Perspective is everything. Especially at Easton’s Thyme Rooftop Grille.
From atop The Commodore building at Northampton Street and Larry Holmes Drive, this new addition to the city’s vibrant dining scene offers a bird’s-eye view of two states and two rivers. Here, at the confluence of the Lehigh and Delaware, the Easton skyline feels like a stage set. Watch cars crossing the Easton-Phillipsburg free bridge; if your timing’s right, follow a train chugging its load as it ambles along tracks over the river to the south.
There’s something about setting yourself apart from the ground, rising above it all, that makes you an observer of life as it busies on and on. Time stands still. The world goes by, and you stop here and watch it.
It’s a pinnacle perspective that easily lends itself to indulging in fine food and drink. And fine food and drink is the focus at Thyme. Its top-flight dining and bar menus, along with the setting, provide a summit experience greater than the sum of these parts. It’s an exciting spot to while away everyday moments—and celebrate the exceptional ones, too.
Thyme opened at the newly constructed Commodore, which also features apartment residences and retail space, in December. The restaurant is the latest venture of the Trapani family, also owners of Allentown’s Grille 3501 and Bethlehem’s ZEST Bar & Grille.
There’s a smart, urban vibe here. Minimalist décor and muted earth tones in brown and gray impart a sense of calm, even in the midst of the hum of life outside the 12-foot glass windows. Sage green cloth napkins, topping quartz tables, add points of subtle color throughout the 170-seat restaurant. The décor’s simplicity keeps the focus where it should be—on the sweeping river and city views.
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It would be a shame, however, to get so taken with the seventh-floor vantage point that the food winds up underappreciated: the cuisine, innovative and well-executed, is an adventure in taste and texture that easily matches the exhilaration of the tip-top location.
Executive chef Brad Shive, formerly at Grille 3501, calls the cuisine “modern American.” When he describes the menu, developed to incorporate many different cuisines, he says “anything goes.” This modern American concept, as he sees it, is a marriage of cultures that creates a “melting pot” cuisine wherein each culinary influence retains its own identity. This differentiates it from fusion cuisine, he emphasizes.
Joining Shive in the kitchen is sous chef Jonah Hendershot—both cooks are 2015 graduates of Northampton Community College’s Culinary Arts program. Within minutes of a conversation with these two kitchen veterans, their enthusiasm and passion for cooking becomes palpable.
Hendershot is excited to be cooking at Thyme: “You don’t get to work in a brand-new building too often,” he says. “It’s fun [working with] a new concept.” The two cooks bring a partnership approach to their work, honed nigh onto a decade ago now during their training. “It’s super fun to be working together,” Shive says.
No doubt their shared passion for food and cooking infuses Thyme’s kitchen and what comes out of it. Along with incorporating different cuisines into the menu, Shive says the restaurant’s food seeks to be innovative, yet identifiable, comfortable and approachable, too. The menu bears this out.
Starters include Asian-inspired selections such as crispy chicken dumplings with soy yuzu sauce and cucumber jicama slaw, and crab and mango spring rolls with coconut curry remoulade, along with more traditional mussels with apple, bacon, tarragon, garlic and grilled baguette.
The innovative seared pork belly starter is a study in contrast. Crisped pieces of pork belly top smoky, creamy charred eggplant, touched with tahini and lemon, and mustard greens and red cabbage slaw up the ante of color and al dente texture. Tangy overtones of mustard vinaigrette tie it all together.
Entrée selections range from more standard offerings such as filet mignon with Yukon gold mashed potatoes, asparagus, thyme demi-glace and red onion confit to a venison rack with grilled radicchio, smoked plum agro dolce, pearl onion and crispy quinoa.
Monkfish exemplifies many elements of Thyme’s cuisine. Served with simple basmati rice, the perfectly tender fish is innovatively brightened by passion fruit marinated cucumber and served with just-firm-enough haricots vert and Asian-influenced green curry, with its hint of spice, and coconut milk.
