If you plan on heading to the Jersey Shore one last time this summer, visit Avenue Le Club in Long Branch’s Pier Village. A luxurious restaurant and beach club, it’s our favorite place to have a relaxing beach day. Trust me, you will not want to leave, nor will you have as good as a time at any other beach club than you will at Avenue. It’s the most relaxing and trendiest beach destination.
The entire space of Avenue Le Club is beautifully designed and truly captivates the feeling of St. Tropez. The restaurant has high ceilings and is an open and vibrant space. The restaurant offers a beach club membership from Memorial Day to Labor Day that allows exclusive access to their cabanas and private rooftop pool. Above the restaurant on the second floor holds the locker rooms and restrooms allowing you to freshen up as you need. The locker rooms are complete with overhead showers stocked with shampoo, conditioner, soap, towels, restrooms, and of course, lockers. The third floor holds Nuit, a very VIP nightlife experience with a bar, oversized bed seating, and the rooftop pool. Outside along the back of the restaurant is an outside beachfront patio seating, a great choice for brunch or a special dinner. Down the walkway are stairs leading to oversized daybeds and lounge chairs surrounded by cozy cabanas.
We headed to Avenue Le Club for a mid-week daycation and arrived early in the morning to get the most out of our time. A friendly staff member led us outside to the beachfront cabanas. The cabanas have all the essentials of what you would need for a little r&r in the sun. A fridge, bed, a shower stocked with Mario Bedescu products, and for those who need it, a TV. There was no need for us to put on the TV when we had the vitamin D to soak in. In front of our cabana were two lounge chairs and a big comfy day bed; the best tanning set up for us Jersey girls. With a sunny blue sky and perfect weather, we settled right in.
Avenue Le Club is known for their exquisite menu and cocktails. For lunch, we had the Chicken Club and the ALT. Both paired with a light salad, these signature sandwiches kept us satisfied and full while we were in the sun all day. The Chicken Club was made with sliced tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, bacon, and a lemon aioli on toasted ciabatta bread. The ALT is a vegetarian take on the BLT, sans bacon and with avocado instead. The sandwich was made with sliced cucumbers, tomato, lettuce, shallots served on healthy grain bread with hummus spread. The Blue Velvet and Bungalow cocktails complimented the sandwiches well; the mint and fresh muddled fruits were quite refreshing.
After lunch, we headed upstairs to the exclusive rooftop pool to lay out on the day beds. The 3-feet deep pool is open from 11am-5pm and is a great way to cool down. The rooftop features a glass wall wrapped around the perimeter, a very luxurious addition to the fancy atmosphere.
For dinner we started with the Tomato Tart and Crab Salad; two great contrasting dishes. The tart, served with an arugula and parmesan salad, had a warm and flaky mouthwatering crust, served with fresh red tomatoes. The colorful salad, made with fresh crab and vegetables, was full of rich flavor. The two plates went well with one of their speciality cocktails made with Absenthe, the Le Blue Fairy. For our main course we had the Wild King Salmon and the Homemade Tagliatelle. The well-done salmon was served on a bed of risotto with beans and snap peas, drizzled in a lemon white butter sauce, or as the French say, “beurre blanc.” The fresh tagliatelle was tossed in a mushroom, onion, and asparagus sauce topped with shallots.
For dessert we salivated over the Toasted Coconut Cake and Profiteroles. The light coconut cake was served with a mango salsa and toasted coconut shavings; a great tropical choice for a summer dinner. The Profiteroles, also known as cream puffs, were sandwiched between vanilla ice cream, topped with a dash of powdered sugar, and served with a side of chocolate sauce for dipping. We enjoyed these delicious treats with a cappuccino and a glass of dessert wine.
What more can you ask for? Avenue Le Club has the cabana area which includes the lounge chairs, day bed, and patio area, the beach, their exclusive rooftop pool, a great staff, and their amazing dishes by Executive Chef Dominique Filoni. Even if you can’t make it before the summer, the beautiful restaurant is a fine dining experience on it’s own.
Check out the events at Avenue Le Club this Labor Day Weekend:
Friday, September 4th, 2015
10pm-2am: DJ Chris Knoxx at Nuit
Saturday, September 5th, 2015
10pm-2am: DJ Toro + 92.3 AMP Live at Nuit
Sunday, September 6th, 2015
11am-6pm: Avenue Beach Party Chus + Ceballos
Monday, September 7th, 2015
11am-5pm: Rooftop Pool Party with DJ Klutch and Friends #LunchbreakMondays
Avenue Le Club
23 Ocean Avenue, Long Branch, NJ 07740
To learn more about Avenue, go to leclubavenue.com
Read more Reviews and Labor Day articles on ClicheMag.com
Tatiana in Wonderland: Avenue Le Club: Photos courtesy of Tatiana Stec
