News

Jan 02, 2024

Horizon Diner Seeing New Day

By Maria Scandale | on June 07, 2023

By Maria Scandale | on June 07, 2023

NEW MENU: Diego Sanchez wraps up an extended-hours day surveying the newly landscaped entrance while interior spruce-ups are completed. He sold his successful restaurant in Austin to come back to New Jersey. (Photo by Ryan Morrill)

The new owner of Horizon Diner in Manahawkin, Diego Ysrael Sanchez, has cooked on the Food Network series "Chopped" and pitted his skills to try to "Beat Bobby Flay."

Sanchez is accomplished but fairly modest; those resume notes didn't emerge until 20 minutes into talking with him in the East Bay Avenue eatery a week after the deed closed into his name.

He is the talented chef in the kitchen.

The new name is 39° NORTH. It zeroes in on the latitude where Sanchez has landed after his Peruvian birthplace, the international flavor of New York City, and owning his own restaurant in Austin, Texas.

"Louie," an old acquaintance from his first diner industry days, pointed him to an opportunity in Manahawkin, and here a new menu will unfold.

"He said, ‘There is a small, beautiful place for sale in Manahawkin, N.J. right by the water,’" Sanchez recalled. "I came down and just looked at the place, looked at the potential and I said, ‘There is something that I can do here.’"

Its surrounding parking lot lined by shade trees in the old downtown, the vintage-1940 diner has for years unceremoniously served loyal customers who appreciated its good-tasting traditional breakfasts and lunches. Other residents said on social media that although they hadn't been there, they welcomed 38-year-old Diego, as they first knew his name online, to the neighborhood. The pace has already picked up as signs out front state "under new ownership."

"I want to create a great experience for the guests," Sanchez pledged. "Horizon Diner has been a staple in Manahawkin for many years."

New ownership always raises customer questions: What will he keep? What will he change?

Sanchez said the classic style stays. "I want to maintain it as a retro-style diner but do cosmetic touchups of both dining rooms."

That will be a warm feeling for many – we were sitting in a corner booth by the classic sunrise-motif aluminum wall paneling. Fix-ups such as changing the paint of the rose-hued ceiling and replacing a few booth seats patched with tape are on the agenda, and so is an updating of the exterior façade. Landscaping is already done, and the electrician was handing him an invoice for an upgrade as we spoke.

On the menu, start with the fact that folks will still be able to order a "classic breakfast" for $7.95; or an avocado toast with daily-made avocado spread, tomato jam and herbs on sourdough for $10.95. Farm-fresh omelets in international inspirations will be available all day. How about some Tito's-infused berries on your brioche French toast? Matcha-Mill Pan-crepe is a dream of 20 layers of crepes, matcha puff cream and whipped cream.

A crab cake sandwich, the "LBI," with roasted pepper and chipotle hollandaise and a side of either home fries or citrus mixed greens will become an affordable favorite at $14.95. A new Dock to Table section at $20.95 includes sushi-grade sesame-seared ahi tuna as well as "Flaming Jumbo Shrimp," salmon three ways, locally sourced Ernest's Bank Fried Fish – and onward the four pages of choices go from there.

He has daily specials planned such as a Friday night $19.95 prime rib dinner. The regular menu invites comfort with American-style rotisserie chicken with cornbread stuffing or Louisiana fried chicken or bacon-wrapped meatloaf or slow-cooked baby back ribs or the Berkshire Pork Chop. It roams to Wagyu sliders, German Schnitzel Sandos and much more. Salads, plant-based, gluten-free, vegan, and other options keep a variety of customers in mind.

"Each dish has an experience behind it."

More about "Diego" and where the creativity came from: He has been in the industry for 20-plus years, he summarized.

"I started in the industry in diners."

That was at the Galaxy Diner in Rahway. In the door came about 1,000 "covers," or customers, per day on a slow day, "and probably about 3,000 covers a day on a weekend. It was mass production. I was a line cook there."

He enrolled in culinary school while still working – the Art Institute of New York City.

"After I graduated, I left the New Jersey dining scene and did 15 years in the New York City dining scene," he said. We asked him what his takeaway was from that experience.

"I was working for some of the best chefs in New York City. I went from French to Italian, Greek, Mediterranean restaurants. In 2018 I was offered a job in the Bahamas at the Baha Mar Resort. Then COVID happened. During COVID I was offered to open up a Greek restaurant in Austin, Texas."

The music scene and the up-and-coming status of Austin were two attractions that sealed that deal.

"After being in Austin with a project opening up a big restaurant, it came to my mind to open up my own restaurant."

He did open his own place, and called it Llama Kid, an endearing name for its Peruvian-style theme.

The trail toward Manahawkin was to take two more big turns first. He sold his successful restaurant. While looking for new opportunities, he worked at Fontainebleau in Miami Beach.

"I was shopping for my next chapter where I could pour all this experience. That's when the opportunity to purchase this new location came up. In the years when I was in the diner industry, I made very good connections that I never lost," he said.

"So, I have two daughters; they live in Edison, N.J. Time has flown from when they were born, and they are now 16 and 19. It made me realize that I had very little time for me to join them again, so I said I’d better get back to Jersey. … I got back to the people I knew in New Jersey to see if there were any opportunities, and that's when the Horizon Diner came into play. It's just me; I’m the only owner here, no partners."

In the kitchen, he’ll be cooking as much as 80% from scratch. That brings up the experience on TV on "Chopped," in 2019, and "Beat Bobby Flay," last year.

"I didn't beat Bobby, and I got ‘chopped’ on the last round," Sanchez summed up, but he is proud to be able to list the experience.

Before contestants try to beat Bobby, they go head-to-head with other chefs. "I made grilled bronzino, based on Peruvian influences. And the menu for ‘Chopped’ was bacon, beer and burgers. On the first round I made pork belly crostini. On the second round, it was a spin on a Peruvian burger with aioli and a fried egg. The last round was a peach cobbler with spicy beer."

Sanchez said, "I’m super-excited and looking forward to adding to the Manahawkin dining scene. After having cooked worldwide, it's only fair for me to pour that experience into Manahawkin through 39° NORTH."

The whole staff that's been a part of the diner were welcomed to stay on. "They’re a staple. I was lucky enough to inherit a team that is very loyal, and it's only going to get better."

Asked how the former owner handled a changing of the guard, Sanchez replied, "It was mixed feelings with Nick, because he was attached to the place after 20 years, but he was also happy to hand it over to a chef that has many ideas for the place."

Bring your own wine and he’ll suggest what to pair it with. He hopes to add outdoor dining, but it wouldn't be this summer. Extended hours started Memorial Day with 7 a.m.-to-9 p.m. service seven days a week.

The beach just across the bridge is an amenity that definitely drew the new owner. We said we hoped he finds time to get there.

"I’ll make time," he insisted, laughing.

— Maria Scandale

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