Following twelve years of triple duty - working a day job, a night job, and raising two kids - she used her life savings, and help from her three brothers, to buy the place in Always passionate about food, she hired her friend and longtime chef Lorraine Wullamey and made it a fun place to socialize, drink, and eat well.
She worked hard to make the Ale House a lively, neighborhood place for nine years, until being priced out by an expired lease and rising rents in Newark Avenue in did not have much of a restaurant scene, with only the pioneering LITM and Sawadee both of which are no longer - but always will be missed and fondly remembered holding it down.
Her two adult children were uneasy in their careers and considering a change. Needing some help getting a much larger venture than before going, Maggie invited her children to work with her. Her daughter, Erin, left her position with the New York Botanical Garden, and her son Will left behind a job in advertising. We dedicate a portion of our menu to some dishes which are tried and true and others that are inspired by the freshest available seasonal produce, dairy, farm-raised meat, and wild-caught fish.
Our cooks have over years of collective kitchen experience and are led by Head Chef Juan Gabriel Veliz. Chef Juan Gabriel was born and raised in Mexico. His background of growing up on a farm, and cooking professionally throughout New York and Jersey City for the past 20 years, has well equipped him to use the freshest available local ingredients to create inspired, delicious food. She grew up in Jersey City, raising six children here. Though Doris passed away a few years ago, she was known to enjoy a gin and tonic at her namesake from time to time.
There is a long history shared between the Skinner family and Jersey City. Her father was a boxer and dock worker.
