Sweet Lula's in Pitman, NJ

I love a "proper lunch."  I've been asked what that means so I've had to give it some thought.  My definition is something you wouldn't normally eat during the week when you are at work or on the go.  It's not a run-of-the-mill sandwich.  Instead, it's food that's more creative.  The meal is slow and the atmosphere is relaxed, with no glancing at the watch because you have to be somewhere after lunch.  And, of course, there must be iced tea - with extra lemon.  Linen napkins are a plus but not necessary.  I found exactly this, and was pleasantly surprised at the reasonable prices, a short distance from Rowan University in NJ. 

Pitman, NJ is a throwback to gentler times.  Its little downtown, complete with a theater (and I don't mean movie), has several surprisingly good restaurants.  (One of which I blogged about this past summer.)  Today, I tried Sweet Lula's for the first time.  There were several temptations on the menu from which to choose.  We each started with a $4 cup of soup.  Mine was carrot cumin and it was absolutely delicious.  My friend had a corn chowder with smoked sausage.  Hers was good but we both agreed the carrot cumin was better. 

Next, I ordered a simple tomato stuffed with tuna salad on a bed of field greens.  I added vidalia onion vinaigrette.  This was light and tasty, except the tomato was very cold.  Too bad it wasn't room temperature as that would have helped tremendously.  My meal was a special and I don't know how much it cost but it was probably around $7.  My friend had a Peach Quesadilla (sliced peaches) and a Persian Lime and Honey dipping sauce ($7).

The chef, Anthony Asbury, came out to speak to a table and welcome them.  Ironically, the chef turned out to be the same man who previously came in through the front door with a basket of laundry.  I thought that was odd and mentioned to my friend he should have walked through the back door with his clean towels.

Asbury's personality is big and somewhat loud.  He was very humorous, but would have been funnier if he knew when to stop.  It wasn't hard to overhear him tell the table that he had a movie and dinner night on Valentine's Day.  During the five-course meal ($49), An Affair to Remember was shown.  He said the night was wildly successful - he had two seatings - and he was planning another on March 30th.  The movie will be African Queen.  I'm assuming the $49 price will remain the same.  (Not a bad deal at all at this BYOB.) 

When preparing to blog, I learned that Chef Anthony was a Hollywood puppeteer (including for Henson Productions) and an actor on and (mostly) off-Broadway. (For more on his career, click here and then click the Anthony Asbury blue link.)  That certainly explains the personality - definitely theatrical.  It also explains the many pictures of Asbury with some famous people (Tony Bennett) and some people I didn't recognize.

A brief Google search could not produce any information on Asbury's chef credentials or where he learned to cook.  He didn't prepare lunch for us so I'm assuming he prepares dinner.  I don't think he's at the point where he's simply coming up with the ideas and passing them to an underling.

The "proper lunch" I had at Sweet Lula's is making me lean toward trying this month's movie/dinner night.  Or, according to a February edition of The Gloucester County Times, in April I can go to Sweet Lula's and see the man who played Arthur Weasely in the Harry Potter movie series.  How Chef Anthony will work that in will be interesting.  As a former puppeteer, I'm sure he'll know how to make it good theater.