Category: northjerseycom

Since it opened late last year, Pasta Ramen, the by-invite-only refined Italian-Japanese pop-up functioned as a secretive speakeasy. Location and chef were kept hush-hush. Those who dined there were sworn to secrecy, I among them.

But now I can give the secret, most of it at least, away. So here goes:

Chef Robbie Felice of award-winning Viaggio in Wayne and Osteria Crescendo in Westwood and restaurateur Luck Sarabhayavanija of Ani Ramen in several locations in North Jersey are the two men behind the enterprise. Felice, a James Beard Rising Chef nominee, is the chef.

Robbie Felice, chef-owner of Viaggio Ristorante in Wayne and Osteria Crescendo in Westwood.

The two are taking their extravagant concept to Miami for the month of January — and have upped the cost of the 13-course feast from $317 to $379 (tax and gratuity included). Not cheap by any means, but supremely delicious.

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It’s not often that owners of a restaurant-to-be don’t want to let everyone know about their place. They usually are eager to get the word out.

But when asked a day after he was spotted working inside the shuttered Villalobos space on South Fullerton Street in Montclair, acclaimed chef Robbie Felice of Italian restaurants Viaggio in Wayne and Osteria Crescendo in Westwood, said, “I’m sworn to secrecy.”

Felice, who was nominated by the James Beard Foundation for a Rising Star Chef award though ceremonies were canceled due to COVID-19, was there with restaurateur Luck Sarabhayavanija, owner of the ever-growing empire of Ani Ramen House and the brand-new Mochinut Montclair…

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Robbie Felice, chef-owner of acclaimed Italian restaurants Viaggio in Wayne and Osteria Crescendo in Westwood, is preparing to compete in a national pasta competition against seven other chefs. If he wins, he will go on to compete for the title of World Pasta Champion in October.

The first round of the competition will be held at the prestigious Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival on April 16.

In that round, Felice hopes to show New York — and the nation — that New Jersey has got real culinary chops too.

“I want to show New York people,” Felice said with his usual enthusiasm. “‘Hey, some Jersey guy just won this,'” he imagined what the scuttlebutt might be should he win.

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New Jersey chefs earned seven spots on the semifinalist list for the James Beard Foundation Awards, among the most prestigious culinary awards in the world.

The nominees include Marciel Presilla of Cucharamama in Hoboken (a 2012 winner of Best Chef-Mid Atlantic and 2013 winner of Cookbook of the Year), Joey Baldino of Zeppoli in Collingswood (this will be his ninth nomination), five-time nominee Dan Richer of Razza in Jersey City, Cookie Till of Steve and Cookie’s in Margate, Robbie Felice of Viaggio Ristorante in Wayne, Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer of Canal House Station in Milford, as well as the restaurant 15 Fox Place in Jersey City.

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The final round of nominees will be announced in Philadelphia on March 25 and the awards gala will take place on May 4 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Since the awards began in 1991, only two New Jersey chefs have received a James Beard award. Craig Shelton, then at The Ryland Inn in Whitehouse, and Maricel Presilla, chef at Cucharamama in Hoboken, both won best chef in the Mid-Atlantic region. Shelton in 2000; Presilla in 2012.

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Esther Davidowitz, NorthJersey.com

It didn’t take Robbie Felice much time to feel anxious.

Barely 24 hours after Felice, the chef and owner of Viaggio in Wayne and Osteria Crescendo in Westwood, learned that he was nominated for one of the most prestigious culinary awards in the world, was no longer feeling the heady joys of winning. He was now feeling the agonizing fear of losing.

Felice is a semifinalist for the James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year award. Rising Star Chefs, according to the James Beard Foundation, “must be age 30 or younger and display an impressive talent, likely to make a significant impact on the industry for years to come.” Felice is 29.

“I’m already scared of not making the final,” said Felice, sitting on one of the high stools that surround the large, sun-lit bar at Osteria Cresendo, his modern, 80-seat Italian restaurant, which opened in April. (His more rustic, 73-seat BYOB Viaggio celebrated its third anniversary year five months ago.)

