{"id":29,"date":"2004-01-22T16:21:52","date_gmt":"2004-01-22T16:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johndeangelo.net\/?p=29"},"modified":"2009-06-24T01:40:08","modified_gmt":"2009-06-24T01:40:08","slug":"collingswood-fast-becoming-the-restaurant-row-of-south-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johndeangelo.net\/?p=29","title":{"rendered":"Collingswood Fast Becoming the Restaurant Row of South Jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sapori: It’s Not Japanese<\/strong><\/p>\n

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. \u00a0Once it was closed, another time it was recovering from a fire. \u00a0So if Mohammad can’t come to the mountain, then the mountain should come to us, right? \u00a0Well, it has in the form of \u00a0Collingswood’s \u00a0Sapori. No it is not Japanese … that niche is left to Collingswood’s Sagami. \u00a0Franco Lombardo … formerly of \u00a0Ghittone, serves up the most authentic Italian food in the area. \u00a0As 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.<\/p>\n

We have visited Sapori on three separate occasions. \u00a0The 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 \u00a0a 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. \u00a0We passed on dessert, not because they didn’t sound wonderful but because we had no room left. \u00a0601 Haddon Avenue, 856-858-2288, BYOB, on-street parking. UPDATE: Lately we have enjoyed complimentary digestivos … choclacello and lemoncello … outstanding. \u00a0Be sure to ask if none is offered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Nunzio\u2019s Ristorante Rustico<\/strong><\/p>\n

Remember the Monte Carlo Living Room? \u00a0Well 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nunzio is originally from the Puglia region of Italy, the heel of the boot surrounded on three sides by water. \u00a0Little wonder that Nunzio features multiple fish dishes each day.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Those 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.<\/p>\n

The restaurant is a warm, comfortable and gracious environment that encourages site seeing and casual conversations. \u00a0That environment is aided by friendly and knowledgeable Italian servers who greet you with a heart-felt \u201cbono sera\u201d.<\/p>\n

My wife and I attended on the second night \u00a0Nunzio\u2019s \u00a0was open, having received a heads up from a work colleague fortunate enough to have attended a friends an family preview the evening before.<\/p>\n

Let me start at the end. \u00a0Nunzio\u2019s is certainly among the top 10 restaurants in the area. His presentations are classically simple. \u00a0He uses the finest and freshest ingredients available, producing dishes that taste as though they were prepared in a Puglian garden \u2026. no small accomplishment on a bitterly cold SJ night in the middle of January.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Because it was only their second night, no specials were offered. \u00a0The 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Judy started with a Caesar Salad ($6) with a light, lemony, and lovely dressing. \u00a0I 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).<\/p>\n

Now let me preface our entr\u00e9e choices by explaining Judy\u2019s obsession with parmagiana, whether chicken or veal. \u00a0She has sampled this Italian menu staple from South Philly to South Beach. She considers herself a parmigiana aficionado<\/p>\n

So I was anxious to see how she rated the pollo parmigiana ($15).at Nunzio\u2019s \u00a0\u201cGreat, she said. \u00a0Maybe the best I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d No deep fried, reconstituted chicken patty here, but a delicately saut\u00e9ed, free-range-tasting medallion of chickenness flavored with a flavorful marinara sauce.<\/p>\n

\u00a0But it was my dish that begins to demonstrate Nunzio\u2019s artfulness and authenticity, Pappardelle al Coniglio ($16). This dish uses baked, broiled, or saut\u00e9ed rabbit to create rich and tasty gravy to flavor wide ribbon pasta called pappardelle. \u00a0I f you love game, gravy, and dente pasta, you\u2019ll love this dish. \u00a0I plan to order it again and again. \u00a0Like every dish prepared by Nunzio, you taste each incredibly fresh ingredient. \u00a0Even the accompaniments, like Judy\u2019s braised escarole were a welcome departure from form the overused broccoli rabe found at many Italian restaurants.<\/p>\n

While the dessert \u00a0menu is limited, it is homemade and good. \u00a0A tartuffo was offered but decided to share Nunzio\u2019s tiramisu ($6). \u00a0We weren\u2019t disappointed; it was as advertised, just like Nona\u2019s. \u00a0Coffee ($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.<\/p>\n

Like many South Jersey restaurants, Rustico is a BYOB. \u00a0Anticipating 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 \u2013 15 range, with appetizers seldom beyond $8.00<\/p>\n

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. \u00a0Based 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Note: \u00a0Since I wrote this review, prices (like taxes) have risen. \u00a0The average entree is now in the $15-25 range. 7\/6\/05<\/em><\/p>\n

760 Haddon Avenue
\nCollingswood, NJ
\n856-858-9840<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. \u00a0Once it was closed, another time it was recovering from a fire. \u00a0So if Mohammad can’t come to the mountain, then the mountain should come to … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","post","publish","author-jdeangel","post-29","format-standard","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johndeangelo.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johndeangelo.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johndeangelo.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johndeangelo.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johndeangelo.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/johndeangelo.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32,"href":"https:\/\/johndeangelo.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions\/32"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johndeangelo.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johndeangelo.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johndeangelo.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}