Concierge Magazine/ Why Cape Resorts Has Become One of the Most Unexpected Culinary Destinations on the Jersey Shore

Why Cape Resorts Has Become One of the Most Unexpected Culinary Destinations on the Jersey Shore

For years, the Jersey Shore dining stereotype has stayed relatively the same: boardwalk pizza, fried seafood baskets, ice cream cones and funnel cake after the beach. However, Cape Resorts has built something entirely different in Cape May, transforming the coastal town into a true culinary destination known for deeply seasonal menus, meticulous sourcing and a restaurant program that draws guests well beyond the summer season.For years, the Jersey Shore dining stereotype has stayed relatively the same: boardwalk pizza, fried seafood baskets, ice cream cones and funnel cake after the beach. However, Cape Resorts has built something entirely different in Cape May, transforming the coastal town into a true culinary destination known for deeply seasonal menus, meticulous sourcing and a restaurant program that draws guests well beyond the summer season.

Across properties like Congress Hall, The Virginia Hotel, Beach Plum Farm and The Rusty Nail, the company has developed one of the most respected fine food programs in the region, balancing elevated dining with the relaxed familiarity that defines Cape May itself. The experience can shift dramatically over the course of a single weekend, from oysters and rosé overlooking the ocean to Japanese Wagyu flown in directly from Japan or a communal harvest dinner set among the gardens at Beach Plum Farm.

“We want our restaurants to stand on their own two feet,” said Andrew Skilton, vice president of food and beverage for Cape Resorts. “If they were transplanted to any urban environment on the East Coast, they would still be considered really good restaurants.”

That philosophy starts with proximity as Cape Resorts sits just blocks from one of the busiest fishing ports on the East Coast while also sourcing heavily from its own 62-acre Beach Plum Farm. There, the culinary team raises heritage breed pork, grows seasonal produce and harvests ingredients that often move directly from the ground to the plate within hours. A true farm-to-table experience.

Throughout the properties, the menus are crafted based on the seasons. Currently, tomatoes have their own dedicated menu at The Ebbitt Room and Blue Pig Tavern. This summer, strawberries are turned into fresh lemonade for the farm dinners and there are seven varieties of mint that appear throughout cocktails, desserts and iced teas. To note, the delectable breakfast sandwiches at The Rusty Nail use pork raised directly on the farm.

A Sandwich With A Couple Of Candles On It

The menus are always changing just as the fresh ingredients come in and out of season. While the larger restaurant menus change several times throughout the year, chefs also craft thoughtful nightly specials around whatever is peaking at that exact moment.

“When they’re done, they’re done,” Skilton said of seasonal ingredients. “You can come back next year for them.”

Beach Plum Farm has increasingly become the center of the entire culinary program. Its long-table harvest dinners have turned into some of Cape May’s most sought-after reservations during the warmer months, while this season’s new “Tables in the Garden” experience allows smaller groups to dine directly among the herb and flower gardens at sunset.

At the same time, the culinary program continues to expand beyond traditional coastal American dining. Chef Jason Hanin of The Ebbitt Room, recently named New Jersey Chef of the Year 2025, has spent recent winters traveling throughout Japan, staging in Michelin-starred kitchens and building relationships with producers abroad. That influence now appears throughout The Ebbitt Room menu and will soon shape a new standalone Japanese izakaya concept currently under development in Cape May.

For Skilton, the larger goal is creating a culinary experience and places where guests can experience multiple styles of dining within the same destination while still feeling connected to the surrounding region, the season and the farm itself.

“We’ve tried to really diversify our food offerings,” he said. “You can have everything from frozen-mug beers and clam strips to Wagyu and crudo in the same weekend.”

Q&A with Andrew Skilton

Vice President of Food & Beverage, Cape Resorts

How would you describe the culinary identity of Cape Resorts?

"Our commitment is to quality and to utilizing local ingredients that are unique to this geography. We're called the Garden State for a reason. We have some of the most fertile land in all of New Jersey down here, and we're half a block from the Atlantic Ocean. We try to live into the season and let these culinary benchmarks — tomatoes, corn, strawberries, scallops — really signal what time of year it is."

How does the farm shape the way your chefs cook?

"I don't know a chef out there that doesn't want access to their own farm. These are all people committed to our vision, and I really let the individual executive chefs lead the charge. We change our menus four or five times a season, and when ingredients are at their peak we feature them — verbally at the table, as a menu insert, however makes sense. When they're done, they're done."

If you were showing a first-time visitor how to eat their way through Cape May, where would you start?

"I would do it over two days, because there are so many unique experiences you really couldn't handle it all in one."

Check out our guide to eating your way through Cape May.

What does Cape May offer that people don't expect?

"The Jersey Shore has been long associated with boardwalks and funnel cake and fried seafood baskets. Which I love, I'm here for all of it. But we have generations of guests who come back year after year, and we want to make sure we're always giving them something new alongside what they can rely on. The food and beverage experience is a huge decision-maker for where people choose to stay. We take that seriously."

How do you think about menu changes throughout the year?

"We like to be really fluid. We will get a call from our agricultural director saying the watermelons are here, and we have watermelon gazpacho, watermelon sorbet, and a watermelon spritz on the lawn. It is really fun. It is a great way to showcase ingredients that are synonymous with our area and our guests really appreciate it because it truly is authentic and truly is local."