For the first time in its 132-year history, the Westfield train station will become the home of a restaurant next month.
Maize Cocina & Cocktails, a Mexican fusion restaurant and bar, will open Tuesday, Oct. 15 at the station, 301 N Ave. West.
The 100-seat eatery is in a more-than 3,000-square-foot space, with outdoor seating coming next spring.
It will initially be open from 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 5 to 11 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and 5 to 9 p.m. Sundays.
Maize Cocina & Cocktails will offer dishes such as Mexican pizza with a masa crust; chilaquiles onion soup; octopus al pastor with pineapple puree; Bloody Maria shrimp cocktail; and bavette steak with masa frites.
Cocktails will be made with ingredients from the restaurant’s garden.
The restaurant, and especially its liquor license, were made possible through a public and private partnership.
In late 2020, Westfield accepted proposals for the renovation of the train station into a restaurant and bar.
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Since the town is one of the few that own its train station (as opposed to being owned by NJ Transit), it was able to support Maize’s application to the state Division of Alcohol Beverage Control for a special concessionaire permit — allowing the restaurant to serve alcohol without acquiring a liquor license.
The permit allows for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages on property owned by a municipality.
Maize is only responsible for the annual ABC licensing fee, which is currently $2,500. The price of the most recent private sale of a liquor license in Westfield was $950,000.
“The opening of Maize is a prime example of a public/private partnership that provided a tremendous opportunity to repurpose an underutilized and deteriorating iconic town asset and drive downtown economic development,” said Westfield Mayor Shelley Brindle in a release.
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“In return for granting a concessionaires liquor license only available for municipal-owned properties, (co-owners Jesa Henneberry and Kamal Arora) thoughtfully and extensively restored this historic building that will deliver tremendous benefits to the community,” Brindle continued. “Maize will serve as the anchor of a reimagined north side town square, and play a vital role in the ongoing renaissance we are experiencing in downtown Westfield.”
Chef Henneberry and Arora worked with the Westfield Historic Preservation Commission and the town’s historic preservation officer to renovate the station. Greg Blasi, the project’s architect, is the former president of the Westfield Historical Society and a current member on the Westfield Historic Preservation Committee.
Henneberry and Arora made a “significant private investment,” according to the release, to ensure that the building, which dates back to 1892, was restored in a manner consistent with its origins — such as by preserving its “castle-like” stonework, according to the restaurant’s website.
Henneberry was the creative consultant at plant-based New York City restaurant Jajaja Mexicana, and she was also a Food Network “Chopped” winner. She has also worked at New York City food outposts like Heritage Grand Bakery and Urbanspace food halls, as well as bakery chain Le Pain Quotidien.
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Arora was the founder of Moghul Express and Moghul Catering, and also worked with food ventures like Mithaas, an Indian restaurant with North Brunswick and Edison locations; Urban Spice Indian restaurant in Kingston; and Papa Pancho Indian pizzeria in Edison.
“Many downtowns have been struggling, so we were just looking at more opportunities,” Brindle told MyCentralJersey in 2020 when Westfield sought train station restaurant applicants.
“We have this beautiful historic train station which is very essential for our downtown that we have been renting it to local foundations and nonprofits, so we thought we could relocate those to another space and then convert it to an economic development and revenue driver for the town.”
Go: 301 N Avenue West, Westfield train station; opens Tuesday, Oct. 15; maizewestfield.com .
Staff Reporter Jenna Intersimone: JIntersimone@MyCentralJersey.com
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: A Mexican fusion restaurant is opening in Westfield's historic train station. Here's when
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