Agricola Eatery Will Open Sunday at Former Lahiere's in Princeton

The farm-to-table restaurant Agricola Eatery will launch a "soft opening" on Sunday on Witherspoon Street, in the location formerly occupied by Lahiere's. 

Reservations are being accepted beginning for Sunday dinner. 

The renovated restaurant, located near the intersection of Nassau Street, will have 200 seats, a lively bar and space for private events for up to 60 people. It will open for dinner seven days a week. Shortly after opening, it will add weekday lunch, plus brunch on Saturdays and Sundays and catering services.

“Agricola is the culmination of my journey to create a warm and welcoming gathering place that celebrates fresh, seasonal foods and the kind of extraordinary service that can accommodate the needs of the Princeton community,” Agricola owner Jim Nawn told Patch last year.

Nawn is the owner of Great Road Farm in Skillman. He has partnered with Executive Chef Josh Thomsen and farmers Steve Tomlinson and Sam Joseph at Great Road Farm in Skillman to provide authentic farm-to-table cuisine. 

Thomsen said the food on Agricola’s menu that doesn’t come from the Skillman farm will come from the best local and regional producers he and Nawn can find.

“This is stuff that my grandmother did,” Thomsen told Patch last year. “I mean, she went to the butcher shop, she went to the fish market, she knew the small purveyors who had things. ‘Oh that market, that guy has the best tomatoes’ and she would bring it home. And to me, that’s what farm to table is. It’s small purveyors who spend the time to do it right and not these mass-market things."

Thomsen, a New Jersey native, was named a “Rising Star Chef” by StarChefs. Thomsen has been a chef at the famed French Laundry in Napa Valley, NobBill at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Tao restaurant, Patina in Southern California and Claremont Resort and Spa in Berkeley 

Nawn hopes Agricola will become a community gathering place much as Lahiere’s was for generations of locals and visitors alike.

“This project has been a labor of love,” Nawn said. "When Agricola opens, guests will be amazed at how distinct each room’s personality will be — from friendly and intimate to open and festive.

To make a reservation at Agricola Eatery, call 609-581-2977. 

See also:

Jim Nawn: The Man Behind Agricola Eatery

Agricola Eatery to Open at Former Lahiere's Location