Elisa Ung just gave Viaggio 3 1/2 stars. This was Elisa's last restaurant review for the Record after 9 years with the paper. This was the highest rating she ever gave to a restaurant in Passaic county (which isn't saying much considering the lack of quality restaurants in Passaic county ) The chef/partner is 26 year old Robbie Felice who has worked as a sous chef for various restaurants owned by Mario Batali and Lidia & Joseph Bastianich. He cures his own charcuterie.
Below are links to Elisa's review as well as to the restaurant's web page.
Sounds great, thanks for the post.
Oh, I know that guy. Passaic County is lucky to have him.
We ate here tonight. The food was very good. Service was excellent, wine glasses were good. The chairs, as mentioned, are not great. Highlights for me were the chicken (my breast was just a bit dry, but flavor was great and the rest of the plate was fantastic - amazing polenta) and the fried apps. The chicken had an amazing skin, so crispy, almost like a lacquer. Squash pasta was very good, bucatini was the only real dissapointment for me, just needed some more acid and depth of flavor. Olive oil cake was 80% great though the center was a bit dense. I really liked the prix fixe format as deciding between a pasta and a main at Italian restaurants is always difficult.
Also - they are now offering a 6 course pasta tasting menu. I think it was $60. Not sure when it is offered, though they said last night was the first night.
Was he the sous at Lupa for a while?
Thanks for the review. I made reservations for this coming Friday night and am looking forward to it.
He served as a sous chef for Batali's B&B Ristorante in Las Vegas and interned at Batali's Manhattan restaurant Babbo.
My wife & I ate at Viaggio Friday night for the first time. Considering that it was the day after Thanksgiving, the place was packed by 6:30 PM. I guess all of the people were exhausted from cooking their Thanksgiving dinners the night before, and didn't want to go anywhere near their kitchen This is probably the best new restaurant in Wayne (which isn't saying much ). Chef Robbie is very talented, and at only 26, has a very bright future ahead of him. The chairs were as uncomfortable as advertised, but after sharing two bottles of wine we stopped noticing it Believe it or not, I saw the host offering seat cushions to a few customers. They should just put them on all of the chairs. The biggest negative point for me was that the service was rushed. I think we got stuck with a bad waitress. The other waiters seemed very nice. It seemed like through almost every bite of our appetizer the waitress would ask us if we were ready to order our entrees. We like to digest our appetizers and work on our 1st bottle of wine before we order our entrees. I find that when you order everything at once, your entrees arrive immediately after you finish the last bite of your appetizer. The rest of the service was great. Water was frequently refilled, and silverware was replaced for each course. The food was the big star & did not disappoint. We started off with the amazing Onion Focaccia with a great dipping oil. It was loaded with caramelized onions and well worth $7.00. A nice slice of crusty bread comes with the meal, but I would definitely upgrade to the onion focaccia. We also shared a delicious Fried Calamari with lemon butter, shallot, and chili. We asked for extra chili which gave it a nice little kick. The calamari was perfectly cooked and very lightly breaded & crispy. We also shared an incredible Kabocha Squash Cappellacci with crispy pieces of sage, brown butter, & hazelnuts. The squash inside of the cappellacci was smoothly pureed and just melted in your mouth. For entrees my wife had the very moist & flavorful Branzino with fregola, tomato, & olive prepared in parchment paper. I had the excellent chicken with the creamiest polenta. Tubbs was right. The skin was amazing & crispy with a shiny lacquer like finish. The next time we have to try to come here on a Sunday night to take advantage of the 4 course prix fixe dinner for $53.00 per person (recently raised from $49.00). It sounds like a great bargain for the quality of food. I would highly recommend this restaurant if you are in or near the neighborhood, but it is not worth a special trip from Manhattan.