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Maxwell Alley Opens in Jersey City with Seasonal Plates and Bold Drinks
June 2, 2025, 2:15.15 pm ET

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Photos: Maxwell Alley

Maxwell Alley, the new downtown Jersey City restaurant from CoolVines founder Mark Censits and Chef Alex Tronstad, is now open at 12 Coles Street. The 100-seat space, once a live poultry market and later an auto-body shop, has been transformed into a warm and elegant destination with lime-washed brick walls, honey-toned banquettes, a concrete-and-wood bar, and floor-to-ceiling wire-glass doors leading to a lush outdoor patio. A front café room serves coffee and pastries daily, adding to the restaurant’s all-day appeal.

Chef Tronstad, known for her work at Rivertown Lodge in Hudson, New York, draws on seasonal ingredients from local producers to craft a menu of shareable small plates, housemade pastas, and thoughtfully composed mains. Opening dishes include tamari-glazed Baby Spring Carrots with furikake and cilantro, Lamb Tartare with aji ponzu, ramps and cured egg yolk, and Fluke Crudo with strawberry, fermented tomato water and radish. Pasta options like Sourdough Tonnarelli with guanciale, egg and pecorino and Squid Ink Farfalle with preserved mussels reflect a kitchen unafraid of bold, layered flavors.

Larger-format dishes include Roasted Halibut with fennel gratin and burnt orange chimichurri sauce, Duck with snap peas and confit potatoes, and Pork Loin with XO sauce and grilled cabbage glazed in umeboshi. Dessert follows suit with Bay Leaf Ice Cream and candied cocoa nibs, a Viet Coffee Tres Leches with whipped cultured cream, and Raspberry Sorbet steeped with chamomile and ginger, with a splash of cava.

Matt Colvin leads the cocktail program with high-concept drinks that balance savory and sweet. Highlights include Red Miso with house vermouth and chili oil; Puerto Escondido made with tequila, salted watermelon, and jalapeño; and Easy As Pie with brown butter rum and blackberry-hazelnut orgeat. The MANGO MANGO MANGO! is a clarified tropical stunner, while North Shore offers coconut fat-washed gin with macadamia and coffee vermouth. The wine list, curated by CoolVines’ Tim Farrell, features natural-leaning bottles, rotating by-the-glass options, and a “Rare and Curious” reserve of small-production finds from around the world.

Maxwell Alley is open Tuesday–Sunday for dinner from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., with weekend brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The café operates daily from 7 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. on weekends. Reservations are available at maxwell-alley.com.

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