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The chefs’ kitchen skills shine in the duck breast selection. Sliced and presented on the plate like a fan, the breast’s crisped skin is delectable foil to ever-so-tender, moist meat. House-made sweet potato gnocchi, on which the duck is plated, is chewy deliciousness—saturated with meat juices and the dish’s cranberry port reduction. Oh my. Braised kale adds texture, and a small dice of crunchy pickled apple brings brilliant counterpoint with singular, clean tartness. A garnish of micro shiso, a Japanese herb with the tiniest red flowers, finishes the dish with intrigue.
Innovation and different cultural influences are apparent in dessert selections as well. Toasted coconut meringue, for example, features tropically influenced elements such as mango salad, caramelized pineapple, passion fruit curd, coconut crumble and papaya lime sorbet.
Deconstructed salted caramel chocolate tart presents the isolated elements of a tart with a touch of drama: piped mounds of mouthwatering chocolate ganache hold pie crust shards standing vertically around the plate, strewn with cocoa nibs and hazelnut crumble. It’s a crunchy backdrop for scoops of salted caramel ice cream that contribute cold, creamy textural contrast in this dream of a dessert.
Kudos to Karen Anne Selby, Thyme general manager, beverage director, and house sommelier, for innovation in the bar menu, too. A graduate of the International Culinary Center (previously French Culinary Institute) in New York City, Selby, in collaboration with the restaurant team, created more than a dozen featured cocktails.
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Summing up the Pomegranate Drop as “lemon drop meets Cosmo,” Selby says this one is for “the ladies and her mom.” The combination of citron vodka, pomegranate liquor, triple sec and fresh lemon juice with a tiny splash of cranberry juice is just pink enough to make Barbie happy.
The refreshing Botanical Gardenia is based on gin, infused in-house with thyme and basil. Fresh juices—lemon and grapefruit—and house-made herb syrup add complexity. The prosecco that tops off everything keeps this drink light and refreshing.
Selby says Port of Manhattan, from the premium cocktail list, is one of her favorites. Inspired by the classic Manhattan, the drink features Elijah Craig Small Batch bourbon, Graham’s tawny port and Antica vermouth. With a touch of bitters, stirred, then poured into a cold martini glass, this golden drink, smooth as honey going down, creates a toasty inner glow. A Luxardo maraschino cherry macerates at the bottom of the glass—the promise of its intoxicating flavor bringing new meaning to “bottoms up.”
Some things—like Thyme Rooftop Grille—are worth waiting for. Patti Trapani, one of the owners, says from the time her family was invited to create the restaurant at the top of The Commodore to opening took two years. “We were here from the ground up,” she says. “We started construction with no elevators.”
When, finally, after the 24-month wait, people filled the space the night the restaurant opened, it was “so gratifying,” she says. The ultimate goal for the Trapani family as they developed the restaurant was to create a place where people feel welcome and comfortable, where they make memories.
Selby echoes that sentiment. “Memories have already been created here,” she says, remembering a couple who recently married at City Hall and came to the restaurant immediately after the ceremony. The bride, groom and their wedding party celebrated at Thyme all night. “It makes me really happy to see all the people here happy,” says Selby.
It seems this perspective—which has inspired the Trapani family since the restaurant was only a “what if”—is the perspective that matters the most. It’s the one that drives the success of this top-notch dining experience.
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Thyme Rooftop Grille
7th Floor, The Commodore | 100 Northampton St., Easton 610.510.0309 | thymeeaston.com
Hours
Tues.–Thurs.: 4–9:30 p.m.
Fri: 4–10 p.m.
Sat.: 10 a.m.–2 p.m. (brunch), 4–10 p.m.
Sun.: 10 a.m.–2 p.m. (brunch), 4–8 p.m.
Cost: Mains: $26–$45
Parking: On-street parking; Easton’s Third Street Garage (seven-minute walk); Phillipsburg Municipal Lot (six-minute walk); valet parking ($5 per car) from 5 p.m. Tues. through Fri., from 4 p.m. Sat. and Sun.
Reservations: Highly recommended, especially on weekends. First come, first served at bar.
What To Order
Port of Manhattan, an amber potion perfect for putting a day’s cares into perspective; seared pork belly starter, paired with antioxidant vegetables, it’s healthy; and, whatever you do, don’t miss the duck—in the running for the Best Duck Ever award.
Published as “Inside Dish” in the April 2024 edition of Lehigh Valley Style magazine.
