Saddle River Cafe has gone through many changes. Here's what we think of it now | Review

Jamie Knott, one of the best chefs in North Jersey, seems to be hungry for change.

In the past year or so he turned the Saddle River Inn, his multi-award winning, fine-dining restaurant from a high-end French restaurant to a high-end Italian steakhouse. He bought a French restaurant in Jersey City, named it Madame, and at night turned its bar into a speakeasy (though it's on hiatus now due to staffing issues). It sits behind his funky tiki bar Cellar 335 in Jersey City.

And then there is his five-year-old casual BYOB, just across the Saddle River (a stream really). Since its inception five years ago, Knott has transformed it three times, from a breakfast and lunch joint, to a lunch and brunch spot, to now a lunch-brunch-and-dinner restaurant.

Knott jokingly calls it Saddle River Cafe 3.0. I call it a damn-good, more grown-up cafe. Today it sports fashionable light gray banquettes (the previous pastel green and teal color scheme is mostly gone), modern sconce lighting, light wood floors and an inviting patio bedecked with lots of hanging greenery, albeit faux greenery.

I like the new look — a lot. The food? Like it too — for the most part. The service? It needs some work.

I don't know if Knott's crab cake is North Jersey's best; what I do know is that it is all I could think about for days after devouring it. The thick, baked patty, chock-full of sweet and slightly briny lump crab meat, was so light, it could pass for a crab soufflé — one that just happens to sit upon a toasted brioche bun. The cafe's French fries, the crab cake's companion, could easily have been overshadowed by their dazzling partner. But thanks to their golden crispy outer layer, their sweet pillowy center and the generous sprinkling of Old Bay Seasoning, the fries were impossible to overlook.

You shouldn't overlook the lobster roll either, not if you like a delicious Maine-style (cold with mayo) roll, stuffed with thick chunks of lobster meat and dressed with Tabasco, shallots and mustard. It's far from a stingy roll; it's certainly filling. Indeed, the portions are generous at the cafe — and the prices reasonable. No dish costs more than $29, and the lobster roll is among the few $29 dishes.

Not into seafood? No worries, especially if you're in the mood for a juicy, beefy and tender burger, one crowned by gooey Cheddar cheese and slathered with a lovely homemade bacon and onion jam. It's a very good burger. Come dinnertime, the burger gets a luxury upgrade: a triple truffle extravaganza with truffle aioli, truffle cheese and truffle fries.

Gotta hand it to Knott for not giving into that reflexive culinary trend of offering that omnipresent appetizer, burrata salad, as much a cliché as beet and goat cheese or Caprese. It's so boring! What Knott offers instead is whipped burrata, something that I have yet to encounter anywhere else. I believe I now know why. The burrata, a softball-sized cheese made of mozzarella filled with creamy Stracciatella cheese that had had a few whirls in a food processor, was surprisingly bland. Balsamic vinegar and fresh-cut strawberries gave it some oomph but not enough. Perhaps more vinegar, more sweet fruit and lots of fresh herbs (mint? basil?) would have done the trick.

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The lobster quesadilla, too, would have been delicious — it's stuffed with chunks of lobster, nuggets of avocado, strands of pickled red onions and creamy Gruyere cheese — had the tortilla not been burnt. Noticeably burnt, though our servers didn't seem to notice the dark char. Perhaps that's because too often they were nowhere to be seen.

My dining companions and I waited a good 15 minutes for our desserts, something that can be forgiven, given the chronic staff shortages restaurants are experiencing, thanks to the pandemic. What can't be forgiven is the fact that no one seemed to care. One "sorry" would have gone a long way.

No apologies needed for the one giant ice cream sandwich nor the one chocolate-chip bread pudding that easily sated five sweet tooths. The bread pudding may have been a tad too sweet, but I bet many kids and grown-ups will love it. The ice cream sandwich, rich vanilla ice cream packed between two thick homemade cookies studded with chocolate and peanut butter chips and sprinkled with sea salt, was just the right note to end our meal.

I have no doubt that Jamie Knott, who has wowed diners and critics for years, will take this version of his cafe —already a fun, interesting addition to the North Jersey dining landscape — and bring it up to the level of perfection and deliciousness diners are used to from him.

Go: 171 E. Saddle River Road, Saddle River, Saddle River; 201-282-2300, saddlerivercafe.com

Open: For lunch and dinner; brunch Saturday and Sunday. Closed Monday.

Good for: A neighborhood spot perfect for casual elevated lunch, brunch and dinner with the family

Recommended dishes: Crab cake sandwich, lobster roll, Cafe burger, fries, ice cream sandwich.

Drinks: Smoothies, juices, specialty coffee and tea. As for alcohol, BYOB.

Reservations: Accepted (recommended for brunch)

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Saddle River Cafe NJ Review: Jaime Knott's grown-up cafe