AT JOCKEY HOLLOW BAR & KITCHEN, CHEF KEVIN SIPPEL LETS HIS LOCALLY-SOURCED STAPLES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

BY JESSICA JONES-GORMAN • PHOTOS BY ROBERT NUZZIE

When Kevin Sippel is crafting some of his dishes at Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen in Morristown, working with super-fresh ingredients exclusively grown, caught, or raised by a squadron of local vendors, he takes a refreshingly uncluttered approach.

“I have a simple philosophy when it comes to food preparation,” Sippel said recently during an interview just before the dinner rush. “When you have wonderful, quality ingredients to work with, it’s just best not to do too much with them—just let the products showcase themselves.”

For Sippel, who started his industry journey in 1998 at the Italian Culinary Institute in Piedmont, it’s a time-honored approach he learned while studying in and working for various kitchens throughout Europe.

“I grew up in Buffalo, NY…a sort of culinary wasteland, so when I traveled to Italy for culinary school, I was exposed to what food is all about,” Sippel recalled. “It was there that I learned the philosophy of food, studied the quality of the products I was cooking with, and talked about traditions and how people eat.”

After studying in Italy for a year, the chef returned to Buffalo and worked to save money to attend another culinary school, this one in Lyon, France.

“There I learned about the structure of the classic French kitchen—all of the hierarchy and discipline,” he said.

After attending school in France for six months, Sippel moved to London with only “$10 and a backpack,” where he landed a job at the Carlton Hotel. (“I think back now and it seems like such a crazy move, but it was truly a wonderful experience,” he recalled.) He worked there for one year before moving to Brooklyn in 2002, commuting daily to his newfound job at La Caravelle in Manhattan.

“It was the last of the old school French restaurants left in the city,” Sippel said. “And it was a completely different arena to work in—much harder, much more intense—where you’re in the center of it all in midtown Manhattan, it’s a whole different machine.”

At La Caravelle, Sippel worked under Chef Troy Dupuy.

“He was an incredible chef, a hard guy to work for, but I learned a lot. Much of how I operate in the kitchen today is based around what I learned from him.”

Sippel went to L’Impero next, where he served as sous chef for Scott Conant. He then opened Alto with Conant and Chris Cannon on Madison Avenue.

“It was my first chef de cuisine job,” he said, “and I was young—maybe only 27 or 28—and to be in charge of this massive staff at that age was both inspiring and frightening.”

Sippel went to work for Sergio Esposito at the Italian Wine Merchants next—an experience he describes simply as “awesome.”

“It was just me and another cook catering to private clients, cooking dinners for six or seven people,” he said. “There were no food cost limitations, so we would use tons of white truffles and basically had carte blanche to do whatever we wanted to do. It was refreshing to get back to cooking again and away from management. I missed being hands-on.”

In 2014, Chef Chris Cannon brought Sippel out to New Jersey to take a look at a restaurant he was developing in Morristown called Jockey Hollow. “It was an unbelievable place, and I felt it was the right time for me to relocate,” Sippel said.

Together Cannon and Sippel built a menu that relied solely on the products of local farmers and fishermen.

“We deal with a fisherman from the Shore, a pig farmer 10 miles from here

“We deal with a fisherman from the Shore, a pig farmer 10 miles from here who does all of our charcuterie in house, and we also have a person who forages…who brings in all of these wonderful mushrooms and plants that grow out in the wild.”

who does all of our charcuterie in house, and we also have a person who forages…who brings in all of these wonderful mushrooms and plants that grow out in the wild. But that’s the best thing about working here in New Jersey—there is an endless amount of agriculture that really serves as an inspiration for almost every dish we make.”

This summer, Sippel has concentrated on vegetables, adding tomatoes and other fresh produce to plates of blue fin tuna, black bass, and sea scallops. His braised grilled octopus is one of the restaurant’s biggest sellers.

“When the ingredients are fresh and the seasoning is just right, the results will always be wonderful,” he concluded.

Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen
110 South Street, Morristown
973.644.3180 / jockeyhollowbarandkitchen.com