Collingswood Fast Becoming the Restaurant Row of South Jersey

Sapori: It’s Not Japanese

Over the past couple years, Judy and I have made several unsuccessful attempts to visit the La Locanda del Ghittone on Second Street in Philadelphia.  Once it was closed, another time it was recovering from a fire.  So if Mohammad can’t come to the mountain, then the mountain should come to us, right?  Well, it has in the form of  Collingswood’s  Sapori. No it is not Japanese … that niche is left to Collingswood’s Sagami.  Franco Lombardo … formerly of  Ghittone, serves up the most authentic Italian food in the area.  As a matter of fact, a disclaimer on their menu cautions patrons that spaghetti alfredo or veal parmigiano (sorry, Judy) aren’t prepared here because they are faux Italian dishes.

We have visited Sapori on three separate occasions.  The last two times made us wonder why we weren’t knocked out on our first visit soon after they opened. We have been particularly impressed with the “unusualness” of their offerings, most recently evidenced in the Antipasto Saporito, which had items like garbonzo bean fritters or fig stuffed prosciutto or  a delicious eggplant caponata. Other items were more typical but noteworthy for their quality and freshness, roasted red peppers, soppressata shaved asiago cheese, and home-marinated green olives. As we often do, Judy and I shared the appetizer and it was plenty for both. I have had wonderful Italian specialties in the past, like rabbit ragout with papparadelle noodles, but this time I sampled the orecchietti with orata (Mediterranean sea bass) in red sauce, and it was delicious. Judy had quail stuffed with wild mushrooms over polenta triangles with white asparagus.  We passed on dessert, not because they didn’t sound wonderful but because we had no room left.  601 Haddon Avenue, 856-858-2288, BYOB, on-street parking. UPDATE: Lately we have enjoyed complimentary digestivos … choclacello and lemoncello … outstanding.  Be sure to ask if none is offered. 

 Nunzio’s Ristorante Rustico

Remember the Monte Carlo Living Room?  Well it has been reincarnated, or at least its extraordinary chef, Nunzio Patruno, has found a new place to display his cooking creativity, Ristorante Rustico, a lovely new restaurant in Collingswood, NJ. 

Nunzio is originally from the Puglia region of Italy, the heel of the boot surrounded on three sides by water.  Little wonder that Nunzio features multiple fish dishes each day.

He spent seven years at the Monte Carlo Living Room on 2nd Street in Philadelphia, a restaurant once featured by American Express Travel Magazine as one of the 100 best restaurants in America.

 Those of us who have enjoyed eating at Tortilla Press, directly across the street, watched with eager anticipation as Rustico rose from the ashes of an architecturally undistinguished photo-card shop. The result is a narrow and deep 125 seat restaurant designed to evoke an Italian piazza or courtyard with a faux fountain, tiled roofs and windows painted to evoke scenes from a movie on life in the Italian countryside.

The restaurant is a warm, comfortable and gracious environment that encourages site seeing and casual conversations.  That environment is aided by friendly and knowledgeable Italian servers who greet you with a heart-felt “bono sera”.

My wife and I attended on the second night  Nunzio’s  was open, having received a heads up from a work colleague fortunate enough to have attended a friends an family preview the evening before.

Let me start at the end.  Nunzio’s is certainly among the top 10 restaurants in the area. His presentations are classically simple.  He uses the finest and freshest ingredients available, producing dishes that taste as though they were prepared in a Puglian garden …. no small accomplishment on a bitterly cold SJ night in the middle of January.

 Because it was only their second night, no specials were offered.  The meal started with a basket of slightly sweet, home-baked, soft crusted bread accompanied by a very nutty and flavorful olive oil. In these days of low or no carb dining, I shouldn’t admit we were offered and accepted a second basket, but we did. It was that good. Judy and I believe if the meal starts with good bread, better things will follow. Nunzio did nothing disprove that theory.

Judy started with a Caesar Salad ($6) with a light, lemony, and lovely dressing.  I chose an excellent fresh antipasto with sopressa veneta, prosciutto, canneloni beans, calamata olives, a mild provolone cheese, tomatoes, eggplant, and marinated mushrooms, all artfully arranged and presented ($8).

Now let me preface our entrée choices by explaining Judy’s obsession with parmagiana, whether chicken or veal.  She has sampled this Italian menu staple from South Philly to South Beach. She considers herself a parmigiana aficionado

So I was anxious to see how she rated the pollo parmigiana ($15).at Nunzio’s  “Great, she said.  Maybe the best I’ve ever had.” No deep fried, reconstituted chicken patty here, but a delicately sautéed, free-range-tasting medallion of chickenness flavored with a flavorful marinara sauce.

 But it was my dish that begins to demonstrate Nunzio’s artfulness and authenticity, Pappardelle al Coniglio ($16). This dish uses baked, broiled, or sautéed rabbit to create rich and tasty gravy to flavor wide ribbon pasta called pappardelle.  I f you love game, gravy, and dente pasta, you’ll love this dish.  I plan to order it again and again.  Like every dish prepared by Nunzio, you taste each incredibly fresh ingredient.  Even the accompaniments, like Judy’s braised escarole were a welcome departure from form the overused broccoli rabe found at many Italian restaurants.

While the dessert  menu is limited, it is homemade and good.  A tartuffo was offered but decided to share Nunzio’s tiramisu ($6).  We weren’t disappointed; it was as advertised, just like Nona’s.  Coffee ($1.50) was excellent, and when we suggested that all was missing was at traditional digestive like limoncello, our waiter promptly produce two glasses of the sweet yellow elixir.

Like many South Jersey restaurants, Rustico is a BYOB.  Anticipating what we thought might be an above-average meal, we brought one of our favorite red wines, LVC DeMayo Vineyards Zinfandel from the Livermore Valley in Northern California. The wine was as rich and rewarding as the meal. Most entrees are in the $12 – 15 range, with appetizers seldom beyond $8.00

Total cost of our meal was $55.60. On future visits I plan to enjoy one of his table-side fish preparations, which are in the $25 range.  Based on what we observed and experienced (they were booked for the evening) we expect it will be very difficult to get a reservation on weekends, so book well in advance or come early in the week or early in the evening (we ate at 5:30PM). The restaurant plans to open for lunch in the near future. 

Note:  Since I wrote this review, prices (like taxes) have risen.  The average entree is now in the $15-25 range. 7/6/05

760 Haddon Avenue
Collingswood, NJ
856-858-9840