Craig C. Shelton is that rare amalgam of intellectual, artist and innovator. In the argot of the gastronomic universe, he is a trailblazer and perfectionist–two qualities that are not mutually exclusive in the all-too-safe-and-comfortable domain of high-end French restaurants.

Shelton is the chef/owner of The Ryland Inn, the only Relais & Chateau property in New Jersey and one of the highest-rated restaurants in the U.S. After cooking in France for a slew of three-star Michelin restaurants (Shelton’s mother is French and he is a dual citizen of France and the United States) and honing his craft in the rarefied air of New York French food palaces (Le Bernadin, La Cote Basque and Le Chantilly), this Yale graduate took a chance on turning the historic Ryland Inn into a mecca for a bolder view of a new French cooking.

After buying the property in the early ‘90s, Shelton developed an organic herb garden on 50-acres of hills and carefully manicured lawns in New Jersey’s hunting region. Before it was trendy to wax poetic about the virtues of "organic produce," Shelton was cultivating and tending to his garden with the understanding that raw ingredients – not the chef – would make or break the dining experience.

What follows is a brief glimpse of genius of Shelton on subjects ranging from the x-factors in French cooking to a primer on how to run a restaurant to please any palate.

Shelton on French Cooking: "I bristle at the notion that French cuisine is all about the sauces. In French cooking, the most important element is the prime ingredient, that choice morsel. The most important person is not the chef, but the gardener who tended to the delicate celery shoots or the person who raised the exquisite lamb or the best beef. That beef is the star on the plate – not the condiments that adorn the dish."       

Chef Shelton's handiwork

Shelton’s Mission Statement: "Our approach has never been to tell a client what he or she ought to like based on some Platonic ideal of the ultimate restaurant experience. My goal is to offer a wide range of culinary options; I want to present everything from the simplest roast chicken with roast vegetables to the most cutting-edge dishes. I have had a customer come into the restaurant who thought he’d never eat at any place more expensive than a Denny’s, and by the end of the meal he’d be screaming with joy, knowing that a Cote de Boeuf with root vegetables may taste like a steak − only better than any steak he ever could have conceptualized."

Shelton on the Service Staff: "I honestly believe that the food is unimportant without extraordinary service. If one of my customers is stressed out and not in the right emotional state to enjoy a meal, then it could be cooked by the likes of Joel Rubochon or Gaston Le Notre (two of Shelton’s mentors) and the food is still going to suck.

"The unfortunate truth is that too many restaurants exist to celebrate the ego of the chef/owner and therefore the service staff functions to serve the needs of that ego. I reject that mission statement outright, as my job is merely to help the service staff satisfy the needs of our guests."

The Ryland Inn Experience: You walk into this historic building and the first thing you see is an impressive oil portrait of Shelton painted by noted artist Walter E. Peterson. From that point on you are in a domain of divine relaxation and creative energy, a tranquil zone with muted lighting, comfortable chairs and the promise of a dining experience with no equal outside of France.

Ryland Inn decor

The menu changes frequently in accordance with the seasonal variances that dictate the freshest ingredients. Shelton offers several dining options, including an eight-course menu gastronomique–for about $120, a tasting menu of five-to-six courses for $90-$100, and special three-course menus for as little as $45.

Shelton is perhaps the foremost expert on pairing food with wine in the U.S. The Ryland Inn’s wine cellar – selected by Shelton – features more than 1,000 offerings and was voted "The Best French Wine List of America" by Restaurant Hospitality at the 8th Annual World of Wines Festival in Laguna Niguel, California.

To get a sense of the métier of our chef, here’s a sample from a Menu Gastronomique with Shelton’s analytical remarks on each dish:

***Pan-seared Oysters with Fresh Cream & Caviar: "I sear the oysters in a Teflon-coated pan for two seconds. The watchword is to keep things simple and let the ingredients do the work."

  ***Black sea bass with organic celery branch, celery leaf and celery seed: "The idea of the dish is cool tones of celery, along with the pairing of the fragrant celery and the pristinely fresh black sea bass with the complementary fragrance and super-fine and silky texture of a Puligny-Montrachet."

***Lobster with fresh morels: "I pair this with a Meursault (F. Jobard Meursault "En la Barre" 1999). The lobster is braised in butter; this is something David Bouley and I came up with 17 years ago; a technique of discovery that in the emulsified butter you are actually tenderizing the lobster. This technique is so effective, in fact, that if you leave the lobster meat in for 10 minutes too long (it is cooked in an oven set at 180 degrees) the lobster will have completely disintegrated."

Chef Craig C. Shelton

***Organic Veal Medallions in root vegetable flours with pommes puree and sauce brunoise: "I use the best quality of veal, of course. I never pound the meat. I would usually sear meat gently, but here I’ll sear a little more extensively, as searing is not what locks in the juices but opens up the juices and allows them to come out. We want more juice so that the aromas of the meat and root vegetables will be liberated to echo the aromas of the Burgundy wine. The key ingredient in the sauce is a beef reduction; I rely on meat, rather than bones, for my sauces because I don’t want the gelatin, which has traditionally been relied on as a filler, to dilute the exquisite flavors of the veal and the wine."