A new wave of immersive dining delivers style, social cred, and a kitchen wizard who’s reawakening archetypal recipes with theatrical panache.

BY KT HARRISON  •  PHOTOS BY ALEX BARRETO

Death of Hospitality is a daring name for a restaurant brand, pushing diners to ponder what comes next. As company founder and CEO Matt Borowski explained, “Hospitality is a one-size-fits-all service concept, but we go beyond hospitality with something better. We create an encompassing experience – for body, soul, and screen – that you must have and share.”

At Borowski’s restaurants, that ethos comes to life with exuberance. Year after year, 618 in Freehold snags OpenTable’s Most Romantic New Jersey Restaurant award, while its sultry sister eatery, Mezcal, has been captivating diners with irresistible edibles and dramatic drinks since its spring 2025 debut. “We’re in the business of people,” said brand vice president Eddie Sunday. “We’re inspired by our guests and vice versa.”

This philosophy is sustained by Death of Hospitality’s enthralling eats. Chef Chris Dutka, the brand’s restaurant-wide executive chef, poetically described his kitchens as “magical places that create and satisfy cravings.” The essence of this sorcery is “favorite foods that we recharge,” he said. “Tradition spiced with innovation.”

And what could poke the palate better than the second coming of our revered Jersey Italian meatballs? Chef Dutka’s “Granny’s Meatballs” are an alchemy of nostalgia and ingenuity. His Granny Mary, a first-generation Neapolitan, masterminded the clan’s marinara-intensive “Sunday gravy” suppers. “I counted down the days for the meatballs alone,” he said. “Being treated to food that good made me want to learn how to make it. I started messing around in the kitchen and figured out a lot, but I couldn’t nail those meatballs.”

After South River High, Dutka enrolled at Rutgers, but soon transferred to Middlesex County College for a Hospitality Management degree. “My roommates would joke that I spent more time at the stove than in the library,” he chuckled. The newly minted chef was then recruited to South Florida, where he was mentored by honored chef Mark Militello, known for infusing the Sunshine State’s seafood-centric cuisine with Caribbean, Asian, and Mediterranean flavors. Absorbing this focused imagination, Dutka zoomed up the kitchen ladder to become executive chef at 23, returning to Middlesex County after a decade so his son, John, could grow up close to family.

Surrounded once more by Italian food, the chef again mulled the “instinctive, precise, perfect cooking” of his late Granny Mary. “Her recipes were in her head,” he said. “I made it my mission to recreate her meatballs once and for all, to capture their ingredients and their power. I didn’t even know what meats she blended for them. Yet on this go-round, I felt her presence in the kitchen, guiding me.”

The eureka moment came at long last. Dutka nervously watched the family try his meatballs. “They couldn’t believe it,” he exulted. “They agreed it was a gift from Granny Mary.” And then his restaurant crew tasted the recipe. “Every single one said it brought them back home, even those who weren’t Italian,” he laughed. “I was euphoric. Granny’s Meatballs are love on a plate.” They’re served at 618 and the soon-to-open Elizabeth’s Italian, named for founder Borowski’s wife, Liz.

“One of life’s joys is flavor discoveries, whether they revive a taste memory or spark a passion,” said Dutka. “And our guests delight in whatever’s new. It’s like, ‘We’re from Jersey, bring it on!’” The chef jazzes up beloved dishes with “modern little twists,” often an unexpected ingredient that makes the whole dish pop. 618’s varied house-made pastas intrigue with novel touches like dinosaur kale pesto, umami-lush shiitakes, or tingly Brazilian pink pepper. Roast chicken seduces with black garlic jus, and wood-roasted shrimp party with Cajun green chili-cheddar grits. Pat LaFrieda beef, a brand-wide focus, might bask in a heady Cabernet braise or buddy up with deluxe truffle mashies.

At Mezcal, a modern Mexican steakhouse with a global worldview, the entire menu tempts with south-of-the-border zest. Chorizo sausage powers up mac and cheese, fire-cooked baby potatoes, and a glorious lobster paella risotto, flaunting a half pound of the regal crustacean. Pepitas (Yucatan roasted squash seeds) lend crunch to chicken breast Milanese, and wild-farmed Faroe Island salmon sports an ancho chile-honey glaze. Esquites, an addictive Mexico City street snack of chunky, lime-roasted corn kernels, make a novel side to Mezcal’s array of Prime Angus steaks, many meticulously dry-aged. “Our overall aim is intrigue,” said Dutka. As the evening progresses and his guests pose and post, “They’re ready to shake things up.”

That shakeup might appropriately take the form of Death of Hospitality’s generously boozy, social media-famous cocktails. Beverage director Corinne Miller’s top-selling Pistachio White Chocolate Martini is both ethereally lovely and mystically delicious. “We make sure that every cocktail stands up and begs for a photo,” she said. “And that first sip is a wow, too. The second pic? A selfie with drink in hand.” At Mezcal, numerous drinkables spotlight the smoky Oaxacan liquor the restaurant is named for. The lively 30-seat bar pours mezcal tasting flights, and your dinner can pair a different mezcal with each course (with your preferences noted for future visits). For a futuristic thrill, each bar’s new “ripple-maker,” the heir to latte-top doodles, will reproduce your photo on a drink’s surface foam.

Death of Hospitality’s next-level inventiveness has earned influencers’ adoration. Yet everyone, social titan or not, is embraced and royally fed. Here, the secret sauce is cool whisked with comfort. “Sure, every restaurant claims it’s like family,” Dutka pointed out. “But here, we live it. And we give it.” The kitchen maestro should know. His Florida-born son, John Dutka, now 29, is the top toque at Mezcal.

618  —  618 Park Avenue, Freehold  •  732.812.4500  •  618nj.com
Mezcal  —  292 Route 516, Old Bridge  •  732.724.5065  •  mezcalnj.com
Elizabeth’s Italian (coming soon)  —  2658 Route 516, Old Bridge  •  elizabethsitalian.com