COME TOGETHER AT MISTRAL
A Stunning Mix of Taste, Style and Atmosphere

Welcome To Mistral Restaurant In Princeton NJ

Gather with friends, family or your special someone for an intimate culinary experience

Located in the heart of downtown Princeton, Mistral brings that a breath of fresh air to the Princeton-area dining scene. Offering a stunning mix of taste, style and atmosphere, Mistral is recognized for its James Beard-decorated chefs and food activists Scott Anderson and chef de cuisine Ben Nerenhausen and the superlative emphasis they place on fresh, local ingredients and artistically plated dishes. Together, this culinary powerhouse has curated a progressive menu of culturally influenced and inventive small plates for guests to savor and share time and again.

With its welcoming outdoor patio that is equipped to provide guests comfort regardless of the season and rustic, inviting interior, Mistral’s atmosphere evokes feelings of warmth and community.

Mistral takes notes from Anderson’s first restaurant concept elements, celebrated for its indulgent tasting menus and open kitchen concept. Mistral emulates the elements core philosophy, utilizing fresh, local ingredients, and delivering culturally influenced cuisine that plays upon familiar American classics.

Our Menu

A Vanguard of Modern-Global Cuisine

Anderson and Nerenhausen’s style of cooking simultaneously celebrates a dish’s culinary roots while employing the diverse set of techniques and flavor profiles accumulated throughout their well-traveled lives.

Influenced by global flavor profiles and techniques, Mistral’s menu features culturally influenced interpretative American cuisine, much like its sister restaurant elements.

While elements is remembered for its indulgent prix-fix chefs tasting menus, Mistral delivers an entirely different dining experience to its guests. Featuring smaller plates geared towards sharing – not to be mistaken as tapas – Mistral encourages and empowers its patrons to create their own tasting menus based off a mixture of dishes coming from the ground, the farm and the sea.

In 2015, Mistral expanded to include Mistral Bar, where guests enjoy a full craft cocktail menu that is both unexpected, yet classic and attuned to chef Anderson’s local and seasonal ethos.
Mistral is open for lunch and dinner throughout the week. Mistral also offers Sunday brunch starting at 10:30am.

our menu at mistral restaurant in princeton nj

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Our Team

Award winning food hand crafted by award winning chefs

Co-Owner and elements Executive Chef Scott Anderson’s inventive and progressive approach to cooking has earned him praise from some of the industry’s most authoritative voices, including the James Beard Foundation. Anderson has been named James Beard Award Semi-Finalist for Best Mid-Atlantic Chef for four years running. Anderson pulls inspiration and vision from his prior exposure to foreign tastes and cultures along with a fascination with the earth’s natural resources, which ultimately shape the flavor profiles in the dishes he develops.

Chef de Cusisine Ben Nerenhausen is the driving force behind the melding of international flavors at Mistral Restaurant. He brings a lifetime of world travels and a repertoire of global cooking techniques to your table. Nerenhausen was named both 2014 James Beard Award Semi-Finalist for Rising Star Chef of the Year.

Like Anderson, Nerenhausen takes the lead from the Earth when developing Mistral’s menu, expressing seasonal ingredients in fresh and inventive ways and consistently executing dishes that are as visually inviting as they are delicious. Nerenhausen encourages culinary exploration and discovery among his staff to maintain a one-of-a-kind menu reflective of the teams’ respective experiences.

FIA BERISHA

Director of Operations –
elements & Mistral

BEN NERENHAUSEN

Chef de cuisine

STEPHEN DISTLER

Owner – elements & Mistral

SCOTT ANDERSON

Executive Chef and Co-Owner

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Fresh, vibrant local fare with International flavor

The word “Mistral” derives from a strong Mediterranean wind that sweeps through, bringing fresh air and clearing weather to those sailing upon the sea. Now, Mistral Restaurant offers chefs Scott Anderson and Ben Nerenhausen the chance to create ever-changing, seasonal offerings that can be adjusted to the prevailing winds of their unsurpassed creativity and taste.

Mistral delivers Michelin-quality chefs, a fast-paced shared plates service model and fresh contemporary ingredients that produce exceptional flavors. To achieve this standard, the team seeks collaboration with local purveyors to source the highest quality ingredients available, working daily with local farms, butchers and acquaculturists in the Princeton-area and beyond.

“Mistral is just so lovable, affordable and fun. The food is pure pleasure – talk about a happy meal!” – NJ Monthly

The team’s dedication to progressive cooking techniques and pure passion for discovering and serving the freshest possible ingredients available has garnered both regional and national press attention.

NJ Monthly coined Mistral one of the 30 Best Meals in 2015 and featured in their annual 25 Best Restaurants List in both 2016 and 2015.

Book now!