Local family reaches for the stars with new café

BY DANIELLE MEDINA
Correspondent

PHOTOSBY CHRIS KELLY staff Top, Catherine Dalton, owner of JavaMoon Café in Brick, runs the restaurant with husband Bill. Her sons and sister also work at the new eatery. Above, JavaMoon Café owner Bill Dalton opens a bottle of wine for a guest at his new restaurant, located in the Boulevard Square Plaza off Brick Boulevard. The Dalton family of Brick is over the moon about their new business.Since the grand opening of JavaMoon Café on June 30, business at the 140-seat restaurant has gotten stronger every day.

“We are thrilled to bring this relaxed and casual dining experience to Bricktown,” said owner Catherine Dalton, who along with husband Bill, are the sixth franchisees in the growing JavaMoon Café chain of restaurants.

Located in the newly renovated Boulevard Square Plaza (formerly Value City Plaza) on Brick Boulevard, JavaMoon Café serves specialties like MoonTide Shrimp, MoonCountry Chicken and the HarvestMoon Vegetable Wrap.

All of the restaurant’s MoonWalk sandwiches are made with fresh-baked foccacia and bruschetta and are filled with fresh ingredients, according to the Daltons.

Staying true to its name, JavaMoon Café also features a specialty beverage bar, serving up a variety of coffees, lattes and its own MoonaChinos. An assortment of hot and cold herbal teas, as well as cold blended drinks, like the Chocolate Orange MoonGlacier Freeze, are also on the menu.

“The food is what really hooked me,” said Catherine Dalton, a 17-year resident of Brick. “It’s about fresh ingredients and the presentation.”

After visiting the Java Moon Café in Jackson a number of times, Dalton said she knew that she wanted to open up one of her own. So, Dalton and her husband sold their 12-year-old physical therapy practice and jumped into the restaurant business.

In March 2004, the couple met with the corporate owner of JavaMoon and established a franchise agreement. The next step was finding a location and constructing the 3,500-square-foot restaurant.

“That was a lot harder than I thought it would be,” Dalton said.

But after the construction was complete, Dalton said that the fun part came — decorating the establishment.

“We worked hard to come up with a design that would enhance our guests’ dining experience,” she said.

The colorful interior, accented by a sky blue, cloud-filled ceiling and a stained-glass dome entrance, sets Brick’s JavaMoon Café apart from the other restaurants in the chain.

To staff the restaurant, Dalton said that they not only drew from the community, but also from their own family. The Daltons’ two sons, Colin, a senior at Brick Township High School, and Kevin, a sophomore at Monsignor Donovan High School, work as JavaMoon servers and baristas, respectively. Dalton’s sister, Peggy, is the restaurant’s day manager.

“The combination of our exciting menu, customer service-oriented staff and the relaxed, casual decor is what we feel will be a winning formula for success in Bricktown,” Dalton said.

Fifteen months after embarking on this journey, Dalton said the response she has gotten from the patrons has been very positive. She said the MoonCountry Chicken and the restaurant’s assortment of pasta dishes have been the best sellers.

The Daltons will also be introducing theme nights at the JavaMoon Café, where patrons can participate in open-mic nights, poetry readings and have their Tarot cards read. A private dining room is also available where local community groups can hold meetings.

“We are very interested in getting involved with local service groups and giving back to Bricktown,” Dalton said.

Located at 515 Brick Blvd., JavaMoon Café serves lunch and dinner seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Breakfast will be served on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.