Dishes inspired by Sicilian Family Recipes                    

By Sally Deering

To Sal Albanese, the owner and chef of Prestoâ€s restaurant on Warren Street in Jersey City, food should be simply prepared and lightly seasoned to let the flavor of every ingredient shine through. Too many ingredients and seasonings can overwhelm instead of meld flavors.

Albanese serves his personal philosophy with every plate that comes out of Prestoâ€s kitchen where truly authentic Italian cuisine is the star of the show. Inspired by recipes handed down from family in Sicily – south of “the boot” – Albaneseâ€s dishes stand out because theyâ€re made with fresh, flavorful ingredients.

“A lot of my menu is from family recipes, friends, things you pick up along the way,” Albanese says. “My mother has given me so much info, and a lot of it has to do with how we prepare the sauce. We do it the way my mom made it at home.”

The cozy Warren Street eatery seats 30 and itâ€s open for dinner from 5-to-10 pm every day except Sunday. Regulars keep the place hopping and now that winter is here, deliveries are up, too. And although the menu hasnâ€t changed much since Prestoâ€s opened in 1991, there are specials and signature dishes that have regulars coming back for more.

“We sell a lot of Pasta Carbonara, Chicken Parmigiana, and Chicken Marsala,” Albanese says. “Weâ€ve started doing pizza deliveries, too.”

Prestoâ€s menu features appetizers like Shrimp Cocktail, Baked Clams, and Mussels Marinara ($8.95-$13.95); and salads like Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil; and Grilled Shrimp, Portobello and Mozzarella (each $9.95).

For pasta lovers thereâ€s Manicotti, Stuffed Shells, Baked Ziti, Spaghetti and Meatball, and Pasta Carbonara ($12.95-$16.05). Chicken entrees feature Chicken Francese, Chicken Marsala, Chicken Parmigiano and Chicken Piccata ($15.95-$16.95). Seafood dishes include Shrimp Scampi, Shrimp Parmigiana, Shrimp Marinara, Seafood Marinara and Linguine with Clams (red or white; $!8.95-$23.95). Eggplant is also on the menu served either Parmigiana-or-Rollatini style ($14.95-$16.05).

Prestoâ€s Pizza Menu is almost Zen-like: four types, plain and simple: The Small Pie (10-inch; $6.95); Large Pie (16-inch; $12.95); Grandma Pie ($13.95) and Margherita Pie ($15.95). You can get extra toppings, too, ($1 ea. for small pies; $2 ea. for large pies.) Toppings include pepperoni, sausage, meatball, mushrooms, peppers, onions, black olives and anchovies.

Albanese, a self-proclaimed pizza fan, takes pizza very seriously. Ingredients must be carefully chosen and the sauce must be flavorful.

“The sauce is important, the type of cheese you use is important, too,” Albanese says. “For a good pizza sauce you need it thicker and a little on the sweet side. You want to taste the flavors of everything – the bread, the cheese, the sauce.”

Born and raised in Jersey City, Albanese says he likes how the city has changed since he opened Prestoâ€s in the early 1990s. Residential buildings have been popping up all around his restaurant at a rapid rate; bringing more people into the quaint neighborhood not far from the Hudson waterfront.

“The residential buildings around us are going up so quickly now; 10-and-20-story buildings,” Albanese says. “Thatâ€s a lot of people moving into the area; a lot of cool people. The city is changing rapidly. Itâ€s terrific for Jersey City. Iâ€ve seen a lot of changes and this is the change you want.”

 If you go

Prestoâ€s restaurant

199 Warren St, JC

201-433-6639

Hours:  Mon-Sat, 5-10 pm

The post Presto’s Restaurant serves Authentic Italian Cuisine in Jersey City first appeared on River View Observer.

 By Sally Deering

 Nestled among the storefronts on Avenue “C” between 25^th and 26^th Streets in Bayonne is Carmelaâ€s Piccola Cucina, a cozy little Italian restaurant that serves hearty, home-style dishes from Northern and Southern Italy.

In Italian, Carmela’s Piccola Cucina means “tiny kitchen” but thatâ€s the only thing small about the place. Owner and Chef Carmela Suppa cooks serves up hearty portions of homestyle dishes that are delicious and seasoned just right.

