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The post HUDSON RESTAURANT WEEK RETURNS CHECK OUT THE LIST OF PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS first appeared on River View Observer.

By Sally Deering

 During the summer months, River View Observer likes to slip into the kitchen of some of Hudsonâ€s best restaurants and shine a spotlight on the chefs who create the delicious dishes on their menus. This week, RO visited Casa Dante restaurant a few blocks north of Journal Square on Newark Avenue. Casa Dante opened 40 years ago and changed hands about 8 years ago just around the time Chef Gregg Freda came on board as Executive Chef.

Newark Ave. could use a little fixing-up, thatâ€s for sure, and it appears the street outside Casa Dante will be going through some demo to put in new street lights, but that shouldnâ€t deter a visit to Casa Dante. Once you step inside the restaurantâ€s foyer, you are immediately transported to an extremely tranquil setting where a visitor can easily relax and enjoy the traditional Italian cuisine. Another good reason: Casa Dante has its own parking lot, a rarity in Jersey City.

Casa Danteâ€s menu includes Antipasto dishes like Mozzarella in Carrozza, mozzarella, parmigiano encrusted bread, lightly fried; served with a size of the house marinara sauce; Clams Oregnata, Little Neck clams baked with oregano-seasoned bread crumbs; and Fried Calamari, tender fresh calamari lightly fried and served with lemon and a choice of sweet or hot marinara.  Salads feature the Insalada di Avocado, avocado, hearts of palm, fresh mozzarella and diced tomatoes with lemon and olive oil dressing; and Crabmeat Salad, tangy arugula, colossal crabmeat and asparagus in garlic and lemon dressing. And the House Specialty, Seafood Salad ala Dante, chilled shrimp, scungilli, calamari, diced tomato, lemon, garlic and olive oil. There are Pasta, Chicken, Veal, Seafood and Steak entrees, all traditional Italian cuisine.  Chef Freda also creates daily specials, some with a flavorful twist.

Letâ€s meet Chef Freda!

RVO: Chef Freda, what is your background and how did you get interested in cooking?

CF:  I was born in Newark and raised in Verona. Iâ€m the middle-child. My motherâ€s side of the family has always been into food. My grandfather Frank Panico was a butcher and had his own shop in Newark. My first job was in King Supermarket where I worked as a cashier while I was still in high school. I was always around food. Then my uncle Frank opened Panicoâ€s restaurant and I started out as a cook, worked my way to sous chef and chef. That was in the 90s.

 RVO:  What is your educational background?

CF: I had attended St. Johnâ€s University and studied pre-law, but the book work, the reading, that stuff I didnâ€t find interesting. I liked cooking better.  Working with food, I enjoyed it more. Itâ€s fun. Itâ€s still fun 30 years later.

RVO: Did you go to culinary school?

CF:  No, Iâ€m self-taught. I worked my way up the old way before culinary schools were popular.

RVO:  What are your responsibilities as Executive Chef?

CF: My responsibilities are pretty much everything. I oversee the kitchen.

RVO: Does Casa Dante have any signature dishes?

CF: There are certain things synonymous with Casa Dante like the Casa Dante Seafood Salad, and the Sole Francaise. We have tripe, which you donâ€t see very often. Thatâ€s an “Old World” dish. Iâ€m not crazy about Tripe, but it does give a lot of flavor to the tomato sauce itâ€s served in.

 RVO: In traditional Italian cuisine, isnâ€t tomato sauce called ‘gravyâ€?

CF:  Tomato gravy has to have meatballs, sausage, braciola, pork spare-ribs – to me, thatâ€s gravy. At Casa Dante, we sell Sicilian meatballs with pignoli nuts and raisins in them. If youâ€re from Sicily, itâ€s a classic Sicilian meatball.

RVO:  How would you describe traditional Italian cuisine?

CF: Italian food is supposed to be five ingredients. They can be whatever you want, but the dish has to be simple. The product is supposed to stand on its own. If itâ€s a veal chop, let it be the best veal chop. If its fish, let it be fresh. Itâ€s all healthy food. 

 

RVO:  You also create daily specials with a twist? Can you give an example?

CF: Theyâ€re Italian dishes but not “old Italian”. Today we have a Braised Beef Short Rib over Creamy Polenta; Swordfish Rollatini; and Wild Salmon with a Mixed Peppercorn Crust.

RVO:  Many of our readers donâ€t have a lot of time to cook when they get home from work, can you suggest a quick recipe?

CF: Hereâ€s a great summer pasta dish: Take some Jersey tomatoes, peel and seed. Chop the tomato and put it in a bowl with fresh basil, salt & pepper, and garlic. Take hot pasta, toss your hot pasta on top and drizzle some Extra Virgin olive oil on top of that. Serve it with some bread;  itâ€s a classic, simple dish.

RVO:  Who would you say is your favorite chef?

CF: The best food I ever had in my life was my grandmotherâ€s. I remember the holidays and her macaroni and meatballs and sausage. Itâ€s a pity I never got to learn from her. One time, my brother asked her to cook him a can of Chef Boyardee. So my grandmother cooked him Chef Boyardee and then she threw the pot in the garbage. She wasnâ€t going to say no to her grandson, but she was not going to use that pot again. Thatâ€s a traditional Italian grandmother.

 

 

If you go:

Casa Dante

737 Newark Ave

Jersey City

(201) 795-2750

www.casadante.com

The post Ten Ingredients: At Casa Dante, Chef Freda Creates Italian Dishes a Traditional Grandmother Would Love first appeared on River View Observer.

