot traffic here. It&#8217;s not a place you have to get into the car and drive to,&#8221; DuMont said as he stood behind the bar, ready to pour such drinks as a Diamond City Cosmo, named in honor of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s nickname, or an Aunt Clara Martini, named in honor of actress Marion Lorne.</p><p>Lorne was born in West Pittston in 1883 and studied at Wyoming Seminary before she started appearing on the 1960s sitcom &#8220;Bewitched&#8221; as Samantha&#8217;s Aunt Clara.</p><p>There is an undeniable sense of history at Jonathan&#8217;s &#8212; not just in cocktail names but in the building itself, which served as an American Legion and, before that, was a private residence of the wealthy Phelps famly.</p><p>But the big attraction, guests will tell you, is the food.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re always changing it,&#8221; Sharon Monie said. &#8220;There&#8217;s always something new and different to try.&#8221;</p><p>Executive chef Wendy Fritz gives her bosses credit for that.</p><p>&#8220;George and Jonathan, they&#8217;re fantastic to work for,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They give me a lot of creative freedom. Every chef loves that.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Every two weeks we change the menu,&#8221; she said, mentioning she was looking forward to serving Red Snapper Oscar, grilled and served over crab and asparagus and a Gruyere tart, finished off with Hollandaise sauce.</p><p>&#8220;Then there will be a blood orange marmalade-glazed veal chop on a Brie pocket,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and chicken Provencal with artichokes and cherry tomatoes.&#8221;</p><p>The sous chef and pastry chef, Melissa Smyda, happens to be Fritz&#8217;s daughter, so they have a long history of cooking together, even before they worked together professionally.</p><p>&#8220;I can read her mind,&#8221; Smyda said. &#8220;She doesn&#8217;t even have to ask for anything. I know which tool or ingredient she wants and I just hand it to her.&#8221;</p><p>Smyda enjoys making desserts at Jonathan&#8217;s, where she recommends the flourless chocolate cake.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s very good,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We use eggs rather than flour. It gets all of its lift just from separated eggs.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Everyone asks for it,&#8221; she added.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Executive chef Wendy Fritz adds a balsamic glaze to a dish of scallops and puffed pastry. in the kitchen at Jonathan&#8217;s Restaurant in downtown Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_jonathans1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Executive chef Wendy Fritz adds a balsamic glaze to a dish of scallops and puffed pastry. in the kitchen at Jonathan&#8217;s Restaurant in downtown Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_jonathans3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">George DuMont, who runs Jonathan&#8217;s Restaurant with partner Jonathan Grimes, pours a martini behind the bar at the downtown Wilkes-Barre eatery. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_jonathans3.jpg</photo1><caption1>George DuMont, who runs Jonathan&#8217;s Restaurant with partner Jonathan Grimes, pours a martini behind the bar at the downtown Wilkes-Barre eatery. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_jonathans2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wendy Fritz prepared a dish of scallops over puffed pastry on a recent Friday afternoon at Jonathan&#8217;s Restaurant. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_jonathans2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Wendy Fritz prepared a dish of scallops over puffed pastry on a recent Friday afternoon at Jonathan&#8217;s Restaurant. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_jonathan.and_.george.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jonathan Grimes and George DuMont are your hosts at Jonathan&#8217;s. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_jonathan.and_.george.jpg</photo3><caption3>Jonathan Grimes and George DuMont are your hosts at Jonathan&#8217;s. </caption3><photoCredit3>Submitted photo </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Jonathan’s Restaurant a labor of love