“You know when you do something you enjoy, you donâ€t think about anything else,” Suppa says, taking a break from her work at the stove. “Everything I make is cooked to order.”

 Carmela’s Piccola Cucinaâ€s menu includes Antipasti like the tasty Calamari served tender on the inside and crunchy on the outside and with a choice of mild or hot sauce; Caprese Stacks, which is Roasted Eggplant, Fresh Mozzarella and Tomatoes; Stuffed Mushrooms with Roasted Peppers; and Antipasto Rustico, a Selection of Dry Meats and Sharp Provolone cheese. ($6.50-$8.95)

Soups include Chicken and Minestrone and daily soup specials like Potato-Leek; and Lentil. ($350-$4.95) Pasta dishes include Pasta with Ham & Mushrooms; and Pasta al Filetto di Pomodoro. ($10.95-$11.95) Fish dishes feature Flounder Marechiara; Shrimp Parmigiana; and Involtini di Flounder made with Pancetta and Spinach. ($13.95-$14.95)

Chicken dishes include Chicken Rustica, which is Chicken Breast with Mushrooms, Peppers, Sausage and Potatoes; and Lemon Chicken, Boneless Chicken Thighs in a Lemon Sauce. ($11.95-$12.95)

Suppa serves specials, too, like Fettuccine with Ricotta cheese and Asparagus. Suppa sautés the asparagus stems in garlic and olive oil and then adds them to the ricotta cheese which has been blended with the flowers of the asparagus. ($12.95)

“I call it traditional American,” Suppa says. “I try all the dishes myself before I put them on the menu or make them specials. I like to try new things.”

Coming in the fall, Suppa plans to add a Braciola dish, which is meat seasoned with garlic, parsley, cheese, rolled, and cooked in a red sauce; and Chicken Rollatini with a ham, rice and Ricotta cheese filing served in a white wine mushroom sauce. ($14.95)

For dessert, Suppa serves Cream Puffs and Cannolis with home-made fillings; and Truffles ice cream in several flavors including Pistachio, Amaretto, and Chocolate Chip Mint. ($4.50)

Since Carmela’s  Piccola Cucina opened two years ago, Suppa has lots of regulars who come back again and again for her homestyle cooking. The Chicken, Minestrone, Lentil and Potato-Leek soups are very popular, Suppa says. So are the Chicken Parmagiana, Lemon Chicken and Involtini di Flounder. Pasta Primavera is also a favorite.

Although this is Suppaâ€s first time as a restaurateur, she is no stranger to the kitchen. Suppa grew up in Naples, Italy, and she was 15 when her family came to the U.S. and settled in Bayonne.

She watched her mother and older sister cook and Suppa herself worked as a banquet chef for the Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange.

“It was my internship,” Suppa says. “They have a restaurant and a banquet hall where they do weddings and parties.”

 Carmela’s Piccola Cucinaâ€s dining room is painted a warm yellow and seats 40. Thereâ€s a large flat-screen TV for customers who like a little news while they dine, and dinner guests are treated to white linen tablecloths that dress up the tables and warm the room so that it almost feels like youâ€re dining in Suppaâ€s home. Suppa says that traditionally Italian families like to entertain and feed their guests.

“When somebody comes in we cook something and we all eat together or we offer coffee and cake,” Suppa says. “You sit around the table with the family and thereâ€s a little bit of food and a little bit of red wine. Thatâ€s how we are.”

 Carmela’s Piccola Cucina is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner and brunch is served on weekends. Suppa says the restaurant also delivers to local businesses and caters to customers who have to spend their lunch hours behind a desk or in a classroom.

“This is fulfilling a dream I always had,” Suppa says. “Having a restaurant is something Iâ€ve always wanted.”

If you go:

Carmelaâ€s Piccola Cucina

578 Avenue “C”

(Across from the Shop Rite)

Bayonne

(201) 243-6855

Open 7 days

The post Cooking with Heart at Carmela’s Piccola Cucina in Bayonne first appeared on River View Observer.

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.