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Angelina’s Restaurant Offers Fine Cuisine in a Cozy Hideaway

The post Bayonne’s Best Kept Secret! first appeared on River View Observer.

Arthur’s Tavern, the noted Hoboken steak restaurant, welcomes the New Year by offering a 15% customer appreciation discount off all lunch and dinner checks on Wednesdays.

Treat yourself, your family, friends and business colleagues to this superb discount on Arthur’s famous steaks, burgers, overstuffed sandwiches, seafood and winter specials.

Latest in burgers:
Arthur’s “Hell” Burger – a spicy burger with Cajun seasoning, Pepper Jack cheese and Arthur’s own “Hell” sauce made with six kinds of peppers.
The “Murphy” Burger with 10 ounces of beef served on mashed potatoes with Guinness gravy, sausage, hot peppers, onions and fried potatoes “finished” on the grill and topped with pan sauce.
Seafood, ribs and then some…
Check out Arthur’s succulent BBQ ribs, baked fresh New Bedford scrod, shrimp quesadilla and daily entree specials including Filet Mignon Sandwich, Pork Osso Bucco, Baked Salmon, Surf & Turf, Cajun Crab Cakes, Chicken Salad and Baby Spinach with seasonal vegetables with grilled salmon on top. 
Arthur’s Tavern is located at 237 Washington Street, Hoboken 201 656-5009.  Visit web site: www.arthurstavern.com for menu details.

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Thirty-eight years ago, Louis and Felice Laico opened a neighborhood restaurant on Terhune Ave in Jersey City, where families shared a huge pizza pie, soda came in a pitcher and beer flowed from the tap. A humble family eatery serving delicious Italian cuisine to neighborhood regulars, professors at the local colleges and old-timers who shared colorful stories of Jersey City back in the day.

 Although Louis and Felice have since passed on, their son Louis Laico, Jr, who worked side-by-side with his mom and dad, took over the restaurant, keeping that warm, ‘welcome-to-the-family’ ambience that invites you in as soon as you enter the door. Laico family members wait tables and bartend – Louis’s brother-in-law Jimmy Wolowitz is bar manager and Louis’ wife Gloria sometimes fills in when they need a hostess.

 Laico’s dining room offers a warm ambience and the bar has been somewhat modernized with sexy light spilling from Italian glass fixtures and HD-TV on the wall. But the restaurant’s main ingredient and menu regulars like spicy calamari; and Speidini alla Romana appetizers are house favorites along with entrees including Paglia e Fieno with shrimp and lobster in vodka cream sauce; Orechietti with broccoli rabe and sausage; and filet mignon scaloppini Madeira with wild mushrooms. Louis complements these dishes with daily specials like pan-seared Diver scallops; fresh-grilled Bronzino filet with grilled asparagus; and pastas like rigatoni with pork ragout. (Laico’s appetizers range from $6.95- to- $12.95 and entrees from $14.95- to- $26.95.)
 
“Louis started out using old family recipes and now he makes up his own recipes,” Nancy Salerno, Louis’s sister-in-law, who handles Laico’s PR, says. “Over the years, the menu has become fresher and lighter. In the beginning it was heavy Northern Italian, chicken parmesan, lasagna, things like that. Louis still makes those classics but added wonderful robust-y dishes like pastas, pork loin and veal chops.”

Hearty dishes attract hearty eaters and many of Laico’s regulars are Giants and Jets professional football players. When a reporter from Forbes Business magazine was doing a story on the teams, several members mentioned Laico’s as one of their favorite places. The reporter called Louis and said, ‘your name keeps coming up’ and after a visit to the restaurant, she named Laico’s the best Italian restaurant in New York and New Jersey.
 
Laico’s is also vegetarian-friendly and Louis can reconstruct dishes on the menu with a vegetable broth base and other vegetarian specifications. All entrees are served with a family-style salad made with Laico’s famous secret dressing and homemade garlic bread and fresh Italian bread. The full bar offers classic and specialty drinks and a vast selection of wines by the glass and bottle, and everything on the menu is available for take-out. Laico’s can also cater any type of party, business luncheon, wedding reception – you name it.

More than just a neighborhood eatery, Laico’s has a solid reputation in the tri-state area as a fine Italian restaurant serving great food at reasonable prices. And you don’t have to worry about finding a parking space, either. Laico’s offers free valet parking.
“Over the years, the clientele has become so diverse,” Salerno says. “It started out as a neighborhood pizza place and bar and now we have customers from New York, Pennsylvania. I have friends who live out of state and the first thing they do when they come to New York is eat at Laico’s. Teachers from New Jersey City University come at lunchtime and bring their family back at night for dinner. Seats are close and people are always striking up conversations with the people sitting next to them.  It’s really good food – nice portions at a reasonable price and people come back because it’s worth it. The atmosphere and the people that are here, it’s a nice social place.”
 
Laico’s Restaurant
67 Terhune Ave, Jersey City

201-434-4115
Reservations accepted – walk-ins welcome

Hours: Mon-Thurs 11:30 am-10 pm;

Fri, Sat 11:30 am-11 pm; Sun 1 pm-9 pm
Free Valet Parking
Photo of Laico’s Restauarant Yelp.com

The post Laico’s Restaurant Neighborhood Favorite for Over 30 Years first appeared on River View Observer.