Last year I saw an article ranking various restaurants in Bergen County for “best” this and that and I made a list of places I wanted to go to. At the top of the list was Ivy Inn at 288 Terrace Ave in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. This restaurant was a former stagecoach inn with a fireplace, brick walls and, the selling point for us, live piano.

Our first visit there was for Happy Hour on a Thursday. We went and sat at this cozy bar and met our bartender Amelia. She was welcoming and we immediately felt that we had found a great new spot! Ivy Inn had been voted Most Romantic bar and restaurant, best bar for happy hour and maybe more “bests”.  We ordered wine and some items from the bar menu which is fantastic, extensive and incredibly well priced. But, the best was yet to come! Live piano music from 4:30 until closing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Meeting Jerry Mendelson was the equivalent of meeting the Ambassador for the Ivy Inn. Jerry has been Ivy Inn’s piano man for the last 17 years.  Jerry is 95 years young.  He started playing the piano when he was 8. College was interrupted when Pearl Harbor was attacked and he joined the Navy. He served on an aircraft carrier. He was shot down but was picked up and saved by the Philippine underground who took care of them and got them back to the ship. Jerry has been interviewed for a Library of Congress article. When his civilian life resumed, he went to Columbia and was accepted at Julliard. He has played for or with Les Paul, Ray Charles, and Tony Bennett and many more.  His was the music that filled Radio City Music Hall and he filled in for the organ player at Yankee Stadium.

Jerry can play any and every song you could possibly want to hear. Asked why at 95 he is still working? I love what I do, he says. He loves playing songs that his guests want to hear. And he adds, “it has been a career with no regrets”.

Such passion! I feel so blessed to have met this man. We have enjoyed many “happy hours” listening to him play.