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Esther Davidowitz, North Jersey Record

A dozen top New Jersey chefs will showcase their specialties at a gourmet tasting event Sept. 16 at Battello, chef Ryan DePersio’s modern Italian restaurant that sits on the Hudson River offering heart-stopping views of the Manhattan skyline.

All proceeds will benefit Eva’s Village, the Paterson-based nonprofit organization that provides care and support for people struggling with poverty, hunger, homelessness and addiction.

Eva’s Village also has a culinary school, launched five years ago, that offers job training and placement for underserved members of the community, including graduates from Eva’s addiction recovery program.

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Esther Davidowitz, North Jersey Record Published 7:41 a.m. ET Aug. 7, 2019

I would be hard-pressed to name a new Italian restaurant in North Jersey that’s better than Osteria Crescendo, chef Robbie Felice’s inviting 4-month-old restaurant in downtown Westwood. Actually, I would have a hard time naming any Italian restaurant in North Jersey that’s better than OC.

And I mean Italian restaurant, not Italian-American restaurant. Just as you wouldn’t find chicken parm, penne alla vodka, calamari in marinara sauce or garlic bread in Italy — dishes that no patriotic nonna or self-respecting capocuoco would make — you won’t find them in Osteria Crescendo or, for that matter, Viaggio, Felice’s rustic near-3-year-old BYOB in Wayne.

Felice aims for the real thing: the food that Italians in Italy eat.

The menu, even, is written mostly in Italian. It may charm some, but consider bringing along your smartphone or an Italian-English dictionary if you don’t want to spend valuable time grilling your server on what, say, “cozze al forno,” “involtini di pollo,” or “fungi crespelle” mean…

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It’s early morning and pasta chef Joyann Demont of Haledon is mixing flour and water in the stainless steel kitchen of the newly opened and ballyhooed Osteria Crescendo in Westwood. Wearing a crisp white chef’s coat, her long dark hair pulled back, Demont works quietly, whisking eggs, pouring salt, kneading dough, flattening the mixture and shaping it into small shells, bow-ties, long strands and large flat noodles.

She makes the prized homemade pasta five days a week — and she couldn’t be happier or more proud.

“I’m working,” said the 28-year-old mother of two. “That’s all that matters.”

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Farfalle from Osteria Crescendo, duck fat potatoes from Talde

by: Esther Davidowitz, Rebecca King and Cynthia Schweich Handler, North Jersey Record

There’s a lot of wonderful food in North Jersey, yet often many of us end up eating uninspired, forgettable grub. We at The Record, Daily Record, and NorthJersey.com, however, frequently go out to eat (some of us readily admit to being food obsessed). And every now and then, we discover knock-your-socks-off dishes. And since we’re in the business of reporting, we thought we’d report back to you on our delicious discoveries so that you can go enjoy terrific food too.

Check back in June — we are determined to share our finds with you every month.

Gamberi Rossi Crudo (Raw Red Prawns), Osteria Crescendo in Westwood

The red prawn crudo at Osteria Crescendo is Robbie Felice’s way to show food lovers “what I can do.” A brief lesson on red prawns: They’re a brilliant red color and their most flavorful part is their head. In Italy, diners suck the “brains” out of the head. Felice assumed that he couldn’t get Jerseyans to do the same. So, instead, he boils the head in flavorless oil to make a kind of soup, and serves that gorgeous pool of bright red with small cubes of the shrimp’s tail that he’s marinated in ginger, lemongrass and garlic. Fresh mint leaves are added to “make everything pop,” he said. $21. — Esther Davidowitz, food editor

Robbie Felice, chef and owner of Viaggio, the critically acclaimed rustic Italian restaurant in Wayne, is officially opening his second restaurant, Osteria Crescendo, in Westwood on April 9.

Osteria Crescendo, an 80-seat modern restaurant, moved into the space that for years had housed Baci Italian Grill on Jefferson Avenue. Felice’s new spot has a bar — a first for him — that will serve craft cocktails with “Italian influences.”

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