Moonstruck Restaurant in Asbury Park. The view across Wesley Lake is from Ocean Grove. Photo by Paul Goldfinger. Blogfinger.net. Click once to enlarge the image a bit.
By Paul Goldfinger, MD, Blogfinger.net. Ocean Grove, NJ, home of the original Moonstruck Restaurant.
The owners of Moonstruck Restaurant live in the Grove and first came here in 1995, opening the Raspberry Café, a small breakfast and lunch eatery on Main Avenue. They soon moved to larger quarters on Main Avenue here, and called their new restaurant “Moonstruck,” and their reputation for fine dining quickly grew. A New York Times review helped.
We recall lines of diners, often from out of town, waiting to get in. For awhile they also kept the Café open for overflow patrons.
In 2002 they moved to their current location in A. Park where they took over a dumpy joint that they transformed into the beautiful place seen above.
Some Asburians have credited Moonstruck as being pioneers in encouraging other eateries to open in the City.
The owners have not revealed who is buying their restaurant, but they are described as being experienced restauranteurs. Evidently the new owners will make some changes, but nothing major.
The Coaster ran a front page story about Moonstruck today . This is what they said:
“Luke Magliaro and Howard Racskiewicz, who opened the Raspberry Cafe in Ocean Grove more than three decades ago and then moved their business to Asbury Park on Lake Avenue where they opened Moonstruck, said they are selling the restaurant at the end of this month. They said it was a difficult decision to retire and they “will miss this special place and our extraordinary Moonstruck family.” The three-level restaurant which faces Wesley Lake, formerly housed The Deck House. When the two men purchased it they gutted it and turned it into an elegant, upscale restaurant.”
But the Coaster left out the fact that the owners created a full service restaurant called “Moonstruck” on Main Avenue in Ocean Grove as described above before moving to Asburyland.
Once again the Coastericans dropped the ball. Their connection to the Grove seems to be fading. They won’t even publish our bartenders’ photos.
From the movie Moonstruck: “The Finale”. Dick Hyman music director.
Both Ocean Grove and A. Park are known for attracting gay citizens and visitors, although OG was rated higher than AP in that regard. I once asked a gay Grover, “What’s the difference between the gays in the two towns?”
His answer, “They are younger, better looking, and they have better parties.”
Now there is a gay flag painted on the road near the Carousel. In OG, there are fewer gay flags flying, but the number of American flags are also in decline. And on Fourth Avenue in A. Park there was only one gay flag and one American flag yesterday.
It seems that flag flying is in decline generally around here. I used to enjoy seeing all the US flags flying in the Grove. That may improve once the March winds are gone.